For the last 6 to 8 months we have been planning a renovation. We live in an older home in Toronto and are only the 3rd owners. Not much work has been done to update or fix the house in the last 90ish years. It is time, folks.
However, the more we talk about it and plan the more "stuff" gets added to the list.
- Knob and tube electrical? Gotta go. Throughout the whole house.
- Creaky old floors? Gone, upstairs and down.
- 90 year old Kitchen cabinets falling off the hinges? Goodbye.
- Teeny-tiny one bathroom upstairs? See yah!
Then we need to add another bathroom, open up the kitchen and family room, and add a main-floor powder room. This takes more space and we don't have more space. So, we add a larger addition to the plans. But the city has other ideas. They don't like big additions. Or, they don't want to miss out on an opportunity to make a little extra cash so they limit how big. And what we want is bigger. Therefore, we have to spend months to get their approval when we were supposed to break ground, like, next week.
And don't even get me started on the budget. What started off as a simple upgrade has suddenly morphed into a huge, time consuming and expensive renovation project. But we keep thinking to ourselves, "It has to be done." "What is the point if we don't do it right?" and "It is an investment."
What are your thoughts? Have you ever done a large renovation on an older home? Any advice? Are we nuts?
I have to keep my eye on the finish line. So please, order me up a little of this:
I have a feeling I'm going to need it.
It will be so worth it in the end. You're welcome at the Sausage anytime you need to escape the chaos.
Are you going modern like the photo?
A renovation can be painful at time but well worth it too. The changes you will be making to your home sound phenomenal. They will make a big difference to your overall enjoyment of your home.
Hoo, boy, projects can grow fast in an old house, that's for sure! Our third floor was planned to be a quick, minor 2-week project that should have been about $1K, but it turned quickly into a 9-month major with a tag of $25-30K, and that's with us doing a lot of our own work, including all the demo back to studs and rafters, exposing a large brick wall, reframing an exterior wall, all the wiring, and hanging our own French doors two days before Boy 2 was born. And that's just the one floor... we're putting off the other floors for a few more years!
But? The up side is that third floor is exactly what we had envisioned now, and we love it. It will be a headache, for sure, but when it's done, it will feel like the home you wanted, and that really is a nice thing. (And yes, investment, because I'm seeing about a $100K difference in the prices between renovated homes and not, which offers a fair amount of room to consider it money well spent, too.)