Complete home interior remodel

[tokamak 6391]

We are looking at buying a house well below our budget and doing a complete overhaul of the interior before moving in. Kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, everything. Light structural stuff like taking out/moving walls, rearranging kitchen layout, if necessary. Maybe even some minor facelift of the exterior (siding colors, shutters, etc). Budget will be around $100k including any design/consultation fees.

Questions:

• Is this too small a project to hire an interior designer? We have no vision for this kind of thing ourselves. However, everyone that Google turns up (in Houston) has portfolios of $10 million homes in River Oaks and shit like that.
• Assuming we do go the designer route, what kind of fees can we expect? I assume it's a percentage of the total project budget?
• Do contractors typically want to source materials themselves, or will they generally be OK with us sourcing tile, flooring, etc ourselves and just paying them for installation?

 

Any other thoughts/suggestions from anyone who has gone through a process like this would be very helpful.

[shadetree 66]

I will let the experts chime in, but lots of variables go in to cost. What size house? What kind of finish out you want. Can either do a fixed price or cost plus contract. Cost plus means contractor pays for everything you want done and charges a markup.

On buying materials yourself and having contractor install, often the contractor will get a better price than you can.

I think an architect/designer will charge a couple percent of the total project. A good one will be worth it and can work contractor to make sure things are done correctly.

100k can go very quickly, again depending on size and finish out.

[Mr Bean 26]

Call Chip & Joanna

[PXTX 1]

Be ready to spend 20% more at least the contractors will most likely find hidden issues during the tear out.

[Parliament 14239]

And they'll screw you every chance they get.

[Gil Bang 25913]

And they'll screw you every chance they get.

Absolutely hire a designer. A good one will source materials cheaper than you can buy them yourself

[Godzillatron 292]

Absolutely hire a designer. A good one will source materials cheaper than you can buy them yourself

You need a designer to make sure you get the right kind of shiplap installed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

Make sure to budget for booze because you'll probably need it with all the bull shit you'll go through.  If not from contractor from your wife.  Probably both.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

designers work a couple ways.  % of construction budget, hourly, or hourly with a mark up on furnishings you buy from them.  You need too be very clear about what you need from them to establish the best fee structure.  

Working with an interior designer the you're  not moving walls is one thing. When walls start getting ripped out it's time to get an Architect to help with the space planning.

[Gil Bang 25913]

16 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

designers work a couple ways.  % of construction budget, hourly, or hourly with a mark up on furnishings you buy from them.  You need too be very clear about what you need from them to establish the best fee structure.  

Working with an interior designer the you're  not moving walls is one thing. When walls start getting ripped out it's time to get an Architect to help with the space planning.

Need an architect for sure, but why not an interior designer too?   No offense onboard, but there are very competent architects out there that aren't as strong on the ID side as a good designer, and in my experience, designers tend to have a better "bedside manner" and relate to the client a tad better. 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

10 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Need an architect for sure, but why not an interior designer too?   No offense onboard, but there are very competent architects out there that aren't as strong on the ID side as a good designer, and in my experience, designers tend to have a better "bedside manner" and relate to the client a tad better. 

No offense taken. Yeah, both can be part of a team. I'm working on 2 projects with interior designers now. I like the team concept (owner, architect, designer, builder) when everyone can set egos aside and work towards a common goal for the client.

And yeah there are a shit load of architects out there with no sense of interior space, and how it needs to be planned for furniture, traffic flow, views, etc.

As far as bedside manner, residential architects must have that skill set or they don't generally survive IMO.  I also have to play marriage counselor on many of my projects.

 

 

[Gil Bang 25913]

Fair enough.  

Most of my practical experience with architects comes from doing medical stuff.  OSHPD architects are very smart, and complete and total nerds for the most part.  Designers were invaluable to us when it came to making our places beautiful and patient-friendly, and the architects were the folks that kept us code-compliant and able to be accredited

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

9 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Fair enough.  

Most of my practical experience with architects comes from doing medical stuff.  OSHPD architects are very smart, and complete and total nerds for the most part.  Designers were invaluable to us when it came to making our places beautiful and patient-friendly, and the architects were the folks that kept us code-compliant and able to be accredited

Yep, huge difference between the commercial and residential side of architecture.   I have to wear many hats as an architect, sometimes a metaphorical dress and high heels.

