Let's Talk Remodeling

[mickeysgal]

Wish me luck, I have a designer coming out tonight to help with the planning of the bathroom. We haven't tried that route yet, hoping to find a good contractor to make recommendations. We've never worked with a designer before. I'm worried that we'll just get a lay-out that my DH has already come up with & lots of super expensive ideas!

In our last town, we worked with a designer on a couple of projects (one major, one minor). In my opinion, if your tastes jive, they're worth the consultation/design fees. They "see" things different than the average person. At a minimum, they'll let you know whether you're on the right track or off in the ditch somewhere.

I wish the lady we used was here now, I can use a hour or two with her. We're so new here, I don't know where to find one - yet.

Good luck to you. Remember to ask the designer for contractor and tradesmen recommendations. They usually have a handful that they rely on because they know their work and have used them over and over on projects.

 

[shovan]

Am I There Yet, I don't think we'd ever get that lucky! I still can't believe that guy took the time to come out, spent almost 2 hours here, measuring, talking & offering advice. Then doesn't bother to get back to us with an estimate!! And I forgot to mention I love your dining room!!!


mickeysgal, Thanks for the tips! I'm definitely hoping she has some good referrals for us! Right now in New Orleans, we have a lot of shady contractors/tradesmen around. The big problem is even the unlicensed shady ones are super busy! Then there are the ones like the guy I mentioned, checks out fine, comes out, we like him and then he doesn't call back with the estimate!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Am I There Yet, I don't think we'd ever get that lucky! I still can't believe that guy took the time to come out, spent almost 2 hours here, measuring, talking & offering advice. Then doesn't bother to get back to us with an estimate!! And I forgot to mention I love your dining room!!!

I had the exact same thing happen when we remodeled our hall bathroom. We wanted to extend our hardwood floors out and the guy took a lot of his time measuring, talking to me about the different options - the whole nine yards.

Then we never heard from him again. AND it was someone that was on my husband's referral list (he's an inspector)! Needless to say, he's no longer on it.

I'm expecting (or should I say half expecting) a gutter guy to show up in about one minute. I didn't get good vibes from him on the phone, so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised for him to not show up either.

 

[bengalbelle]

Remember me?? I posted that we would be buying a house that would require fairly extensive remodeling?

Well we bought a great house today that requires NO renovations!!!!! In the next few years I'd like to update the kitchen with granite counters and possibly new cabinets, but for right now we can just move in. It's freshly painted and I like all of the colors (except for the wallpaper in the kitchen, which isn't bad, I'm just not a fan of wallpaper).

Now we have to get our house on the market!

 

[elizke]

No, you are not alone!!! I like walls. I like rooms. I don't want to spend three hours prepping and making a meal in the kitchen, only to sit at the dining room table or den and look in the kitchen! I like -- OMG -- a wall to walk through and leave a room behind.

Plus, not for nothing, it makes decorating really fun. All our friends bought new-construction homes, and everything is sooo open with no dividers. I'm helping one friend right now with paint colors, and it's so hard because her kitchen is open to the dining room, and both the kitchen and the DR are completely open to the living room and den. I don't know how she's going to paint it but with one color. Where do you stop one color and begin another?

I have a blue room which ends at a doorway -- and wall -- that goes into a red room, surrounded by walls and doorways. Then you have a choice to go into a sand/green room or into a green and lavender kitchen. I keep my trim color consistent through the house. There's no way I could have this much fun with color with all my rooms open.

Your remodeling looks fantastic!!!

Thank you! Sometimes I feel like the realtors/builder rep people think I'm crazy. In our last house it was not quite finished when we bought it, so I was able to ask them to add the wall with a french door-sized opening, and we added them later. I swear they were giving me looks. But everyone liked it after it was put in.

And yes I completely agree about the fun with color and ease in decorating. I love going from room to room when they are different. And I also agree, when the evening's work is over it feels good to leave the kitchen too! I hadn't even thought about that but it's so true.

And I really like the sound of the green and lavender.

 

[Aurora63]

Heck, I bought my house knowing it had termites. Here, if you don't have them now, you will in the future. Gotta love Texas.

Luckily we had no damage though.

I bet you're so relieved that it's almost over!

Yes, I am thrilled it is nearly over, but the mess continues now. Today, I am taking the day off, because the floor guys are coming to finish installing the bamboo floor upstairs! It looks beautiful already and it's only half done.

