Show me your awesome and frugal home DIYs renovations/updates

[savingtofreedom]

I know lots of folks on this board - MMM- included have executed some pretty snazzy DIY renovations/updates at home.  I was hoping to start a thread that could showcase some of the work of this community to helpfully motivate myself and other mustachians into action.  Also any tips/tricks or deals you found in the process would help.

I am going to create a separate thread to track the list of things I plan to do and would love feedback.

Thanks!

[flygirl]

If I don't forget, I'll add some photos when I get home - we rent and have a 85 sq ft kitchen that we've hacked the hell out of (since we can't actually modify the permanent structure).

[teacherman]

My wife and I did a kitchen re-model this past fall that turned out pretty good I think! You can see pictures of it on her blog here: http://dandelily.blogspot.com/2013/02/kitchen-before-and-after.html

Made a nasty and dark 70s-style kitchen look much nicer for only about $925. What's better is our landlord (my wife's uncle) footed the materials bill and we did all the work.

We used a lot of hacks that she had found on Pinterest and other blogs. It was fun!

[savingtofreedom]

My wife and I did a kitchen re-model this past fall that turned out pretty good I think! You can see pictures of it on her blog here: http://dandelily.blogspot.com/2013/02/kitchen-before-and-after.html

Made a nasty and dark 70s-style kitchen look much nicer for only about $925. What's better is our landlord (my wife's uncle) footed the materials bill and we did all the work.

We used a lot of hacks that she had found on Pinterest and other blogs. It was fun!

Very nice work on the kitchen renovation.  I was thinking about using the IKEA butcher block on our countertops if we end up painting the cabinets white.  What did you used to varnish it?

[onemorebike]

My wife and I bought our first house seven years ago, we were pretty broke so we bought a nasty foreclosure, carpets were soiled with dog poop/piss, cigarette butts and nastieness everywhere. We bought the three bedroom in Denver for 105,000 which was a steal. I think nobody could see the potential we did. My wife and I (and some of our friends) redid every surface in the house within 30 days of purchase so that we could move in- the before and after pictures are in the album below although they don't include the many renovations we made AFTER moving in. This house became our rental when we recently moved to a larger home closer to my wife's new job.

I went into this project barely knowing how to hang a photo and left a pretty competent handyman.

https://picasaweb.google.com/117625932849060639090/5078Umatilla?authuser=0&feat=directlink

[Spork]

So... this is probably more than you are looking for, but this is an album of an entire house build (which is technically sort of still on going.)

We cash flowed this house.  We finished the bottom floor and left the top unfinished (hence the on going work).  The structural/mechanical/cabinetry work was done by pros (though I've already made a few minor mods).  All of the paint, tile, finish work was done by me.  I also did a 100% tear down and rebuild of the antique stove in the kitchen.

This is probably a mix of frugal and non-frugal.  (The monster fuelsucking SUV is probably the first thing you'll notice -- we're currently working on replacing that.)  We were trying to build something that we are planning on living in forever.  We tried to make semi-intelligent choices on where the splurges went, but I am sure there is room for debate there.

https://plus.google.com/photos/101796115660518474565/albums/5528384123019226913

[teacherman]

My wife and I did a kitchen re-model this past fall that turned out pretty good I think! You can see pictures of it on her blog here: http://dandelily.blogspot.com/2013/02/kitchen-before-and-after.html

Made a nasty and dark 70s-style kitchen look much nicer for only about $925. What's better is our landlord (my wife's uncle) footed the materials bill and we did all the work.

We used a lot of hacks that she had found on Pinterest and other blogs. It was fun!

Very nice work on the kitchen renovation.  I was thinking about using the IKEA butcher block on our countertops if we end up painting the cabinets white.  What did you used to varnish it?

Thanks! To finish it, we simply stained it and then used regular clear polyurethane from Home Depot. It was very easy and has held up well so far. I like the idea of using butcher block because when it gets beat up enough you can simply sand it down and refinish it.

[Nords]

DIY photovoltaic & solar water heating.  Oahu has pretty hefty insolation and we pay 30-35 cents/KWHr for HECO electricity.
 
