What do you wish you did differently with your renovation?
We are about to renovate a 2.5 story Victorian frame house. We would love it if you seasoned renovators would share your wisdom with us. Can you tell us what you wish you had done differently with your reno? Are there some things that, in hindsight, were unnecessary? Things you wish you’d done? Some things we are considering: soundproofing, ductless a/c, replacing plaster and lath with sheetrock, replacing the sewer line…
sweethome
in General Discussion 11 years and 10 months ago
13
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13 replies
cate | 11 years and 9 months ago
We should have hired a licensed contractor who was also a finish carpenter. Agree with above comment probably should have replaced joists and beams with steel (should have fixed the structural problems in the rear of the house, and the leaks — we tried — should have bought a house without those problems!). We should have done everything at once before we moved in. Should have done all the plumbing, electric, wood stripping, closet and door rehabilitation, and plaster skim coating all at once up front before we moved in — and painting too. (We thought we’d do it ourselves — ha!). Should have redone the facade front and back. (But that would have been way over our budget.) Get an exterminator in there first thing. If we had known mice were getting in via the cornice in a tin ceiling, we would have replaced it. As for your question about lead, as long as the lead paint is painted over with non-lead paint and is not peeling (or rubbing as it can in window and door frames) you will be absolutely fine. Don’t remove plater walls to abate lead. This is the wrong way to do it. You will create a much worse problem. If your walls have a lot of cracking or peeling, get a plaster expert in there to skim coat using fiberglass mesh and Plaster Weld (a pink goo). If your walls are in good condition, just prime and paint — no need to skim coat. Google government docs on lead abatement. Plaster is a much nicer material than drywall, is mold resistant, and sound deadening.
bklyngirl | 11 years and 10 months ago
I wish I had… Replaced all the joists that were old and sagging with steel I-beams dropped HVAC throughout. Redid the ENTIRE foundation in the basement and installed a kick-ass fan and dehumidifier Installed an elevator (my knees would be thanking me now). Installed Pella Window THROUGHOUT. I gave a local guy the front window job and to this day I hate those windows and they don’t work and are warped but the Pella’s are problem free an My advice on the plaster is to keep it. Removing it for sheetrock wont solve anything and it will devalue the property. Even if you make the mistake of deciding to rip it all out you have lead dust EVERYWHERE. Hire a great archited and contractor and let them visit you a few times to see how you live before you start planning and drawing. whatever you budgeted for. Save 1 1/2 more for overages and the pretty stuff that inspite of what your head says, your heart will still want. Keep a spreadsheet of your costs and keep copies of all checks you pay out. Make sure you have every person who gets a check sign that they received it and be sure to set up an escalation payment schedule. The contractor does a-d and gets a check. Be prepared to say no. I had a sheetrock guy who tried to hit me up for $4,2k advance to go on a memorial fishing tournament (of a supposed friend who died). I told him no and he started slowing down the work, not showing up. I had his tools and one day he came by for them for another job and I held on to them until he could come back and finish the walls The fact that I owed him almost $6,2K also helped but if I had advanced him he would have screwed me big tim. Good luck.
brokelin | 11 years and 10 months ago
I didn’t renovate, but things I wish previous renovators of places I’d lived in had done: 1\. NOT replace the plaster with sheetrock. (Advice above is correct as to lead -taking out the walls will spread lead paint dust around. And, unless you intend to have peeling paint on your walls, the plaster ones with all their years of lead paint are safe so long as they are not crumbling or peeling. But do take care to strip old paint down where wood windows with old paint rub against the window frame or each other, and where doors with old paint rub against the painted door frame.) 2\. Don’t go with cheap materials on replacement windows. The cheaper ones (vinyl) seem to often be installed such that they are reall hard to open and close. 3\. Put light switches where they make sense to flip on when you walk into a room – plan this out well. Put all lights on dimmer switches. 4\. Add central air of some kind in each unit – forget using window ACs.
slopefarm | 11 years and 10 months ago
5\. Wish we’d fought harder to keep some of the old finishes or thought harder how new finishes would look in an old house — and I mean stuff like clamshell window casings, etc.
slopefarm | 11 years and 10 months ago
1\. Wish we’d gone with the next higher bidder for our GC. Even honest GCs can paint themselves into a corner with a too-low bid. 2\. Wish we’d put in a whole house fan. 3\. Wish we hadn’t worked so close to (and in fact, well beyond) our financial limit. Work with a cushion. There are always surprises (and I mean real ones, not manufactured ones). 4\. Wish we’d been quicker to cut ties with vendors who gave off a bullshit vibe. If your skin starts to crawl, cut ties immediately. There’s always another vendor.
Rick | 11 years and 10 months ago
If you are real concern about lead do not remove the plaster because it will be in the air and will eventually be a layer of dust all over your house. Skim coating priming and painting is the way to go.
greenmountain | 11 years and 10 months ago
Sure, worry about lead paint, stabilize it save your plaster. Remove your lead pipes. Never install a lead shower pan. Replace a pan, which gives you trouble, with a membrane shower system.
Augustiner | 11 years and 10 months ago
I wanted to move fast and I made the mistake to go with the first architect that was recommended to me. I wasn’t especially lucky. It made things more complicated and expensive throughout the whole process. The Architect is the root of your planning, and he’ll also recommend other trades such as engineers and expediter. If he’s experienced and good, chances are your whole project will go much smoother, and a positive side effect is that the design will also be better.
anotherposter | 11 years and 10 months ago
I wish we had paid to have a camera put down the waste line out of the house to the city line. Had we done that, we probably would have seen tree roots growing all up and down it that would eventually cause back-ups into our house. Then we could have replaced the line while everything else was busted up and a mess.
BobMarvin | 11 years and 10 months ago
“I am worried about lead. If we skimcoat the plaster, will that be taken care of?” Yes, to the best of my knowledge, although I’d defer to someone more knowledgeable, like Rick.
sweethome | 11 years and 10 months ago
Thanks, guys! I love plaster walls, but I am worried about lead. If we skimcoat the plaster, will that be taken care of?
rickladd | 11 years and 10 months ago
Best advice I can give is to plan ahead, and seek advice from skilled tradesmen. Come up with a plan that fits your budget and do as much of your dream renovation all at once. Be very detailed with your design to avoid headaches.
BobMarvin | 11 years and 10 months ago
The biggest mistake we made was not replacing all the original lead water supply lines at once, before moving in. We ended up doing it in three stages, over 15–20 years, at considerably more expense, with a lot more mess. Of the things you’re considering, I think replacing plaster and lath with sheetrock would be a BIG mistake; much better (albeit more expensive) to skim coat the plaster, using fiber glass mesh where needed. Plaster walls are far more attractive than sheetrock. Also, replacing the sewer line, absent obvious problems, might be premature. IF you do replace the sewer line, I think you could save some money by replacing the water main at the same time (assuming it’s the original lead one–otherwise it’s probably not needed).