Home improvements

We've been in our house for 14 years now. I'm not much of a home improver, but we've done a few things over the years. You know, put up shelves, paint a room, put down tile, that sort of thing. Two really stand out.

1. We put a small, 4-gallon water heater under the kitchen sink. The main water heater is in the garage, a long ways away. It took forever to get hot water in the kitchen for washing dishes or anything. Now it almost immediate. We don't have to run the water to get it hot for the dishwasher any more, either. Less than $200, and we should have done it years earlier.

2. After my experience with the gunshots in the alley last week, I was talking to the sergeant in charge of our area. He said they had had a number of burglaries in the area, all by kicking in the back door. He said everyone should get an alarm (we've had one forever), and he recommended a storm door on the back door. We went and got a storm door and installed it over the weekend. We had actually talked about it long ago, because our back door is almost completely glass. Now, when the storm door is locked, it's very difficult to get at it.

So...what home improvements have you done, and what were the best ones?

I took a job at Home Depot because I thought it would be fun to have a "hobby job". I wanted to work in hardware to play with the power tools, but they put me in paint. I get to decorate people's homes and finger paint all day long. I wouldn't know where to start on what I've done around my house!

Probably my proudest accomplishment was the hall bathroom that we finished last year. It was a small, 3/4 bath (tub, sink and shower stall), and we turned it into a full bath. We knocked out a wall to expand the room (cut into a closet), framed out the walls to install a bathtub, finished a custom made vanity (a friend made the cabinet and we stained/varnished it), installed a marble tub, new toilet, vanity, vanity top, glass tiles on walls, porcelain tiles on the floor, faucets, paint, new doors, floor trim, exhaust fan, etc. We did hire someone to do the drywall and rough in plumbing, as we stink at that sort of thing. But we did the rest. I shouldn't say "we", cause I did most of the work myself - DH helped with the destruction.

We're currently replacing all the interior doors in the house and all the baseboard trim. Well, that and dropping in a new patio outside when the weather permits.

We've been in our house for 5 yrs now.

Nothing major but we put on a new roof, new seamless eavestrough, new deck, all new windows, new pump, new hot water tank, and some new floors and painting.

I think that;s it so far.
We don't even lock our doors We can go away for a weekend and we still don't lock it, we probably should though.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Probably my proudest accomplishment was the hall bathroom that we finished last year. It was a small, 3/4 bath (tub, sink and shower stall), and we turned it into a full bath. We knocked out a wall to expand the room (cut into a closet), framed out the walls to install a bathtub, finished a custom made vanity (a friend made the cabinet and we stained/varnished it), installed a marble tub, new toilet, vanity, vanity top, glass tiles on walls, porcelain tiles on the floor, faucets, paint, new doors, floor trim, exhaust fan, etc.

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I would love to see a photo of that.

I always say I go to Home Depot to visit my money. But I spent a ton of money there, building my hot rod.

We built our house back in 1985, so we've been here forever. We have almost 1-1/2 acres, situated on a hill.

For years we didn't do much of anything. To be honest, we just didn't have a lot of money to do much of anything; pretty much everything, after the bills were paid every month, went into our son's college fund because it was understood that the boy was going to college. And then I was working full time and going to college part time, too. Some painting here and there, new carpet, new kitchen floor, things like that. Nothing fancy. We had installed the inground pool about a year or so after we built the house, so we've had that forever, too. We put in a new liner about ten years ago and we noticed that it's time to do that again.

A few years ago, we finally got rid of the old bow window in the living room and we replaced it with a new bay window. It's perfect for the cats. At the same time, we got rid of the old sliding glass door in the kitchen and replaced that with a double French door. I call it a double door because we can open both doors at the same time, not just one. Makes it nice if we need to move really big furniture in or out of the house. We bought the doors and window, and then hired a contractor to do the installation. Best thing we did for that old house.