Back in late 2004 spouse saw a newspaper (remember them?) classified ad (remember those too?) for PV panels.  The guy was a retired engineer in his 80s who'd broken a hip and no longer wanted his hobby PV panels.  We bought 20 55-watt panels (1100 watts) for $2000... including the racks & wiring... which even today is pretty cheap.  The panels are at least 15 years old.

We found an electrician who taught us the code for the inspection.  While we were drilling holes in a perfectly good roof and re-mounting the racks, he ran the construction and net-metering permits and installed the (brand-new, retail) inverter.  We bought more wiring, conduit, and electrical hardware.  Between his labor and the inverter we invested another $4800.  Today that's high-end full-service retail pricing, but back then $6/watt was stupid cheap.  Our sweat equity was free.

We went the same route for solar water in late 2005:  two used 4x8 collectors (now over 35 years old) for $150, a used solar water heater & pump for $150, another $620 for mounting hardware, piping, valves, and the electrical controller.  The collectors had been sitting in a yard for a decade but I know how to assemble a hydrostatic test rig, and they held pressure.  (Today they're worth more than $150 just for the copper tubing.)  Our 13-year-old daughter did most of the soldering and we split the assembly tasks.  Back then retail would've been around $5000.

Up through 2007 we kept buying used PV panels from Craigslist a few at a time.  One company sold us 16 factory seconds over eBay and shipped them to Oahu from Florida.  They were ugly but they were still rated for full power and they were under $4/watt.  We made more racks out of scrap aluminum and ended up with the south roof covered in 64 sq ft of solar water collector plus 3300 watts among 45 PV panels.  Back then a 3KW PV array would've retailed for about $30K but by the time we were finished we'd spent $920 for solar hot water and $15,700 for PV. 

Then we took $9375 in federal & state tax credits. 

By late 2010 the system had paid for itself. 

In 2011 we demolished/rebuilt our familyroom (mostly contractors, some sweat equity), modified the roofline, and added foam insulation panels to the roof.  We had to take down the PV array for the roof work, so I treated myself to modern rail racks with flashed mounts and clip-on hardware.  The roof insulation (and wall insulation, and new tinted windows) are so energy-efficient that we no longer use our ceiling fans.  The whole house is cooled by the tradewinds and frankly it's kinda cold on winter mornings.  Most months our electricity bill is $18 (the minimum net-metering charge) and in winter it climbs to about $30. 

The first photo is after we finished building v1.0 of the PV & solar water.  The second photo is after the renovated familyroom and v2.0 of the PV.

[flygirl]

Here's our "renter's pot rack" and a link to the small photoset with all of our nothing-permanent space savers. It's a regular over-the-door coatrack from Container Store, with some hardware store chain and hooks.



Tiny photoset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinyhonkshus/sets/72157632885386892/with/8517411016/

[Rural]

Spork, your album is giving me flashbacks! Did you buy or rent the earthmoving equipment? Because we had to construct a quarter-mile driveway before we could start, we bought a used JD 410 backhoe - a steal at $5K, though it is very, very used. We've done everything with it: drive, foundation (deep dig into the hillside for our earth-sheltered house), moving earth from another part or the property to complete the berms. When it's all over, we can probably sell the thing for what we paid for it, but if we'd been doing a more conventional build on flat land, I think we would have rented.

Your roof trusses -- did you build those on site? We bought ours, though we had to go with half trusses to get them to the site.

Man, I'm glad to be past all that! I spent yesterday staining and sealing cabinets -- very glad to be at that stage. I even had running water and indoor plumbing to help the process along -- pure luxury, I say!

Final question -- did you guys live in the outbuilding in the background of some of the shots?

Perhaps we should start a cash flow building thread.

So... this is probably more than you are looking for, but this is an album of an entire house build (which is technically sort of still on going.)

We cash flowed this house.  We finished the bottom floor and left the top unfinished (hence the on going work).  The structural/mechanical/cabinetry work was done by pros (though I've already made a few minor mods).  All of the paint, tile, finish work was done by me.  I also did a 100% tear down and rebuild of the antique stove in the kitchen.

