House spinoff.. Renovations

tcnoble · May 2015

My ILs are being super awesome and have gifted us the necessary funds for a down payment on a house. We had been eyeing a 2 acre property (which is virtually unheard of here in Vegas) that has a 2400sq foot house, and because of them we are able to make it happen. The house is pretty much crap on the inside, but we are getting the land and house for a steal so we are pumped and looking forward to some renovations and making it what we want! Plus it has vaulted ceilings so there's that.

I would love to hear about your renovations and how you went about attacking them. We are going to have new floors, paint, and most of the master bathroom done before we move in (later this year). Quite literally everything else needs to be renovated, in time - kitchen counters and appliances (it's all working just super dated), exterior balcony and wrap around porch (2/3 of the house), no landscaping exists (just desert rock and dirt), downstairs is potentially a theater room and spare bedroom, two full baths, we want to put in new toilets, eventually landscaping.

We are trying to prioritize but since we have not been in this situation before, we are kind of all over the place looking at what we want to do. We have ideas, but just don't know where to begin! I've also never been a DIY person so I'm excited to learn some new things. What was the easiest renovation for you? Hardest? Best idea you had?

labro · May 2015

Easiest - painting.

Hardest - wallpaper removal.

We've been in our house nearly two years and we've done quite a few major and minor renovations since moving in. I think the big thing is just to make a list, and be realistic about how much you can accomplish and when. Some things take time, especially when you're both working full time. I know I don't always have the energy when I get home to get back to work with yard or house projects. Basically, don't expect to have everything done by the time you move in, or even within the first year. Especially with the yard, it takes time for everything to establish and really start to look good.

Our house is 26ish years old and was in great shape when we moved in, but we've still done quite a bit including - painting the entire interior, removing wallpaper from the dining room, kitchen, guest bath, and foyer, replacing the fixtures and toilet in the guest bath, replacing the kitchen faucet, adding/replacing ceiling fans and lights, re-doing the backyard with new sod, removing 40 trees, planting new bushes and flowers, painting the house's exterior, replacing outdated outlets, among other things.

Some projects we hired out - exterior house painting, tree removal, and our sod project. But everything else was DIY. H has a lot of experience with minor electrical and plumbing work because of his dad so we were able to do quite a few things on our own. Wallpaper removal was horrible because it was a hot sweaty job that took a ton of effort. The wallpaper had been glued directly to the drywall and wasn't the newer self-adhering type, so it took a lot longer to get all the glue off. Then we had to repair dents and other flaws in the walls before we could paint.

southernbelle0915 · May 2015

Is all the stuff cosmetic? If so, you might consider prioritizing stuff you use the most - like your bedroom and bathroom. If you cook a lot, maybe your kitchen is higher on the list. If you spend a lot of time outside, maybe your patio is at the top. KWIM?

So what's important to y'all?

climbingsingle · May 2015

We're just about to start renovating our entire house. My husband purchased the house he grew up in when he was in his 20s, and it hasn't been updated since the 80s.

We first did the master bathroom. Our next project is the downstairs guestroom, where we'll be staying while the renovations happen upstairs. The entire room needs to be gutted. We're putting up new drywall and installing those tiles that look like hardwood.

Next is the kitchen/dining/living room. We're removing a wall in the kitchen, so the entire thing will be open concept. We're doing white cabinets with dark floors, and a man made quartz for counter tops. We're also relocating a door to the deck that is currently in the kitchen. That will be moving to the dining area. We're putting in an island with seating on the other side - that will sort of open up into our living room. We're doing built ins all along one wall in the living/dining room that will hold our TV, a gas fireplace and also serve as a china cabinet.

After that, we're doing our master bedroom, which is mostly just ripping up carpet and buying new furniture. But we're also replacing all the windows and redoing the hardwood floors throughout.

The extra bedroom next to ours will become our dressing room/office. More built ins here too. What is now the office will become another guest room.

And then ripping out and gutting the main floor bathroom. We'll probably do some large white subway tiles. But that's all I've got figured out just yet.

And after all of that is done, we're putting on new siding and fixing the front steps.

Whew.

Thankfully my H has done a lot of this himself, but he has a team of friends helping him. Because of my husband's connections, we know many contractors, plumbers and carpenters. And whatever they can't handle (electrical) he can do himself. So we're very lucky in that aspect.

