Home renovation projects

[HeatherC]

So we decided to finally rip up the 20 year old carpet in the four bedrooms upstairs. Decided to put in an engineered hardwood since we don’t plan on being in the house forever and it is relatively “quick” to install. So now my upstairs looks like a bomb exploded...stuff everywhere as we are just on the first bedroom which is ours. I am trying to embrace the project but the disastrous mess is driving me crazy..

Anyone else in the middle of a project? How’s it going? Are you doing the work yourself or paying someone to do it?

 

[mrs. magoo]

I just finished putting vinyl flooring which looks like hardwood in 2 bedrooms. The carpet we ripped up was 48 years old. It was a mess and is still a mess up there. We ran out of room to put things. I live in the house I grew up in and so I have all of the stuff I have accumulated in 25 years of marriage with 4 kids and all of my parents stuff. My dad still lives with us and he is a hoarder (my mom died in 1991). I am so overwhelmed with stuff in this house that I don't know what to do. I want to get a dumpster and throw it all out but then I feel bad about the environment. So yes I did all the work by myself and I am happy the kids like their rooms.

 

[HeatherC]

I just finished putting vinyl flooring which looks like hardwood in 2 bedrooms. The carpet we ripped up was 48 years old. It was a mess and is still a mess up there. We ran out of room to put things. I live in the house I grew up in and so I have all of the stuff I have accumulated in 25 years of marriage with 4 kids and all of my parents stuff. My dad still lives with us and he is a hoarder (my mom died in 1991). I am so overwhelmed with stuff in this house that I don't know what to do. I want to get a dumpster and throw it all out but then I feel bad about the environment. So yes I did all the work by myself and I am happy the kids like their rooms.

I feel your pain! We built this house almost exactly 20 years ago (October) and raised three kids in it. Now with Covid they are all back with all their stuff plus all we have accumulated over the years. I just told my husband that we are definitely getting a dumpster. I will donate whatever I can, but we need to clean out. At some point we are planning to downsize so this is as good a time as any to clear out.
You must be feeling proud of your accomplish,ent by doing it yourself! That is awesome.

 

[sasywtch]

We just bought a house from a wierd guy. We had to fix holes in all walls (he hid a computer harddrive in one on a fishing line with his ex's info on it, unhooked the gas cause he thought she was trying to kill him, bolted all windows shut, etc). Painted all walls, had a roll in shower room installed in the master bath, new bathtub and toilet in hall bath, new vinyl wood type flooring in master and carpet in the other two bedrooms. We also had to tear down the back fence on one side as the neighbors build t a new fence 1 foot over. I was getting overwhelmed because I was thinking about the finished end and not step by step. I had to let things go knowing they will get done in time. I kept thinking.....the bath is getting done, but the yard needs, help, the cabinets in the kitchen haven't been painted, etc. Once I said, one thing at a time, it eased my stress up. It's been two months and everything inside is done but now the yard, front and back need help. And yes, to the pp....that vinyl flooring is great. Wish it was in the rest of the house but we have the fake wood stuff throughout.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Anyone else in the middle of a project? How’s it going? Are you doing the work yourself or paying someone to do it?

Well, so far, my husband and replaced the patio cover (3 weeks), built a storage shed (from scratch - 2 weeks), made a raised vegetable garden, and is now replacing the damaged ends of the beams that stick out from the house.

Not to mention the fixes he's doing on our 5th wheel between "jobs".

Yes, he'd doing it all himself.

 

[tvguy]

So we decided to finally rip up the 20 year old carpet in the four bedrooms upstairs. Decided to put in an engineered hardwood since we don’t plan on being in the house forever and it is relatively “quick” to install. So now my upstairs looks like a bomb exploded...stuff everywhere as we are just on the first bedroom which is ours. I am trying to embrace the project but the disastrous mess is driving me crazy..

Anyone else in the middle of a project? How’s it going? Are you doing the work yourself or paying someone to do it?

What is under your carpet can be horrifying. Our house and the contractor grade carpet in our house were 35 years old when we ripped it out (we had been in the house 31 years). It looked like a beach covered in fine sand under the PAD, so it had filtered through the carpet AND the pad over the years.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

We finally replaced the original windows in our 1967 built house! I love them. Obviously did not do it ourselves but worth every penny.

 

[belleatdisney]

We planned to have some inside work done but I don’t want strangers in the house right now.

I find construction stressful and bored as I am, at least I don’t have the added stress.

 

[Turn the Page]

DH is outside replacing the wood deck that was rotting out to the point that it was a safety hazard. We went with composite decking. We have quite a large deck on 2 levels and 2 side porches. We are just doing the top deck now and keeping the railing for a bit as that stuff is pricey. It looks great but we just couldn't do it all now and keep rolling on our other financial goals. Just the boards and fasteners for the top portion was nearly $6,000. It will look funny until we replace the railing but it is now safe for the kids so that's what matters.

We are planning to completely gut the kitchen and add a garage in the next few years. We won't be doing that ourselves.

