Capital improvements

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Morticia

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Are you planning any major/minor capital improvements in the upcoming year? Because this one is so wide-open, I didn't try to do it as a poll!
What big project do you have planned? (Not what big emergency are you responding to!) Big projects are over $1000 per project.
What small projects do you have planned? Small projects are under $1000 per project.
Why did you decide to do this one (two, three) now? Guest request? You're tired of looking at...? One more storm will take the roof off if it's not fixed?
 
IF I can find a contractor to do it, I would like to get the owners bathroom done. Other than finding a contractor - big problem - I also have the problem of the bathroom being out of commission while the work is being done - DH cannot go running up the stairs "when the spirit moves him".
I am praying the roof holds out for another couple years - PLEASE!!
 
Small projects, mostly - paint living room, hallway downstairs, our own bedroom and bath. Maybe repaint/refurbish one bath upstairs that I'm not happy with how the paint and beadboard is holding up. No complaints, I'm just tired of looking at them. They were the first areas we painted seven years ago now, so it's time.
Clean out the basement!!
 
Probably no time for anything major before the winter season kicks in. I had wanted to have three of our clawfoot tubs reglazed but it'll probably have to wait until our spring slowdown. That is unless money falls in my lap in the next few weeks.
Our big purchase pre-winter is a snowblower! It's supposed to arrive next week. Hooray!!!! There will still be plenty of deck to shovel by hand, but not the parking lot!
We're also putting winter tires on my car, which we should've done 4 years ago when we moved here. Not cheap, but hubby says my life is worth the $500. I reminded him that my death is worth a lot more in insurance $$.
tounge_smile.gif
 
Hubs and I just sat down and made up the project lists ('cheap' and '$$$$'). 'Cheap' are ones that take a day and cost under $100 per room. '$$$$' are the ones that require a loan. We will be borrowing the money rather than trying to do it out of pocket. We did that with the kitchen reno (out of pocket) and it was a rookie mistake to use our operating capital.
So, a few of the 'cheap' ones:
  1. Replace doorknobs on all the rooms. The old ones are worn out, loose and require a dab hand to use the keys to open the locks.
  2. Strip wallpaper and paint last bathroom.
  3. Replace the seals on the shower doors. (After 20+ years, they are uncleanably grungy.)
  4. Paint the trim in the last room.
  5. Move one doorknob. (The door opens onto a staircase and you can't reach the doorknob if you are on the stairs. Will also add an auto doorcloser to this door as guests always leave it open into the hallway, blocking all access.)
A couple of the '$$$$' ones"
  1. Replace all the carpet in the rooms. (4 rooms, 2 hallways, 2 sets of stairs.) Not looking forward to this on the one hand and can't wait to get it done on the other. The grape soda explosion was the last straw. They spilled the soda and walked thru it, repeatedly. The stains just have not come out. Also a problem are the peroxide users...teeth whitening strips, ProActive face cleanser, etc. It takes the color right out of the carpet. So, the carpets look beat up but they will probably look like that again a week after being replaced depending on who shows up and what they spill on the floor.
  2. New mattress for one room, same room gets area rug and new chairs.
 
Probably no time for anything major before the winter season kicks in. I had wanted to have three of our clawfoot tubs reglazed but it'll probably have to wait until our spring slowdown. That is unless money falls in my lap in the next few weeks.
Our big purchase pre-winter is a snowblower! It's supposed to arrive next week. Hooray!!!! There will still be plenty of deck to shovel by hand, but not the parking lot!
We're also putting winter tires on my car, which we should've done 4 years ago when we moved here. Not cheap, but hubby says my life is worth the $500. I reminded him that my death is worth a lot more in insurance $$.
tounge_smile.gif
.
We bought a new (to us) snowblower as well. The old one was mine from 1986. It was time to retire it.
 