So, the main thing I really am focusing on is the kitchen/living/dining room.

lovemesomemonster · May 2015

Aahhh! I LOVE a good renovation! These house threads are making it hard for me to get work done today! FI is in construction management and handy so he orchestrates most of the projects but I have had so much fun learning all of the tools and techniques so you will too! I'll do these in the order we went in (we make a list every time we buy and then organize it by priority and go from there)

First House:

-PAINT (entire thing was a dark salmon)

-Install AC

-Frame out master windows (new windows were in but no interior frame so you could see the studs)

-Gut master bath, install tile, new toilet, clawfoot tub, new vanity (originally it had a pull chain toilet)

-Install sprinkler system

-level back yard

- Build deck

Second House:

-Refinish hardwood floors and main floor trim

-Master bath, new floor, refinish cabinets, paint, new fixtures, refinish trim

-Guest bath, new floor, refinish cabinets, paint

To Do:

-New roof on rental house

-New floor in basement

-Build stairs off deck

-Refinish trim on second floor

-Install all new interior doors

-Paint outside

-New kitchen counters and appliances

-All landscaping

Easiest renovation: Refinishing the cabinets with the rustoleum kit

Hardest: Installing a clawfoot tub, FI says he will never do it again

Best idea: Using snap together vinyl flooring in the bathrooms instead of pulling the old floor and doing tile again.

theartistformerlyknownas · May 2015

If you wouldn't have had the money for the down payment without the gift, do you have the cash for the renos? The biggest criteria for our renovations is not going into additional debt for them. So everything is happening as we have the cash to do it. Thankfully, we have it for the kitchen since the profit from the old house covered the whole 20% DP on the new house. Everything else (fence, bathrooms, new basement flooring) will be prioritized based on when the money's replenished.

Kitchen is first since it has the most impact on day to day lives. Hiring out new tile floor through the foyer and kitchen (currently has linoleum; didn't want the hassle of trying to match the other hardwoods and I prefer something I can steam clean for those areas without fear of water damage) because we don't have experience with that and know we could screw it up majorly. Doing cabinets and back splash ourselves - cabs H and BIL have done before, and back splash I think I can figure out myself knowing a little mess up won't have too much impact, like tripping people. New appliances are coming tomorrow but we'll have those professionally installed when the time comes because I don't trust us with gas lines.

I've already painted the living room and will hit the nursery next. New ceiling fan is coming next week so the current one doesn't propel our house into outer space.

Best idea will be waiting a while... our bedroom has a sitting area toward the back, next to the master bath. Bathroom is small, closets are small... so someday we're going to blow it out and make one huge bathroom and walk in closet. But what we have is workable so that's a 5-10 year plan.

JaniV123 · May 2015

we are looking to make an offer on a house and it would eventually need some work. The rooms are small so we are thinking of taking down a wall and make a huge master bed room. thats the only big thing we would like. Other than that painting and a landscape nothing major. The rest is furnish it and put in appliances.

As to your OP I think that depends on what you priorities are. For me I mostly look at the kitchen and space distribution. Fi looks at room size and finishings/structure/etc. So prioritize the things you want to reno and put the other in order as well.

I think floors and changing toilets are easy reno but i know for a fact kitchens and full baths are quite the hassle.

ashley8918 · May 2015

lolo883 said:
If you wouldn't have had the money for the down payment without the gift, do you have the cash for the renos?

This. I'm confused about how you didn't have the money for the down payment, but you have the money for what sounds like really extensive renovations.

jenna8984 · May 2015

Our house we just sold was everything original from the 1950's. So we started with the items that would be a bigger benefit like replacing the windows. That saved us a ton on heat, even though it wasn't exactly something fun to look at/ spend money on.

We replaced the roof and furnace because they needed it/ didn't work.

We replaced/ upgraded the electrical panel to be safer/ up to current standards. Built rails for the front steps because they were 6 steps high and homeowners insurance required them.

Then we finally got on to some of the "fun" things that we actually see everyday, such as replacing all the doors with white paneled ones, paint all the trim white, paint the rooms, tear out the mint green tiled bathroom sink shower and all, paint the kitchen cabinets, new counters, new sink, new oven. It was all a pain in the ass to be honest!

julieanne912 · May 2015

My first house was a major fixer upper. The previous tenants had been evicted, and took everything with them... door knobs, light switch covers, etc. I too had some money gifted to me as my dad had passed away and my mom gave me a portion of the life insurance to invest in the house. Even though I was buying it as-is, I had a home inspection done, and that gave me my starting point. First was the roof since the current one was leaking. Thankfully the electrical was OK and the heat/AC worked. Then, right before moving in, I added basic light fixtures, did basic cheapo carpet and paint in 2 of the bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, and rear family room so they were livable. There was still a formal living and dining, and another bedroom that I left alone at first as someone had glued wallpaper to the walls (it wasn't wallpaper glue, just like, hot glue or something). I also put in all new appliances and removed stuff like the broken metal security doors.