 

[MillauFr]

I want to get a dumpster and throw it all out but then I feel bad about the environment.

Bingo. Just watch a few episodes of Marie Kondo, order the dumpster, and go for it.

 

[Christine]

Between Feb/March of this year, I had all 4 bathrooms renovated (we hired someone). It was about 5 weeks of torture but we were very lucky with the company that did it. They had their act together and we weren't too displaced. But the dust lingered for months.

About 20 years ago, I replaced all the carpet in my house with hardwoods. We essentially lived in the basement for a week.

 

[HeatherC]

Well we finished installing the hardwood in the master yesterday. Put back all the molding and moved our bed and furniture back in. Felt so great to sleep in my own bed. One room down and three to go. The projects never end.

 

[billlaurie]

Very nice HeatherC. I want to do the same thing to our upstairs, also 4 bedroom. Can't decide between hardwood, luxury vinyl or laminate. We have the original wide plank knotty pine floors on the main floor, which look nice from a distance, but the dogs really do a number on them so I want something that does not scratch or dent so easily.

 

[HeatherC]

Very nice HeatherC. I want to do the same thing to our upstairs, also 4 bedroom. Can't decide between hardwood, luxury vinyl or laminate. We have the original wide plank knotty pine floors on the main floor, which look nice from a distance, but the dogs really do a number on them so I want something that does not scratch or dent so easily.

Thank you! We are very happy with how it turned out. We decided to go with the engineered hardwood for a couple of reasons. We don’t plan in being here forever and when we sell the house it now has hardwoods throughout which realtors have told us can help us get more money for the house.. It is also very easy to install, looks great, has a 30 year warranty and was literally half the price of solid hardwood.

if you decide to do it, you will not regret it.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Your floor looks great!
We had LVP (I think that's what it is called) all through our first floor and now starting conversation about carpet or move LVP upstairs in the bedrooms and loft. To answer your question, I'm slowly methodically going through the house. We moved in 3 years ago and just unpacked the necessary items and left everything in boxes or hidden away. Until few months ago we didn't have pictures on the walls or barely any our "treasures" out in book cases. Yesterday we finally finished the deck! We had it built a year ago and needed to let the wood sap drain before staining it. I am so very happy with it. Here's few before and after pictures.

This week I'm working on organizing and redoing the pantry. Cleaning it out, getting new containers, dividers and labels. This coming weekend will be working on my husband's office hanging pictures, decluttering and probably some paint.

I have a running list and going room by room things I can do with little to no money and then making list of things I want for each room and looking for items on sale as I'm out and about or shopping from the couch. Good luck with the rest of your flooring!

 

[HeatherC]

Thanks Tina! Your deck looks awesome too! So nice to have a long awaited project completed.
‘Home projects are NEVER done.

Today my daughter and two of her friends ripped out all the carpet in her room and are now removing staples and getting room ready to paint so we can move on to installing the flooring in room number 2.
I figure by the time we get the house the way we want it, we will probably wind up moving.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

No big renovation projects at my house because I've been laid up recovering from double knee replacement since the beginning of July. Before that, I had been biking in all the surrounding neighborhoods in order to lose weight, increase quad strength and work on range on motion pre surgery. I kept noticing all the houses with the best curb appeal, and I went on a spree right before surgery getting my front yard beds in shape - weeding, putting down a pre-emergent weed treatment, planting new plants, trimming, mulching. Unfortunately, my family has not been so good about watering since my surgery. I also planted all the deck planters, painted my front door and repaired/painted the window trim on the back of the house. The trim on the front of the house was repaired and painted last year, so it looks good. I also had the family room carpet cleaned and restretched.

As I was biking around, I also noticed the super cute mailbox posts people had. Ours was just a wooden post that I've painted white a couple of times. Well, my book club arranged to bring dinner to my house a few times a week during the 3 weeks after my surgery (I am so lucky to have such great friends!). One of them ran over our mailbox when she backed out of the driveway, so guess what I just got???!!! A super cute new mailbox post that I'll never need to paint! I'll have to thank her later!

 

[teller80]

Can I cheat and show you what I did last year? I refinished my hardwood floor by hand! You can see I did not have an exit strategy in my second picture lol.

 

[HeatherC]

Can I cheat and show you what I did last year? I refinished my hardwood floor by hand! You can see I did not have an exit strategy in my second picture lol.
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They look great! Did you sand them down first? We have oak in our entryway that I would really like to match with the rest of our hardwood on the main floor which is Santos Mahogany. We may decide to just take it out and tile.

 

[teller80]

They look great! Did you sand them down first? We have oak in our entryway that I would really like to match with the rest of our hardwood on the main floor which is Santos Mahogany. We may decide to just take it out and tile.

Thank you! I sanded them by hand, I was told that when you use a machine you can get circle marks from the sander. If you can get a piece out of your floor of the stain you want, they should be able to match it. Would you want to try it first and if it doesn't turn out then go to tile?