Demo day fun.
Our homeowners waited fifteen monthsto get into their new home. During that time there was a lot of planning, drawing, hiring, etc.
You can only imagine the excitement for demo day! So why not share that excitement, the Facebook post went out and friends, family and even a couple of realtors showed up!
READY FOR DEMO
ALL WE NEED ARE FRIENDS.
X MARKS THE SPOT, LET THE DEMO BEGIN
OUT WITH THE OLD!
So could anything go wrong? In doing a renovation, you have to be prepared. But when you do not have access to your home on a daily basis some things could go wrong, here is what our homeowners experienced:
1. One of the first things we uncovered in the kitchen were base cabinets hiding a slanted floor. The slanted piece was allowing headroom at the stair. We couldn't change it without a cascade of other code-required updates, so we decided to live with it. In order to maintain the layout of what would become our laundry room, we will build a platform for the washer/dryer to sit on. A bit awkward, but it is the lesser of all evils.
2. The plumber did not think to ask if we had a gas dryer, and also did not see the note on the plans indicating a gas hook up on the side of the house for a grill. To make a long story short, not only was the cost to run the extra gas line not in budget, but all the gas lines in the entire house were undersized to run the boiler, water heater, range, dryer, and grill together. The whole thing would have been a several thousand dollar addition and no solution was cost effective. Although this news completely avoidable and frustrating, sometimes there's nothing to do but make the best of the situation. In the end, we decided to cut our losses, get an electric dryer and forego the natural gas grill.
3. There were a few other little adds here and there:
*Our exterior water spigot was leaking every time we turned it on, so we needed to fix.
*Electrician came in over budget.
*Our flooring was so incredibly uneven, it cost a little over a thousand dollars to bring it to within 1/4" of level.
*The egress window ended up being over a thousand dollars more than expected because of the incredible thickness of our foundation walls.
*The front and back doors we liked were well over what we budgeted.
*We ended up spending more than we wanted on appliances (we have expensive taste...what can I say?).
*Countertops cost A LOT more than we budgeted.
*Every DIY project we undertook cost much more than we thought, partially because of the tools require to complete them (as first time homeowners we did not have these tools..we do now!)
4. With all those small to medium additions to the budget, the contingency was dwindling. The contingency we had kept aside for emergencies, but which we also hoped to use to finish the Master Bathroom. In order to afford even a partial finish of the bathroom we knew we had to cut something BIG so we made the tough decision to eliminate the door to the side yard. Although that door would integrate the outdoor living space we have planned and create an easy connection to the grill from the kitchen, the bathroom just seemed more important. Let's hope its worth it!
Another way we have been trying to keep costs low during this endeavor is by GC'ing (general contracting) as many items as possible ourselves, and wholesale ordering whatever we can. I have ordered all decorative lighting, plumbing fixtures, exterior doors & hardware, IKEA vanities and medicine cabinets, etc. I have also contracted several subcontractors outside of our contractor's scope: quartz countertop install, basement carpet and tile work, IKEA kitchen and closet system install, a carpenter for specialty built-in units. To top it all off, we have worked two full days each weekend since the tenants moved out on the landscaping or other DIY projects .. plus, have had the help of some amazing friends to get even more done in less time!
Next Up. Progress is being made. We will see some more of our homeowners accomplishments!
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