Home Remodeling

I’ve been home owner for almost two years. When purchasing a house, more specifically a row home in South Philly that is around 100 years old, there are probably a lot of things you should know. The most important would be to expect the unexpected! Some paint here, a throw rug there, and a personal touch is what I was thinking… was I wrong. I’m at the point now where I’m trying to do most of the work myself with the help of my father (the laborer) and my grandfather (retired carpenter). I’ve had a few contractors do work also. 

Working Hard

The Current Project: Kitchen

When I originally started work on the kitchen, I thought that I would only be putting in new cabinets and painting the walls. Nope! When we took down the original cabinets it was no easy task. They were all glued together! And glued to the wall! Everything was glued together and there were no studs behind the wall. So, after breaking the old cabinets down, ripping down the wall, putting studs up, sheet -rocking it (thanks to the help of my grand father), taping/spackling, and sanding, I’m at the point where  I can finally prime the walls and get the cabinets installed.

Pop

The Basement:

The basement, the cellar, the Man-Cave to be, is another on going project. There originally was a ceiling. I took it down to make room for about two inches of head room. The joists are now exposed. My father took the liberty to make this his own project. After many nights of sanding and staining the joists, the basement ceiling is now finished. This is not the best picture, but it looks awesome.

Basement Ceiling

So, if you want to save some money when doing home renovations, try to do as much as you can your self (or a hopefully you have a handy friend). From my experiences with the house, majority of contractors are brutal! When looking for an HVAC unit with install I got quotes from about 6-8 different contractors; the lowest being at around $6,000 and the highest being $18,000. They are out to get you so be careful! Although, some times you do get what you pay for. Hopefully I’ll be living there some time this summer.