Hubs and I just sat down and made up the project lists ('cheap' and '$$$$'). 'Cheap' are ones that take a day and cost under $100 per room. '$$$$' are the ones that require a loan. We will be borrowing the money rather than trying to do it out of pocket. We did that with the kitchen reno (out of pocket) and it was a rookie mistake to use our operating capital.
So, a few of the 'cheap' ones:
  1. Replace doorknobs on all the rooms. The old ones are worn out, loose and require a dab hand to use the keys to open the locks.
  2. Strip wallpaper and paint last bathroom.
  3. Replace the seals on the shower doors. (After 20+ years, they are uncleanably grungy.)
  4. Paint the trim in the last room.
  5. Move one doorknob. (The door opens onto a staircase and you can't reach the doorknob if you are on the stairs. Will also add an auto doorcloser to this door as guests always leave it open into the hallway, blocking all access.)
A couple of the '$$$$' ones"
  1. Replace all the carpet in the rooms. (4 rooms, 2 hallways, 2 sets of stairs.) Not looking forward to this on the one hand and can't wait to get it done on the other. The grape soda explosion was the last straw. They spilled the soda and walked thru it, repeatedly. The stains just have not come out. Also a problem are the peroxide users...teeth whitening strips, ProActive face cleanser, etc. It takes the color right out of the carpet. So, the carpets look beat up but they will probably look like that again a week after being replaced depending on who shows up and what they spill on the floor.
  2. New mattress for one room, same room gets area rug and new chairs.
.
Wow...sounds like you will be busy!
 
Hubs and I just sat down and made up the project lists ('cheap' and '$$$$'). 'Cheap' are ones that take a day and cost under $100 per room. '$$$$' are the ones that require a loan. We will be borrowing the money rather than trying to do it out of pocket. We did that with the kitchen reno (out of pocket) and it was a rookie mistake to use our operating capital.
So, a few of the 'cheap' ones:
  1. Replace doorknobs on all the rooms. The old ones are worn out, loose and require a dab hand to use the keys to open the locks.
  2. Strip wallpaper and paint last bathroom.
  3. Replace the seals on the shower doors. (After 20+ years, they are uncleanably grungy.)
  4. Paint the trim in the last room.
  5. Move one doorknob. (The door opens onto a staircase and you can't reach the doorknob if you are on the stairs. Will also add an auto doorcloser to this door as guests always leave it open into the hallway, blocking all access.)
A couple of the '$$$$' ones"
  1. Replace all the carpet in the rooms. (4 rooms, 2 hallways, 2 sets of stairs.) Not looking forward to this on the one hand and can't wait to get it done on the other. The grape soda explosion was the last straw. They spilled the soda and walked thru it, repeatedly. The stains just have not come out. Also a problem are the peroxide users...teeth whitening strips, ProActive face cleanser, etc. It takes the color right out of the carpet. So, the carpets look beat up but they will probably look like that again a week after being replaced depending on who shows up and what they spill on the floor.
  2. New mattress for one room, same room gets area rug and new chairs.
.
Wow...sounds like you will be busy!
.
penelope said:
Wow...sounds like you will be busy!
Remember...winter is our slow season! If we don't have a list we lie around all day watching soaps. Tomorrow we go to pick out the carpet and get on the install list.
 
Probably no time for anything major before the winter season kicks in. I had wanted to have three of our clawfoot tubs reglazed but it'll probably have to wait until our spring slowdown. That is unless money falls in my lap in the next few weeks.
Our big purchase pre-winter is a snowblower! It's supposed to arrive next week. Hooray!!!! There will still be plenty of deck to shovel by hand, but not the parking lot!
We're also putting winter tires on my car, which we should've done 4 years ago when we moved here. Not cheap, but hubby says my life is worth the $500. I reminded him that my death is worth a lot more in insurance $$.
tounge_smile.gif
.
We bought a new (to us) snowblower as well. The old one was mine from 1986. It was time to retire it.
.
We sold our snowblower when we left Illinois. Rarely need it here. THe man at the funeral home across the street has come over and done my sidewalk a few times when he did their parking lot (he is the f-i-l of the current owner).
 
Finish the renovations:
- putty, prime, paint trim in basement
- varnish or paint basement ceiling
- install new locks on other exterior doors (front got done)
- seal the grout in all the new bathrooms
- cover or refinish Hist. Dept. floor
- re-enamel moved bath tub
- clean out office, laundry room, furnace room, attic (i.e., unpack)
- and dozens of other little repairs and finishing touches

If I had money I'd
- add a deck off the History Department (there's a roof there)
- move a window in the basement (long story)
- bury the wires to the garage
- put on new kitchen countertops (maybe)
=)
Kk.
 
