Big Payoffs For Do-it-yourself Projects In The House
9 July 2007
7 Comments
You know whats a good way to add value to your home? Update that old flooring. If you’ve got old unrepairable hardwood, or 1980s carpet, maybe its time to install some quality laminate flooring to update the house. Laminate flooring is a cost effective alternative to real hardwood floors. Yesterday I spent the whole day over at my parent’s house, remodeling my sister’s cheesy “kiddy” looking room. It was a good way to save tons of money on labor and add significant value to the house, which they plan to sell in the next year or so. For every DIY project you successfully perform, the more value you add to your home since you are only pay for materials. Let’s take a look at how I did.
Two Days of Sweat
On Saturday her preadolescence baby blue walls were repainted with a neutral beige. I purchased one gallon of paint for $25 plus a smaller can of glossy white at $10 for the baseboards and the door. I spent about two hours covering her baby blue, covered with holes and dirt walls. I then started to remove the baseboards to get to the edges of the wall. Afterwards, I began to remove the carpet by cutting the carpet into 4ft wide stripes with a razor. This way I have three to four small rolls instead of one gigantic roll. As if that wasn’t enough fun, I then had to remove the carpet padding underneath, which was kind of nasty. Lastly, saving the fun for last, I spent two hours on my hands and knees removing all of the carpet tacks ran around the perimeter of the room. I used a wonder bar to pry them out. That was just day one.
Yesterday I went over to the local home depot and picked up seven boxes of Pergo laminate flooring and some padding. Installing this stuff was rough in the beginning but after the first half of the room, I started to get the hang of it. By nightfall I was finished. The room looked absolutely stunning. It is amazing what fresh paint and wood floors can do to the overall feel of the room. It is now much brighter and warmer feeling.
Cost breakdown
Paint: $35
Flooring: $37 x 7 = $259
Padding: $33 x 3 = $99
Install Kit: $14
Total: $407
$407 was not bad at all considering the last time I had some flooring done, the cost was $800 on the flooring alone without painting and that was through a very cheap contractor. This $407 upgrade is sure to make the room more enjoyable and I am very confident that it adds at least five times the cost in terms of value to the home. The value is not measurable but when its time to sell, this room gives the house a more updated feel, at least in that room.
Overall, it was an adventure, but I like DIY projects not only because it saves you money, but its good to know a thing or two about working with your hands. Would I do it again? I’m thinking yes since my mom is already bugging me about installing it in her room as well.
I just started reading your blog and thought it ironic that I just installed laminate flooring myself, though it wasn’t Pergo brand.
“Installing this stuff was rough in the beginning” - Amen. I thought I was going to go crazy as one end popped out just as I got the other end popped in.
A friend of mine told me later that if I just put some of that blue painters tape down on the seam as I worked down it wouldn’t do that. They should have put that in the directions but they didn’t, I double checked. It would have saved my reputation from my neighbors hearing me scream profanity at some inanimate object.
Hi Matt, thanks for commenting. Tell me about it! The part I hated the most was when one side comes out just as you are securing another end. I looked like a fool trying to hold one end down with my foot and fitting the other with my hands. But now that its done, doesn’t it feel good to see your work completed and having saved so much money doing it yourself?
Honestly, I did an entryway in my house with some sort of cheapo Home Depot laminate flooring because I was tired of walking in directly on carpet, and even that little 3 foot by 2 foot area was a pain! You should be pleased that you finished a whole room…
Yes it sure does. I think I was in the exact position you describe many times. What I neglected to mention was that I am doing it as a kitchen remodel that my wife doesn’t know about while she is in Europe. We shall see how good it feels when she comes home!
Anyway, I’ve been enjoying your blog.
[...] I also installed laminate flooring for the second time this month. I wrote about how it’s not exactly fun installing this stuff. Long story short I’ve been so drained physically the past few days that I haven’t had [...]
[...] of making money from it later. I’m a do it yourself kind of guy, as I wrote about in installing laminate flooring, so I enjoy reading, then doing. There are many how-to guides, how-to books and how-to videos out [...]
[...] is that if someone out there can do it well, theres no reason you can’t either. So, like my installation of laminate flooring, I’ll give it a shot. My sushi came out fine so anything else should be edible as [...]
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