We've done a lot of painting since I last posted, we changed the "Ultra Pure White" walls (i.e., hospital stark white) to a white caled "Palatial White," which is more of a cream color, its very warm and pretty.

I am projecting about 3 more weeks of upheaval, then maybe it'll all settle down.

 

[Galahad]

We think the overall project will be done the end of April. Great weather right now so the room addition stuff is finally getting a lot of work. The counter guy comes to measure for one of the two countertops today and I expect delivery of a "television lift" (DW has this grand scheme. She orders the parts online and vaguely tells me they are coming and my job is to just sign for them. Good gig, huh?). Looks like all of the floors in the existing part of the house will be done today (if they can get one of the seams right). That will be a huge plus. I might be able to get the use of a room or two back. The electrician is suppose to switch over to the new power supply (we had to pull more amps from the power company terminal). Hope he can do it with only a few hours outage. Boy I'll be glad when this is done. I'll post pic though.

 

[binny]

Well its T minus 24 days until the kitchen fun begins!

We are going to get this done over Easter weekend.

Dh hadnt seen the big sheets of the laminate that I picked out so I took him yesterday and he loved it!! He actually said " Lets go ahead and get it I cant wait, this is going to be perfect!"

Ok Who are you and what have you done with my husband???

Normally he hmmmmss and hawsss about this type of stuff until I wind up just getting it done myself.



I am getting so excited!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Remember me?? I posted that we would be buying a house that would require fairly extensive remodeling?

Well we bought a great house today that requires NO renovations!!!!! In the next few years I'd like to update the kitchen with granite counters and possibly new cabinets, but for right now we can just move in. It's freshly painted and I like all of the colors (except for the wallpaper in the kitchen, which isn't bad, I'm just not a fan of wallpaper).

Now we have to get our house on the market!

Congrats on the new house!

Sounds like what I did when I bought this house three years ago. It was built in 1993, so it needed some updating to suit my tastes, but it was pretty much turn-key.

We've done the remodeling over the past two-years and it really hasn't been that bad. Just enough to irk me, but not enough to turn me off from it.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Yes, I am thrilled it is nearly over, but the mess continues now. Today, I am taking the day off, because the floor guys are coming to finish installing the bamboo floor upstairs! It looks beautiful already and it's only half done.

We've done a lot of painting since I last posted, we changed the "Ultra Pure White" walls (i.e., hospital stark white) to a white caled "Palatial White," which is more of a cream color, its very warm and pretty.

I am projecting about 3 more weeks of upheaval, then maybe it'll all settle down.

Make sure to post pictures of your floors! They sound lovely!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

We think the overall project will be done the end of April. Great weather right now so the room addition stuff is finally getting a lot of work. The counter guy comes to measure for one of the two countertops today and I expect delivery of a "television lift" (DW has this grand scheme. She orders the parts online and vaguely tells me they are coming and my job is to just sign for them. Good gig, huh?). Looks like all of the floors in the existing part of the house will be done today (if they can get one of the seams right). That will be a huge plus. I might be able to get the use of a room or two back. The electrician is suppose to switch over to the new power supply (we had to pull more amps from the power company terminal). Hope he can do it with only a few hours outage. Boy I'll be glad when this is done. I'll post pic though.

By television lift, are you referring to one of those cabinets that hides the TV, and then lifts it up when you're ready to watch it?

I soooo want one of those at the foot of my bed.

 

[shovan]

bengalbelle, Congratulations on the new house & no immediate renovations!!!

The designer came out last night. She was nice & really listened to our ideas. But she could only give us one referral on contractors. It turns out her mother owns the company with the "I want pizza, Steve" goofy assistant! Also the company that gave us the $30,000 quote! (see quote below) Isn't that a horrible coincidence!

She did have a few good ideas though and said she'd get back to us in a couple of days. We'll see....

So, we are still on a hunt for somebody to do the work. I'm starting to think we will never have the new bathroom.

We are getting ready to redo our master bathroom. My DH is in a WC & we need to make it more accessible.

The first contractor we had come out gave us a price of $30,000!!!!! And this guy's assistant acted just like the 4th duplicate in Mutiplicity! I thought at any minute he was going to ask "I want pizza, Steve."!!!! I can imagine having that guy in my house for a month!
The contractors ideas were horrible & ugly anyway. It would have looked like a hospital bathroom!