This is probably a mix of frugal and non-frugal.  (The monster fuelsucking SUV is probably the first thing you'll notice -- we're currently working on replacing that.)  We were trying to build something that we are planning on living in forever.  We tried to make semi-intelligent choices on where the splurges went, but I am sure there is room for debate there.

https://plus.google.com/photos/101796115660518474565/albums/5528384123019226913

[Spork]

Spork, your album is giving me flashbacks! Did you buy or rent the earthmoving equipment? Because we had to construct a quarter-mile driveway before we could start, we bought a used JD 410 backhoe - a steal at $5K, though it is very, very used. We've done everything with it: drive, foundation (deep dig into the hillside for our earth-sheltered house), moving earth from another part or the property to complete the berms. When it's all over, we can probably sell the thing for what we paid for it, but if we'd been doing a more conventional build on flat land, I think we would have rented.

The "real work" was subcontracted out.  I just did finish work: finish carpentry, trim, closet buildouts, door installations, tile, paint, etc.  So the earthmoving equipment was a subcontractor.  (He estimated it at 70 dump trucks.  We NEVER would have done the dirt work we did if we had understood how much had to move.)

I wanted to do more ourselves, but in the interest of "not getting a divorce", the lovely wife & I compromised on "just the finish work."  As it was, I added significant time to the total project (and have still not finished the upstairs).

Your roof trusses -- did you build those on site? We bought ours, though we had to go with half trusses to get them to the site.

All our trusses were pre-built and delivered.

Man, I'm glad to be past all that! I spent yesterday staining and sealing cabinets -- very glad to be at that stage. I even had running water and indoor plumbing to help the process along -- pure luxury, I say!

Final question -- did you guys live in the outbuilding in the background of some of the shots?


Perhaps we should start a cash flow building thread.

Yes, we lived in the tool shed for 6 years.  This started as a downsize and move-close-to-family that had us going from a normal sized suburban big city home to a 600 sqft tool shed out in the woods.

[Rural]

Spork, your album is giving me flashbacks! Did you buy or rent the earthmoving equipment? Because we had to construct a quarter-mile driveway before we could start, we bought a used JD 410 backhoe - a steal at $5K, though it is very, very used. We've done everything with it: drive, foundation (deep dig into the hillside for our earth-sheltered house), moving earth from another part or the property to complete the berms. When it's all over, we can probably sell the thing for what we paid for it, but if we'd been doing a more conventional build on flat land, I think we would have rented.

The "real work" was subcontracted out.  I just did finish work: finish carpentry, trim, closet buildouts, door installations, tile, paint, etc.  So the earthmoving equipment was a subcontractor.  (He estimated it at 70 dump trucks.  We NEVER would have done the dirt work we did if we had understood how much had to move.)

I wanted to do more ourselves, but in the interest of "not getting a divorce", the lovely wife & I compromised on "just the finish work."  As it was, I added significant time to the total project (and have still not finished the upstairs).

Ah, ours was more sweat equity, but mostly not my sweat equity (I'm a petite woman). My husband and father have done everything except the concrete pour, spray-in insulation, and, just recently as we've gotten impatient, the drywall hanging and mudding. My husband did the plumbing; my father's an electrical engineer and did the wiring.

 I was support, mostly, lots of buying supplies and cooking, but I did run the backhoe some (can't drive it on a slope, though because I'm too short to reach the brake well, so I was limited.) I did a good bit of hammering on the roof and some on the framing. I was completely useless when it came to raising the walls, of course, and even in sheathing, since it's all I can do to lift a sheet of OSB. All in all, a bit of a humbling experience for me; I settled for earning good money toward the effort and took on side gigs where I could.

Your roof trusses -- did you build those on site? We bought ours, though we had to go with half trusses to get them to the site.



All our trusses were pre-built and delivered.

Man, I'm glad to be past all that! I spent yesterday staining and sealing cabinets -- very glad to be at that stage. I even had running water and indoor plumbing to help the process along -- pure luxury, I say!

Final question -- did you guys live in the outbuilding in the background of some of the shots?


Perhaps we should start a cash flow building thread.


Yes, we lived in the tool shed for 6 years.  This started as a downsize and move-close-to-family that had us going from a normal sized suburban big city home to a 600 sqft tool shed out in the woods.

