Home projects

[tea]

In the spirit of getting to know each other better, I thought we could share home projects/improvements etc here.
As some of you know, I was in the process of purchasing a house. Well, we closed earlier this week and the house is legally ours. It'll take about 2 months or so of renovations before we can move in. The 3 bathrooms all need to be redone, the entire kitchen needs to be redone. The cracks in the walls need to be patched up and ALL the floors need to be replaced. Every single room needs to be repainted since it has not been painted in 40 years. Let's not even start on the backyard... it's overgrown with huge blackberry bushes.
So, that's what is ahead of me...
What are other people working on?

[FoxyandSexy]

Geez Tea, that sounds like a TON of work!! I know what you'll be doing all summer long....at least!

This spring or summer we have to start putting in our front yard. My idea of a yard is rocks and my idea of yard work is Round Up! But seriously, I hate yardwork----especially the bees (getting stung), insects, and getting sunburned! I'm soooo not looking forward to that!

Amy

[jewellk]

Tea....congratulations on your new Money Pit...er, I mean House!!! Sounds like what DH and I have done. We bought a 105 year old house two years ago and have been renovating ever since! At times, it's been horrible but mostly, we love it (the house and the work!) When we bought the house, it had no kitchen, just an empty room where one used to be. We tore everything out to the bare studs....two ceilings (it had a dropped ceiling installed in the 70s), walls, and floor. You could see down into the coal bin and had to balance on the beams to get from one end of the room to the other. For 6 months, we had a refrigerator and a microwave in the dining room! My only advice...renovate your kitchen in the summer, that way you can cook on the grill outside and won't have to eat out so much or live on micro-wave food! We're now renovating our master bedroom and having a garage built...Almost done with that...then onto the hallway, laundry room and front bedrooms...Then the floors need to be refinished...Oh, I could go on and on and on....It truly is a labor of love, but in all honesty...they really don't build them like they used to!!!

[luvnjewelry]

Well tea it sounds like you got yourself a real "fixer-upper".   I know exactly what you are going through as that is what our house was when we first purchased it 15 years ago.   Although the work can seem quite overwhelming you can save thousands buying a fixer upper and doing most of the work yourself.   Also..the work can be exactly the way you would like for it to be with your own personality/taste.  It can be fun to see what the updates will look like when they are finished.    I am chuckling because some of the things that we updated after we moved in,  are already becoming outdated.   Whether old or new,  it is part of home ownership.   Welcome to owning your own home!       Take before and after pictures of everything that you do to the house.   It is rather cool to look at those and see the progress.  Very exciting!~Ronda

[tea]

Yeah, it's a lot of work. The good thing is that we won't be living IN it while we're doing most of the heavy duty stuff. We will continue living in our current house until that one is ready. Then after we move to that one, we need to focus on the current one... *sigh* A LOT of work ahead of us.
There is something exciting about it. As DH and I were driving around town today, we found ourselves noticing fences people use and found some styles we liked, etc. We get to make it the way we want.
We will have to look at the lay-out more closely but I think we need to knock down some walls to make it flow better... open it up a bit. It has a really awkward layout right now....

Mindi: Yours sound like MUCH more work than mine! I can't even imagine! 
The house does have good bones... too bad that's about all that will be left of it. We're contemplating whether we want to re-do the plumbing while we're at it. It hasn't been updated. Same with the electrical...

[jewellk]

Lucky You!!! That's so nice that you don't have to live in the construction!

I will have to say, I LOVE the demolition part of it!! There's something very therapeutic about taking a sledge hammer to a wall!!!

Yes...please post before and after pics and keep us posted!!

[tea]

Will try! Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures amidst all the chaos!
Post pics of yours! Sounds like A LOT of work has been done on it!

[Kati]

Congratulations on your house.  It sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you.  Right now, we're renovating our kitchen and bathrooms.  Our house is 30 years old and the previous owners didn't keep it up the way you would like a home to be kept  up.  Anyway, please do post before, during and after pics.

[jewellk]

I'll try to post some tomorrow. I meant to bring the other laptop home but I forgot. This one just has the bare basics and I don't have anything saved on it.

[DiamondLady]

Congrats to the new HOME OWNERS!!  That's such a great feeling!

And even though it wil be a lot of hard work, it will be so worth it! And just think... this Christmas you'll be celebrating in YOUR new home!!!!!!!!!!! 

[evilmailjeep]

My home was built in 1955, 2 of the rooms used to be garage, and they left the exteior walls and windows in place when it was enclosed....someday, it will go back to garage

Last summer we took out the carpet and found hardwood floors, they need refinished. Bathroom floor needs replaced, so does the tub.