Finish the renovations:
- putty, prime, paint trim in basement
- varnish or paint basement ceiling
- install new locks on other exterior doors (front got done)
- seal the grout in all the new bathrooms
- cover or refinish Hist. Dept. floor
- re-enamel moved bath tub
- clean out office, laundry room, furnace room, attic (i.e., unpack)
- and dozens of other little repairs and finishing touches

If I had money I'd
- add a deck off the History Department (there's a roof there)
- move a window in the basement (long story)
- bury the wires to the garage
- put on new kitchen countertops (maybe)
=)
Kk..
Unpack. Yeah, I might do that, too. We're working on our bedroom this week as we have zip for guests. We've picked the paint. The ceiling is blackened from the PO's attempts at operating a woodstove so that has to be primed and painted. (We've tried washing the soot off, but nothing doing, it's adhered.) Once that is done, I will decorate this room.
 
over $1000
put a railing on the upper deck going around the whole house so guests can finally use it.
Replace hardwood flooring in 2 rooms.
presently working on making 2 small rooms into one larger suite with jetted clawfoot tub for two. Thought it would be finished by now. Everything takes longer than expected especially the plumbing even though DH is doing it all of it himself. Still costs loads.
tear down the attached garage and make an attached condo so living quarters will be more pleasant for us than living in the back of the house and basement.
Make a coachhouse for DH's tools and workshop with a suite on top.
A new boiler - still have the one from 1908 works but inefficiently.
(Most of the above will have to wait til the money rolls in)
under $1000
Paint the foyer and hallways, veranda floor.
And don't we wonder why b & b owners don't make any money.
 
"Big projects are over $1000 per project."
Well then, ALL of my projects, no matter how miniscule they first appear, are "big." LOL
It seems my new toilet installation is going to cost over $15,000. That's going to be a crapper to be darn proud of! LOL I'm installing "vacuflush" and I discovered this past weekend that on my master stateroom, in order to fit the vacuum generator in the cabinetry behind the wall where the toilet is, I've got to have the vessel hauled out of the water and remove a sea strainer and through-hull fitting (which means patch a hole in the bottom after it's gone) so that the vacuum genny has a place to sit. It just figures.
Well, that part wasn't really planned. Here's what's planned during the next off season: I'm going to install teak & holly flooring and get rid of the carpet and parquet flooring. That's my "pretty up" project. I'm not looking forward to the work - just the final outcome. I hate varnishing and a new floor will mean countless coats of varnish...and I have a cat, so keeping the hair out of the varnished floors is going to be the biggest challenge. Of course, there are a lot of over $1,000 chores between now and then...gotta pull the the windshields off and rebed the glass; ditto with some other side windows.
I also want to rechrome some stuff (horns, windlass, and spotlight). I just learned a new technique - if the item will fit in my oven, I can chrome-powdercoat them myself and bake the parts in the oven (400 degrees will do it!).
This kind of stuff is what I do during August, September, October and November (hurricane season) when I don't market for charters or B&B. It gives me a chance to tear stuff apart without the worry of guests arriving "in a few days."
All that's gotta wait - "season" starts December 1. And we reopen with B&B guests arriving the first weekend in December.
 
Oh my - what a can of worms.
Our list is (as usual) HUGE .... and our capital non-existent.
Essential list:
  1. Painting the exterior. This definitely falls into the "we hyper criticize, guests say they don't notice, BUT it really really needs doing and is very expensive" category
  2. Repairing my OMG I can't belive it "oops" with the a/c that has left us needing to plaster and refinish the dining room ceiling
Wish list:
  1. Open ended expense but potential great return. Involves turning unused barn space into two bi-level suites.
  2. Adding spa and pool
  3. Major landscaping reconstruction
  4. Removing carpet from our "premier room" and replacing with wood / laminate
  5. Gazebo, pond / ice skating rink on our field / lawn / unused vacant lot
  6. Turning the OQ into two add'l rooms and moving us / check-in / service areas into a new "cottage" where the garage stands
  7. Making our kitchen "commercial"
Reality list:
  1. HUGE exposure for the new lodge. We need to juggle initial capital expense with occupancy results. The upside is ..... that won't be difficult. The downside is talking DH into side-lining all our expense projects. He is the supreme-master of long-term vision. I am the supreme-mistress of immediacy. Now this thing is ALMOST a done-deal I must, have to, am required to, someone please help me to make him focus on the here and now.
There's much more, but those are things in the front of my tiny brain right now. Just to complicate things, a very very good friend of ours (a restaurant owner) is having serious issues with an ex-chef right now and we're doing what we can to help out, including DH spending his evenings helping out in the kitchen. This is small town politics at it's absolute worst.
 