As time went on, I worked on the other rooms, scraping wall paper, removing about a million carpet staples (the tenants took the carpets, thankfully, but left all the staples/nails), and then did painting and flooring in those extra rooms. I eventually painted the exterior and worked on the landscaping.

I would REALLY make sure you have enough money for all of this though. I did the above work over the span of 2 years, and so I was living in a renovation zone for that period of time. Take what you think it will cost and add anywhere from 10-20% to that. The last thing you want to do is run out of money in a house that is hardly even livable.

labro · May 2015

ashley8918 said:

lolo883 said:
If you wouldn't have had the money for the down payment without the gift, do you have the cash for the renos?
This. I'm confused about how you didn't have the money for the down payment, but you have the money for what sounds like really extensive renovations.

I guess I read it as since the ILs are gifting them the downpayment, the money they HAD is now going to go towards renovations on a larger house/property than they could have originally afforded on their initial DP. Some bank loans allow you to tack on extra money too for home renovations. It's not something I'd want to do, but an extra $20k at a low interest rate won't make a huge difference on your monthly payments either.

tcnoble · May 2015

labro said:

lolo883 said:
If you wouldn't have had the money for the down payment without the gift, do you have the cash for the renos?
This. I'm confused about how you didn't have the money for the down payment, but you have the money for what sounds like really extensive renovations.

I guess I read it as since the ILs are gifting them the downpayment, the money they HAD is now going to go towards renovations on a larger house/property than they could have originally afforded on their initial DP. Some bank loans allow you to tack on extra money too for home renovations. It's not something I'd want to do, but an extra $20k at a low interest rate won't make a huge difference on your monthly payments either.

--edit because there used to be a box here--

We didn't want to add on to the mortage for renovations - so we will be paying for them out of pocket... thus not being able to do them ALL at once. DH will do most of the work himself, lucky for me he is a handy guy. Without ILs gift we wouldn't be able to take on a project like this. Very lucky to have them!

tcnoble · May 2015

lolo883 said:
If you wouldn't have had the money for the down payment without the gift, do you have the cash for the renos? The biggest criteria for our renovations is not going into additional debt for them. So everything is happening as we have the cash to do it. Thankfully, we have it for the kitchen since the profit from the old house covered the whole 20% DP on the new house. Everything else (fence, bathrooms, new basement flooring) will be prioritized based on when the money's replenished.

That's what we will be doing - we are tackling the things that we feel need to get done to move in the house and LIVE.. the rest is all cosmetic and will be done as we can afford them. As I said in my last reply, definitely not going in to debt to pay for the projects. Right now we foresee the kitchen and landscaping as the biggest projects that will take awhile to save up for. Old appliances still work, just aren't as pretty, but DH and I agreed not to open any credit cards or finance anything... so I know in the long run it'll be worth it to have it all paid in cash.

tcnoble · May 2015

southernbelle0915 said:
Is all the stuff cosmetic? If so, you might consider prioritizing stuff you use the most - like your bedroom and bathroom. If you cook a lot, maybe your kitchen is higher on the list. If you spend a lot of time outside, maybe your patio is at the top. KWIM?

So what's important to y'all?

It is all cosmetic, luckily. We will be able to make-do as is with older things, so we are fortunate there and can just do things as we can afford them.

Kitchen is super high priority but will be the most expensive so we are starting to save for that.. and divvy up what we are saving between that and a current, less costly project. Landscaping is the next one, as we spend a lot of time outside, but again will be a costly venture so that will likely come after the kitchen.

It's just overwhelming having so many things we want to update and change... and not knowing where to start! Some PPs have given me ideas though.. just have to sit down with DH and make lists.

southernbelle0915 · May 2015

You'll get there. It's really easy to get SUPER excited about brand new everything and dramatic before/afters. But it all costs money and it's really good y'all aren't going into debt over any of it. Especially because it's all cosmetic.