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

Costs can add up quick!

Have you done any remodeling yourself? Can you swing a hammer?

Do as much yourself as you can! It will save you some money plus get done they way you want. Get a commercial dumpster for a grand, get pizza and some beer, invite as many of your asshole friends that you can stand and at least do the gutting yourself. Not that difficult, and you can get an idea of what you may encounter for the remodel.

Never hurts to befriend a GC for advice, or some Home Depots have people working there that actually know some things or (eventhough they are not supposed too) they can steer you in the direction of a contractor that can help you out. Ours did, plus a couple of them helped me with the plumbing.

Again, price things out as cabinets, flooring (hardwoods, tile) can add up quick, along with how fancy you want your kitchen or baths to look.

Though you are doing this for yourself, always keep resell value in mind. Would others like it if you were to sell? Good Luck! 

Edited April 9, 2018 by BillyGoatHill

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

51 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Costs can add up quick!

Have you done any remodeling yourself? Can you swing a hammer?

Do as much yourself as you can! It will save you some money plus get done they way you want. Get a commercial dumpster for a grand, get pizza and some beer, invite as many of your asshole friends that you can stand and at least do the gutting yourself. Not that difficult, and you can get an idea of what you may encounter for the remodel.

Never hurts to befriend a GC for advice, or some Home Depots have people working there that actually know some things or (eventhough they are not supposed too) they can steer you in the direction of a contractor that can help you out. Ours did, plus a couple of them helped me with the plumbing.

Again, price things out as cabinets, flooring (hardwoods, tile) can add up quick, along with how fancy you want your kitchen or baths to look.

Though you are doing this for yourself, always keep resell value in mind. Would others like it if you were to sell? Good Luck! 

The. most important part of your post. You get one chance to get it right so before you go doing anything talk to a designer of some kind, architect or interior designer (not an oil terrier decorator, theres a difference. Decorators are often house wives that fancy themselves creative and hang a shingle. Designers are typically much more professional, and often have more formal education.  

Get their advice FIRST on a layout that will be cost effective, aesthetic, and will improve your resale opportunities down the road.

[deadshank 24652]

On 4/8/2018 at 11:55 AM, Gil Bang said:

 

Absolutely hire a designer. A good one will source materials cheaper than you can buy them yourself

 

Tread lightly with this statement or at least make sure the designer has a budget pounded into their head.

[deadshank 24652]

6 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Yep, huge difference between the commercial and residential side of architecture.   I have to wear many hats as an architect, sometimes a metaphorical dress and high heels.

And your are fabulous in them!!

[deadshank 24652]

Two years ago we remodeled our kitchen, laundry room and master bathroom.  We switched out all base boards and crown mouldings to make them all the same throughout the house.  Put in new floor tile where applicable and re-sanded and stained the wood floors.  All new appliances, as well.  Walls were moved and plumbing was moved.

$200K all in.  Of course, the work was in the most expensive "per square foot" rooms you can work in.

A $100K budget is not going to get you real far in kitchens and bathrooms.

Edited April 9, 2018 by deadshank

[tokamak 6391]

1 minute ago, deadshank said:

Two years ago we remodeled our kitchen, laundry room and master bedroom.  We switched out all base boards and crown mouldings to make them all the same throughout the house.  Put in new floor tile where applicable and re-sanded and stained the wood floors.  All new appliances, as well.  Walls were moved and plumbing was moved.

$200K all in.  Of course, the work was in the most expensive "per square foot" rooms you can work in.

A $100K budget is not going to get you real far in kitchens and bathrooms.

Christ that is discouraging. We might have to rethink things if that is the case. We're not overly concerned with resale value because we plan to stay in this home for a long time, but I don't see a lot of sense in buying a house for $450k and spending $200k to renovate it.

Thanks for all the answers so far.

[Errestaurants 2570]

we spent around 50k remodeling our kitchen and master bathroom/bedroom 5 years ago. not a gut job either nor did we move any plumbing or walls. Im pretty sure all these damn shows like flip or flop have ruined the uninformed homeowner regarding costs. I was one of them. i thought you could get everything for 20k or something. 