We've been remodeling the basement, a very little at a time. (We live in a bi-level and the basement is pretty much below ground, especially the back of the basement because we're on a hill, so the basement won't be too difficult to heat). The final product will be a small family/tv room down there with a gas fireplace. Electric heat. And a fitness room for the treadmill, elliptical, Bowflex, weight equipment, etc. A laundry room and a work room for Rick's tools and such. Seems like we've been working on that forever, but that's what happens when we're doing the work ourselves....it's a "little bit here, little bit there" kind of thing. When we get money for drywall, we buy drywall. Things like that. Lowe's and Home Depot are our friends right now. We're getting estimates now for storm windows for the basement; that will be the next thing for down there.

We also need to move the water pipes and water softener system to the east wall of the basement because of the way our garage will be built. Someday....someday.....we want to add a 2-1/2 car garage with a large addition over top; that will either become the new kitchen or the new living room. In which case, the old living room will become a dining room. We were set to start that this past spring and then it just seems that the economy went to Hades in a handbasket and we don't feel comfortable going to that great expense right now. But someday.

The last couple of years we've been doing a lot of landscaping and such to the property. But frankly, a lot of it always comes down to money. So we do this and then we do that. Our house and property isn't impressive at all; it's just an average little house on an average chunk of land. But it's our house.

We've been thinking about getting some kind of an alarm system. But you know, we're not rich by any stretch, and it seems kind of ostentatious to install an alarm system for our little house. I guess, though, that these days, it doesn't matter how little we have....if somebody else wants it.

It helps that we have a wonderful plumber and a great electrician in our family and they're both willing to help us whenever they can. And it also helps that the guys in the family are always willing to help each other when there's a task that needs to be completed. I can make a phone call or two and they'll all be there.

Momofmany, I would love to see pictures of your bathroom, too, please. I enjoy looking at pictures of things people have done.

The alarm is a good idea. If you get one, use it religiously.

Ours was an option on the house. All the windows and doors are alarmed, including the stair/door in the garage. It also has panic buttons on it for fire, police, and ambulance, and it has a silent "invasion" alarm that will bring the police if you put in the correct code to shut it off (it looks like it's shut off, but it brings the police without a confirmation call).

But it's old enough that it's not compatible with newer phone systems, such as AT&T's U-Verse, so we're thinking about updating it.

Hmmm.... In this house DH installed 2 storm doors. Our house was new when we got it but it didn't come with any. We've installed ceiling fans and that sort of stuff too.

We would love to add a sunroom to this house. Not a huge or a tiny room; just somewhere quiet to go read and things. I don't want a true sunroom that is all windows really. Just enough that it's a nice bright room with a good view of the back yard. I also want a fireplace in there because we are in the country and have lost power during a blizzard 2 years ago. My DD was 4 weeks old at the time and it was scary to not have heat and water!

At our last place DH replaced all the trimwork because it was falling apart. It had also been owned by serious smokers so we did a lot of priming and painting. We never got around to doing the floors. He replaced a few windows and stuff like that when he moved in.

Ugh! I'm just finishing up a major home remodel. We didn't do anything crazy structurally, but I have a completely new kitchen and bathrooms (still waiting for the new lights there, they are seriously backordered), we had recessed lighting and a ceiling fan installed in the master BR and the whole house painted inside and out. Painting was by far the worst part, we just hated having to move everything. Actually I'm still looking for stuff I put in that "one safe spot". Painting was also thud hardest part for the animals.

I wish we could have taken the opportunity to replace the carpet upstairs, but my dog is getting old and I'm afraid of what lies ahead

I just finished painting my youngest daughter's room and all of her furniture. We bought our house 8 years ago. We got it really cheep, because the previous owner had a fire in the kitchen. The rest of the top floor had smoke damage. All of the repairs had been done. The elderly man unfortunaltey died. His son didn't finish flooring and finishing details. Just wanted to get rid of it. We have refloored the whole house. We decided to put on new windows, doors, siding. Repainted up and down. Added another bedroom and a bathroom downstairs. Put on a deck. Fenced the yard and put in a flowerbed in the front. just when I think it looks perfect hubby comes up with another idea.