High impact, lower cost updates would be stuff like paint, swapping out knobs/handles/hardware, swapping out light fixtures (especially if you have those 80s vanity lights!)... I also think a good, deep clean can make a huge difference, too.

theartistformerlyknownas · May 2015

tcnoble said:

lolo883 said:
If you wouldn't have had the money for the down payment without the gift, do you have the cash for the renos? The biggest criteria for our renovations is not going into additional debt for them. So everything is happening as we have the cash to do it. Thankfully, we have it for the kitchen since the profit from the old house covered the whole 20% DP on the new house. Everything else (fence, bathrooms, new basement flooring) will be prioritized based on when the money's replenished.

That's what we will be doing - we are tackling the things that we feel need to get done to move in the house and LIVE.. the rest is all cosmetic and will be done as we can afford them. As I said in my last reply, definitely not going in to debt to pay for the projects. Right now we foresee the kitchen and landscaping as the biggest projects that will take awhile to save up for. Old appliances still work, just aren't as pretty, but DH and I agreed not to open any credit cards or finance anything... so I know in the long run it'll be worth it to have it all paid in cash.

OK cool. We're sort of doing things backwards and starting with the biggest bite, which will suck in the short term since it's going to eat up pretty much all our savings, but worth it in the long term. I only see our master bathroom twice a day, but look at the kitchen ALL DAY LONG. And it's just not functional as-is... the fridge is way too small, there's no microwave at all and not enough counter space to add one, etc. So bathroom I can paint the ugly wood vanity and ignore the octagonal sinks for a few more years. Hopefully H can get the glass sliding doors ripped off the shower sooner than that though!

tcnoble · May 2015

southernbelle0915 said:
You'll get there. It's really easy to get SUPER excited about brand new everything and dramatic before/afters. But it all costs money and it's really good y'all aren't going into debt over any of it. Especially because it's all cosmetic.

High impact, lower cost updates would be stuff like paint, swapping out knobs/handles/hardware, swapping out light fixtures (especially if you have those 80s vanity lights!)... I also think a good, deep clean can make a huge difference, too.

I have a severe lack of patience, so this will be the hard part for me!! It is really exciting that we get to do exactly what we want, but it will definitely take time (which we have plenty of).

It's nice that the little things like fixtures and lighting can have a big impact though - little things will help move us along!

The house is currently occupied by people who resemble an episode of hoarders... we walked through last night and it was a little alarming. It will be nice to look at it once it's completely empty and see what we've really got!

tcnoble · May 2015

lolo883 said:

tcnoble said:

lolo883 said:
If you wouldn't have had the money for the down payment without the gift, do you have the cash for the renos? The biggest criteria for our renovations is not going into additional debt for them. So everything is happening as we have the cash to do it. Thankfully, we have it for the kitchen since the profit from the old house covered the whole 20% DP on the new house. Everything else (fence, bathrooms, new basement flooring) will be prioritized based on when the money's replenished.

That's what we will be doing - we are tackling the things that we feel need to get done to move in the house and LIVE.. the rest is all cosmetic and will be done as we can afford them. As I said in my last reply, definitely not going in to debt to pay for the projects. Right now we foresee the kitchen and landscaping as the biggest projects that will take awhile to save up for. Old appliances still work, just aren't as pretty, but DH and I agreed not to open any credit cards or finance anything... so I know in the long run it'll be worth it to have it all paid in cash.
OK cool. We're sort of doing things backwards and starting with the biggest bite, which will suck in the short term since it's going to eat up pretty much all our savings, but worth it in the long term. I only see our master bathroom twice a day, but look at the kitchen ALL DAY LONG. And it's just not functional as-is... the fridge is way too small, there's no microwave at all and not enough counter space to add one, etc. So bathroom I can paint the ugly wood vanity and ignore the octagonal sinks for a few more years. Hopefully H can get the glass sliding doors ripped off the shower sooner than that though!

Kitchen is probably what we are most looking forward to overhauling. It's got a great layout as is, just needs updating and knocking out some cabinets for a bigger fridge space. The cabinets are all solid oak - just a bit dated looking so we are going to try and add some fixtures to spruce it up. Figure the fixtures are an easy update right now. I wish we had the savings to tackle the whole thing!

jenna8984 · May 2015

tcnoble said:

southernbelle0915 said:
You'll get there. It's really easy to get SUPER excited about brand new everything and dramatic before/afters. But it all costs money and it's really good y'all aren't going into debt over any of it. Especially because it's all cosmetic.

High impact, lower cost updates would be stuff like paint, swapping out knobs/handles/hardware, swapping out light fixtures (especially if you have those 80s vanity lights!)... I also think a good, deep clean can make a huge difference, too.

