Have you thought about renovating your home?
If so, I’m sure you’ve dreamt about how it’s going to look and function after you’re done.
In other words – it’ll be gorgeous and functional and Instagram-worthy. Right? (Or is that just me?)
It’s easy, so easy, to get caught up in the ideas of the after-math. I’ve done that countless times in THREE different houses. *covers face*
Going through the project, from beginning to end, often doesn’t match the idealistic picture you have in your head of it. We need to get that sorted out BEFORE you start tearing into walls. 😉
So, these are some big things you need to know before renovating your home:
1) Expect everything to take longer than you expect
Yes I know I used the same word twice in one sentence. It’s for effect.
Whether you’re renovating houses full-time or you’re like me and your husband is working full-time while you’re trying to raise babies in the middle of his renovating-the-house-during-every-possible-free-moment thing, everything takes longer than you expect.
That’s a general rule.
Don’t get me wrong, there ARE those amazing times where things just fall together and you come out ahead of schedule. Those are times to rejoice and go out to eat. (Especially if it’s a kid’s eat free night).
However, unexpected time related issues should be expected with every project.
Like wasps. Wasps can be an unexpected issue with the potential to delay a project – even in the dead of winter. Don’t underestimate wasps.
In the beginning of February of 2019, we closed on our third house. Our first night there, my husband’s sweet aunt killed our first wasp.
It was snow-storming outside.
We didn’t think anything of it. Then the next day, another wasp, no TWO, and the next.
They just kept coming till we were at minimum 4 wasps, up to SIXTEEN, a day.
As much as I’m against pesticides because of the damage they’ve done to our food, bodies and environment, we gave in and called a pest company. Finally they sent the owner out. We shocked him. He’s done this for 30+ years and he’d only seen this issue ONE other time – when the wasps got deep into a catholic church and didn’t die out over the winter.
Ultimately, he couldn’t spray in the winter, and we refused bug bombing the house, so we had to resume work carefully. Our never ending supply of mahogany wasps lasted until early May.
2) Budget for the little, boring, forgotten things
Sometimes renovating a home is EXPENSIVE.
Wait. Did I say sometimes?
Ahahahahaha.
I meant all the time.
All the time renovating a home is expensive.
Now, that’s NOT to say it isn’t worth it. Once you see the finished, gorgeous, functional end result, it’s so worth it. Plus, the amount of equity you can add to your home is almost limitless.
Just, budget accordingly. Because those little, boring, and forgotten things add up.
Little things are like:
- new outlets
- new switches
- wall plates
- trim
- paint
- painting supplies – brushes, rollers, plastic, tape, roller handles, paint cups, etc.
- cleaning supplies
- light bulbs
- face masks
- eye protection (because we’re all smart and responsible and wear both when renovating) 😉
- ETC.
Boring things are like:
- drywall
- studs
- OSB or subflooring
- Pex plumbing supplies and lines
- nails
- screws
- more nails and screws after Hubby misplaces his huge, heavy boxes of 10,000 nails and screws
- closet lighting
- whole house water filters (very important, but boring)
- 12-2 and 14-2 wiring
- mud (drywall compound)
- sanding equipment
- any tools you or your husband ‘NEEDS’ for the project
- and so on…
Forgotten things are like:
- anything and everything on both above lists
- and more that I’ve currently forgotten
Depending on the size of project, make sure you budget a good amount over what you THINK it’s going to cost.
That way you’re pleasantly surprised when you have a few extra dollars in the bank.
3) Doing life in a renovation space is MUCH harder
I’d say, expect at least 10 times harder.
If it’s a kitchen, it’s more like 100 times harder.
If it’s a bathroom and if it means your ONLY bathroom is in the farthest parts of the upstairs, while you’re trying to potty train a toddler, it’s more like 150 times harder.
Actually, it’s not THAT bad, however it is right up there with having no kitchen.
At one point in our 3rd renovation, we had a beautiful, new, 72″ vanity in a box taking up most of the doorway into the living room. It weighed a thousand pounds so, even though I tried (how do you think I knew it weighed a thousand pounds?), I couldn’t budge it on my own.
So it sat there for ages while we had to focus on other things.
The marble top for it, which weighed 3,000 pounds, was perched on the sub-floor in the gutted kitchen/dining area, sticking out into the middle of it.
A 72″ long marble vanity top, in a box AND a crate. And don’t forget, 3,000 pounds. I couldn’t move that either.