Since we can't fit a big shower & a nice tub, I'm thinking of a nice tiled big shower with the fancy jets. Maybe the frameless glass doors. With the floors and walls tiled. I have some pics, I'll post as soon as I can figure out how to get them here!

 

[Galahad]

By television lift, are you referring to one of those cabinets that hides the TV, and then lifts it up when you're ready to watch it?

I soooo want one of those at the foot of my bed.

Yes. I met the delivery truck today. A flat screen TV will go inside the lift. Our contractors are building a half-wall with a shelf in the top and the TV will "rise" out of that wall in the new Solarium room we're building. Very cool. DW is very creative, I'll give her that.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Yes. I met the delivery truck today. A flat screen TV will go inside the lift. Our contractors are building a half-wall with a shelf in the top and the TV will "rise" out of that wall in the new Solarium room we're building. Very cool. DW is very creative, I'll give her that.

That is going to be nice! I can't wait to see pictures!

 

[Galahad]

That is going to be nice! I can't wait to see pictures!

I stopped by the house at lunchtime. The small "bump-out" solarium is starting to look like something. The larger room (that the TV contraption will go in) has got scaffolding all over it. Out neighbors must hate us but it should be over in a few more weeks.

 

[bengalbelle]

Congrats on the new house!

Sounds like what I did when I bought this house three years ago. It was built in 1993, so it needed some updating to suit my tastes, but it was pretty much turn-key.

We've done the remodeling over the past two-years and it really hasn't been that bad. Just enough to irk me, but not enough to turn me off from it.

It all starts with something simple, right? I keep thinking of the story of the extensive remodeling that started with changing a towel bar (that was on this thread, right?)

Thanks! I'm really excited about it!

 

[bengalbelle]

bengalbelle, Congratulations on the new house & no immediate renovations!!!

The designer came out last night. She was nice & really listened to our ideas. But she could only give us one referral on contractors. It turns out her mother owns the company with the "I want pizza, Steve" goofy assistant! Also the company that gave us the $30,000 quote! (see quote below) Isn't that a horrible coincidence!

She did have a few good ideas though and said she'd get back to us in a couple of days. We'll see....

So, we are still on a hunt for somebody to do the work. I'm starting to think we will never have the new bathroom.

That is a horrible coincidence! I live near Baton Rouge and believe it or not people are having a hard time finding contractors around here. I think it's because of new construction and such to accommodate all of the people who decided to stay here after the hurricane. That's what caused us to have such a hard time finding a house. There just isn't anything on the market that isn't crazy expensive.

Good luck with everything!

 

[bengalbelle]

That is going to be nice! I can't wait to see pictures!

Me too!

 

[shovan]

That is a horrible coincidence! I live near Baton Rouge and believe it or not people are having a hard time finding contractors around here. I think it's because of new construction and such to accommodate all of the people who decided to stay here after the hurricane. That's what caused us to have such a hard time finding a house. There just isn't anything on the market that isn't crazy expensive.

Good luck with everything!

bengalbelle, I can believe it! We have so many new contractors around here and they are all so busy. I've also noticed several new companies in different types of construction from Baton Rouge have expanded & opened businesses here. And I've seen all the new construction in your area. We are actually considering a move to your neck of the woods in a few years. To get out of the Hurricane Zone. We took a ride on Sunday to look at Pelican Point. We really liked it, but WOW the prices!
And oh yeah, GEAUX TIGERS!!!! My daughter is an LSU Grad.!

 

[bengalbelle]

bengalbelle, I can believe it! We have so many new contractors around here and they are all so busy. I've also noticed several new companies in different types of construction from Baton Rouge have expanded & opened businesses here. And I've seen all the new construction in your area. We are actually considering a move to your neck of the woods in a few years. To get out of the Hurricane Zone. We took a ride on Sunday to look at Pelican Point. We really liked it, but WOW the prices!
And oh yeah, GEAUX TIGERS!!!! My daughter is an LSU Grad.!

Pelican Point is beautiful! We looked there but decided to settle east of Baton Rouge. We bought in a new development that was supposed to be bought out by the developers of Pelican Point, but the deal fell through.

The house we're buying is in Baton Rouge. Since the hurricane (are you sick of hearing this yet???) DH and DS's commute is too long and cutting into family time.

I'm an LSU grad too! GEAUX TIGERS!!