The Ultimate DYI Project

[hoyt75]

We bought our house in June and we're basically renovating the whole thing. So far we've renovated all 3 bathrooms and the kitchen (new fixtures, tile, appliances, pulmbing, everything), we installed new front and back doors and we have ripped up the old flooring and we're putting down real hardwood downstairs and re-carpeting upstairs, all on our own. After that all we have left to do put up a new fence and paint the upstairs and we'll be done.

 

Is anyone else doing a lot of remodeling and doing the work on their own? It just seems like a lot of homeowners on the forum subcontract work.

[seaprincess]

We are total DIY'ers! We bought our house almost two years ago, and so far, funds have been limited, so the work has been relatively superficia.

 

We have managed to repaint the kitchen, dining room, living room, powder room, master bedroom, spare bedroom and the basement man cave, the front door, garage door and ouside trim, and we are set to paint the hallway in the upcoming months - we just need to find a ladder that will reach my 16 ft ceilings! We have also repainted the kitchen cabinets, and refaced the powder room vanity.

 

Two of our bigger projects have been installing new baseboards and crown moulding on the mainfloor, and refacing the fireplace surround and hearth with beautiful marble 6"x24" meshed backed tiles that required some seriously detailed cutting with the wet saw!

 

For electrical, we have replaced some of the light fixtures on the mainfloor (with 4 more left to do), and the one in our master bedroom. I personally have gone and changed each and every outlet and light switch from the ugly 80's beige that it was, to clean crisp white (i'm talking re-wiring here, not just replacing the faceplate).

 

We still have totally gut both upstairs bathrooms, replace the tile in the front hall, rip out the carpet in the livingroom and replace it with hardwood to match the dining room, retile the backsplash in the kitchen. We plan to DIY all of that stuff, but we also need to replace the carpet upstairs and that will be contracted out.

 

Between my hubby and I, we are pretty handy and patient people who love doing stuff ourselves. When babies come along, that might change, but for now - we are total DIYers!!

[ktnicole]

I too am a DIY'er. I don't the funds to hire someone else! = ) I haven't gotten as far as I would hope but so far we gutted the bathroom down to the floor joists. replaced the subfloor, tiled the floor and the shower. Having trouble getting the molding done, its a pain in the butt. The rest has been mostly painting, replaced a couple of doors. New front porch. Looking forward to doing more as time goes and funds come along

[hoyt75]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktnicole Having trouble getting the molding done, its a pain in the butt.

The crown molding gave us a really hard time, the cuts have to be darn near perfect for it to look right. We're in the same boat w/ money, we have x amount that we spend each month, but with our wedding just a month away we've kinda held off on everything.

[Princess402]

Wow, good for you on all your DIYing!

 

FI and I are DIYers too, and loving it! We bought an old apartment a year and a half ago that needed new EVERYTHING! We've torn up pretty much all the flooring put in new carpet in the bedrooms (okay well that is the one and only thing we actually didn't DIY), new engineered hardwood in the livingroom and hallway, and new tile in the entryway. We've repainted throughout (my brother did help with that though, and he is a pro-painter!). FI and his dad built a wall (it was weird, the second bedroom was open to the livingroom when we got it)! New baseboards, baseboard heaters, door handles, blinds, etc. FI is an electrician (thank goodness, he's so handy!) so everything is getting rewired, and nifty new plugs where I need them. All new appliances too, but that's not really DIYing...

 

But really we've only just started, there's so much more to do! New closet doors are next on the list. Then, the bathrooms. And finally (maybe next year?) the kitchen.

 

Need more funds to keep going... and more time!

[tsgnatko]

Good Advice for a new first time Homeowner

[AishaB]

Wow. Good luck with your project!

[RunningBride24]

WOW, nice work!!!

[jszy10]

This sounds like me and my FI!!  Within an hour of getting the keys, we ripped out the kitchen and started renovating the whole thing!  In the first year and 1/2 we redid the kitchen, finished the basement, built a 1/2 bath, redid the upstairs bath, ripped up the carpets and refinished the original hardwood and painted all three bedrooms.  I'm in the process of picking paint colors for the dining room and kitchen now! (I've actually painted them several times and hated everything!!)

[want2gosouth]

We bought in February and completely renovated the Kitchen and Main floor in 2 1/2 weeks ourselves. It does help that my husband is an electrician and does a lot of reno work but it was insane!!

 

Here is a list of all the work we did:

 

Refinished all the cabinets & installed new hardware

Installed Granite Countertops

New Appliances

Hardwood floors throughout the main floor

New Carpet in Bedrooms

Painted entire house (and re-painted the ceilings as well)

installed new baseboards and painted those

Replaced all Light fixtures

 

I just recently re-modeled our Main bath in about a week as well