[deadshank 24652]

27 minutes ago, tokamak said:

Christ that is discouraging. We might have to rethink things if that is the case. We're not overly concerned with resale value because we plan to stay in this home for a long time, but I don't see a lot of sense in buying a house for $450k and spending $200k to renovate it.

Thanks for all the answers so far.

If you're not sawcutting slab to move plumbing, moving a bunch of walls and if you take it easy on appliances and lay off super expensive countertops you can get close to your number.  Really nice kitchens and bathrooms are expensive due to the trades involved and the stuff you put into them. 

Re-skinning is less expensive than gut and do over.  Get a real clear picture of what you want and then get a contractor you can trust (they are out there).

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by deadshank

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

Yeah you can get cabinets in the $35-40k range that look great.  Crafty maid @ Lowes is a perfectly good cabinet line and they can do some design for you if they have somebody competent on staff.

[Chewbacca 7766]

On 4/8/2018 at 9:15 AM, tokamak said:

We are looking at buying a house well below our budget and doing a complete overhaul of the interior before moving in. Kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, everything. Light structural stuff like taking out/moving walls, rearranging kitchen layout, if necessary. Maybe even some minor facelift of the exterior (siding colors, shutters, etc). Budget will be around $100k including any design/consultation fees.

Questions:

• Is this too small a project to hire an interior designer? We have no vision for this kind of thing ourselves. However, everyone that Google turns up (in Houston) has portfolios of $10 million homes in River Oaks and shit like that.
• Assuming we do go the designer route, what kind of fees can we expect? I assume it's a percentage of the total project budget?
• Do contractors typically want to source materials themselves, or will they generally be OK with us sourcing tile, flooring, etc ourselves and just paying them for installation?

 

Any other thoughts/suggestions from anyone who has gone through a process like this would be very helpful.

How big is the house?  I doubt you're getting all of that for $100k.  I just re-did the master bath, did new counters and appliances in the kitchen, and re-did the flooring in the other bathrooms in my house and did paint and carpet.  I think it ran me close to $65k and I get a lot of things cheaper than the average person because I have relationships with subs who do a lot of work for us and I got the appliances for half price because we buy a lot from Whirlpool.  Retail mine would have been  $80-90k.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

27 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

How big is the house?  I doubt you're getting all of that for $100k.  I just re-did the master bath, did new counters and appliances in the kitchen, and re-did the flooring in the other bathrooms in my house and did paint and carpet.  I think it ran me close to $65k and I get a lot of things cheaper than the average person because I have relationships with subs who do a lot of work for us and I got the appliances for half price because we buy a lot from Whirlpool.  Retail mine would have been  $80-90k.

Yep that job looks more in the $175k and up and that probably doesn't include design fees unless it's a pretty small house.

[Bigbend1812 12915]

On 4/8/2018 at 10:31 AM, Mr Bean said:

Call Chip & Joanna

Call your divorce lawyer.

[tokamak 6391]

15 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

How big is the house?  I doubt you're getting all of that for $100k.  I just re-did the master bath, did new counters and appliances in the kitchen, and re-did the flooring in the other bathrooms in my house and did paint and carpet.  I think it ran me close to $65k and I get a lot of things cheaper than the average person because I have relationships with subs who do a lot of work for us and I got the appliances for half price because we buy a lot from Whirlpool.  Retail mine would have been  $80-90k.

We've been looking at stuff in the 3000-3500sf range.

14 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Yep that job looks more in the $175k and up and that probably doesn't include design fees unless it's a pretty small house.

Y'all got me thinking a lot. Having no experience to fall back on, seems like I've been dramatically underestimating the price of home remodels. I'd guess that's pretty common. Rough guesses, based on not much more than the feedback I've gotten in this thread so far:

• Kitchen - $60k
• Master bath - $20k
• 2x secondary baths - $10k/each
• Floors - $25k
• Trim/paint/misc - $20k
• Subtotal = $145
• +20% cost overruns and other bullshit = about $175 k

Where am I low or what am I forgetting? Seems like our best move might be to look for a house that's more ready for move-in than we'd been thinking and/or has stuff that we can live with waiting to do.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, tokamak said:

We've been looking at stuff in the 3000-3500sf range.

