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I just wondered how many other folks out there have begun construction projects that, for whatever reason, remain "unfinished," so that part or all of your living space is what most people would consider "under construction."
Is that you? How do you feel about it? What are the challenges? What are the rewards? What do your friends, family and casual visitors think and say?
Why is your project stalled? What will it take to finish it? When do you expect that to happen?
We built our house last year - moved in about late August and planned to do the remaining little things afterwards - finish the trim work, patch a few cabinet build-outs in the kitchen area, paint the rooms something other than flat white, build the built-in bookshelves, etc. Then my brother & his 3 (elementary & younger) kids needed a place to stay right at last Thanksgiving and they only moved out a few months ago. All house work was put on pause that whole time & is only now getting started up again.
The good part is - most of our 'unfinisheds' are not really noticeable unless you point them out. The bad part is, some of them are hard to live with - like a severe shortage of actual shelves in my closets.
What will it take to get them finished? Mostly TIME. Now that we're back to just us & our own 2 kids, we have a bit more. When my husband's current mostly-out-of-town work contract finishes up (please God, SOON), we'll have even more. Then we plan to take one room at a time & get each FINISHED. With any luck, by this time next year, the house will be 'done' except for the usual household maintenance stuff. I'm not really holding my breath, though. Life just doesn't agree with my plans that often.
In 1987 I bought an old house planning to repair it slowly. Most of the finish work I figured I could do my self, since I have a background as an historic house curator, and also in woodworking. There were however, some basic things I could not do my self. For each person I hired to do the work, there is a trail of unfinished and screwed-up work. Each one took my money and left my house in worse condition than it was in the first place.
Finally, a few weeks ago, I applied for a loan consolidation based on my home equity. The appraiser (who apparently had never seen an old house without central heating and with 75 year old wall paper on the walls) declared that my house is barely fit to live in.
I have invested my life savings in a house, but it has no equity value, even though a similar house in the area just sold for $200,000. Maybe this sad tale will help some other person avoid the same "mistake".
Gosh, how should I start:
Bought a fixer upper about 5 years ago and we still have the house under construction, we finally almost finished a florida room out on the back porch, but this place needs new windows and vinyl syding still plus the yard is a mess. The funny part is that my husband is in construction, in fact he owns a construcion company but he is so extremely busy with other projects that he does not have time or energy to finish ours. If I had to start all over again I would not have moved into the house until it was completed completely because once you move in you tend to get used to living in it whether is finished or not.
Probably the best advice in the whole world. Don't move in before its finished. People can't believe Im living in this house where several windows need glass. But I keep saying, no the foundation sills come first.
I always swear that I won't again live in a house that I'm renovating... and yet I do it over, and over... usually because I can't afford 2 places at once.
My sister and I bought this place last summer, knowing it needed a lot of work, but mostly cosmetic we thought. However, we bought it for the land and planned to fix the house as we go along. (She's still in FL trying to sell her house in a down market.) In 8 months here I've had 3 water leaks under the house in the very tight crawl space which has also necessitated some new sub-flooring in places as particle board doesn't like water.
Then, the water heater went kaput 2 weeks ago. Easy enough to put in a new heating element myself but then found the wiring was loose in the panel box. Taking off the panel cover showed that NONE of the new wiring previous owners installed was grounded (and the ground wires cut too short to use), and the panel was too small anyway. So last week we had a new 200 amp panel installed PROPERLY.
Of course the undersized elec. heater went out almost immediately last fall and there was no AC anyway. So, a new heat pump and all new insulated duct work were installed.
The only thing we have done besides repairs was to remove all the pet-stained carpet and padding, and paint the particle board sub-floors hoping we could at least sweep them somewhat clean until we can afford new flooring.
I lied about not doing any cosmetics... I also painted my bedroom!
my water heater went out too. I hope to replace it when I get my income tax refund. replace electric, and install gas. In the mean time I dream of a tub full of hot water, lavender and chamomile. Dream away.
I plan to put in a Rennai tankless water heater. Moving from a home we whipped into shape asap when we both worked (extra income) and childless. Now down to one income (SAHM here) and a kiddo. So moving to another home the rewards will be farther between. But I still look forward to having projects.
Upgraded our current house beginning in 2000. Had furniture stacked ceiling to floor while replacing carpet floor with ceramic tile. Got master bedroom and living areas finished and couldn't stand living with office furniture and extra bedrooms in living areas. Moved that furniture back in the rooms where they belonged. Those rooms still do not have baseboard or closet doors installed. Took inventory of each room and the remaining projects to finish each and although the situation is livable as is, I do dream that one day at least ONE room will be completely finished. Problem is...we have now purchased another home that was in dire need of renovation and are also working on that. I will refuse to move in until it is ALL done. After a year and a half we have made tremendous progress as we continue to make it fit for human habitation.
