Home remodel

[RockRaines]

Hah. That was my motivation behind not doing any of the work myself

 

My renovation has been interesting. It isn't that any of the work was really done poorly before I bought the house, it's just that so much of it is from a different era. Most of the contractors I have brought in have been sort of marveling at the way most things were done.

 

I'm in a similar boat as you though, Rock. I've got so many massive projects lined up over the next several years:

 

1) remodel master bedroom and bath

2) remodel guest bath

3) install new fence and electric gate

4) large in-ground pool

5) build garage with apartment above it

6) potential addition to house

7) install large sport court

 

I can only imagine all these things are going to cost me somewhere in the range of $300-350k over the next 6-8 years.

 

Then the day we'll get done we'll probably decide we need to remodel the kitchen we are remodeling at the moment.

LOL, we have similar wish lists. I actually have to raise a roof to add the master bathroom and closet but the guest bath, fence and gate, Garage (with office) are all on my list. I'm also digging out the rest of my basement as the previous owner only dug out some of it. My current garage is a real s*** show and I cut mold out of the ceiling on the regular but its gotta last another year or two. I also have to rip out all of the original wood floors next summer. All of the work done to our house over the years started in the 1800's and have been modified over the last hundred years. Talk about different eras of work, jeez.

 

To me its all worth it eventually. Right now if I dont get a new bathroom upstairs I am going to lose my s***.

Edited October 27, 2015 by RockRaines

[Jenksismyhero]

I'm so glad I bought a home built in the 1960's that so far has required zero dollars in work, only what we wanted to update (finished basement and an ongoing kitchen facelift). Reading your guys' story and listening to a couple of friends who bought older homes...sounds terrible.

[StrangeSox]

I'm so glad I bought a home built in the 1960's that so far has required zero dollars in work, only what we wanted to update (finished basement and an ongoing kitchen facelift). Reading your guys' story and listening to a couple of friends who bought older homes...sounds terrible.

 

We've remodeled pretty much every room in our 1960's house.

[Jenksismyhero]

We've remodeled pretty much every room in our 1960's house.

 

Because of issues or looks? We have a smallish house, a 1,500 sq ft one story ranch, so it's not like there's a lot of house to fix up, but other than painting just about every room, we haven't done anything to the bedrooms or bathrooms. The kitchen is super outdated (original oven/cook-top, but still functional), and we probably should have tackled that first before finishing the basement, but those are the two big projects thus far. I repainted our big deck last summer. Other than landscaping, that's about all we've done in ~5 years.

 

Now, my wife will tell you that there's a million more things we should be doing (replacing some doors, modernizing at least one of the bathrooms, etc), but a lot of that seems like wasted money to me. It's functional and not too ugly (i.e. a salmon or baby blue tub/toilet/sink set). I'd rather throw that money into the investment account and be happier about the gains 30 years from now. So far i've been winning those arguments for the most part.

[StrangeSox]

Because of issues or looks? We have a smallish house, a 1,500 sq ft one story ranch, so it's not like there's a lot of house to fix up, but other than painting just about every room, we haven't done anything to the bedrooms or bathrooms. The kitchen is super outdated (original oven/cook-top, but still functional), and we probably should have tackled that first before finishing the basement, but those are the two big projects thus far. I repainted our big deck last summer. Other than landscaping, that's about all we've done in ~5 years.

 

Now, my wife will tell you that there's a million more things we should be doing (replacing some doors, modernizing at least one of the bathrooms, etc), but a lot of that seems like wasted money to me. It's functional and not too ugly (i.e. a salmon or baby blue tub/toilet/sink set). I'd rather throw that money into the investment account and be happier about the gains 30 years from now. So far i've been winning those arguments for the most part.

Some issues, some looks and our house is roughly the same size. Kitchen went pretty much right away as the original kitchen was literally falling apart. We replaced every door in the house. We rebuilt the landing/staircase that was falling down in the back. We tore down the dilapidated old shed and built a new one. Re-landscaped everything. Gutted the main bathroom upstairs down to the studs (we were redoing pretty much everything else and the drywall looked horrible so why not?). New tile, vanity and paint in the downstairs bathroom. New pergo-type floors, paint in the basement. New trim throughout the house. Refinished the main stairs and re-tiled the entryway landing. Everything except the kitchen we did ourselves.

 

Partially it's value added to the house, partially it's just what we like doing.

 

Of course now that we've essentially done the entire house, we're getting ready to list it and do it all over again, this time in a bigger house.

 

re: bolded ugh no that'd be gone immediately.

Edited October 27, 2015 by StrangeSox

[LittleHurt05]

Since we had to put all new hardi board siding on our addition, we figured it made sense to spend the money and replace all the siding on the old house as well and change the color to one we like.

 

Of course, once they removed the old siding, they discovered a whole other layer of wood siding that needed to be replaced as well. The fun never ends, good thing the bank required a contingency fund, it's already almost used up as it is.