Y'all got me thinking a lot. Having no experience to fall back on, seems like I've been dramatically underestimating the price of home remodels. I'd guess that's pretty common. Rough guesses, based on not much more than the feedback I've gotten in this thread so far:

• Kitchen - $60k
• Master bath - $20k
• 2x secondary baths - $10k/each
• Floors - $25k
• Trim/paint/misc - $20k
• Subtotal = $145
• +20% cost overruns and other bullshit = about $175 k

Where am I low or what am I forgetting? Seems like our best move might be to look for a house that's more ready for move-in than we'd been thinking and/or has stuff that we can live with waiting to do.

Without seeing the actual space and sizes, those numbers don't seem out of line.  Kitchens don't have to be hugely expensive with the right cabinet selection.

Floors if you're just refinishing could be lower if you can just "screen" (less intensive sanding  refinishing job) the floors and not take them all the way back to bare wood you might save some dollars.

Master bath, if you don't need a tub (who does ?? and it won't hurt resale to not have a tub if you have a good shower and sink area) and you don't need a ginormous shower with multiple heads and a steam component (4'x5' and up is a good size with a glass door wall, a bench). will run $20k and up.

You need to factor in how long you intend to live there.  5 years min. to start to recoup costs.  This is an investment as much as anything.  If you're investment will pay for itself when you sell, and or make a better return it's easier to sink the dollars in the project.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Onboard 2.0

[UTPhil2006 3805]

1 hour ago, tokamak said:

We've been looking at stuff in the 3000-3500sf range.

Y'all got me thinking a lot. Having no experience to fall back on, seems like I've been dramatically underestimating the price of home remodels. I'd guess that's pretty common. Rough guesses, based on not much more than the feedback I've gotten in this thread so far:

• Kitchen - $60k
• Master bath - $20k
• 2x secondary baths - $10k/each
• Floors - $25k
• Trim/paint/misc - $20k
• Subtotal = $145
• +20% cost overruns and other bullshit = about $175 k

Where am I low or what am I forgetting? Seems like our best move might be to look for a house that's more ready for move-in than we'd been thinking and/or has stuff that we can live with waiting to do.

Email sent

[tokamak 6391]

18 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

You need to factor in how long you intend to live there.  5 years min. to start to recoup costs.  This is an investment as much as anything.  If you're investment will pay for itself when you sell, and or make a better return it's easier to sink the dollars in the project.

The plan (yeah, I know) is to stay in this house at least until our kids make it through high school. So a good 15-20 years. Resale value is floating around up there in my head with everything else, but it's lower on the list. Who knows what the future truly holds, but in my mind ultimately we're doing this for us and not the next owner.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

12 minutes ago, tokamak said:

The plan (yeah, I know) is to stay in this house at least until our kids make it through high school. So a good 15-20 years. Resale value is floating around up there in my head with everything else, but it's lower on the list. Who knows what the future truly holds, but in my mind ultimately we're doing this for us and not the next owner.

Of course you are, but your decisions need to be driven a bit by down the road. When that day comes you'll either be very happy or very sad that you've got to spend more dollars to attract buyers.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3868]

On 4/9/2018 at 5:57 PM, Chewbacca said:

How big is the house?  I doubt you're getting all of that for $100k.  I just re-did the master bath, did new counters and appliances in the kitchen, and re-did the flooring in the other bathrooms in my house and did paint and carpet.  I think it ran me close to $65k and I get a lot of things cheaper than the average person because I have relationships with subs who do a lot of work for us and I got the appliances for half price because we buy a lot from Whirlpool.  Retail mine would have been  $80-90k.

My thought too. Kitchen is going to run $40-65K and bathrooms $10-25K.