Ah! Where to begin ? 120 sq. ft. of walkway to go in beside the house. 5' X 12' of concrete (or ?) wall to build behind the Bog Garden. Rebuild the fountain and raise the 450# drilled basalt column. Move a bearing wall in the glass shed 2 ft out to enlarge the work area. Build a new pantry in the garage. Finish the Single Malt cabinet and a lower cupboard. Sheetrock the garage ceiling and rewire the woodshop ceiling. Hang 36 ft. of gutter and downspouts on the shed. Then there is the painting of the bathroom, garage,utility room, and all the usual gardening. When ALL of your jobs are completed and there is nothing to look forward to, it is time to die. Luckily I'll have to live to 150 or older to finish everything. lol
I am relieved to know there are others with long lists. I have one myself brewing for the new house. Alas it's only delayed due to money. We have a good income but it's still one thing at a time. And DH wanting to pay off second car first and NO MORE CAR PAYMENTS. Wondering if I could just live with a bike instead of 2nd car. ROFL. JUST KIDDING. But seriously...wanting to get so much done. =)
We bought our home 7 years ago this summer - it was built in the late 1970s and lived in by the last owners for over 20 years, and was stuck in a bad early-80s time warp.
After we closed on it, we "camped out" with the bare necessities for about 6 weeks, and did the major demolition work (took out the old paneling and carpeting, put in drywall and new flooring, etc. Things were moving at a pretty good clip for several months.
Then progress slowed down...wayyyyy down. Now we have all the dinky little things to finish - trim painting to finish, staining and installing a half-dozen threshholds, etc.
And I got the wild notion last year that I really *needed* a walk-in pantry adjacent to the small (and not expandable) kitchen. So the pantry got built, which meant more drywall work on both sides of the new partition wall, re-painting the now-smaller bonus room, wiring lighting for the newly-created pantry and hallway to the bonus room.
Then it made sense (somehow) to remove the built-in 18" pantry in the kitchen and regain some much-needed counterspace by replacing it with upper and lower cabinets in that spot. Fortunately, it was possible to match the cabinets we installed 7 year ago, so those are in (not without a major tear-out to get the floor-to-ceiling pantry out, a new refrigerator return installed, and the flooring lifted up, then put back in place. So now *all* I need is the new countertop in that area (and around a new slide-in range because the 7-year-old range was rapidly cratering.) Sigh...
Today I'm patching the holes from where I ripped out the old security system, and doing final touch-ups on the ceiling (popcorn-free!) so tomorrow I can paint the kitchen. I'm determined to use this project as a launching pad to get everything done - REALLY done - before our younger son graduates this May. I'm tired of looking at unfinished threshholds, drywall patches that need re-painting, and areas that need a final piece of trim hung.
My son built my house out of recycled & salvaged wood & other materials...took a while to collect but we finally got it so rain & weather wouldn't come in...It's tiny only 600 sq. feet, but just for 1 person its GREAT.
When the plumbing was up to a water heater, kitchen sink , & half bath, I moved in...
2 years later we have an almost finished kitchen(no real stove, just a camp stove, and nothing but particle board flooring over which we have thrown a rug) a main room only 3/4 sheet rocked, an alcove with temporary shelving for my books & an unfinished but shaped barrel ceiling & paladium window, but only 2 opening windows...
we finally finished the shower & got up a couple of ceiling fans...which turned out to be adequate to use instead of A/C...(my cottage is in the woods), still no flooring but particle bd. in any of the house but a pc of carpet keeps my feet from "roughing" it.
However, i designed the house exactly as I wanted it & its a dream to take care of (unfinished & all), the ceilings are 9 ft., the main room generous(14 X28), the views are lovely through all the closed windows, the tiny kitchen is perfect to use & even with the camp stove, I can prepare really big meals...
the light in the house is lovely because the "windows"(discarded double glass doors)reach to the floor & look out through the woods...when they become functional, there is a narrow walkway around the house(1/2 finished) which will allow me to exit on any side of the house & stroll "through the woods" with dry feet...lol...the front looks out on my little Japanese garden...(pool not done) & beyond that to my perennial garden & then the meadows...
I may never live to see the finish of my house, but it is great right now in my eyes & we can take our time as materials become available...It has cost us less than $8,000 so far. It's worth waiting for...
All of you keep a hopeful attitude & enjoy what brought to your unfinished houses in the first place...the journey will be worth it, I'm sure.
Foggy: thanks for reminding us. the journey that brought us here . . .
My house sounds like yours in many ways. It is a 100 year old two story
neoclassic house with large central hallways on two floors, balconies, which my dogs love. My dream house. After seeing so many of these southern homes destroyed to make room for "progress", this was my project when I found a chance to save one. But, a scammer left my place in shambles. Only a few electrical outlets for the entire house. remain serviceable. The kitchen floor sounds exactly like yours. I do have a rust old 1950s gas stove. Dishwasher, dryer, most modern conveniences don't work when the scammer gutted the electrical system. Maybe in my lifetime I will find a way to get my house fixed.
But, thanks for reminding me, it was a dream that got me to this house.
I wouldn't want to live in a builder house. And yours sounds lovely, peaceful and serene.
