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.

In the midst of interior renovations yet again, I had a thought to myself yesterday that I will NEVER again buy a house that isn’t new. For about the tenth time in my life, I’m trying to work around noise, dust, scheduling issues, a 4-month old puppy, and last but not least yesterday – rain.

There is always something interesting to me about older homes though and no matter what I say today, the thrill of discovering what’s under that ugly tile or wallpaper will no doubt continue to intrigue. Dealing with the “in process” of renovations though can be frustrating.

Forgetting cost for the moment (PLEASE?) to begin, you must identify any issues or problems – and rank them as far as priority. Then you must rank them in best or most viable order-of-completion. As example, I’ve been walking around on plywood for flooring for about 4 years – waiting, because so many things ABOVE floor must happen first. My only fear is that I will become emotionally attached to the plywood and will see REAL hardwood floors as expensive and unnecessary!

Once these decisions have been made, you’ll need to find contractors to do the work you can’t, or shouldn’t do. It has taken me awhile living in the sticks as I do, to find people who know what they’re doing and who will actually show up to do the work – when scheduled.

Here’s my list of renovation resource”must-haves”:

++ A plumber
++ An electrician
++ A carpenter
++ A HVAC person
++ A guy with a backhoe who knows how to use it.
++ A painter (for me this is for that overhead painting I just can’t do.)

If you’re really up to some major renovation work you’ll need additional help. I just scored the name of a guy to do some drywall work – from the carpenter who is here today replacing a ceiling. These little referrals are often worth GOLD! Most often, the guy who is doing one job knows who locally is the best to work with – since they have worked together on prior jobs. These referrals have in past probably saved me a lot of time and money – and with only one exception in 30 years – have never been a bad choice.

I’m being summoned to the next room to make a “Command” decision.

And, is there any difference between “remodeling” and “renovating”? More soon…