We will be moving in a few months, and whatever we end up buying, we will need to remodel some areas due to our price range. If you have had any rooms in your house remodeled, did you do it yourself? Hire someone? Was it really expensive? Also, if you have any before and after photos, I would love to see them!
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We(contractors)have replaced all the windows and sliding doors, scraped the ceilings and removed wallpaper and we will get the house painted and have the carpet replaced. I hope everything is ready by the end of the month!
We want to do major renovations on the bathrooms and kitchen at the end of the year. They work fine but look hopelessly dated!
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We haven't done a lot and nothing major. My DH is a little handy, but most of the work has came from my FIL or my stepdad, they can fix anything it seems like. Some things we've done:
-replaced all laminate floors in our 2 bathrooms with tile
-painted a couple of rooms
-replaced all light fixtures including ceiling fans, chandeliers, bathroom light fixtures
-just recently we upgraded our countertops to granitewe still have a long list to complete! Owning a house is a constant work in progress, but it's so rewarding, I love being a homeowner!
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We bought a home almost two years ago and the only surfaces we haven't touched are the bedroom ceilings and the finished basement (which is next on our list). We've gutted and reno'd our bathroom and kitchen and then just de-wallpapered, painted, removed popcorn ceiling, tiled, layed floating floors, installed doors, have done rewiring, new wiring, new fixtures, you name it. We actually had our very first tradesman at the house today because we needed a hot water base board moved and we weren't confident enough to risk doing it wrong or taking forever with it and being without heat.
We saved a ridiculous amount of money. We couldn't have done any of the projects we did if we had to hire out labor. Honestly, with all the resources that are out there on the internet I think anyone can do it. You just have to be prepared to work a little slower than a pro would until you get the hang of things. Also, having the proper tools makes ALL the difference.
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This house was brand new when we bought it. When we buy our next house, we are hoping it will be a fixer-upper we can remodel to work for our family.
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@LAGS: I hope to do a lot of it ourselves too, or get family/friends to help. What is a floating floor?
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We just knocked a wall down and made a breakfast bar between our kitchen and dining room. We hired a contractor then a painter. Other than that not really.
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@autumnlove: Wow you've had a lot done, that must be nice though, getting things updated.
@mrsaudi: I'm really excited to own a home to make it our own, I bet it is really rewarding
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@crash806: There is this house we want and DH wants a more open concept and this same idea was presented to us. It sounds like it could be a lot of work though, did it take long? Was it an expensive project?
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Our house is from the late 60's and we have fully remodeled it. Popcorn ceilings have been removed, walls have shifted, floors completely overhauled (including the filling in of a sunken living room) and all bathrooms and the kitchen have been fully done. We also added a room and closed the garage in to make a playroom. There is nothing about our house that says its from that era, other than the fact that its a ranch house and the bones are cedar.
I personally, would have left a lot of the house with it's original face in tact, but my husband and his father thought otherwise at the time. We weren't married yet, so I wasn't given a whole lot of input, which was annoying. That and my FIL is a construction tyrant. And the same things that I was bitching about then, I'm still bitching about now.
Luckily, my husband is a contractor and the family business is in construction, so we knew all the right people. My opinion is, if you don't have the time or desire to learn to DIY, and you have the money, then I would hire a contractor. There are good ones out there, you just realllly need to get one by word of mouth and from lots of people if you can. Trust your gut.
If you do have the urge to do some things yourself, then I say go for it. Plan, plan, plan, and know you'll likely make mistakes, but it's ok. Just don't do your own electrical and plumbing. That's just asking for a disaster.
And it was expensive, but we did it all at once. Breaking it up into priority makes it doable. I would also advise to live with the house for a bit before you do anything too drastic. You might realize some things that you'd like to change that you wouldn't have noticed before actually living in it.
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@Bao: Our kitchen came with a laminate floating floor. It is just like the fake wood floor but ours looked like tile. It's floating because it's not attached by glue or nails or anything, just locks intogether/tongue and groove. We ripped it out and saved it and reinstalled it in our laundry room. It's super easy stuff to work with.
And because I found some pictures here's a before and a 'progress' for our bathroom remodel.
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@bree72: Great tips, thank you! Thankfully we know an electrician and a plumber so we are all set there
I like the idea of waiting a bit and then prioritizing projects.
@LAGS: wow, that looks awesome!! -
We bought an "older" home and are in the process of upgrading everything. So far, we've only remodeled the guest bathroom. We contracted it out. We removed the popcorn ceiling ourselves. We plan on remodeling the kitchen next and plan to DIY except for the granite installation.
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@Bao: it wasn't too expensive for us, our contractor and painter are family friends and took about 3 weeks from start to finish. We also bought the countertop (butcher block) and he installed it for us.
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@crash806: It's great when you know someone!
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