Renovating and repairing old home... suggestions??

[jennielynn1970]

Catty.... what I see at the fireplace are pipes that come up at the bottom into the logs. The logs are mounted somehow. No glass, no vent looking anything. I know there is supposed to be a flue with fireplaces, but I really don't want to feel around inside a creepy, dusty fireplace to find it.

As for installing my own replacement windows.... lol. I may be handy, but when it comes to something like a window that can leak, I know my luck, lol. There's no way I'd try to do that myself. My luck, I'd drop them as well. I actually wouldn't want to make them smaller (the larger ones) because I love the look of them, and then I'd have to change the shades and everything else as well. The shades I have in my bedroom I special ordered from JC Penneys, and are really nice.

What I'm gathering is that this is going to take an extended amount of time. I think the first thing I want to deal with is the hot water and pipes. I miss taking a hot bath. I hate wasting water waiting for it to get hot.

I guess I'll have to also look into getting some of the plastic stuff to put over some of the windows that are super drafty. I do keep the doors closed to the rooms that aren't being used, and I put the magnetic sheets over the vents in those rooms as well so that it push the heat back to the other rooms. I have small electric heaters in the 3rd floor for the kitties up there since it doesn't seem to stay as warm up there (or the wall vents don't seem to get the heat all the way up there).

I like the idea of the wainscotting for the walls. That might look really nice in the dining room. I can't see me ever trying to make this house look contemporary, it's more historic, so I think the wainscotting would be a nice touch.

I'm not sure how I'd insulate the kitchen... I'd have to ask someone about that. The guy who built my deck also does regular construction, roofing and things like that, so maybe he'd know about the insulation. Not sure about the windows. The guy who installed my hot water heater has his own small company and does handyman jobs and plumbing. I'll have to find his card again. He was really nice. He worked at Home Depot, but drove me to Lowes to pick up my hot water heater, and even changed the pipes and hooked up the electric for the hot water heater cause the previous one was gas (and Home Depot and Lowes installers wouldn't do any of that for me).

So much to do. Expensive too. Sigh. Part of me wonders why I stopped renting . I miss having things fixed for me by the landlord, lol.

[Lady's Human]

But when you own your own house, the renovations go toward your equity in the house. All your rent does is go into the landlord's pocket.

You're probably going to have to replace at least some pipes. With the cost of copper at the moment it's guaranteed to be damned expensive, but it's worth it. Most codes in the northeast don't allow PVC for supply lines due to bursting issuesin cold weather, but will allow Cpvc (PVC lined copper). The problem with Cpvc is that you have to re-plumb whole areas of the house with it as opposed to merely fixing the problem areas.

[Freedom]

So much to do. Expensive too. Sigh. Part of me wonders why I stopped renting . I miss having things fixed for me by the landlord, lol.

As LH says, it all builds your equity If you haven't already, make sure you set up a file folder and place ALL the receipts for every single renovation in that folder. Some day in the far future when you sell, you will need all that info!

I keep a folder for each job, so I can get the warranty, phone numbers, and so forth, easily if something develops. Then I photocopy the receipt or cancelled check or credit card bill with the payment and put THAT in the equity folder. However you do it, doing it on an ongoing basis will simply things when you sell.

[catnapper]

Oh Jenny do I know what you're saying!

We have many of the same issues.... I think we're living in the same house!!! I can take a hot bath, but if I want hot water from the sink, which is a whole 2 inches away, forget about it! And if the washer is running, we get a trickle coming from any other faucets.

Last week, we had no heat. None. The utility guy came out to fix it. He said he fixed the furnace this time, but we'd need a new one soon, maybe stretch til next year if we're lucky. Thats an easy $3,000 It might as well a million right now because we can't get that kind of money.

We also need a new roof soon.... talk about a chunk of money there!!!

[jennielynn1970]

Kim, your house reminds me soooo much of mine... looks and all!! They've gotta be the same era. Mine was built in 1904. I'm in the semi-historic district (they're working on getting this area/block included with the area across Hamilton Street). So much work. So much money, which I definitely don't have. I can't budget to save my life, and have someone working with me on refinancing my 1st, 2nd and 3rd mortgages/lines of credit. Why they gave me the last one as a VISA card, I'll never know. Way too easy to use the money, and I should have used the majority of it for repairs, which I intended to, but then other things in life got involved. I'm 37.. I should be better at budgeting and stuff at this point.

[gini]

I would love to see some pictures of your house.

My house was built in 1912-1913 - it was rented for years so nothing much was done to it. When I bought it the repairs began - and have never stopped.

I have read through this thread with all of the excellent advice you have been given - (I just love Pet Talk).................

The best advice I could give you is to decide which is the most important project - your water pipes? and concentrate on that one thing.

Otherwise you go nuts - have no money - and nothing is finished.

I wish you the best of luck - everything you do to this home will only increase your equity and having the work done can be so gratifying!

[Edwina's Secretary]

In Chicago we had a "vintage" house. We did tear up the carpet and redo some floors ourselves (one thing I learned....do NOT sit in furniture stripper...it hurts.)

We converted the fireplaces from wood burning to gas. We felt cleaner, safer, and less work. We had a plumber do it.

We replaced all the windows (many non-standard...that was probably the biggest expense but what a difference!)

We also redid the kitchen and bathroom. I asked people I knew had used a contractor - especially on vintage houses, we visited different firms, we had a few estimates.

We really liked the guy we used. Had him back for the second (kitchen) project. But it always takes longer and costs more than you expect. The wiring was frighteningly not up to code, pipes, etc, etc, etc!

But, despite all that...I loved the whole experience...and the outcome!

[Rachel]

As to getting a general contractor, you might want to consider doing all the projects you can dealing with the individual subcontractors (plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc.) yourself, as your general will be marking up whatever their cost is. What a general contractor is good for is making sure that things are done in the correct order so that what one sub does will not need to be undone by what the next one does.

Also consider the fact that as you are interviewing these individuals, they are interviewing you. Ever had a guy come out to look at a job and then never call you back with an estimate. He probably has decided your job wasn't worth his time. Don't divulge too much information, i.e. *I'm getting three other bids.* He may decide he doesn't want to get involved in *competitive bidding*. Be sure to ask about whether he carries liability and workman's compensation insurance and ask to see his certificate of insurance. Some trademen who do the work themselves might not carry the workman's comp. but at least you should know that and what risks it involves.

[Rachel]

When we were thinking about buying our new house, we hired an inspector to go through it to point out problems.

If you didn't have an inspection prior to buying the house, you may want to consider one now to determine which things are health and safety issues and which things could wait.

Also, the very first thing we wanted to do when we bought the house was rip out the gas fireplace and replace it with a woodburning one. We are so glad that we didn't. We use the fireplace every morning and it really heats up the house. Our old house had a woodburning fireplace and we found it too much of a bother to build a fire.

I agree whole heartedly. The hauling of wood is a real pain and we had our wood burning fireplace converted to gas for the same reason. Since you don't know the condition of the chimney or where your damper is, don't use the fireplace unityou have the thing inspected. Also I would want to have a plumber check out the gas line, etc.