We've been here since 2005, and all we've done are home improvements!

The best is probably the stairway. It originally had carpet (hard to vacuum, esp. with many cats). Last Fall, we bought oak re-treads, stained them cherry, and re-built the balusters and banisters (white balusters, with cherry handrails, white risers). Even though I need to sweep it at least once a day due to cat hair, it beats lugging a vacuum up and down the stairs! (And it looks lovely!)

Things we've done:
1. New hot water heater & tiled the laundry room floor.
2. Entire kitchen re-hab 3 years ago: new cabinets, Silestone counterop, new tile floor, crown moulding, new appliances (bought this year).
3. Laundry sink in garage, so I can wash litter boxes.
4. Replaced dnagerous ceilings in study, kitchen, and living room last year, added deep crown moulding.
5.Re-habbed my upstairs bathroom entirely--inlcuding new toilet, tub & sink.
6. New vanity for downstairs bathroom; wallpaper border; stripped old wallpaper from previous owner.
7.New carpet in 2 bedrooms
8. New deck (last year)
9.Laminate flooring in 3 rooms downstairs.
10.New heat pump.
11.New shed.
12.New patio in front.
13.New garage floor.
14.3 new windows.
15.French doors in study.
16.New vinyl floor in craft room/guest bedroom/cat quarantine room.
17.New fence.
18.New chandelier in dining room, & wainscoting.
19.Insulated the attic.
20.Fixed circuit breaker, and outlets in living room
21.Built-in china rack in kitchen.
22.Built 5 bookcases.
23.Installed outlet in foyer.
24.Created pantry under the stairs.
25.New outdoor light.
26.I did major landscaping/vegetable raised bed gardening; planted dwarf fruit trees, grapes (11!), blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries. Planted several rose bushes.
27. Painted the entire house.
28.Work on the new hummingbird garden starts tomorrow!
29.Tore out old closet doors; built headers for new bi-folds; replaced most of the house interior doors; new handles & locks on exterior doors.
30.Many other things I can't remember!

Wow, guys I'm so impressed with everything you've done to your homes! Way cool!

Barbara, I love the idea of a laundry sink in your garage. We had talked about that, too, simply because it would be nice to be able to wash off in the garage after working outside. We are also looking at crown moulding in the living room and kitchen and back the hallway. When we put the French doors in the kitchen, we put new floor moulding down to match the stain of the doors. It looks really nice. We want to put it in the living room and back the hallway, too.

When we did the computer room over (it was our son's bedroom originally) and put the new windows in, we added new woodwork around the windows. Put new moulding around the floor in that room, added new mirrored closet doors and hardwood flooring. Both our desk are in there and my desk is pretty big, but it all seems to fit OK. We also have two bookcases in there, one is for some of my cookbooks and the smaller one is for some of DH's sports stuff.

If I ever get a new kitchen.....if we add the garage with the kitchen above the garage, that is, I would want French doors going into the kitchen. I know, sounds silly. But one thing that really bothers me is cats on the kitchen counter. I don't mind them on the table, which is ridiculous, but I hate them being on the kitchen counters. It makes me crazy. And it's a losing battle. And I would love a place for plants....just one place! Just one! Our cats will not leave plants alone. To them, plants = snack time.

So, by putting French doors at the kitchen opening, I could keep the cats out of the kitchen when we're not home. They could be in there when we're in there and when they're eating. But that's it. Which really isn't too bad, I guess as they have the run of the rest of the house. And when the basement is finished, they'll have the family room there, too.

I know, I know.....there could be worse things than cats on my kitchen counters. But that's the one thing that just makes me cringe.

Originally Posted by MargeCat

1. New hot water heater

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Why would you want to heat hot water? (Sorry, pet linguistic peeve!)

