significan remodeling...anyone done it?

[sparklemom]

we are considering doing significant remodeling to our home. it would take several months to complete. jobs include totally redoing the kitchen, master bedroom, guest bath, finishing existing garage into living space, and building a new garage.
any of you been through this kind of home remodeling. have any wisdom to share?

thank you

[MCsMom]

I am in the midst of a master bedroom, living room and kitchen re-model. My only advice is not to do them all at once. I feel like I am living in shambles and my entire life is spinning out of control. If you can, I would only do one room at a time, so you can relax in the living room when the MBR is in shambles, or be in the kitchen when the LR is in shambles.

Good Luck!

[velochic]

I totally got flamed on another thread about this very topic, but we did a major remodel 2 years ago when my mother was moving in with us, and it was a disaster. We dealt with about 15 different contractors and subcontractors and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM cheated us. We ended up spending about twice the original cost because so much work had to be redone. They often ditched work for days or weeks and didn't call. One guy, we found out, actually charged US for his new table saw that he needed and another guy disappeared and never returned when we gave him the 2nd $5000 installment. Once everything was done the: bay window has cracked, the drywall underneath it included, the roof leaked, the siding popped off, there was no flashing installed between the new roofline and the existing house, and a door was installed improperly.

Anyway, I'm just complaining about my own woes, but we came to the conclusion that if we want something different with the house, we buy a different house. Our next door neighbors and my best friend also had problems with dishonest contractors. Before I get yelled at by contractors' wives on here, I'm not saying all contractors are crooks... but all I've ever met were.

Be careful about who you hire. Ask them for references of people who were NOT happy with their work. Ask for insurance, proof of belonging to the better business bureau, and go see other work they have done (years back). Make them commit to doing your job and your job only and to give a reasonable timeline. Write into the contract that you will pay a certain percentage less each day that they go over. That's how they do it with big construction jobs, and you deserve at least that much respect as well.

[sparklemom]

well, i think we're fortunate in that regard. our neighbor and friend is the one who would do the remodeling. we've used him twice before for knocking out walls and bathroom work and they've been timely and trustworthy. he's also done significant work in several other homes on our street. so hopefully that'll skip me the contractor woes, but you never know...
bc we're talking about so much work, i'm thinking we might ought to invest in a camping trailor,...a decent one (i've really been wanting to get my dh into camping anyhow,...maybe this is a sneaky way ) so that my daughters and i have a climate controlled spot to escape to during all the noise during the day. my parents also live nearby, but i could only take that in small small doses.

[thriftyqueen]

Just make sure you find out the total costs to make sure it is worth the remodel. We were going to add on a bathroom, a garage, an office, redo the kitchen and bathroom, but when we got the costs back, it was way too much. Our house would not have appraised for enough. We live in an area where housing costs are pretty low. Building materials are expensive right now. If you are planning to live in the house for a long time, it is probably worth it, but in our case, we want to move in 5 years or less.

[p.s]

I've been through several smaller remodels.

Most recently, DH did our kitchen, except for the countertop which is solid surface and we didn't have the option to buy without installation. This is a hobby of his, which means it happened when he wasn't at work, and since sometimes he had to take home work to do on the computer or just wanted to spend "family time," then it took longer than absolutely necessary. On the other hand, since he works as hard as a cross between a demon/bull, it was done in about the time a contractor would have taken.

DH has also remodelled an investment house, moving around rooms, rewiring, rerouting pipes, building stairwells. He learned as he went.
As in...(me-away on business): I didn't know you knew how to solder?!
Dh: Oh I did't. I just went to the library and got out some books.
Me: What?!!:
This remodel took A LONG TIME.

When I was single, I had my condo kitchen and bath remodelled. Key was friend of family who travelled from out of town and stayed with parents while he remodelled my place.

Agree with pp to take one room/ one chunk at a time. Stay involved. Have fun! And take advantage of the opportunity to declutter.

[ItyBty]

I grew up in a house that was in a state of constant remodel, and my parents did nearly all the work themselves. I got a few years of reprieve while renting, and how Dh and I are remodeling our house by ourselves. It's progress at the speed of molasses, but its getting done, and we aren't giving anyone our money except Lowes and Home Depot.

It's hard work, it feels like its taking forever, and its not easy or fun, but when its done, I love to say "We did that"

[crl]

We have done more minor remodeling, DIY. We did our kitchen (painted cabinets, laid new floor, replaced coutertop, new lighting, new appliances) and finished our basement at our old place.

We may be about to undertake fairly major remodelling. We're in the midst of buying a new place so if the survey and inspections come back okay we're going to be remodeling (maybe moving) the kitchen, bumping out the dormers upstairs for bigger rooms, adding a bathroom or two and refinishing the basement. We will hire someone to do this work.

Our plan is to do all or most (basement may have to wait until we have more money) of that next summer. DS and I will spend most of the time visiting relatives and DH will crash on his sister's couch. I prefer to get it all over with rather than have a perpetual remodel going on.

My advice (based on our small remodel, my mom building a new house and my research) is to research and make all your decisions as firm as possible. Changes during the process are often expensive and delay things.

I've found the kitchen and other forums at www.gardenweb.com to be very useful. Lots of obsessive people so lots of details (sometimes overwhelmingly so).

And if you are doing a kitchen on a budget, be sure to check out IKEA cabinets. They were highly rated by Consumer Reports and I think some of them are really nice-looking.

[AuntLavender]

We're doing the bathroom and we've got asbestos

so we can't rip up the vinyl sheet flooring because it has 10% asbestos. We're going to put the new floor right over it. I peeled the wallpaper off the walls (it was put on BARE DRYWALL) and that took 3 days.

Dh took the toilet out but we're going to reuse it and just replace the lid and the seat.

We removed the mirror and the light and the vanity.

So far I'd say take it one step at a time. DH is a CPA and it's tax season so he can only work one day a week since he works 6 days a week now. I worked on the wallpaper as part of our homeschool!

[UmmBnB]

Move out and do it all at once.