[kmac30 416]

I’m in this boat right now. Looking at buying a house and we would need to redo kitchen, take out a wall, redo floors downstairs, turn some windows into doors, remove popcorn ceiling, master bath, the list can go on later. This is just the immediate list. 100-150k was where we were at. I keep feeling like we should just go buy a new house for 550k instead of starting at 350k and remodeling. My MIL keeps chirping about staying in the hood. I should ask what it’s worth to her.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

4 hours ago, kmac30 said:

I’m in this boat right now. Looking at buying a house and we would need to redo kitchen, take out a wall, redo floors downstairs, turn some windows into doors, remove popcorn ceiling, master bath, the list can go on later. This is just the immediate list. 100-150k was where we were at. I keep feeling like we should just go buy a new house for 550k instead of starting at 350k and remodeling. My MIL keeps chirping about staying in the hood. I should ask what it’s worth to her.

Location location location.

[Washpark 176]

We are doing this too. We found a designer that will work within our constraints.

While we haven't started construction, I have found cost balloons out of control because the desire to do custom or a little nicer here then there really adds up. We are managing every decision to our budget and trying to decide what is must have vs nice to have. 

The girlfriend found ways to remodel bathroom and kitchen way under national or even Austin average but again within limitations. We aren't moving plumbing, limited structural changes, and going cost efficient on products.  You have to be willing to do the day to day project management which is a pain in the ass and takes a lot of time. My job and the girlfriend's allows this flexibility. 

One suggestion that we are pursuing is having the whole project designed and cost out but then phasing the construction and implementation so if we want to increase our budget / spend then we are not forced to right at that moment.  

Feel free to ping me as we are spending every free minute planning, implementing our remodel.

Datapoint: We expect to spend under $5K on our design plans and have found legit designers to do it. Close friend did his house design plans for $3K and was a 3,000 sq ft house. 

Edited June 14, 2018 by Washpark

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, Washpark said:

We are doing this too. We found a designer that will work within our constraints.

While we haven't started construction, I have found cost balloons out of control because the desire to do custom or a little nicer here then there really adds up. We are managing every decision to our budget and trying to decide what is must have vs nice to have. 

The girlfriend found ways to remodel bathroom and kitchen way under national or even Austin average but again within limitations. We aren't moving plumbing, limited structural changes, and going cost efficient on products.  You have to be willing to do the day to day project management which is a pain in the ass and takes a lot of time. My job and the girlfriend's allows this flexibility. 

One suggestion that we are pursuing is having the whole project designed and cost out but then phasing the construction and implementation so if we want to increase our budget / spend then we are not forced to right at that moment.  

Feel free to ping me as we are spending every free minute planning, implementing our remodel.

Datapoint: We expect to spend under $5K on our design plans and have found legit designers to do it. Close friend did his house design plans for $3K and was a 3,000 sq ft house. 

$3k for a set of house plans is cheap. That means less than a buck a square foot after garages and porches are added in. 

[Washpark 176]

1 hour ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

$3k for a set of house plans is cheap. That means less than a buck a square foot after garages and porches are added in. 

It was for a remodel - They didn't build the house from nothing so didn't need to rework every room so not sure per sq ft is a right metric here.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Washpark

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, Washpark said:

It was for a remodel - They didn't build the house from nothing so didn't need to rework every room so not sure per sq ft is a right metric here.

Gotcha, then it was probably an hourly fee arrangement.

[Washpark 176]

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/danielle-and-austins-kitchen-garage-remodel-what-it-really-cost-a-budget-breakdown-renovation-diary-211449

 

Quote

Projected:
• General Construction (framing, installation of new windows/doors, concrete demo, pouring of new cement floor, exterior siding, insulation, drywall, painting & haul fees): $10,800

• Plumbing (trench new sewer line, re-plumb kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room, and relocate gas line): $9,000

• Electrical (replace old panel, rewire entire house, add new lighting/outlets, and cost of LED recessed fixtures): $6,100

• HVAC (upgrade entire system to meet international building code, run new lines, and relocate new unit in attic): $7,990

• Exterior Masonry (exterior brickwork to match rest of house): $1,000
Total: $34,890

Actual:
• General Construction: $14,365

• Plumbing: $8,764 (includes tankless water heater)

• Fiberglass shower pan: $882

• Electrical: $6,100

• HVAC: $7,990

• Exterior Masonry: $1,000

Total: $39,101

Difference: +$4,211

 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

28 minutes ago, Washpark said:

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/danielle-and-austins-kitchen-garage-remodel-what-it-really-cost-a-budget-breakdown-renovation-diary-211449

 

 

As a small project that's a big price increase, but still doesn't;t seem unreasonable and the pay back over the next 5 years or so will offset those increases.  Its;s not Money down a rat hole like hookers and blow (not that there's anything wrong with that).

