Anyone else here do some work around the house occasionally to spruce it up? I've had my house six years now, didn't do anything major until a little over two years ago. I had been meaning to rip out the carpet in my living room and dining room to refinish the orginal hardwood (dating back to 1930). Came home to the dog having been sick on both ends one night and decided to just rip out the carpet and start the project instead of cleaning up the mess.


It turned out wonderful after about 6 months of work. I was in a car accident not to long after starting and got some whiplash so I was out of commission for a few months before I could get back to it. Then the day after I cut the quarter round and was going to install it got the call that my brother had cancer.


Finally getting it done now with paint in both rooms and it is just an awesome feeling to have it almost done. Just need to paint around the trim of the dining room and I'm finished.


So fellow homeowners, what projects have you done to spruce things up a bit?

We live in a really old farm house, and pretty much e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. needs replacing / renovating.

I'm just getting ready to tear out the old bathroom and move it to a better location. Then the old bathroom gets completely torn out which will open up the hallway to the kitchen (including a new open stairway going upstairs).

Then we put in a new kitchen- floor (I want to put in a heated flag stone floor), new cabinets, new counter top, new place for the stove and fridge.

Outside the board and batten has to be replaced all the way around the house.

And at some point so does the roof.

And the chimney need a couple of new bricks cemented in place.

Then we start on the stables.

3 Years ago

Had to rebuild a flood damaged home because insurance would not pay until we did?

And by rebuild just tear off drywall and replace with new. Redo the lower cabinets and counters.

Moved to a New house

New house needs to have the kitchen remodeled as refrigerator is angled terribly, counters are cheap and dishwasher is positioned to rub against the stove. Bathroom light fixtures need to be replaced as the "chrome" is already rusting.

Andy, I want to redo my full bath which is straight out of the 50s. But I just don't have the money for that project at this point, even if I did the work myself.



Terash, that svcks. I am thinking about redoing my kitchen cabinets but I don't know if a fresh coat of paint and new hardware is enough. They are pretty beat up.

I had ceramic tile in my kitchen, and HATED it. ANYTHING you dropped on the floor.... Broke. Even the supposedly unbreakable melmac plates.... Imagine my surprise.

Been living in my current residence about 4 years now. Most of the truly expensive stuff had already been done. Siding, windows, doors.... The carpet is awful, but, there is plywood under it in some places... (late 1800's farm house....) So, not ready to just rip it out yet. Been working on the outbuildings.... New roof on the barn, windows on one side. (other side was ok.) Next, need to re-side the ends above the cinderblock walls. That should be fun. It isn't really tall... but, I have MS, so, ladders/scaffolding/whathaveyou and I don't really get along well, not to mention slinging 8 foot sheets of ANYTHING really ain't in my job description any more.

Need to talk to the power company, and get my service entrance upgraded, in preparation for running POWAH! out to the barn. Then I can move my tools and such out there, and have room to work on my stuff. Currently using the garage, and it's a tad cramped.

When I lived in Atlanta I spent fourteen years renovating my wife's house. By the time I was finished I had turned a duplex into a single family residence, completely replaced the wiring and three-quarters of the plumbing. I stripped out everything in the kitchen, reducing it to bare studs (for a few weeks we could see up into the attic and down into the crawlspace), built a new kitchen and added a breakfast nook onto the back of the house. I eventually moved or eliminated nearly every interior wall in the house, creating a master bedroom suite, a study and family room.

I think my proudest accomplishment was building a new set of stairs up to the attic (we had been using a ladder to climb into an access hole). This required a lot of precise calculations and I was very pleased when all of the pieces fit together.

And, as if all this weren't enough, I dug one 17-foot-long pond and another four-foot-long pond in the back yard, tore down a carport, build a tool shed and a playhouse, put a wood fence around the property and built a garden. Needless to say, the place looked very different when I was finished.