Before & After Plans for my first house

Hi again guys,
While I was on vacation I drew out my plans for my house in Willis, TX that I'm remodeling slowly but surely. I bought this place when I was 18 (now 21) and it is quite an experience!
This house was built by this guy out of used building materials so it's not perfect looking but it's solid as a rock. It survived the 90mph winds Willis got during Hurricane Ike without a scratch.
Here are the plans:

The downstairs windows that are boarded up were just solid panes of tempered glass (the guy who built the house told me he got them from old sliding patio doors) Unfortunately some vandal smashed one of them so we boarded both up for the mean while. Now that wall is fully closed in with the two new single hung windows I bought installed


Floorplans:

There aren't many big changes except for the front facade of the first floor


I'm replacing both exterior doors (already did the second floor one) and adding a 3rd one off the Utility Room, adding in some new windows downstairs and replacing all the siding on the first floor as well as adding a front porch and (hopefully) expanding the lower deck to a more usable size. Unfortunately it's a tight squeeze, I can't go out to the side anymore because it's already practically at the lot line.

Thoughts?

interesting design and project! good luck and keep us updated!

Zachary, good for you. Sounds like you are making some good financial moves by investing in property or you've had some good advise. Are you planning to live here or are you planning on fixing it and selling.

Remember don't over build for the neighborhood and make sure everything has a solid foundation. Good luck and keep us updated.

I am planning on living there, at least part time. The neighborhood is full of small vacation homes and manufactured housing, lots of the houses look like they were owner built (like mine was). I was there for an hour yesterday and found out some sort of critter found it's way in...fortunately it didn't do any real damage. I was able to temporarily board up the hole it made in the eave until I can fix it properly

That's a very nice looking house! Congratz and good luck on that!

Thanks!
Here are some pictures of the inside, we gutted it already, before it was nasty inside...

more inside pics and the new door I installed:

and lastly, some renderings I made in Sierra Home Architect of how it will look when it's finished:

Lots of hard work ahead.
One bit of advice, do not create a double vapor barrier on the wall with the insulation. You have paper faced insulation with plastic over that. You will create a condensation water trap as soon as you close it up.
One barrier, and it should face the heated side of the wall. I do not know your climate, but up here in the Northeast, our barrier goes to the inside wall, heated space.
Let me know if I confused you.

I understand completely, so I should remove the plastic?
The climate is humid and warm most of the year

That would be my opinion. You should only have one, no matter where you live. And paper is the better of the two, it lets water vapor through, and can hold some in extreme areas. The plastic just plain old stops it and lets it drip down, and where you have a hole in the plastic, tends to create more damage than it is worth.

Google vapor barriers, for your climate to get the real answers, this is an important part of your home that most folks do not pay enough attention to...then they cannot figure out "where is that mold comming from?"

Zachary - I can tell you and I are kindred spirits! Good luck with the reno and take lots of pictures along the way (as I can see you are). It will be worth it to see the before and after. And if you ever sell the house, the buyers will appreciate it, as well.