[Handcruser 2805]

Who here is an architect? I know we have one. PM me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[BottleRocket 644]

On 6/14/2018 at 12:38 PM, Washpark said:

stuff.....

The girlfriend found ways to ...

.... more stuff...

ARE YOU INSANE?

 

[Lobwedgephil 1139]

57 minutes ago, Handcruser said:

Who here is an architect? I know we have one. PM me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Pm @Art Vandelay

[Art Vandelay 1712]

27 minutes ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Pm @Art Vandelay

Have you seen the new addition to the Guggenheim?

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

5 hours ago, Art Vandelay said:

Have you seen the new addition to the Guggenheim?

well done sir.... Kudos on the totality of the the thing.

[CooterBrown 18003]

Plan for $50k if you really want to spend $100k.

[Washpark 176]

Quote

Budget Breakdown

• Cabinetry & Countertops: $1898.24
• Lumber & Building Supplies: $1208.65
• Lighting & Electrical Work: $1186.98
• Paint, Stain & Sealants: $319.18
• Plumbing Labor & Kitchen Fixtures: $969.17
• Misc. Hardware & Building Supplies: $390.38

Grand Total = $5972.60

*This amount only includes fixed items that will stay with the house when it sells, and doesn't include items used during the photoshoot, like rugs, artwork and accessories.

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/diy-kitchen-remodel-cost-259481

[orangecat92 306]

New guy to remodeling here.  Getting house ready to sell.  House is Fox and Jacobs built 2001.  Big house for the money, 2700+ s. feet.   I talked to someone and found Surplus Guys in Gainesville. - I live in McKinney.  The deals were so good, I rented a pickup from Enterprise to go pick up stuff.  Sticking with neutral things that I know will help sell the house.  We had a tiny little low down one sink vanity before.  The plumber just left.  We have a nice double sink vanity with granite that matches the granite we picked out from the floor store.  New lighting is waiting to be installed.  

From Surplus Guys, we got 2 ADA toilets @79$ each, two doors, one front and one rear, for about $1000 total, and previously mentioned countertop and double vanity. 

Spent a total of just under $2k for that stuff and then went back the same day and bought baseboards.  2$ a stick! - about twice as large as what is in there now.   I had measured 602 linear feet of baseboards, so I bought 640 feet of baseboards.  I looked at realtor.com and to get this type of baseboard, you have to go to a 450k house or more.  We will have new floors throughout.  The only tile will be in the two bathrooms upstairs.  All of downstairs will be some pretty nice laminate.  Carpet upstairs, with a little streak of gray.  New paint throughout, the gray everybody is supposed to like.  New countertops in kitchen, cabinets will be painted and hardware added.  

If you include the two light fixtures from the bathroom, we bought a total of at least 10 new fixtures(five ceiling fan kits, and the rest plain lights). 

Got a new roof because of April 13th storm.  New fence coming as well.  Even if a family doesn't like all of that stuff, we've still got a great location. 

Walking distance to grades 6-12.  Elementary is 2.7 miles away.  Like most F and J, all bedrooms upstairs - 4-2.5-2.  

There are only two things I know will turn off a buyer, but one is easily fixed.  Popcorn ceilings.  tough - standard for the neighborhood, and the other is the backyard has a slope away from the house, toward the side street.  Oh, and we are on a corner lot.  Not as impressive as cul-de-sac, but still a little better than having two neighbors next door. 

