Home Improvements...

What projects are you talking about?

Oh my gosh.... where do we start. We didn't even buy a complete 'fixer - upper' and we have been working every weekend on little things. And the costs really do add up - and everything snowballs into bigger projects. Its fun though to see the progress.

I'm not keeping track of how much we spent so far... but every time we go into home depot its at least $100

DH has done soooooo much I don't even know where to begin....

He rewired the whole house, added a door to an arch to make it another bedroom, created a kitchen out of a closet for the apt upstairs, dug up our entire backyard, we sanded and spackled EVERY SINGLE wall in the house, installed carpet, sheetrock and taping, built closets, mostly learning as we go along.....

The people who lived here before us were big fans of just covering things up.......

In 5 months we did more than most people do in 5 years...

All new electrical including rewiring entire house
new oil tank
new boiler
new separate hot water heater
all new interior doors and mouldings
CAC
refinished hardwood floors throughout
added pull down stairs for attic access

Kitchen
Gutted- resheetrocked and spackled
Vaulted kitchen ceiling
added sliding doors
moved heat
took down a wall btwn kitchen and laundry area
repositioned old broom closets to fit custom pantry
tile
all new cherry cabinets
all new appliances including washer and dryer
tile-floor and backsplash
granite counters
paint

Diningroom
Tore down water damaged ceiling and replaced
repaired termite damage in floor in corner
replaced header and took out arches between living room and dining room
added chairrail
paint

Livingroom
chiseled 3-D grout from stone fireplace wall
cleaned stone wall
restored stone wall
painted
ripped out old carpet
install real oak flooring
installed 4 high hats

Entry
new closet doors
new lighting fixture
added a second light
all new paint
cleaned and restored blue stone entry
new oak stair rail leading upstairs

Half bath
gutted
resheetrocked
new light
new fan
tile
sink
vanity mirror

Den
redone right before house was on market
just cleaned 2nd fireplace

Upstairs Hall bath
gutted
all new fixtures- tub, vanity, toilet
installed linen tower and vanity
recessed lighting
new baseboard heat

Master bath
Expanded old 3/4 bath by losing two small walk in closets and dressing area off bedroom to create a 13 X 13 foot area
expanded waste pipe to move toilet
new larger window
jacuzzi tub
separate shower with custom glass enclosure
linen tower and cherry 6' vanity with marble top
created 1/2 privacy wall for toilet
new baseboard heat
tile
paint

Master bedroom
built his/her closets
installed crown moulding and chair rail
added access panel for jacuzzi tub
added cable/electrical outlets
new baseboard heat

3 other bedrooms
added closet doors
added mouldings
repaired walls
painted

We actually saved some money as my FIL is a kitchen and bath designer. He doesn't do the labor but we did get contractors price on many items. His main contractor gave us a family discount on labor. He was here almost every day for 3 1/2 months We also paid cash for much of the work for subs and that helped too.

Total cost $105,000 cash.
The house originally appraised for 200K MORE than what we bought it for so it was well worth it. We still made out financially. We have a custom, all new home for a lot less than new construction costs and no new construction taxes. Actually, all of the fixtures we used would be extra in most new construction homes.

---

Posted by David'sbride

In 5 months we did more than most people do in 5 years...

All new electrical including rewiring entire house
new oil tank
new boiler
new separate hot water heater
all new interior doors and mouldings
CAC
refinished hardwood floors throughout
added pull down stairs for attic access

Kitchen
Gutted- resheetrocked and spackled
Vaulted kitchen ceiling
added sliding doors
moved heat
took down a wall btwn kitchen and laundry area
repositioned old broom closets to fit custom pantry
tile
all new cherry cabinets
all new appliances including washer and dryer
tile-floor and backsplash
granite counters
paint

Diningroom
Tore down water damaged ceiling and replaced
repaired termite damage in floor in corner
replaced header and took out arches between living room and dining room
added chairrail
paint

Livingroom
chiseled 3-D grout from stone fireplace wall
cleaned stone wall
restored stone wall
painted
ripped out old carpet
install real oak flooring
installed 4 high hats

Entry
new closet doors
new lighting fixture
added a second light
all new paint
cleaned and restored blue stone entry
new oak stair rail leading upstairs

Half bath
gutted
resheetrocked
new light
new fan
tile
sink
vanity mirror

Den
redone right before house was on market
just cleaned 2nd fireplace

Upstairs Hall bath
gutted
all new fixtures- tub, vanity, toilet
installed linen tower and vanity
recessed lighting
new baseboard heat

Master bath
Expanded old 3/4 bath by losing two small walk in closets and dressing area off bedroom to create a 13 X 13 foot area
expanded waste pipe to move toilet
new larger window
jacuzzi tub
separate shower with custom glass enclosure
linen tower and cherry 6' vanity with marble top
created 1/2 privacy wall for toilet
new baseboard heat
tile
paint

Master bedroom
built his/her closets
installed crown moulding and chair rail
added access panel for jacuzzi tub
added cable/electrical outlets
new baseboard heat

3 other bedrooms
added closet doors
added mouldings
repaired walls
painted

We actually saved some money as my FIL is a kitchen and bath designer. He doesn't do the labor but we did get contractors price on many items. His main contractor gave us a family discount on labor. He was here almost every day for 3 1/2 months We also paid cash for much of the work for subs and that helped too.

Total cost $105,000 cash.
The house originally appraised for 200K MORE than what we bought it for so it was well worth it. We still made out financially. We have a custom, all new home for a lot less than new construction costs and no new construction taxes. Actually, all of the fixtures we used would be extra in most new construction homes.

---

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I seriously cannot believe that you did that in 5 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You and your DH deserve some kind of medal! you did amazing and gorgeous work!!

congrats to you both!

We hired my FIL's main installer, George Walling and Son.

There is no way that most contractors, never mind homeowners, can get all of that done in 4 months.

We did paint though... all 11 rooms and a lot of moulding

I added a lot more pictues and a discription of the story on LIF's home board.

Here's what we have done so far:

PVC Fence $4K

All new 6-panel raised doors throughout whole house, new front door with glass, new side door, 2 new storm doors, crown molding in 2 rooms. $6K

Refinished hardwood floors in living, dining, 2 bedrooms $1K

Central AC $4K

Granite countertops in kitchen, new tile backsplash, new sink and faucet $4K

All new vinyl replacement windows $5K

---

Posted by Karen62794

Here's what we have done so far:

PVC Fence $4K

All new 6-panel raised doors throughout whole house, new front door with glass, new side door, 2 new storm doors, crown molding in 2 rooms. $6K

Refinished hardwood floors in living, dining, 2 bedrooms $1K

Central AC $4K

Granite countertops in kitchen, new tile backsplash, new sink and faucet $4K

All new vinyl replacement windows $5K

---

who did you use for the floors? We are looking to do that too

We used Carl Vitale in Wantagh, but I think he retired. I couldn't find a listing for him anymore.