I can understand the thing about cats on the kitchen counters. I'm renting now so I can't do anything about the cats having free access to the kitchen and keeping them off the counters is a losing battle. I just work with it by wiping down all the counters well before preparing food. Even without the cats it would probably be a good idea to wipe down counters before working with food anyway. I had food poisoning once years ago and the memory of that makes me be really really careful with food.

Our home is over 100 years old and we've lived here 33 years; what haven't we done?! Everythng from tearing down the old coal shed out back to make room for a 2 car garage to vinyle siding, roof (there were 4 layers of old shingles on the roof!), wiring, some plumbing, I have wallpapered a grand total of 18 times, refinished hardwood floor, refinished the entry doors, painted, put up a new wall in a bedroom to make a walk-in closet--we've done a ton. When we bought the house, there wasn't a single plant in the yard (ok, there was a 6 foot high volunteer walnut tree ); the old owners wouldn't recognize the place.

We still want to find a way to put a shower in our one and only bathroom (the shower is in the basement), and do something to the bank in front of the house. I'm getting too old to mow it so we're thinking of some sort of retaining wall.

We have accomplished many home improvement projects over the years.

We tore down (by ourselves our detached) 2 car garage and rebuilt a super fancy building that resembles the shape of a dairy barn. Its I think 24 x28 and at the peak its 23 ft tall (its 2 stories). We contracted the building out but we did the painting on the second story and the trim ourselves. We finished the interior walls (with OSB) and put up a ceiling on the 1st floor. Neil built all the shelves and various items to store all his woodworking equipment.

We had the original 2 car width driveway dug out and we installed brick paver's as it only has one garage door now. The paver's were re-used from a walkway we had installed year ago but we installed two new walkways and a 16 x 24 patio with a dry laid fieldstone wall.

Lots of new garden beds throughout our property.

We built my super fancy (looking) garden shed out of new and reclaimed materials.

In the house have have installed all new trim/floor mouldings, doors including closet doors. All trim was stained and everything now painted.
Re-did kitchen with new cabinets. Bathroom off kitchen all new fixtures and a ceramic tile floor which we did by ourselves.

The biggest project was we removed 100 yr old maple flooring from an old schoolhouse (using a sawzall running off an alternator on a tractor). Neil hand scraped each board and we found someone to reinstall for us. The steps going up to the bedrooms and down to the family room removed carpeting and installed maple stair treads. The upstairs we tore out a half wall so we could have railings on the stairs.

Painted all the rooms twice some with different painting techniques.

Demolished the upstairs bathroom, closed an door from our bedroom to gain space and re-drywalled and installed all new bathroom features to include limestone tile floor and shower (the shower door was $900!), whirlpool tub new toilet and cabinets with corian sink and countertop.

All new carpeting (which needs to be replaced).

In the family room the walls were paneled and we removed and drywalled. Wallpapered which has been changed already. We re installed a new suspended ceiling back in 1992 but 2 years ago we removed and we installed (the room is 24 x23) a beadboard ceiling with 9 tray sections. All outlined and the perimeter of the room outlined with crown moulding. We got the idea for this from a cover of a Martha Stewart Living magazine years ago!
The bathroom off this room we removed all fixtures and as with the bathroom upstairs we installed a halfwall with beadboard and trim. We installed limestone floor tiles in that room too.

We've wallpapered, changed out light fixtures, the front door and the door out of the family room.
We have re-shingled the house. Installed a new paver walkway to the front of the house.
My husband makes furniture so he had made a mission style bed out of cherry, some end tables, a display stand, hall tree. I've sewn curtains, pillows.
That's all I can think off offhand......

I've lived in my house since 2000. In that time we've taken a 2 bedroom ranch and turned it into a 4 bedroom center hall colonial. We gutted the whole enchilada, and started from studs.

It's still a work in progress, I'd like some base moulding, and perhaps a doorbell someday, (and you know 100 year old wood floors with pegs look better when they're finished...) but you know what they say, a carpenter (my husband has his own business when he's not being a firefighter) finishes everyone else's house, and not his own.

By the time he retires in 15 years, it should be done.