[jewelle]

Too many to list.   We are renovating and remodeling an older home too (about 30 years old...also never updated before us)
So much fun, what can I say?!LOL Not.
We are going to finish up within the year and then sell for a nice profit (well, hopefully! ) and purchase new or build again. I just want to purchase, hubby wants to build again. I don't want to deal with it after all of this. I just want to move in and be done.
I LOVE older homes but ours  is 30 years old (70's) and is not my idea of "older". I'd love to have an approx 1900-20 home with the high ceilings and all the beautiful woodwork and detailing....

[tea]

Yeah, the home we just purchased was built in the 60s, not my idea of old either. I like older homes with a lot of character. This one, not so much.
We just looked at it again last night and realized there is A LOT more work than I anticipated. Nothing of the kitchen will be left/usable... same with the bathrooms.
This is the first undertaking of this kind of us. Should be interesting. We are getting excited about the possibilities though!

[diamondjunkie]

So many of us busy doing up our homes!

We bought our first house in 2004.  It's not old but had hardly been decorated at all so I have been busy!  To cut a long story short, I've remodelled the kitchen a little, put in a fireplace, laid tile, laminate, painted, installed lights, added new coving, skirting, and chair rails.........all without DH who hates DIY!  I wouldn't say that I'm brilliant at it but I'll give it a go and I usually do okay.  The garden is another matter altogether - I am honestly useless at that!

Here's a few pics of our home.  The pic with the pine bed is a 'before' - the blue bedroom is the 'after'.  We're still working on other things and the purple & gold room needs the walls painting.  There are fairy lights behind the purple tulle on the wall over the bed - it looks really cool when they are turned on.

[attachment older than 120 days deleted by admin]

[acebruin]

DJ your house is pretty!  so neat and clean too!

[diamondjunkie]

Neat and clean?!  Not normally!  My two children make sure of that........

Thanks for the compliments though - I do love our house!

[acebruin]

[jewellk]

DJ...did you paint your son's room?! That looks AMAZING!! He must love it! Your home looks lovely!  

[diamondjunkie]

Yeah I did - thanks Jewellk!  It was a fun room to do.  You should have seen the hideous green color it was painted when we moved in!

[FoxyandSexy]

That's awesome DJ! If I ever have a baby, I know who to invite over to help me paint the baby's room........you & Ronda!!!!

You guys do AWESOME kids rooms!

DJ, I love your kitchen & other bedroom too. You have fine taste.

Amy

[tea]

Thanks DJ for posting those pics! Certainly gives me inspiration and motivation! You have a beautiful home! It's obvious that you're very loving and wonderful to your family.

[Snooper]

I don't know how I missed this thread!!! But I love reading what you girls are up to when you're not on CDI

Denise, your home is beautiful!

You girls are giving me ideas for when I am in the position to do some DIY work! Nice to get non diamond advice:)

[Diamondluvr]

DJ-that is a great boys room!!!  The rest of the house looks to nice also.  Can't wait to see the before and after pics of everyone elses home projects!

[Mrs Mitchell]

Hey, this is a great thread, how did I miss it? Need many many more pics though! DJ your house looks delightful, you have really elegant taste!

I married an architect and have lived in one or another half built house ever since, so this thread is familiar territory.  I love the house we have now - it is a Victorian railway house. Oh, but does it need work done!!

I just took delivery of my toilet though, so that's progress. (Not as bad as it sounds, we have a tiny ensuite that we've been using while the wet rot, grotesque fittings and 'modernisations' were being ripped out of the main bathroom.)  It all seems to take such a long time though. Part of the problem is that DH specialises in period restoration work and everything has to be done just so - materials, techniques, paint and finishes etc all have to be either original or contemporary. I can't slide reproduction stuff past him. I do love that he cares so much, but I could shake him warmly by the throat sometimes. He's now rejected three (3- yes, count them!) bath tubs because the detailing was wrong. He's obsessing over the casting marks on bath feet, while I stand in the middle of the house and watch the wind blow romantically through the tarpaulin. Because matching 108 year old roof slates  can't be rushed, you know...

Ok rant over! Tea, I wish you luck with your restoration. It's hard work, but great fun too, if you don't kill each other along the way!

Keep us posted.

Jen

[tea]

Jen, would LOVE to see pics of your project! Sounds wonderful!!
Well, hubby and I don't have that period restoration hurdle like you guys do. We will get started next week by getting some measurements and spending more time in there. We just met with the sellers again last night and they said they will be moving out this coming Sunday evening... soooo means we can actually take a longer look at the place.
The demo part of it should get some aggressions out