Would You Tackle a Renovation Again?
I’m contemplating a complete restoration/renovation of a 1900s era townhouse in Bay Ridge. I love the house, but it needs a ton of work. I can afford it (I think) and I can afford to continue to rent while it is done. But is this likely to ruin my life and my peace of mind…
I’m contemplating a complete restoration/renovation of a 1900s era townhouse in Bay Ridge.
I love the house, but it needs a ton of work.
I can afford it (I think) and I can afford to continue to rent while it is done.
But is this likely to ruin my life and my peace of mind completely?
Though quite an old lady, I am a total newbie at homeowning!
TIA!
“though quite an old lady, I’m a total newbie” — welcome aboard. I’ve been collecting Social Security for a few years now, with another birthday in a few days. We’ve lived in this house for 35 years. In 2009 we decided to renovate the whole place — four stories — put on an addition, add solar, three new kitchens, four baths, the lot.
About 30 minutes ago, I bade farewell to the last of the crew that has been in our house since mid-April 2010. I love my house — love it love it love it. Was it frustrating, dirty, expensive, exhausting, at times overwhelming? Yes. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. Wish I’d done it sooner.
We lived in the house for all but three months — and I work at home, so I had no escape. If we’d been able to rent elsewhere for the whole time, it would have been a piece of cake. We had a very good contractor, but what really made it possible was an absolutely superb architect.
I started a blog here on Brownstoner, but I confess I dropped the ball sometime around last September — which was probably the low point for us. I intend to pick it up again, if for no other reason than to do something with the reams of photos that I have but also to describe, for others who may be considering it, putting up an addition, adding solar — a sort of post-renovation blog. You may still be able to find the blog, though Mr. B never listed it in the headliner even after I asked him to do so three times. Try anyway: it was called North Slope Reno.
Best of luck to you. You will need more money than you think, even if you stick to your budget, because when it’s all done, with a magnificent deck over the addition and a backyard that is no longer a construction site, you will want to COMPLETELY redo your garden.
My house was gut renovated 5 years ago. It was supposed to be a cosmetic gut, but it wound up being structural because, as someone above mentioned, you never know until you start opening up walls and, unfortunately, my inspector did not know his stuff. The entire top floor and entire front of the house came off. All new electrics, plumbing, 3 boilers and hot water heaters, 3 kitchens, 4 bathrooms, all new walls, subfloors and floors, new stairs, new fire escape, changed CO – new everything in other words. I did the floor plans myself and then had an architect/expeditor file the plans and get permits (he didn’t do any design work). It took a year and I rented about a 10 minute walk away. I had to fire my first GC and then project managed it myself with 7 subs. I went to the site almost every day on my way to work as it became clear that a lot of sh*t can happen in 48 hours.
It was kinda stressful in moments, but when you are in the middle of it you have no choice but to move forward. Eventually it all comes together and, like childbirth, you forget the pain and enjoy what you’ve created.
If you’ve got a jonesing to do it, do it!
hi, herkimer; hi, heather.
dancing, I also forgot “I’m still waiting on the supplier” (i.e., haven’t paid him yet). Vendors pull that BS even more than GCs.
slopefarm and the others offer good advice that I’d second. you must LOVE the house for it to be worthwhile because renovations are not money-makers in the NYC market in the short term. Is it your dream house?
We just backed out of a deal because the house needed more work than we expected and or were capable of taking on. It was a really hard decision, one that I still regret daily, but we didn’t have the reserves and there were too many unknowns. I know these things can run smoothly, and if you can afford to hire someone and live somewhere else, then why not.
I still wish we could.
I don’t know, if you’re a total newbie you should think twice… and then 2 more times. When I look back at pics of my own whole house renovation that I did without an architect (didn’t need one, nothing physically moved) or a GC (did it myself b/c I had some renovation experience and couldn’t afford the contractor mark-up) I can hardly believe the before and after pictures, and that I successfully managed the various people and phases. Uh, until I ran out of money…
Soon after I got the “big picture” taken care of and the apartments were rented, I ran out of money to finish my own unit and have been chipping away at finishing the kitchen for almost 2 years. If you think you have the funds, great. Double check your figures, then them check again. AND AGAIN. I crunched numbers for months before I started and did A LOT of research and still came up about $50,000 short. People go over budget, you will change your mind about something, mistakes will be made. That all costs money. Managing the monetary aspect of the reno alone can cause a great deal of stress. Would I do it again? As much as I love old houses, NO WAY!! But then, hopefully I won’t have to.
In all seriousness, the best of luck to you with the reno if you decide to move forward. If you do, I sincerely hope it turns out to be a satisfying and positive experience. I think it can be, but you’ve gotta have a boatload of dough and a WHOLE lot of love for dust and problems.
Ha-ha Slopefarm, how could I have forgotten those?! Especially the advance cash one..or
“I ran out of money and can’t continue unless you give me more.”
That thing about time and money — we correctly estimated exactly how long everything would take and how much it would cost. (But it was a small project, and that makes a big difference.) Then we decided we would spend half that amount by simply not doing certain things. That’s the part that didn’t really work out, hahahaha. So we did spend twice what we planned on, but not because we didn’t know how much things would cost. If that makes any sense.
My point is that things don’t always take twice as long and cost twice as much as you expect, which is what people always say. But if it’s a big project with permits, you could really have a lot of delays — months — which will cost you.
It’s prudent to reserve anywhere from 15 percent to 50 percent of the cost.
Also, if your plaster walls are in poor shape and need skim coating, be sure whoever you use puts mesh tape EVERYWHERE. Otherwise the cracks come back. You can use a plaster expert or you can even find some semi-skilled day laborer types who do beautiful work for about $120 for a short day if you are lucky, but the mesh tape is crucial.
I know Susan Elkins, her contract and trades people give an amazing job. Send me an email at
bedstuymaven at gmail dot com and I will get you in touch with her.