I am afraid to look at what I have spent in house projects. I know every single project went into the "way overpriced" range. I have learned some things along the home improvement way:
1. When a contractor quotes you a price, get it in writing and make sure it covers the cost of EVERYTHING including materials.
2. Plan out projects. Don't go into demo mode until you have a game plan for the outcome. Making decisions on the fly will have very costly consequences.
3. Always consider the cost of additional tools needed when deciding whether to do a project yourself or hire the job out. Even doing a simple paint job will get very costly when you factor in paintbrushes, tarps, painting tape, ext. if you don't already have that.
4. If you need to embark on a project that
might crop up regularly, buy the tools and do it yourself. Buying paintbrushes and paint supplies is worth it because it is reusable and easy to store. Buying wheelbarrows and sledgehammers to break up and re pour a slab of concrete might not be so re-usable or easy to store.
5. Don't fight the house. Your wallet will lose. If there is a major structural reason you do not like something- learn to overlook it or don't buy the house. I have embraced my closet sized master bath with 5'8" ceilings that BB cannot fit into. The room is mine-all-mine!
6. If you are "not in the mood" to get started, work on a project- don't do it. It will turn out terribly. Likewise with buying something needed for the house. If you need a rug; don't pressure yourself to find a rug just because your husband cant stand staring at a rug-less dining room. The rug you buy will end up very overpriced, poor quality, and not really match the rooms color scheme at all- or any other room in your houses color scheme. Poor quality is poor quality and now you are stuck with the $50.00 rug. (Same goes for a guest room bedspread...and a master bedroom bedspread for that matter.)
7. Craigslist and ebay is only a deal if you are searching for the item listed. If you come across it and it is a "good deal", it "kind of fits the description you need" or "you cant tell from the picture of the quality or color"...don't buy it! You cannot return it, and (if using craigslist) when you go to the persons house it sure is awkward to look at it and say "thanks but no thanks" (not to mention the time wasted). Canoes-yes. ladders and hammers-yes. Rugs- no. curtains-no.
8. Understand the emotional strain of a DIY project. This is the amount of tempers lost, ensueing fights, and petty comments that are created during the project. After numerous project attempts, I learned that my husband has a "the mind is willing but the body cant" attitude and wasted a lot of time buying into BB's plan to fix, put up, renovate this or that..only to get started on the project to learn that 1) his back flat out will not let him do it. or 2)he is determined to do it despite screaming pain and suddenly everything around him is getting on his nerves (including me).
If you must stop a project after its been started and get a pro out to the site to finish, repair, or clean up...you run into lesson #2. If you allow your husband to grit his teeth and attempt to work through the pain...a long, heavy fight is immenent. And if you escape the fight without losing your mind, you have to tolerate his moaning and groaning for the next week every time he needs to perform a mundane task around the house like putting on shoes. Sometimes there are hidden COSTS to a DIY project that has nothing to do with your bank account.
Things I have learned over the past 2 months
April 14th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
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The thing I hate is that it always seems to take three times longer than you think it will.
April 14th, 2009 at 09:43 pm 1239745384
April 15th, 2009 at 12:02 am 1239753756
it has reminded me of us at the start too.
only typically *I* am the one that is like 'i CAN do it' and DF is like 'no you can't, it's too heavy!' and then i will be like 'now i'm going to do it if it KILLS me.'
(which then ends in me laying on a yoga mat for an hour at the end of the night while DF is putting the first coat on the floor...*sigh*)
April 15th, 2009 at 04:39 am 1239770354