I have a severe lack of patience, so this will be the hard part for me!! It is really exciting that we get to do exactly what we want, but it will definitely take time (which we have plenty of).

It's nice that the little things like fixtures and lighting can have a big impact though - little things will help move us along!

The house is currently occupied by people who resemble an episode of hoarders... we walked through last night and it was a little alarming. It will be nice to look at it once it's completely empty and see what we've really got!

Sometimes it works out better to wait though. When I first got the house with the mint green & black bathroom tiles, I had picked out a vanity at home depot that would have matched perfectly. It had a black cabinet and the counter/sink was like a seafoam clear glass. It was really cool, but it was $700. So I waited and waited.....and then we ended up tearing out the entire bathroom and doing white wainscotting. So glad I didn't get that vanity because it would have looked horrendous and not matched at all.

theartistformerlyknownas · May 2015

tcnoble said:

lolo883 said:

tcnoble said:

lolo883 said:
If you wouldn't have had the money for the down payment without the gift, do you have the cash for the renos? The biggest criteria for our renovations is not going into additional debt for them. So everything is happening as we have the cash to do it. Thankfully, we have it for the kitchen since the profit from the old house covered the whole 20% DP on the new house. Everything else (fence, bathrooms, new basement flooring) will be prioritized based on when the money's replenished.

That's what we will be doing - we are tackling the things that we feel need to get done to move in the house and LIVE.. the rest is all cosmetic and will be done as we can afford them. As I said in my last reply, definitely not going in to debt to pay for the projects. Right now we foresee the kitchen and landscaping as the biggest projects that will take awhile to save up for. Old appliances still work, just aren't as pretty, but DH and I agreed not to open any credit cards or finance anything... so I know in the long run it'll be worth it to have it all paid in cash.
OK cool. We're sort of doing things backwards and starting with the biggest bite, which will suck in the short term since it's going to eat up pretty much all our savings, but worth it in the long term. I only see our master bathroom twice a day, but look at the kitchen ALL DAY LONG. And it's just not functional as-is... the fridge is way too small, there's no microwave at all and not enough counter space to add one, etc. So bathroom I can paint the ugly wood vanity and ignore the octagonal sinks for a few more years. Hopefully H can get the glass sliding doors ripped off the shower sooner than that though!
Kitchen is probably what we are most looking forward to overhauling. It's got a great layout as is, just needs updating and knocking out some cabinets for a bigger fridge space. The cabinets are all solid oak - just a bit dated looking so we are going to try and add some fixtures to spruce it up. Figure the fixtures are an easy update right now. I wish we had the savings to tackle the whole thing!

The Rustoleum cabinet transformation kits at Home Depot work really well to give a nice facelift before they can be replaced!

thisismynickname2 · May 2015

I was just going to say what Southern already did. Minor changes go a long way. I got rid of three outdated light fixtures (or, my Dad did, as he's experienced with electrical work) and all the brass doorknobs right away. I tore out a crappy shelf and put in nice new glass shelves. Paint is easy. Replacing old/leaky faucets isn't too hard (but don't do it alone, let me share that from experience). I put up really nice curtains and tore out old plastic window shades. These are all small things that aren't expensive and are easy to do that'll give a quick facelift to make things a little more bearable as you tackle bigger projects.

AprilH81 · May 2015

We bought a new-to-us house (hopefully our forever house) last May. After getting settled in and unpacked we took a room-by-room approach for painting and cosmetic work. We started in the formal dining room, formal living room and entry way since that just needed paint and decorating. We needed to buy a few pieces of art and a new buffet but otherwise we used stuff from our old house.

We hired an electrician to install a new electrical panel (old one was not up to code) and install over head lighting fixtures in the bedrooms upstairs (no overhead light at all and that is a must for me).

We painted the upstairs hall bath and bedroom before a visit from my parents in the summer and also replaced the towel racks and toilet paper holder in the bathroom.

We worked with a contractor to remodel the kitchen and downstairs powder room last fall (new floors, cabinets, sink, appliances, toilet, vanity, the whole nine yards). We took this opportunity to replace all of the brass door knobs and hinges with oil rubbed bronze.

The last several months DH has been building a bar in the basement and a few weeks ago we got it painted and decorated.

We just replaced the HVAC system, the old one was 22 years old and on its last legs.

Our next project is to strip wall paper in the office (one of our four bedrooms) and paint, then as soon as I find a new job we are going to remodel the master bathroom and paint our bedroom. Once those are done the only other inside project would be to do the last bedroom, but that will not get done until we turn it into the nursery.

