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Renovating a Whole House is a Lot!

UPDATE! Be sure to check at the bottom for an update on our whole house renovation!

Last night I was overwhelmed with the thought that our house renovation is never going to get done., renovating a whole house is a lot.

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating a Whole House is a Lot

Overwhelming Feeling

I think that feeling is stronger on this project for a few reasons, 1. We are living in the house, now in the basement apartment, but still most all our stuff is in storage, so it’s not our settled home. 2. The time of the year that we’re doing this project is the fall, going into winter. That means Thanksgiving and probably Christmas are being gravely affected by this renovation. 3. Our project has been side-tracked more than once with issues as we’ve gone along.

It’s one thing to see that schedule delay possibility on paper before you start, but another thing when the snow starts falling, (yes, up here in NW Wisconsin we’ve already had some snow!) Christmas movies are running back-to-back on the Hallmark channel, and Thanksgiving is next week with Christmas around the corner.

I now realize our whole house project will not be done by Christmas… Renovating a whole house is a lot, and compromises must be made. We actually had originally held out hope when we first started, but then we hit one snafu after another and had to keep digging deeper into the renovating.

One Snafu after Another

Here’s an example of a ‘snafu’ we have had to deal with. We weren’t going to build the front porch this fall, that was going to be a next spring project before we replaced the roof next summer. But then we found it… at least 3 leaks in the attic from the roof. Dang! Waiting another 6 months to replace the roof was now out of the question.

Roof was Leaking

That meant that all the additions and/or changes to the house that affected the roof would have to quickly be done this fall before the new roof could go on. Roofers really don’t like to install a roof in the snow and ice, so the pressure was on to get our roof squeezed into their crazy busy schedules before it got too late to do it this year.

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating a Whole House is a Lot!

Donahue Roofing

For all you locals that follow along on my blog, I just have to give a very thankful shout out to our roofer, Joe Donahue of Donahue Roofing! They have been crazy swamped this summer and fall because our area got hit with a huge hail storm in June. Plus this has been a rainy summer and fall, which really messes with contractors that depend on dry days to get their jobs done. Donahue came through for us big time! First, on our 100 year old house that had to have the hail-damaged roof replaced before we could close on that sale. Then totally worked with our schedule and squeezed us in to replace the roof on this Mid-Century-to-Colonial-Revival house even though they weren’t planning to do it til next spring. To have reputable contractors that you can depend on when things don’t go as planned is such a huge relief. If you’re looking to get your roof redone, I highly recommend Donahue Roofing in St. Croix County, WI. Not only did they bend over backwards to work with our schedule, they are extremely professional, and they are very competent roofers that do it right. Thanks Joe! (and no, they didn’t pay me in any way to say that… we are extremely impressed with their work ethic and help to us!) 

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating a Whole House is a Lot!

Schedule Change

That made for a huge change in the schedule and budget however… It’s not how I wanted the schedule (nor budget) to go. I wanted to have more time to design and consider for the porch. Something I would have next spring. But instead, with the winter wind breathing down my neck, I had to cram it in with everything else right now and lickety split too.

It Gets Hard!

This is where renovation gets hard.

When the proverbial ‘wrench’ gets thrown in the works and you have to adjust… There are constantly things that are coming up in the renovation project that demand a compromising attitude… almost daily.

If you’re thinking about renovating, I’m not trying to discourage you… I’m just trying to educate you on what it’s really like and what it feels like to bend in places you didn’t think you could. (I know it looks like a rain cloud on my title page, but I’m really not trying to rain on the parade… LOL!)

Fireplace Snafu

Take for instance just the other day, the fireplace insert was measured incorrectly before ordered, so when it was time for the installer to put it in place, what was supposed to be a flush mounted face, now was going to be sticking into the hearth room an inch or two.

simpledecoratingtips.com

It was either that or get a new fireplace that is smaller. The fireplace guy was willing to give us a little break in the price, because it was his error. And they are going to have a new back plate built so the gap is filled with a piece of metal. When it’s all said and done, it’ll be fine and we’ll adjust. It’s just something that we had to decide how and what we could compromise on.