Ours was similar, actually, burn we're living in a 750 sqft mobile home, circa 1971, that the county had listed as uninhabitable when we got it. I think we're going to make it with only 3.5 years in the trailer, and that's good, because it won't stand for another year and a half. It's disintegrating.

[savingtofreedom]

Wow - all of this work is really impressive.  You guys are a handy bunch.  I managed to rip out the carpet in one of our rooms - the next step is to decide what is going in there.  Thanks for all of the great examples of what can be done with a little to alot of sweat equity.

Spork - wish we could have built our own house - I will be working through some updates that are function of poor material selections by the builder.

Onemorebike - you guys completely transformed that place - you said you really had no experience in DIY before purchasing the home - did you learn just by doing or did someone with more expertise help you? 

Nords - nice work on the photovoltaic & solar water heating - our heating and electric bill is much higher than I like.  We will need to redo the roof in a couple of years - it may be worth seeing what we can do with solar power.

[layzbones]

I just did my first tile job - the backsplash in my new kitchen.  I've still got to grout but it's a work in progress.

I refuse to pay full price for just about anything so I happened to stumble on these awesome glass subway tiles in the clearance bin at Lowes for $3.50/sqft, marked down from $12.  They had just enough for me to get the job done.  I did pay full price for the stainless tiles but only needed two sheets to get that strip in there.

Overall I love it - it was about 4x more work than I thought it would be but I learned a ton along the way and borrowed all of the tools and tile saw from a co worker.

Total Cost - $175! ($105 for the tile, $12 for the mastic, $24 for the stainless tiles, $4 for a small grooved trowel, assume $30 for the grout and caulk)
Had I paid full price for the tiles it would have been around $250 more.  I'm assuming two days of labor would maybe $400-500?

[RoseRelish]

Looks really good! We're in the process of installing bamboo flooring throughout most of our house. The pros wanted to charge ~$2+/square foot, so we bought our own nail gun and nails and will end up doing it for less than $0.50/square foot. (Excluding the cost of the bamboo flooring).

[savingtofreedom]

layzbones - nice work on the backsplash.  I have been thinking about doing some sort of marble on our backsplash.  We have white tiles which are not too bad right now so I may leave them. 

Wilderhaken - are you laying the bamboo over concrete or do you already have a subfloor?  I thought about bamboo but couldn't find one that I loved - would like to know what you end up with.  Have you laid flooring before?

[RoseRelish]

Wilderhaken - are you laying the bamboo over concrete or do you already have a subfloor?  I thought about bamboo but couldn't find one that I loved - would like to know what you end up with.  Have you laid flooring before?

We are putting the bamboo over wooden subfloor, not concrete. The bamboo we chose is strand woven and is mostly dark with strands of light mixed in. We've never installed hardwood floor before but have done vinyl planks in the past. It's really not too difficult - but very time consuming.

[savingtofreedom]

Very nice - if you don't mind me asking what is the manufacturer, color, and where did you buy it?

[RoseRelish]

The floor is made by USFloors and is called Bamboo Spice. We bought it at Lowe's for $3.99/sq. ft. I'd highly recommend it.

http://www.usfloorsllc.com/products-page/exotiques/strand-woven-spice/

[FI@2022Jem]

Just a heads up to anyone looking at bamboo floors: we changed out our (yucky old) carpet with bamboo floors from Costco a few years ago.  At the time they only had one color option (medium honey tone) but it was very inexpensive (under $2 a square foot and I noticed it has been on sale since then).  They have held up great- even with a few dog nail scratches- and we are still very happy with them! 

[savingtofreedom]

Thanks for the info Jennie - I was looking into the Bamboo at Costco - did you install over concrete slab or plywood?

Did you install yourself or hire it out?

[FI@2022Jem]

Savingtofreedom- My husband did it himself with a friend (while I painted upstairs).  It is installed over plywood subfloor with the standard low cost Home Depot type moisture barrier. 
Also, a note on cleaning- For what it is worth (although we are admittedly not a squeaky-clean-type household), I find five minutes with an old clothe attached to a swifter-type mop with a spray of vinegar and water once every week or two is totally adequate at keeping it clean.