I really try to take it one room at a time. It just feels better to me when I know that one room is "done" even if the others aren't quite there yet. As more rooms get done the house feels more like home than when we moved in.

Not including the kitchen and HVAC we have probably spent about $15k this year on the house, including some furniture pieces since we doubled the square footage from the old house. Our kitchen reno (including the powder room) was $33k (we did demo and some work ourself to save some money) and our HVAC was $10k. Homeownership isn't cheap, but some of the projects we did weren't that expensive once you have the supplies.

wandajune6 · May 2015

DH and I both had homes when we met. We live in his while I've almost sold mine. We both bought beaters.

The PPs are right about how to prioritize work. I'll just add an additional thought- take care of the easy things while you're living elsewhere. It's easy to paint a room while it's empty but much harder when it's filled with furniture. Not impossible, but harder. It sounds obvious but we keep putting off painting our bedroom because moving the furniture out becomes such a production.

Little things go a long way. While you may want to redo your entire kitchen, you may be able to put it off longer with some paint and new light fixtures. Removing wallpaper stinks but it's not difficult or expensive, just a pain in the ass.

Since moving into DH's house, we've redone the kitchen, living room, and spare bedroom. The latter was in such bad shape that we ripped things out to the dirt (no basement, previous owners didn't pour concrete for the extension). We've done a lot and still have a bathroom to gut. We're just putting that off for a while longer!

WinstonsGirl · May 2015

I love renovations, but hate them, since it's the only time DH and I fight.

Think about what you need to reno versus what you would like to reno. Start with the needs to be fixed/updated. The bathroom might be out of date, but if everything works, you might be able to live with it for now.

I won't touch electrical and be warned that once you start on that, or opening walls, you may find more problems, so be prepared to deal with that if you open up a wall and find problems. Keep some cash in reserve for that in case it pops up.

Be careful if you're going to live in the house while doing the kitchen. My parents did this and washed dishes in the bathtub for 3 months while waiting for it to be finished. I'd try to do it before you move in if you can. Have fun!!

AprilH81 · May 2015

WinstonsGirl said:
I love renovations, but hate them, since it's the only time DH and I fight.

Think about what you need to reno versus what you would like to reno. Start with the needs to be fixed/updated. The bathroom might be out of date, but if everything works, you might be able to live with it for now.

I won't touch electrical and be warned that once you start on that, or opening walls, you may find more problems, so be prepared to deal with that if you open up a wall and find problems. Keep some cash in reserve for that in case it pops up.

Be careful if you're going to live in the house while doing the kitchen. My parents did this and washed dishes in the bathtub for 3 months while waiting for it to be finished. I'd try to do it before you move in if you can. Have fun!!

Our kitchen reno was 2 months and we had zero functionality for about 5 weeks and very limited function for 6 weeks. It got old fast.

lovemesomemonster · May 2015

FIs parents did the kitchen thing as well and mom has told me it got old fast. The first time I met them he took me home over Christmas break, they had torn off their entire kitchen, laundry room, and second bath. Good thing I'm not shy because they were down to one bathroom which was in their room, so it was basically "nice to meet you, don't mind me when I tip toe through your room in the middle of the night".

tcnoble · May 2015

WinstonsGirl said:
I love renovations, but hate them, since it's the only time DH and I fight.

Think about what you need to reno versus what you would like to reno. Start with the needs to be fixed/updated. The bathroom might be out of date, but if everything works, you might be able to live with it for now.

I won't touch electrical and be warned that once you start on that, or opening walls, you may find more problems, so be prepared to deal with that if you open up a wall and find problems. Keep some cash in reserve for that in case it pops up.

Be careful if you're going to live in the house while doing the kitchen. My parents did this and washed dishes in the bathtub for 3 months while waiting for it to be finished. I'd try to do it before you move in if you can. Have fun!!

Ugh we discussed this last night. What projects can we knock out before we move in for convenience purposes, and what can we live around.

If we want to change the layout of the kitchen, it will have to get done while we are there... so we are trying to figure out a way to make it work as is. We may have to wait to replace the counter tops until we can afford it (what's in there now isn't bad just not what we want).

At least we will be able to get flooring, paint, plumbing, and the roof done for sure before we move in. What else we can manage beforehand is TBD...

House spinoff.. Renovations

Re: House spinoff.. Renovations

Choose Another Board

Search Boards