We had 2 cheapy, plastic, garage cabinets for kitchen bases and 1 taller one for a ‘pantry’. The ‘counters’ were Melamine with rough edges. A camp stove, a toaster oven, a laundry tub, and a half broken dishwasher made up the rest of the kitchen. Our new fridge still had most of the packaging on it but it was functional.
The double ovens sat in the middle of the room, non-functional, where the island belonged. And our laundry was located where the new pantry belonged.
I said “don’tcomeoutherewithoutshoeson!!!!!!!” (“don’t come out here without shoes on” – only super fast) to super fast toddlers 25,000 times a day for weeks that turned into months before flooring was finally finished.
It’s HARD living in the space while you’re renovating your home. It’s even harder when you DIY it.
But it’s worth it. Plan for tears and frustrations (and dangers in the environment if you have little ones), and then plow through until it’s finished and you can enjoy it!
4) Renovating your home can affect you emotionally and mentally along with physically
It’s easy to be outside the project, make all the plans and give yourself a timeline.
It’s a completely different story once you’re moved in (or semi-moved in like we always are) and in the throes of a soul-sucking, gut-wrenching, budget-busting project.
Physically it’s uncomfortable. Stuff isn’t where it should be. Your work area for activities of daily living, like making food, are often tiny or non-existent.
Emotionally those physical things can come out in the form of tears. Or whining, complaining, self-loathing, project-loathing, angry outbursts. Expect emotions to be high.
If you’re amazing like my Hubby, you’ll shrug the hard things off, figure out the un-figure-out-able things, and keep on swimming.
If you’re like me, you’ll cry a lot and clean a lot and try to get the kids out of the house more.
And that’s all ok.
Hold on to your vision of the finished project, and do what you can to hold the things you love about each other higher than these momentary discomforts.
5) The amount of character you can add to a space is immeasurable
Renovating your home can turn it into something it’s never been.
After our first taste with Fixer #1, we were addicted to that factor. It seems to overshadow all the negative above.
We completely changed the floorplan and amenities of that house by:
- Enlarging the 2nd floor bath
- Turning the small bedroom on the other side into a large laundry room
- Finishing and adding a large bedroom to the attic space/3rd floor
- Adding a half bath to the 3rd floor
- Opening the wall between the kitchen and dining room
- Adding a huge breakfast bar in between
- Painting the upper kitchen cabinets and adding shaker style trim
- Replacing all the countertops and adding shelving on the right side of the stove
- Replacing the carpet in the dining and living with continuous wood-look laminate
- and so much more
Did we do everything the way I would now, knowing what I know? Absolutely not, ha. (Like using laminate flooring – never, ever again!)
But it was a stepping stone in designing, renovating and remodeling for us. It played a huge part in the visions we have now for this old Victorian Farmhouse in the mountains of New York.
I actually wish I could go back and redesign half the things we put in that house… like the boring tile we put in the bathrooms, and ordering cabinets online instead of painting the ones we had, and the paint colors in the rooms (we painted the laundry ceiling brown!)… but I digress!
Renovating your house is one of the most worthwhile, exciting, exhilarating things you could do, however…
Before renovating your home you need to make sure you have a good idea of what you’re doing
For example:
- DON’T go taking a window out if you don’t know that you need a header, or the difference between a new construction or replacement window. You can use either as a replacement, however the measurements and process is completely different.
- DO NOT go taking plate covers off outlets and trying to rewire if you don’t know you need to turn off the power at the breaker box. (And numerous other things – just don’t mess with electricity, ever, if you’re not fully versed in it!)
- DON’T go ripping shingles off your roof if you don’t know how to lay new shingle in the correct way to create a leak proof seal
- DO NOT go headlong into a project where large amounts of black mold are involved without the proper gear and knowledge of how to handle it
- DON’T ever, on your life, EVER consider covering up black mold with carpet, paint or drywall (!!!)
- DO research everything & soak up as much knowledge as possible from professionals in your family, friends and church family
- DEFINITELY take in to account the safety of you and your family FIRST
- DO take a step back and hire out the job if it’s something you (or your wife) are not comfortable playing with (i.e. electricity, roofing a steep pitched roof, mold, etc.)
In other words, when you’re renovating your home you need to understand what you’re up against and make sure you are in it for the long haul.
Once you’re done, it’ll feel so much better than you can imagine.
So much better than watching the couples on TV who sat around and didn’t get their hands dirty on a single project as they hear the words “Are you ready to see your Fixer Upper?”. 😉