I need to start counting the days.  Probably 14 days until remodel complete.  Maybe less.  Cannot get here soon enough. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Homercles 10205]

[UTPhil2006 3805]

On 6/19/2018 at 1:05 PM, orangecat92 said:

New guy to remodeling here.  Getting house ready to sell.  House is Fox and Jacobs built 2001.  Big house for the money, 2700+ s. feet.   I talked to someone and found Surplus Guys in Gainesville. - I live in McKinney.  The deals were so good, I rented a pickup from Enterprise to go pick up stuff.  Sticking with neutral things that I know will help sell the house.  We had a tiny little low down one sink vanity before.  The plumber just left.  We have a nice double sink vanity with granite that matches the granite we picked out from the floor store.  New lighting is waiting to be installed.  

From Surplus Guys, we got 2 ADA toilets @79$ each, two doors, one front and one rear, for about $1000 total, and previously mentioned countertop and double vanity. 

Spent a total of just under $2k for that stuff and then went back the same day and bought baseboards.  2$ a stick! - about twice as large as what is in there now.   I had measured 602 linear feet of baseboards, so I bought 640 feet of baseboards.  I looked at realtor.com and to get this type of baseboard, you have to go to a 450k house or more.  We will have new floors throughout.  The only tile will be in the two bathrooms upstairs.  All of downstairs will be some pretty nice laminate.  Carpet upstairs, with a little streak of gray.  New paint throughout, the gray everybody is supposed to like.  New countertops in kitchen, cabinets will be painted and hardware added.  

If you include the two light fixtures from the bathroom, we bought a total of at least 10 new fixtures(five ceiling fan kits, and the rest plain lights). 

Got a new roof because of April 13th storm.  New fence coming as well.  Even if a family doesn't like all of that stuff, we've still got a great location. 

Walking distance to grades 6-12.  Elementary is 2.7 miles away.  Like most F and J, all bedrooms upstairs - 4-2.5-2.  

There are only two things I know will turn off a buyer, but one is easily fixed.  Popcorn ceilings.  tough - standard for the neighborhood, and the other is the backyard has a slope away from the house, toward the side street.  Oh, and we are on a corner lot.  Not as impressive as cul-de-sac, but still a little better than having two neighbors next door. 

I need to start counting the days.  Probably 14 days until remodel complete.  Maybe less.  Cannot get here soon enough. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selling a house eh?  Let me know if you need any help on the sell, the new purchase, or the Mortgage on the new Purchase

[Elvis 3371]

If you think your budget is $100k make that $150k.  Don't forget furniture, lamps, rugs, painting rooms multiple times to get the right color, electronics, speakers, Cat6 wiring, window treatments, tv mounts, door bells, closet packages, storage solutions, garage remodel, probably a new garage door and opener, power washing everything, debris removal.  It's a helluvalot.  Better make that $200k.

 

I spent 6 months last year as the designer and GC on a full gut and remodel on my house that is only 14 years old due to a water pipe bursting while out of town.  Kitchen not gutted but my wife told my cabinet repair guy to change the color of the cabinets while I was out of town.  That added 15 days and a bunch of BS stopping all other work.  Cabinet pulls cost another grand.  Then we needed to update the kitchen backsplash...$1250.  Shit never ends.  

 

Now I had the vision and the skills to design and draw everything, so sorry I can't comment on the designer part.  I considered one, but I never got one to show up.  Managing multiple subs and material suppliers was a fuckton of work, and I kept my day job.  Luckily, I work from home when not traveling for sales meetings, so I just lived in my truck in the driveway all day every day - managing the job and taking conference calls. 

 

I lost 28 pounds and became a legitimate alcoholic last year doing that shit.  Sample from one of my spreadsheets below.

 

		Total	146751.57
Demo	Lawler	Tech Demo	2650.00	2650
Electrical	Lawler+Joe	Electrical	6275.00
		Electrical Changes
		Electrical Materials	3750.00
Framing	Lawler	Framing	4280.00	4280.00
		Framing Changes
Walls	Lawler	Dry, tex, paint	9285.00	9285.00
		Changes
Doors	First Source	Doors, casing	4857.20	7747.20
	Bob Roper	Labor	1790.00
	Doorhardwarecenter	Handles	1100.00
Finished Carpentry	Bob	Front Door Cap Labor	125.00	7750.00
		Front Door Cap Mat	100.00
		Mud Bench Labor	750.00
		Mud Bench Materials	300.00
		Book Case Labor	750.00