[Jenksismyhero]

Some issues, some looks and our house is roughly the same size. Kitchen went pretty much right away as the original kitchen was literally falling apart. We replaced every door in the house. We rebuilt the landing/staircase that was falling down in the back. We tore down the dilapidated old shed and built a new one. Re-landscaped everything. Gutted the main bathroom upstairs down to the studs (we were redoing pretty much everything else and the drywall looked horrible so why not?). New tile, vanity and paint in the downstairs bathroom. New pergo-type floors, paint in the basement. New trim throughout the house. Refinished the main stairs and re-tiled the entryway landing. Everything except the kitchen we did ourselves.

 

Partially it's value added to the house, partially it's just what we like doing.

 

Of course now that we've essentially done the entire house, we're getting ready to list it and do it all over again, this time in a bigger house.

 

re: bolded ugh no that'd be gone immediately.

 

I think we got lucky. We bought the place from the family that built it and they did a good job maintaining everything. One thing my wife wants us to do is replace all the trim in the house. It's got the dark oak or whatever. She wants all white. She has no idea (1) what that would cost, (2) what a huge project/pain in the ass that would be.

 

Did you guys find a place first? Or are you going to list, see what you get and then find a place soon after you sell it?

 

We're debating whether to add a second story and an addition or just go buy a bigger house. We love our lot/neighborhood and we're so close to the train and interstate to commute to work. Anything bigger in our area we can't afford and if we move further west we're just adding onto our commutes.

[Jenksismyhero]

Since we had to put all new hardi board siding on our addition, we figured it made sense to spend the money and replace all the siding on the old house as well and change the color to one we like.

 

Of course, once they removed the old siding, they discovered a whole other layer of wood siding that needed to be replaced as well. The fun never ends, good thing the bank required a contingency fund, it's already almost used up as it is.

 

How did you go about your addition? Did you talk to an architect first, get some plans, and then go to the bank to see what you could afford? What's that process like? I literally have no idea how to start.

[StrangeSox]

I think we got lucky. We bought the place from the family that built it and they did a good job maintaining everything. One thing my wife wants us to do is replace all the trim in the house. It's got the dark oak or whatever. She wants all white. She has no idea (1) what that would cost, (2) what a huge project/pain in the ass that would be.

 

Cost would be minimal really. Gallon or two of white trim paint from Ace (by far the best trim paint imo) plus maybe a couple hundred dollars in trim. Little bit of a pain in the ass to paint everything but it really wasn't too bad.

 

Did you guys find a place first? Or are you going to list, see what you get and then find a place soon after you sell it?

 

We have a place we're really interested in. We're hoping our house can move quickly enough to work out the timing but you never know. Worst case scenario, we end up having to move in with her parents for a couple of months. Luckily they have plenty of space so it wouldn't be terrible. The other option we need to talk to a bank about would be potentially carrying a second mortgage to buy the house we're interested in while ours is still on the market, but then we'd need to scrape together the down payment from somewhere.

 

We're debating whether to add a second story and an addition or just go buy a bigger house. We love our lot/neighborhood and we're so close to the train and interstate to commute to work. Anything bigger in our area we can't afford and if we move further west we're just adding onto our commutes.

 

We wanted more space/less of a neighborhood so that wasn't really an option for us. Plenty of houses in the area have had that done though.

[Jenksismyhero]

Cost would be minimal really. Gallon or two of white trim paint from Ace (by far the best trim paint imo) plus maybe a couple hundred dollars in trim. Little bit of a pain in the ass to paint everything but it really wasn't too bad.

 

I think the guy put polyurethane or something on all the trim. It's glossy. When I painted some trim in our office in the basement it took like 4 coats of paint to cover. So I either sand the entire house or I spend just an ungodly amount of time painting. That's why I thought about just replacing it all. Either way, i'm perfectly ok with not having white trim everywhere. I'm sure that's a fad that will last another 10 years and then everyone will want dark trim again.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Jenksismybitch

[Chisoxfn]

I think the guy put polyurethane or something on all the trim. It's glossy. When I painted some trim in our office in the basement it took like 4 coats of paint to cover. So I either sand the entire house or I spend just an ungodly amount of time painting. Either way, i'm perfectly ok with not having white trim everywhere, which will probably be a fad for another 10 years and then everyone will want dark trim again.

Wouldn't another option be to buy some new trim and paint that (while pulling off the old trim)? Depending on how old it is, could make sense and presume it wouldn't be super costly.

[Jenksismyhero]

Wouldn't another option be to buy some new trim and paint that (while pulling off the old trim)? Depending on how old it is, could make sense and presume it wouldn't be super costly.

 

That was my thought originally, but you're talking every baseboard, the trim around each window (and would that look funky with dark stained wood windows with white interior trim?) door trim/jams, walkthrough areas, etc. Cost is less of a factor than the pain-in-the-ass factor.

 

 

[RockRaines]

I'm so glad I bought a home built in the 1960's that so far has required zero dollars in work, only what we wanted to update (finished basement and an ongoing kitchen facelift). Reading your guys' story and listening to a couple of friends who bought older homes...sounds terrible.

We arent really fixing the issues from the 1800's as much as we are the reno's done in the 90's. Of course old homes are built like tanks but they have their own issues. Its part of living in a historic district near a downtown area, you take the good with the bad.

