![\"DIY](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2019\/04\/homebeforeexterior.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen we decided to move back home to Florida, I started looking for a house with good bones that needed some updating. I love a small DIY home renovation and I wanted to find a great house, in a great neighborhood, at a great price, that just needed a little love. (Side note: A big house, for a family of nine is not a small DIY home renovation project)<\/p>\n
I saw a diamond in the rough, and a house priced significantly lower than every other house on the street. An opportunity to take a house with great bones and make it the perfect house for our family.\u00a0 Well, we found one that needs a bit of work, so we are doing it ourselves as much as we can.\u00a0 With my dad’s help and the internet, of course.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This was a picture of the home on the real estate listing. I’m not sure when this picture was taken, but the house did not look like this when I first saw it. I would guess that picture was probably five to seven years before they listed the house for sale.<\/p>\n
Since I\u2019m a home remodel junkie, I can only assume some of you are too, I’ve documented most of the work. We’ve done a lot of it as a family, but haven’t been afraid to hire out when necessary or if we do not have the skills required to complete the job.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll also be sharing costs and how we did it. I\u2019ve spent hours researching DIY, remodeling projects, and renovations internet, so why not share what works and what doesn\u2019t with the rest of the world?<\/p>\n
Our goal after purchasing the house was to get the “main things” finished before we moved in. The main projects are:<\/p>\n
If you’ve ever started a small or large home renovation project, you will quickly learn that a project usually isn’t just a project. A kitchen renovation exposes wiring and plumbing issues. Wallpaper removal ends up being three layers instead of one. Ripping up carpet on the wall exposes mold issues, and so on.<\/p>\n
We had never taken on a remodeling project this large and I’m pretty sure I underestimated the time and money it would take to complete the tasks listed above. After we moved in we planned to continue working on these projects:<\/p>\n
It took approximately two months for us to finish phase one of the DIY home renovation and move into the house. We ended up moving in before the kitchen was finished because we were so desperate to be in our house! Now, almost five years later we are working through phase two of the project as time and money allows.<\/p>\n
When we purchased the house it was priced about 40-50% less than other homes of the same size in our neighborhood. After five years we’ve spent approximately $100,000 in renovations, which includes the complete pool makeover, but does not include the roof (which was damaged in a storm and covered by insurance).<\/p>\n
My goal is to live in this house as long as possible, but never invest more into the house than it we could sell it for. As with any home, some repairs and renovations end up being necessary – like replacing a roof or air conditioning unit. But other projects are optional (adding pantry or removing popcorn ceilings). I want to make sure any optional project we take on will add to the value of the house. Or bring me so much joy (like building a barn door) that it is worth the time and money.<\/p>\n
One thing I learned during this entire process is it’s ok to hire people to do the work. Especially if you don’t know how to do it! When we started ripping out tile, it ended up being a huge project and was a total mess. We didn’t have the right tools to remove the tile without destroying what we needed to save. I priced out having a professional remove it and it was well worth the money!<\/p>\n
Other projects, such as installing ceiling fans, removing wallpaper, and installing trim were not fun, but we were capable of completing them ourself. We did it ourselves to save money.<\/p>\n
To find reliable contractors we used Thumbtack<\/a>, which is a free service to use. You put in the job you need completed and contractors bid on the projects. You can read verified reviews and find the perfect company for the job. In five years of using Thumbtack we’ve never been disappointed. I can’t say the same for the people we hired off Craig’s list. (I love Craig’s list but I wouldn’t hire someone for repairs\/ projects off there again).<\/p>\n We are still working on our house,\u00a0so it seems like we are always in a state of construction, but some rooms are totally finished. One of those rooms is our dining room. This room needed some work, but not as much as our kitchen or bathroom so it wasn’t a total gut. When we purchased […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-28753","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28753"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32253,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28753\/revisions\/32253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/HappiestHome1-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 1 The Happiest Home<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/renoDay2-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Demo without a Dumpster<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/day3-renovation-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Removing Carpet<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/day4reno-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Rotten Wood – Drywall Repairs<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/day-5-reno-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Removing Soffits<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-day-7-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Kitchen Demo<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-day-8-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>More Demo and Planning<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-day-9-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Wallpaper Removal<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/Renovation-Adventures-Day-101-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Mysterious Cabinet<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/Day-11-Renovation-Adventures-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Tile Removal<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/Renovation-Adventures-Day-12-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Black Goo Be Gone<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/Day-13-Renovation-Adventures-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Sanding, Wiring, Drywall Repair<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-day-15-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Sanding Walls and Electric<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-16-17-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Family is Back Together<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/Reno-Day-18-19-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>I fought the wallpaper and the wallpaper won<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-day-21-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Color Palette<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-22-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Two Week Setback<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-23-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Prepping for Orange Peel<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/10\/reno-day-24-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>More Brown Paper<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/reno27-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Demo Starts Again<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/day-28-reno-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Building a Wall<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/reno29-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Inexpensive Bathroom Redo<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/reno-31-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Installing Trim<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/reno-32-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Recovery Day<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/barn-door-reno-34-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Help Design my Barn Door<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/reno-day-36-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 36 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/reno-day-37-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 37 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/reno-day-371-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 37 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/primer-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 41 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/bathroom-floor-update-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 42 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/water-damaged-cabinet-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 43 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/reno-day-44-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 44 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/1623723_10204291138012825_1715100195928689277_n-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 46 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/IMG_1766-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Installing the Kitchen Cabinets<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/11\/photo-1-27-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 50 Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/12\/PicMonkey-Collage-1-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Moving Day<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/12\/IMG_1416-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2014\/12\/island-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Countertops! Renovation Adventures<\/a><\/div>![\"Dining](\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/files\/2015\/06\/dining_room_renovation_after-200x286.jpg\")
<\/a>Home Renovation<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"