Renovation Tip #323: Recruit Relatives
For all of you fretting over outsized construction costs, perhaps you should take a page out of obsessive restorer Craig and Yvonne’s book whose cost-cutting tips include recruiting able-bodied relatives such as Yvonne’s mother (pictured). Says Craig: “Give this lady a heat gun and a box of scraping tools, and you just can’t get rid…
For all of you fretting over outsized construction costs, perhaps you should take a page out of obsessive restorer Craig and Yvonne’s book whose cost-cutting tips include recruiting able-bodied relatives such as Yvonne’s mother (pictured). Says Craig: “Give this lady a heat gun and a box of scraping tools, and you just can’t get rid of her!”
Mother-in-law At Work [Our Victorian House]
Nice to see some other do-it-yourselfers on this site. We are also in this category– we’ve been living in our brownstone for 3 years now while doing most of the work ourselves (thankfully, its almost done.) Of all that I’ve learned during this crazy process, I must say that my #1 tip is, do NOT recruit relatives to help unless they know a trade. Because they are family,and are kindly volunteering their time, if they do a job that is not up to your standards your only recourse is to wait until they leave and then re-do it (which can often take more time than just doing it yourself in the first place.) In the beginning I spent many hours undoing my in-laws work (they are wonderful & amazing, obviously; their skills are not). This is not to complain, but just to warn others who may be contemplating this approach. Pay a professional or do-it-yourself.
Yes I love this site. I am in their category. Our brownstone has just completed 2 years in renovation. We did the entire garden floor first and it is thankfully rented. We are now onto the second floor where we put in a spiral staircase to the third floor in the back and took out a load-bearing wall to expand the kitchen. We have lived there the whole time and are doing 90% of the work (we had a plumber rought the entire house and electrician upgrade and fix some stuff, and a deck built in the back with stairs to the yard).
It is a labor of love but my Mrs. Brownstoner should get an award living like this for 2 years and possibly 2 more!