Home is where the heart (and your blood, sweat and tears) are.
Before we began our kitchen renovation my neighbor told me he had friends who actually got divorced over their home remodel. It was with this advice in mind that we pressed forth with what I affectionately refer to as my first and last major home renovation project. I know there are far worse things than living without appliances and a floor that’s ripped down to the beams, but after months on end, it became a trying time.
We were in love with our Capitol Hill row house the moment we set eyes on it. Ok, I was in love and the other half of my household came on board once I stopped referring to it as “pink” and after accepting the fact that as an engineer, he could not deny the appeal of doing a total demolition and redesign according to his our specifications.
I enjoyed the many trips to the cabinet store, the tile store and the paint store (thank you, Frager’s). Harder to deal with was the way things were built in the early 1900’s. In a newer home, replacing a window might be an easy task. But in a house that’s over one hundred years old, who knew that moving a window could cause most of an exterior wall to collapse? Or about the extra expense incurred trying to make new hardwood floors match the originals (which are pine) and must be handled with care.
In the end, we love our new kitchen and use it everyday. What about you? Granite, stainless steel and fancy faucets are pretty to look at, but are they worth your sanity? Where do you go to purchase supplies for home renovation projects? Are you a Frager’s devotee or do you venture outside the District? We had great luck at Lowe’s in Alexandria on several occasions.
What do you wish you knew before you started your project? Is remodeling an older home on the Hill preferable to new construction? Did you do the work yourself or hire a contractor?
We were intially looking to buy a fixer-upper, but on the Hill they’re nearly the same price as the houses that have been recently updated. I remember seeing a property listed in the high 500’s near Lincoln Park and thinking it might be a project we could tackle… until I saw the house and realized it need to be gutted.
In retrospect I’m relieved we got a place that doesn’t need to a ton of work and we can focus on simple decisions like what color to paint the walls.
We remodeled the kitchen ourselves and yeah, divorce was mentioned.
Needless to say, we got a contractor to do the bathroom.
I have been constantly working on our house since we bought it 4 years ago. Our house is only 50 years old, but it is nice to find surprises like no insulation when you cut a wall open. In any case, I like to leave the better half off the labor team to avoid such domestic violence.
We just finished a kitchen renovation with the help of a contractor using an FHA 203k loan. Honestly, if we didn’t get a fixer upper I doubt that we would have found a place we could afford in last year’s super competitive market.
For the last minute items, you can’t beat Fragers (it is just around the corner from us). With advance planning, I prefer to go to the Lowe’s in my old neck of the woods (Gaithersburg, MD). It usually doesn’t get too crazy (like the Home Depot in RI Ave) and you can usu. find what you want.
Yes, I agree that renovations can be a stressful time, but whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But in all seriousness, as a newlywed going through a major renovation it has really done us good. We have learned how to communicate with one another and compromise, two things every married couple should be able to do, right?