Rose Cottage Ltd

I’ll start off first with what my best online friend, Wikipedia, has to say:

(To) Renovate: Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving a structure. Two prominent types of renovations are commercial and residential.

(To) Remodel: To make over in structure or style; reconstruct.

Not much clarity there!

I’m nearing the end of (in my mind) “renovations” at my house and getting close to the “remodeling” stage. You can read more about that here.

In practice, renovating and remodeling are much the same but in my frame of reference the process and work is entirely different. Before you either purchase an older property or contemplate upgrades to your current home – getting yourself in the right frame of mind may prove helpful.

To me, “renovate” usually means something has to come down before new can go up. This can still relate to “upgrades,” but is more often referring to necessary improvements to a home’s main structures such as the roof, foundation, walls, floor, electrical systems, HVAC, wells and their (expensive) pumps, etc., etc. These are things I see as “required.”

On the other hand, “remodeling” implies upgrades. You have a functioning kitchen but want to change the footprint or want new cabinets or new counter tops, etc. Remodeling can be as simple as changing the kitchen sink faucet hardware. These construction tasks I see as “nice-to-do” or optional.

With older properties, the tricky part is where your remodeling process exposes renovation necessities. That old Tom Hanks movie called, “The Money Pit” provides a prime example. In the movie, the couple got an unbelievable deal on a real estate property that appeared to need some mainly cosmetic improvements. In reality, every “cosmetic” change exposed a massive problem just below the surface, and a “money pit” the house became!

None of this really makes any difference unless you buy a home for what appears to be a great price and figure you’ll have to spend say $10,000 on improvements. Unless you have a lot of construction experience, have a very thorough home inspector, or are yourself a General Contractor, you might find that before you can spend that optional $10,000 for “remodeling” you may have to spend $20,000 on “renovation.” This is what gets a lot of people with great intentions into serious financial (and emotional) difficulty.

If you think of renovations as “substance” and remodeling as “style,” it might make it a lot easier to plan the estimates of time, cost, and resources required to tackle your next home project.

DIY – Do It Yourself.

I’m all for DIY whenever possible. Think that is fairly obvious from the stucco series and paver stone sections of the blog if nothing else. I was probably the kid that said, “Let ME do it” as the first phrase I ever spoke. However, there are one or two issues regarding DIY projects I feel I should mention.

++ DIY often means working on a project with family members and/or friends.

This can sometimes lead you straight back to DIY – doing it yourself, since no one else shows up to assist. As long as you are aware of this potential you won’t get discouraged or be too disappointed. But I can tell you, spending more than one valuable Saturday waiting around for someone who doesn’t show up to help can feel very defeating. There are portions of nearly every DIY project that require an extra pair of hands. Plan on some tasks to do alone – in case you find yourself – by yourself some sunny Saturday afternoon.

++ Not everyone will adhere to a schedule.

I’m a former Information Technology Project Manager. It said so on my resume and I even had it (PMP) certified. My life is organized like one big project. I like deadlines. I like milestones. I like finishing a project early (and under budget) if possible. Imagine my surprise to find the general world does not work this way and that those assisting on one or two of my projects had NO IDEA that I actually expected them to get finished at some point before my death.

This divergence in planning styles can be especially frustrating when working with family members. Patience is NOT my middle name and there have been days when having a trowel with a sharp, pointy end in my hand was just not a good idea.

++ Budgets, and Focus

Unless you’ve taken out some huge construction or home improvement loan, the costs involved in your DIY project may feel a bit overwhelming at times. As weeks turn into months, the fact that you agreed to not take a vacation this year in order to use the funds to complete a DIY project may still motivate you, but not your partner(s). By now they’re seeing pictures of their friends who DID take a vacation this year – and when they look at the project, it’s still not finished. They can’t sit on the patio yet, or can’t swim in the pool, or can’t use their new outside kitchen.

Someone will have to play cheerleader at this point or you’ll lose focus. Sometimes just taking a weekend break will be enough to stop the mid-project doldrums.

But have no fear. As long as one person can still visualize the dream project, whatever it is, and can maintain patience on the days when little or nothing seems to go right or is completed, you’ll still have probably saved thousands of dollars, and be able to enjoy for decades – a DIY job well done.