This limbo time between having a bid on a house accepted and actually closing on the house and having the keys is just murder for me. Â I think it’s harder on me than most people because I work from home and set my own hours and time tables. Â Yesterday, I found myself doing a little bit of sketching….when I was suppose to be working…
Right now, we are unsure of how we are working several things…my sewing room, the kitchen, laundry, bathrooms and garage. Â Currently, all those aspects of the house need help. Â The other parts are all good with a just some cosmetic updates that we can manage. Â After looking at the picture I took and contemplating we are beginning to wonder if our best form of attack is to just remove the part of the house that we don’t like and start over.
I’ll show you picture to explain but remember, the outside is bad and we’re planning all new windows and siding once we know how we’re adding on a garage…oh and imagine no dumpster.
The back part of the house which is to the right, houses everything in the house that we don’t like or that needs major work. Â We are thinking that we could just take that part off and rebuild making the the addition look much like the house to the left of the picture.
That means a new kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, sewing room and garage. Â We think it might work but, we need to get back into the house and meet with the electrician and contractor…but we are not ready to do that until we close on the house.
We know it will be more expensive to build but in the end it might not be as expensive as we might think. Â We already would have to put on new siding, windows and shingles. Â We already have to update and the bathrooms. Â We already have to build a garage on. Â We already have to remodel the kitchen with new cupboards. Â In the end, how much extra will the rebuilding cost? Â That’s a question we want to get answered…but that’s a question we are waiting on until the closing date.
In the meantime, Hubby had a doctor’s appointment in Lacrosse so we we stopped at Lowes in Onalaska. Â We both just want to look and get some ideas….ceiling fans, sinks, bathtubs, siding…oh the list goes on and on.
In the meantime, I am just trying to stay working when it’s time to work and sketching and thinking and contemplating and pinteresting and looking at cupboard designs and looking at garage plans when it ISN’T time to work. Â UGH! Â I have such a one track mind, I think this waiting is going to be the death of me.
I know what you mean. The minute we decided we needed a new house (our old one is just about falling apart and is becoming unsafe) I was obsessed with all things house. Plans, decor, cabinets, flooring, etc. If you really want a time sucker, go to houzz.com. Make sure you have a lot of time on your hands first though. Good luck!
i like your plans! and i also agree that taking the original addition completely off and starting fresh from the ground up woud be the way to go in this case, and it will save time. They do that sooo often in “This Old House” on PBS, so i think that would probably be so much easier to work with in the end. That way you’re not so restricted with the space you get to work with, and you know that it won’t just be a ‘patch-up job’. doing it once and having it done right will be much better than continual repairs.
Jo – we live in Texas and just added an addition to our almost 100 year old house that my husband was born in. We added on to the old house just like you are thinking to do. One of the ways we found to save money was to locate a “junk dealer” – in a town nearby is a fellow that has old doors, windows, kitchen and bathroom fixtures, etc. that he has taken from homes being torn down. All our inside doors are old wood doors – really heavy and sturdy (not like what you find in stock at Lowe’s) Most were below $50 each and did not even have to be painted they were in such good condition. We found our bathroom cabinets including fixtures for a really low price – in great condition – just added a new coat of paint. We also found stuff at the Restore – Habitat for Humanity stores that collect items from builders that are resold for a lesser price. There appear to be some in your state. We started haunting those stores looking for items we knew we would later need – sometimes you can get a real deal for BEAUTIFUL old stuff that would fit in your home perfectly. Good luck on your journey – it will be trying at times but so worth it when you are finished !!!
New construction is often SO much cheaper in the long run. You never know what other issues you will uncover with an older home (like the bearing wall in my house that made us realize the house was actually held up only by habit). What looks like one thing that needs fixing soon reveals a multitude of other things you have to address first. We realized after the fact that we could have saved tens of thousands of dollars if we had just started anew. Good luck!!!
Jo, I also encourage you to check prices on build.com. I bought all my lighting fixtures and door hardware there and saved a bundle! I mean, kwikset locks are kwikset locks, why not save a couple dollars per set – you need SO many!!!!! People are really nice to deal with if you have questions – just call them! If you spend over a certain amount, it’s free delivery. Honestly, I urge you to at least use them as a comparison on some of your long, long, list of materials!
Bonnie Hunter has a new Cabin, you are getting a new house…. wonderful vibes!
Hope you can keep the wood floor I see in Kalisa’s “lovely” photos.
Oh yes – remove and build! You will have exactly what you want and then will get to live in a house that you adore!