Home Repairs/HoneyDo List/Advice & Tips/etc.

[Best Buckeye]

Due to time and budget constraints, we really have not changed much in our house. Both areas should be more relaxed soon, so I wanted to take a straw poll:

What renovation(s) have you enjoyed the most afterwards?

Conversely, what upgrades didn't really seem worth the money and effort afterwards ?

A couple years ago We added a large bedroom with a walk in closet and a full bath on our ground floor. We enjoy them all for one reason or another as each was what we needed. Also over a long period of time I upgraded the electrical system by myself to 200 amps. In Ohio the homeowner doesnt need to be licensed to renovate or add anything to his house. I was the general contractor on the above addition and I enjoyed both the work in progress and the final outcome. To achieve that the most important thing I did was to work closely with the city inspection dept so that everything was done according to code. The plans and specs I made directed each sub contractor to provide his own license and adherence to code.
I upgraded my furnace from a converted coal furnace to a lennox pulse, added my own central air and renovated the kitchen. I installed new duct work for the entire gouse and I tore out all the interior walls in my 2 story 1913 built house and rewired and insulated them, and hung new drywall and ceilings. I didnt tear out the walls all at the same time, I did one room or maybe a room and hallway at a time. Doing the living room took me from march to November after work and on weekends since my wife didnt let me get anyone to help because she didnt want anyone to see our dirty house.....

The things that were worth the most are the items that truly increase the value of your house when it comes time to sell it.
The upgrade that I like the most was the one to a 40 inch flat screen .....

 

[WyoBuck]

Due to time and budget constraints, we really have not changed much in our house. Both areas should be more relaxed soon, so I wanted to take a straw poll:

What renovation(s) have you enjoyed the most afterwards?

Conversely, what upgrades didn't really seem worth the money and effort afterwards ?

Are you talking cosmetic, or mechanical?

 

[jwinslow]

probably cosmetic, though I'm not opposed to mechanical. I take it you've really been enjoying your motorized chair lift?

 

[jwinslow]

Thanks. We plan to be in this house long term. Thankfully the bank had fixed or replaced most of the bad/ugly things to help sell it (before we even saw it), including new paint & carpet (the walls were eye bleeding salmon:

). The only repair needed was replacing the bathroom floor which was rotten (which the bank wouldn't touch, fortunately my dad has a background in carpentry).


So far we have repainted (light tan walls, espresso trim), replaced all light fixtures (from this ) & replaced the ceiling fan.


Our best investment was a living room set custom made by Amish Originals (in rich tobacco finish). They were as affordable as the poorly made, rickety sets you find in value city, etc (not knocking those places, we still love our VC sofas 5 years later). They even customized it to widen the console opening for our audio receiver.

Repainting the kitchen cabinets is probably next on the docket sometime this winter.


It is a little bit daunting trying to decide how to decorate considering: a) I have no idea what I'm doing b) our open floor plan has 60% of the house as one big connected area, so we can't make one section blue, another beige like you can with a traditional layout. We prefer this as we have an enormous living area (instead of a largely wasted formal living room that you rarely use), but it makes design decisions more tricky.

 

[Mac]

With the painting of the kitchen cabinets. It's not hard to do. It just takes a while. Pick the right paint/stain, and prep, prep, prep, prep.

 

[buckeyebri]

Due to time and budget constraints, we really have not changed much in our house. Both areas should be more relaxed soon, so I wanted to take a straw poll:

What renovation(s) have you enjoyed the most afterwards?

Conversely, what upgrades didn't really seem worth the money and effort afterwards ?

I have really enjoyed the renovations that may seem cosmetic the most. For example in the house we are currently in it has been a lot of walls and floors. I have repaired and repainted walls along with doing new flooring in a number of areas. These seem like long term upgrades that have a feel good to them when you are in and around the house.

Like Mac we did a main bathroom and I am working on a single bathroom now. The kitchen is next with new floors that go throughout the living room and kitchen. Then it is a toss up between the Master Bath and an outdoor space upgrade.

Edit: Love doing flooring including wood and tile. Not so fond of doing walls...

 

[Deety]

It is a little bit daunting trying to decide how to decorate considering: a) I have no idea what I'm doing b) our open floor plan has 60% of the house as one big connected area, so we can't make one section blue, another beige like you can with a traditional layout. We prefer this as we have an enormous living area (instead of a largely wasted formal living room that you rarely use), but it makes design decisions more tricky.

You can still section it. Pick a palette and, in each functional space, anchor it with one of the colors with a painted wall, curtains, area rug, tablecloth, or big piece of furniture, using the other colors as accents. Everything will match, but you'll also have variety.

 

[jwinslow]

You can still section it. Pick a palette and, in each functional space, anchor it with one of the colors with a painted wall, curtains, area rug, tablecloth, or big piece of furniture, using the other colors as accents. Everything will match, but you'll also have variety.

Feel free to MS Paint up this stitched image with a rough idea of what you mean (the stitching messes with the perspective, the first image is a very long room):

These are from our pre-purchase tour. The walls are now a very light tan with dark brown trim. I'll try to upload something later with the new look.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Is that Mrs. Jwins?

 

[jwinslow]

Is that Mrs. Jwins?

Indeed. Where any good wife should be :p

 

[Mac]

Was hard at work yesterday...ripped up the old green carpeting in our bedroom, and laid the new flooring. What a difference. 2 rooms down, 1 to go!

 

[buckeyebri]

Just picked up a Dremel Max Saw kit this afternoon at Lowes for $100. I was actually looking at a miter saw that I could do different degree cuts with, but thought for the most part this would allow me to do enough cuts with the mitre guide along with all the other cuts I can do with the various material blades.

 

[Best Buckeye]

Just picked up a Dremel Max Saw kit this afternoon at Lowes for $100. I was actually looking at a miter saw that I could do different degree cuts with, but thought for the most part this would allow me to do enough cuts with the mitre guide along with all the other cuts I can do with the various material blades.

I would have gone with the compound mitre saw as any loose saw and guide requires you to have three hands to get accurate cuts. JMO

 

[buckeyebri]

I would have gone with the compound mitre saw as any loose saw and guide requires you to have three hands to get accurate cuts. JMO

I really liked the versatility of the Dremel for all the projects that I have on the books. Of course, there is always the possibility that a certain job around the house will come up and I will really need that compound mitre....

 

[Best Buckeye]

I really liked the versatility of the Dremel for all the projects that I have on the books. Of course, there is always the possibility that a certain job around the house will come up and I will really need that compound mitre....

Well you can always rent mine for a nominal fee.