[RockRaines]

Since we had to put all new hardi board siding on our addition, we figured it made sense to spend the money and replace all the siding on the old house as well and change the color to one we like.

 

Of course, once they removed the old siding, they discovered a whole other layer of wood siding that needed to be replaced as well. The fun never ends, good thing the bank required a contingency fund, it's already almost used up as it is.

In my town siding has to go over the old wood siding, you cannot rip out the original unless its completely toast. Such a weird law.

[Dick Allen]

I basically gutted my place several years ago, and re-did everything. Even changed the electrical outlets. Knocked out a couple of walls, opened up the kitchen, dropped an island in there. New lighting, new appliances, new floors, new toilets, new sinks, new cabinets, new furniture. It's nice now, (and really wasn't a dive before) but if you do something like that, I advise if you can stay somewhere else while it is going on, do so.

 

It got to a point, my wife and I would priceline a room a few blocks away on weekends so we could stay out of the mess. I was so happy when it was done. Now I'm getting the this could be changed, that could be changed by her. I am trying my best to act like I can't hear her.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Dick Allen

[RockRaines]

I basically gutted my place several years ago, and re-did everything. Even changed the electrical outlets. Knocked out a couple of walls, opened up the kitchen, dropped an island in there. New lighting, new appliances, new floors, new toilets, new sinks, new cabinets, new furniture. It's nice now, (and really wasn't a dive before) but if you do something like that, I advise if you can stay somewhere else while it is going on, do so.

 

It got to a point, my wife and I would priceline a room a few blocks away on weekends so we could stay out of the mess. I was so happy when it was done. Now I'm getting the this could be changed, that could be changed by her. I am trying my best to act like I can't hear her.

WE've heard the same thing, we are trying to plan the reno during the summer so we can stay in Michigan. Otherwise not having an upstairs or floors on the first floor may kill us.

[iamshack]

I'm so glad I bought a home built in the 1960's that so far has required zero dollars in work, only what we wanted to update (finished basement and an ongoing kitchen facelift). Reading your guys' story and listening to a couple of friends who bought older homes...sounds terrible.

Honestly, we didn't really have to do anything, except maybe replace some appliances, but what the wife wants, she eventually gets.

 

That being said, we purchased our home for 3 reasons:

 

1) Location;

2) Size of the lot;

3) Design/quality of the house.

 

We're sitting on a property with a ton of potential, but in appraisals we've had done, we continually get held back because of a lack of a garage, a lack of a pool, and in part, the lack of functional renovations. While the market seems to value our home better than the appraisal process, the fact that 95% of buyers in the market rely on financing, we've got to try and appease the appraisal process. However, we also want to keep the market appeal by gracefully bringing the house into the 21st century. Not to be lost in all this, is the most important thing, that house and property is as functional as possible for our own enjoyment.

 

Because we did well on the purchase price of the property, and we bought when the market was still fairly depressed, it makes little sense to sell and buy something that has already been upgraded. Add to this the fact that there really is nothing similar to our property in our location shy of a million dollars or more. Thus, we've decided to go the renovation route.

 

 

 

[RockRaines]

Yeah I mean we bought for location, schools, and the fact that it already had been added on and had a dug out basement (I am 6'1" and most of the basements in OP were about 5'9"). The rest you can add over the years. Cannot change the location.

[LittleHurt05]

How did you go about your addition? Did you talk to an architect first, get some plans, and then go to the bank to see what you could afford? What's that process like? I literally have no idea how to start.

 

We didn't have much equity in the house, so we did a 203k loan. Basically your mortgage and the construction costs are built into one loan, they appraise what your house will be worth after the work is done and use that as a base. The biggest difference is that the bank holds construction money until work is done and approved. It's harder to find contractors that will work that way, but it's good protection. We met a 203k consultant to get that ball rolling, but it also helps to meet with an architect or contractor first, they can usually point out any limitations in your current home.

 

[bmags]

I just regraded backyard and poured new concrete for sidewalks/added unilock patio space.

 

These rainy days have been nice.

[bmags]

Also totally second rocks point about re-doing the renovations in the 90s vs fixing the issues from the 1900s. Same story on my end.

[StrangeSox]

Old work done well but not to current codes is way better to deal with than hack-job work.

[bmags]

When we redid upstairs bath, they covered up nice hexagonal tile with some sweet black and white vinyl and surrounded it with green plastic tile 5 feet around the walls. Oh, they also framed in the shower with a nice 2 foot soffitt from the ceiling. Served no functional purpose but did make the 6 ft you feel every bit of it.

[RockRaines]

Old work done well but not to current codes is way better to deal with than hack-job work.

Yep. My plumber said he'd rather see nice lead piping other than the patchwork bulls*** we found in my walls. The dude used a f***ing vacuum cleaner hose instead of a pvc vent for a sink.

[RockRaines]

When we redid upstairs bath, they covered up nice hexagonal tile with some sweet black and white vinyl and surrounded it with green plastic tile 5 feet around the walls. Oh, they also framed in the shower with a nice 2 foot soffitt from the ceiling. Served no functional purpose but did make the 6 ft you feel every bit of it.

Lol. That's awesome.