Renovating an Old House on a Budget

Renovating an Old House - When my husband and I searched for our first home, we saw that a lot of places that presented a lot of problems. We discovered that already renovated houses were either too small or out of price range, so we bought a place that needed a lot of work and resolved to renovate on a budget of around $15,000.

We discussed just hiring a contractor to do most of the work – it would be fast and would give us more of an opportunity to really enjoy the finished project. But if we did the work ourselves, it was likely we would see a bigger return on our investment.

To cut costs, we decided we'd draw on help from friends and family. My dad had a contractor friend who came by to give us ideas, and then we hired a friend with a tons of construction experience to refinish the bathroom. Since we bought materials and paid him for the labor, the costs were cheaper than they would have been with a traditional contractor. We ended up removing modern features (like a raised rectangular sink) and replaced them with more classic finishes like hexagon floor tiles.

Next came the master suite. An upstairs addition had added a sun room section to the master bedroom, which created an unusually big space for an old Victorian. There were plenty of problems: the windows were old and the cheap trim was deteriorating, two different kinds of wood flooring had been used in different sections of the bedroom, and the closet was small and awkward.

Renovating the rest of the bedroom turned out to be more time-consuming. The original closets were built under eaves, which meant they only came up to chest level. Since we wanted to hang adult-sized closing in them, we widened the openings and added a wall to enclose the space and create something that is rare in old houses – a walk-in closet.

The final piece of the puzzle was the master bedroom space. It needed new windows and trim and the bamboo flooring that covered part of the room needed to be replaced. It was a big project to fit in around our full time jobs, so we again drew on others for help.

My brother-in-law helped with electrical fixes and my in-laws spent hours wielding crow bars and hammers to help us dig up the seven layers of floor that we discovered in the master bedroom. My husband helped a friend with some of his projects in exchange for help with ours.

Working on the project bit by bit was time consuming, and it took us two and half years to completely finish the master suite. But the upside to spreading the work out over time meant we could also spread out the costs without taking loans to finance it.

In the midst of the long project, I often puzzled over whether we'd be able to enjoy what we had worked so hard on. We hadn't planned to be in the house forever—my husband's commute was long and we knew we would outgrow the house once we had kids. So, we spent the first couple years living in a smaller downstairs bedroom while we renovated the upstairs, and there were times when I wondered if the trade off of time versus money was worth it.

In the end, the numbers worked in our favor. We spent about $12,000 renovating the master suite. Hiring a contractor to do the work could have probably cost three or four times that amount.

About $4000 of the costs went to labor. We tried to do what we could on our own, but some tasks (like moving plumbing or installing carpet had to be hired out). The rest of the money went to materials and some tools (we bought tools we thought we would use again, and tried to borrow the rest).

While we did come in under our initial budget, our major sacrifice was time. When we weren't working our day jobs, the house projects always loomed over us. We probably spent over 400 hours working on the house (with my husband putting in the majority of the time). We had to sacrifice things we would have preferred to be doing on the weekends to spend time working on the house.

We ended up living there for another three and a half years after the master bedroom was renovated, so we did have some time to enjoy it. When we eventually sold the house, it paid off.

With the money we saved on the renovation, we were able to take a trip to Southeast Asia where we sipped beers on the beach and indulged in banh mis and curries. Shortly after returning home, we moved into the renovated master suite. That summer we watched the moon through the open skylights and listened to crickets chirping in the trees at night. It was good to be home.

Three Bathrooms in One Go for Under 3,5 dolars

Bathrooms in One Go for Under 3,5 - Before moving in, we hired a contractor to paint, change light fixtures, install a wood floor in the second floor hallway and do some trim work. We had no intention of updating our bathrooms, but within days of moving in, my husband began obsessing about it.

We hadn't budgeted for bathroom renovations, but decided to just get an estimate. Can't hurt, right? Wrong. $2,400 just for granite? Ouch. Despite the cost, however, we wanted to make it happen economically.

A friend suggested shopping for remnants, and we learned that we could purchase exotic pieces left over from other jobs for a fraction of the price – but there was a catch. Because we needed such a large piece, we had to be patient and wait for enough remnant material to become available.

We then began working with a granite fabricator who took measurements and noted our color preferences. Later, he called us when the right piece came in. Not only were we not in a rush, we were happy to wait and save up, as the granite was not in the original budget.

In the meantime, we realized that we could pull the same trick in two other bathrooms (for a total of three renovated bathrooms), using the savings from one towards the next, while paying only once for the installation, plumber and electrician. Having to wait a year worked in our favor budget-wise so that we could save up and embark on a triple mini-facelift for three bathrooms at once.

Bathroom 1



COURTESY OF ERRIS LANGER KLAPPER
This bathroom featured an oversized double vanity with an endless white expanse. So, we had the granite fabricator cut and remove the under-mount sinks (which were in perfect condition) and had him reuse them, along with the old faucets.

We also purchased new light fixtures and slapped on a fresh coat of paint. My husband cut and installed a wood frame around the gigantic mirror for a more finished look.  My husband spent less than $100 in materials – saving us about $350 had we hired a carpenter. We spent about $2,000 on the granite, plumbing and electrical work. Had we purchased a non-remnant piece of granite, new sinks, and faucets, we would've spent about $4,000.

Total savings: We were thrilled to save $2,000, plus $350 in material costs.

Bathroom 2



THE NEW GRANITE COUNTERTOP COMPLEMENTS THE WALL COLOR FOR A MORE COHESIVE LOOK.
COURTESY OF ERRIS LANGER KLAPPER
We had yet another basement bathroom with more boring white counters. While innocuous, the counters lacked interest and pizzazz. After the granite remnant success on the first bathroom, we pulled the same trick in this bathroom, along with adding a new vessel sink and faucet.

The plumber installed all the sinks on the same day, which also added to the savings. We discovered that it costs $50 for the granite fabricator to cut the hole necessary to install an undermount sink. A new vessel sink also costs $50, but only requires a small hole necessary for drainage, which is cut on site at no charge. So we opted to purchase a new vessel sink, which added an edgier look to our otherwise traditional home.

The cost of the granite, sink, and faucet was $900. Had we not used a remnant, we would've spent about $1,500.

Total savings: We applied our $600 in savings towards the final bathroom project.

Bathroom 3



REPLACING THE SINK, FAUCET, AND VANITY GAVE THIS BATHROOM A MORE MODERN LOOK.
COURTESY OF ERRIS LANGER KLAPPER
This renovation was for our tiny powder room. This space featured a useless pedestal sink with little room on either side or underneath to store a basket for toilet paper or tissues. We found an all-in-one 24″ cabinet at our local home improvement store, which had a marble top, sink, and faucet with ample storage space.

The unit was about $450 installed, and would've probably cost about $1,000 had we purchased a cabinet, countertop, and faucet separately. We were looking for a cottage-type feel but debated dark paint in such a small space. In the end, we decided to take a chance, as paint didn't seem like a huge investment or gamble. We loved the cozy cottage-like feel that resulted.

Total savings: Going for the all-in-one saved $550.

All of these upgrades took about a week to complete. The project did not break the bank – or my nerves. Because we waited a year for the right piece of granite to materialize, we were able to plan and save – as well as apply the savings towards upgrading two other bathrooms in the process. We enjoyed the project and didn't feel like we flushed our money down the tubes. In fact, our tale of three toilets had a very happy ending.