Compromising

If you think about it, when re-doing an existing structure every part of it is about compromise. It’s trying to make something function and/or look better, but still working with what the existing structure it. That’s what I love, (and sometimes hate) about renovating. Sometimes the compromise is really hard but it is so satisfying to hit a snafu and creatively figure out a solution. It may not be what I had originally designed but sometimes it winds up looking or functioning even better in the end.

Unlike building from scratch, where you can build it any darn way you want… with renovating it’s already there, you want to change it, but what can you really change? What has to be compromised?  And how much is that going to cost?

Sacrifices

Just like in life, in renovating, every decision has a sacrifice… time, money, something on the other side of the wall… something will be impacted (sacrificed) by every single renovating decision. Some of those compromising decisions are impossible to know ahead of time until you get into each project and uncover an issue…

Tip

So my reminder to myself? (and a tip to you…) I must be constantly willing to compromise and be creative with the possibilities and design changes that come my way during this renovation process.

Here are more posts on our whole renovation:

Barn-Style-Garage
Blue-and-White-Backsplash-Tile
Re-Thinking the Living Room Furniture Plan
Creating a Built-In Faux Fireplace
Antique Inspired Kitchen Island
Wall Mounted Pot Rack
Front Entry Portiere
Repurposing Vintage Screen Door
Simple DIY Curtain
Tiling the 2nd bath floor
Before and After Living Room Renovation
Before and After Front Entry Renovation SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Incorporating Vintage & New Light Fixtures SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Fireplace Renovation SimpleDecoratingTips.com
How to Install an Interior Storm Window SimpleDecoratingTips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com How to tips Window Well Installation
Vintage Window Awning Redo SimpleDecoratingTips.com
hall closet into library simpledecoratingtips.com
front porch addition mostly done SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Hang a Group of Pictures with even spacing SimpleDecoratingTips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com
how to install a vintage ceiling light fixture simpledecoratingtips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating the Basement Apartment
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Cedar Closet Lining
SimpleDecoratingTips.com From a Tub to a Shower
SimpleDecoratingTips.com How I Made Curtains without a Sewing Machine
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating a Whole House is a Lot
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Door & Window Decisions
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Adding a Front Porch
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Basement Apartment Bathroom Renovation Done
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Surface Mounted Suspended Ceiling
SimpleDecoratingTips.com we had to cut down 13 trees
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Repurposing Cabinets
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Progress Report on our Whole House Renovation
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating Update Post
Dining Room Progress SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Main Floor Completion Celebration Giveaway SimpleDecoratingTips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com How to Change a Door Lock
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Luxury Vinyl Planks
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Basement Apartment Progress

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and now Instagram!  I appreciate you reading along.

This post is also found on these other sites: Between Naps on the Porch

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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I’m Liz, the author, and I’m so glad you’re here!

My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Frame and Frills!
Frame and Frills is in Wisconsin. I stock amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies, re-done Furniture and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!
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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I'm Liz, the author, and I'm so glad you're here! My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Frame and Frills!
Frame and Frills is in Wisconsin. I stock amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies, re-done Furniture and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!


Disclosure Policy: According to FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that some of the content of this blog may be a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

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Sharing is great! Please feel free to share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook and Pinterest and Flipboard and Houzz and YouTube the more the merrier! I appreciate you stopping by. But please remember that all photos, images, text and content are owned by SimpleDecoratingTips.com. So anything you share, please be sure it always links back to my original post it came from. Please do not remove watermarks, crop or edit anything without written permission from me first.

Disclosure Policy: According to the FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials and shopping links. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

Disclosure Policy According to Federal Trade Commission guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. My truthful opinion will be what I state, no matter if I'm getting paid or not. Accuracy and truth are the priority for me on this blog's information, no matter if it's about a product or anything else. Not every product or service or store etc. may be mentioned in each and every post as an affiliate. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post.

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