My Smartest, Dumbest, Hardest, and Most-Frugal Home Improvement Project(s)

Posted on | April 15, 2008 |

Kyle over at Rather Be Shopping is running his first contest.  The prize is a brand new Craftsman cordless drill.

I’ve always wanted a cordless drill (though, to be honest, I do have a very nice Black & Decker corded drill) and I love talking about my remodeling projects so I thought I’d throw my hat into the contest ring.

~ o o o O o o o ~

We’ve owned our home for 5 years now and, like most houses — especially aging ones – we’ve had to put quite a bit of time and money into improvements and upgrades.  I had a whole slew of projects to choose from for this post and each project comes with its own stories whether it’s the 6-week kitchen remodel that took 13 months or the installation of a simple window lock in which I probably broke a finger.

Because I simply couldn’t choose, I’ve decided to include two projects.

The first project qualifies as my most frugal home improvement project though, technically, maybe it’s more of a home decorating project.  That line can get a little blurry.

My Most Frugal Project: Family Command Center

All parents know that family life with pre-teens/teens can become a scheduling nightmare.  Our family is no exception.  To complicate an already complicated family life, three years ago I suffered a series of TIAs (mini strokes).  As a result, my short-term memory, never all that great to begin with, became, at best, a family joke and, at worst, an annoying liability.  There were months where the best I could hope for was to remember what month and year it was.  Remembering an event or appointment was completely out of the question.

I’d always loved the idea of a family information center.  I’ve been known to drool over catalogs from The Container Store and Pottery Barn.  But the idea of spending that kind of money on organization equipment makes me queasy.  Besides, that kind of stuff always looks much better in the catalog than it does in my house.  Still, a solution had to be found.

We have a little alcove/nook/corner off the kitchen next to the dining area.  It’s actually the landing for the stairs leading into the basement.  This is the area I chose for our Family Command Center because it was dead space anyway and because it’s right off the kitchen and we all know that the kitchen is the heart of a home, right?

On the right side is the refrigerator — every square inch of which is covered with fun magnets, notes, and lists.  Here I placed a simple large, generic desk calendar from the local office supply store (~$10).  The calendar attaches to the fridge through the use of two magnetic bulldog clips (free — I already owned them).

It took a few weeks of training but eventually everyone got the hang of using the calendar.  Every scheduled event, from school pickups to Dr. appointments, goes onto the calendar and if it isn’t on the calendar, it doesn’t happen.

We keep a set of colored felt-tip pens handy for recording events as they come up and we developed a basic color coding system of red for special one-time events, green for weekly or periodically recurring events, and blue for very regular events that any normal person would remember without help – but maybe not Mom.

The opposing (left) wall is the source of my frugal homemaker’s pride, though.  The series of three wooden bins is one of a set I purchased about 10 years ago from Costco (~$30.).  In earlier years, we used the bins to store the children’s music books, etc. Now they’re perfect for storing local rec center class catalogs, community center performance catalogs, school papers, etc.

To the left of the bins is my magnetic board — my frugal masterpiece.  One day as I was perusing the aisles in Home Depot (a favorite, but often expensive pastime activity), I wandered into the sheet metal aisle.  And there they were – glorious and inexpensive 2′ x 3′ pieces of sheet metal.

At first I worried about piercing the corners so I could attach the sheet to my wall but quickly discovered that any regular drill bit will do the job.  One side happened to align with a wall stud.  For the other side, I simply used plastic sheetrock anchors.  Like the refrigerator, I accessorized the magnetic board with fun magnets from places like Michael’s and Old Navy.  I can’t remember where I picked up the five clear-topped tins but I do remember that I found them on sale for a fabulous price.  They’re so handy!  We keep stashes of paper clips, rubber bands, small alligator clips, and small yellow sticky pads in them.  On the board we keep the trash recycling schedule, business cards, and other odds ‘n ends stuff.

My Smartest, Dumbest, and Hardest Project:  The Master Bath remodel

First, let’s be clear here.  The Husband doesn’t know one end of the hammer from another.  And I was a handy person — in my pre-Fibro, pre-Stroke days.  In other words, we’ve come to the point in our lives where a home-remodeling projects always involves someone else doing the remodeling.

What experience has taught me, however, is that just because someone else is doing the labor doesn’t mean there’s no work left for the homeowner.

Our master bath remodel qualifies as my smartest, dumbest, and hardest project so far.

It was smartest because it’s a huge improvement over what we had before and because the quality-of-life return we’ve seen on this project far exceeds anything else we’ve done to the house.  The dumbest because I did make a few dumb mistakes and because, when it’s all said and done, I might have spent more than we’d ever see returned on the project were we to sell the house.  The hardest because, well, it was the hardest in terms of time, stress, labor, and inconvenience.

There were several smart steps I took that ended up making both of our bathroom remodels ultimately successful.  First, I spent an incredible amount of time doing research before even talking to contractors.  I looked at materials; I inspected every bathroom I could find — private and public; I read do-it-yourself books; I poured over magazines; and I talked to home improvement and bathroom remodeling employees.  Second, I took my time interviewing prospective contractors.  Third, I played the role of general contractor which means I took responsibility for designing the bathrooms and procuring the materials.  I hired the contractor simply for labor and and expertise.  And, fourth, I worked hard to find high-quality materials at bargain prices.

Because I’d done my research, I was able to eliminate many of the bidding contractors simply on the way they talked about the project.  One contractor, for instance, planned to use plywood as a subfloor under the tile (that’s a no-no).  Another contractor balked when I said I wanted cement board behind the shower area instead of green board.  An added benefit of taking bids from so many contractors was that I was able to get my first-choice contractor to come down on his bid to be more competitive with my second-choice contractor.

The biggest mistake I made with the master bathroom was in not realizing the extra expense that my non-standard sink/cabinet would incur.  The physical size of the room made it impossible to spec a standard-sized cabinet — I had to stick with the same size as the original cabinet.  But a smaller cabinet requires a smaller countertop.  It wasn’t until I was in too deep to change directions that I realized that I couldn’t purchase a pre-fab granite countertop and sink in this smaller non-standard size.  So I had to have a custom countertop made which ended up costing me over twice the price of a larger pre-fab unit.

Only time will tell, but my contractor and his employee both questioned the decisions I made in designing the master bath.  Their position was that it was too fancy for the type and location of the house — and for the size of the bathroom.  Ultimately, I designed the bathroom I wanted and spec’ed the materials I wanted (marble shower walls; porcelain tile floors; wood, not particle board cabinet; hand-hammered copper sink; Cherry wood trim; 3/8″ solid glass shower enclosure) and didn’t worry about the resale value of the bathroom.  I could have had a nice bathroom for less.  On the other hand, I paid a lot less for a first-class bathroom than you’d think.

Although playing the role of general contractor is a ton of work, responsibility, and stress, I’ll never embark on another home remodeling project in any other capacity.  Naturally, my experience with DIY home improvement projects helps as does my aptitude for mechanical and technical matters.  Being able to imagine the project step-by-step, foresee complications, and troubleshoot solutions proved an invaluable asset.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the experience but it’s not something I’d want to do again real soon. 

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