#1 FINISHING OUR OQ even if it kills dh! HA!
#2 Calling the insurance agent to up DH's life insurance policy.
#3 Adding new Suite once OQ is done, requiring paint, finish work, installing gas fireplace unit, putting in wall and knocking out a door in an old wall to create a new office-check in area...
#4 Getting the fireplaces in working order.
#5 replacing older windows
#6 stripping carpets and fixing up the wood floors (on my list, not dh's)
#7 paving back patio and dog run
#8 installing vent fans in all bathrooms!
my head hurts now from thinking about all of this, I better stop...
rolleyes.gif
 
#1 FINISHING OUR OQ even if it kills dh! HA!
#2 Calling the insurance agent to up DH's life insurance policy.
#3 Adding new Suite once OQ is done, requiring paint, finish work, installing gas fireplace unit, putting in wall and knocking out a door in an old wall to create a new office-check in area...
#4 Getting the fireplaces in working order.
#5 replacing older windows
#6 stripping carpets and fixing up the wood floors (on my list, not dh's)
#7 paving back patio and dog run
#8 installing vent fans in all bathrooms!
my head hurts now from thinking about all of this, I better stop...
rolleyes.gif
.
inncogneeto said:
#1 FINISHING OUR OQ even if it kills dh! HA!
#2 Calling the insurance agent to up DH's life insurance policy.
#3 Adding new Suite once OQ is done, requiring paint, finish work, installing gas fireplace unit, putting in wall and knocking out a door in an old wall to create a new office-check in area...
#4 Getting the fireplaces in working order.
#5 replacing older windows
#6 stripping carpets and fixing up the wood floors (on my list, not dh's)
#7 paving back patio and dog run
#8 installing vent fans in all bathrooms!
my head hurts now from thinking about all of this, I better stop...
rolleyes.gif
I think you should swap item #2 with item #1, then put him to work...
We just got back from selecting carpet. Waiting for the installer to call with the total price.
 
We will replace the 2 exterior 2nd floor doors and the exterior stairs next.
Then there is still a 1200 sq ft suite to rehab. It is not open and right now I use part of it for storage and other part for my quarters.
We are taking excess cabinets removed from kitchens in the basement. Putting them together for storage so I can find stuff not used often and christmas decorations.
 
#1 FINISHING OUR OQ even if it kills dh! HA!
#2 Calling the insurance agent to up DH's life insurance policy.
#3 Adding new Suite once OQ is done, requiring paint, finish work, installing gas fireplace unit, putting in wall and knocking out a door in an old wall to create a new office-check in area...
#4 Getting the fireplaces in working order.
#5 replacing older windows
#6 stripping carpets and fixing up the wood floors (on my list, not dh's)
#7 paving back patio and dog run
#8 installing vent fans in all bathrooms!
my head hurts now from thinking about all of this, I better stop...
rolleyes.gif
.
inncogneeto said:
#1 FINISHING OUR OQ even if it kills dh! HA!
#2 Calling the insurance agent to up DH's life insurance policy.
#3 Adding new Suite once OQ is done, requiring paint, finish work, installing gas fireplace unit, putting in wall and knocking out a door in an old wall to create a new office-check in area...
#4 Getting the fireplaces in working order.
#5 replacing older windows
#6 stripping carpets and fixing up the wood floors (on my list, not dh's)
#7 paving back patio and dog run
#8 installing vent fans in all bathrooms!
my head hurts now from thinking about all of this, I better stop...
rolleyes.gif
I think you should swap item #2 with item #1, then put him to work...
We just got back from selecting carpet. Waiting for the installer to call with the total price.
.
Bree said:
inncogneeto said:
#1 FINISHING OUR OQ even if it kills dh! HA!
#2 Calling the insurance agent to up DH's life insurance policy.
I think you should swap item #2 with item #1, then put him to work...
We just got back from selecting carpet. Waiting for the installer to call with the total price.
Yes, I thought it sounded backwards, too. :)
 
  1. Finish our quarters & unpack, toss, and de-crapify (seems like a common project for many of us!)
  2. Paint all the bedrooms and hallway in second house (just did bathrooms less than a year ago)
  3. Finish the fireplace surrounds and hearths in our house
  4. Put a door from the hallway in the second house directly into the laundry room
  5. Add more landscaping to both yards
  6. New countertops for the kitchen
  7. Paint all 5 porch floors
  8. New rock layer for driveway & parking area of 2nd house
Bigger Projects:
  1. Put in a stairway to the attic in second house & finish the attic
  2. Screen-in our side porch
  3. Put a roof on and screen in the side porch of second house
  4. Clean out & organize our garage (not costly, just time consuming!)
There are more for the list but these are the highlights. Yes, these lists are why we don't make money in this biz. lol!
 
We just ordered the carpet. Installation in January. Yippee!
 
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