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How much have you improved your house since you moved in?
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Anonymous
| Have you done any home improvement (renovations, etc.) since you moved in? What has been the best renovations you've done? We've done some home improvement since moving in--replacing carpet and tile, doing some carpentry work. Now we want to renovate the bathrooms but I don't know how we can schedule this with both of us working full-time. I don't really want to use a whole week's vacation since I only get 2 weeks a year. How do you schedule renovations when working? |
Anonymous
| You give your contractor a key to your house. |
Anonymous
Well but we have used different contractors for each type of thing--i.e. the person who put in new flooring was one contractor, the painter is another, the bathroom renovator, another. I would never feel comfortable doing that, especially with our pets in the house! So if you don't feel comfortable giving someone the key, and you have no family in the area and don't have a nanny, how can you get these projects done? |
Anonymous
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You really don't need to be there while they're doing the work, and it's best if you aren't. We got a recommendation from someone I trust, and I was ok giving him my keys. You also hide your jewelry, just in case, because sometimes they do bring in painters, etc. who you don't know. I also have a weekly telework day and use that for smaller jobs that can be done in 1 day.
I redid my kitchen and all 3 of my baths in my last place. I redid the carpets and had the place painted. I also replaced a sliding glass door and 2 windows, and 3 70's-era closet doors, plus some outdated lighting. light fixtures and closet doors can make a BIG difference in how your place looks, for very little money. |
Anonymous
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We moved in 10 years ago and since then we've:
Put in central A/C Finished an attic into a room Finished the basement with full bath Redid a bathroom Updated kitchen (new appliances, countertop, backsplash) New landscaping Put in brick patio and 2 brick retaining walls Built a deck (my husband did this on his own) That's all I can think of right now. |
Anonymous
| PP here. The best thing was the central a/c. |
Anonymous
What did you have done to your closet doors? We hate our bifold doors, and we would love any tips or ides. Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Sorry for the typo. I meant tips or ideas. |
Anonymous
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Our house was in good condition, but we loooove home improvement projects so we've:
Redone all 4 bathrooms in our house Installed hardwood floors in the master bedroom (already had them on main level) updated all light fixtures/ceiling fans painted kitchen cabinets new granite countertops Painted entire house New Windows New patio out back All these things were done over the course of teh 6 years we've lived in this house. |
Anonymous
| Finished the basement, it was an absolute necessity so the kids had a comfortable, safe place to play. |
Anonymous
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We bought a 1937 townhouse from a contractor, so it was in very good shape. In 3 years, we've:
1. Replaced the vanity in the main bath (was a pedastal, and we wanted something with storage). 2. Replaced the shower in the main bath with a tub (wanted a tub for the baby). 3. New windows throughout. 4. New A/C unit (furnace was new, so just the A/C need to be replaced). 5. Small beadboard and window ceiling project when we renovated the office into a nursery. We're also about to re-do the small garden patch in the front with some hardscaping and I've considered doing spray insulation in the "attic" (it's about 3' tall, so I'm not sure if it's really an attic). We had a relative do most of the major work, so keys weren't an issue and beyond that, we have a nanny who can let contractors in. |
Anonymous
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1920's house, been here 6 years. Pre-kids, we did alot of DIY..
-almost all the windows -total gut/redo of main bath -lots of cosmetic stuff- taking down wallpaper, painting -refinished hardwoods on 2nd floor Since kids, we've used contractors for.. -total kitchen remodel (this took about 8 weeks and we gave them keys, they did not subcontract out stuff, except plumbing and electrical, and we met those guys. they did not have keys and were here when the main guys were, generally. The did occasionally bring an extra guy to help with something) -new deck and screened in porch (same contractors as above, took about 2 weeks and we gave them keys) Bigger things we still have.. -deal with HVAC issues -a few more windows to replace -water issue in basement |
Anonymous
| I just posted (8:39) and wanted to add-- my husband definitely did use vacation days or partial days occasionally to deal with renovation stuff (for the kitchen project). And there were a few things we had to be home for and we could usually schedule them for the telework days (like the granite or flooring, which did not even take a full day). However, if our contractors were going to be there anyway, they were happy to let these people in (for ex, to measure for the counters). |
Anonymous
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We're not terribly handy around the house. I'm also 10 minutes from my work so I was able to just let the contractor in, and they locked up after themselves.
Re-keyed the locks Extended AC ducting to the entire basement Put in a ceiling fan in the master bathroom Put ceiling fans/lights in all the bedrooms There were some minor odds and ends type stuff ... we'll be redoing the roof and putting in a gutter guard-type system when we close on our old house in September ... also the HVAC system will need to be replaced eventually. |
Anonymous
| 8:53 again, we also brought our generator from our old house ... whole house model. There was some regrading work around one of our deck doors to have water flow better and not under the door. |