Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, we can't really compare ourselves to an accomplished construction worker, but we're well on our way through all the remodeling we do ourselves . In recent years we have renovated so much that we are increasingly confident in what we can and cannot do ourselves. In addition, we can also estimate for which work it is best to call in an expert such as a contractor.
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With this renovation we will certainly become a few things wiser and at the same time we will save money by doing things ourselves. We all did the demolition of this renovation ourselves, because that is the first and 'easiest' step of making money. Although the demolition itself is not always easy, of course. Quite frankly, the demolition work this time was blood, sweat and tears.
By doing many things yourself, you can save a lot of money during your renovation. The money we save with this remains in the pot for renovations, because we have a lot more to do here at home. As I wrote before, it's a cool house, in a cool place, but it still needs some modernization. Below I will tell you what we do ourselves during the renovation and how we approach it.
During this renovation, we demolished a few walls for more daylight in the house and a spacious feeling. Because they were load-bearing walls, that took the necessary strength and time. Of course we placed stamps in advance so that the first floor would not come down during demolition. We also had our contractor determine in advance with the structural engineer what kind of steel beams had to be inserted in order to be able to properly support the first floor after the demolition work. That is something that we absolutely want to hand over. After all, you don't want to run the risk that your house will eventually collapse when you renovate yourself.
We also demolished the chimney that was built around the existing wood stove. What a horrible thing that was. During the demolition we also found out that there was a complete concrete slab of 10 centimeters thick with reinforcement in it. Good thing we had rented a Kango to demolish the double load-bearing walls, so we could now completely tear down the fireplace.
We have quite a few tools in house, but not everything of course. If we don't have something for a job that we would like to have ourselves for the future, we look, for example, on the Tool Center website, where we also bought our construction vacuum cleaner. However, that is not the case for the Kango, there is no weekly - and not monthly - demolition. We prefer to rent such a thing and then do it nearby so that we can pick it up.
We also do the electricity ourselves. Or rather; Frank does that himself, haha. In the meantime I also understand more and more about that black, brown and blue wire, but not enough to perform it myself. We do not make changes to the meter box ourselves. After all, a meter box must also meet certain guidelines. For example, we ensure that we hire experts for the difficult things and we take care of other things ourselves. Installing and transferring electricity is a clear matter for Frank, so that's great.
Something that we have not done before has come to the fore during this renovation. Install and install a new extractor hood. Now it doesn't have to be that difficult of course, but if you haven't encountered it before when renovating, you should take a good look.
We wanted a ceiling extractor instead of the low-slung extractor hood we had with that ugly surround around it that we keep bumping our heads against. No sooner said than done. We opted for a Siemens ceiling extractor hood with very clear instructions. We have now made a conversion ourselves, the extractor hood is hanging and it works completely properly. We only have to finish the finishing with the plasterboard and then the plasterer can make it a nice whole next week.
Making the arrangements yourself is not that difficult. It is a pity that our current ceiling does not run smoothly everywhere, so that we sometimes have to work with filler plates in the framework to compensate for differences in height. You can easily buy rules at the hardware store and with a good drill you have them in the ceiling in no time. Where we have concrete on the ground floor, we have secured the lines with hammer plugs. Makes a bit of a mess when drilling, but is very well secured!
We have already done this before and we have found a very useful collaboration in this. Together we stand on the scaffold that we can make from our large ladder. Then we lift the heavy plasterboard straight up (they are 3.00 meters long) so that there is no chance of it breaking through. Then it goes towards the ceiling, we place it against the framework and I stand on one side with my head against it, so that I can still hold the middle of the plasterboard in place with my hands (again again against bending). Frank drills in the screws and it is fixed!
The first plasterboard was a bit of a bumbling together again, but after that we had a good taste again, haha. Anyway, making such a plaster ceiling is very easy to do yourself, if you are a little bit handy. The big advantage? Plasterers can apply very nicely, so it doesn't have to be perfect!
We don't think it's possible to make a plaster ceiling on your own while renovating. Frank did make a long 'stick' to see if we could use it to hold up the plasterboard, as they show in all kinds of movies, but that was no success for us.
We first had someone in the house to make a price for leveling the floor so that we can lay our new PVC floor later. That would cost € 1500.00 and we thought that was a bit much. Not that it is too expensive, I can't say that of course, but if you look at the material, you can do it yourself a lot cheaper. So we will also tackle this ourselves so that we will soon have a leveled floor for about € 400.00 (if all goes well).
The painting is also a part where you can save a lot of money if you are going to renovate yourself. Paint is quite pricey, but if you don't have to pay for the man-hours, this saves a lot. I paint everything here at home. From frames to doors and from ceilings to walls, exterior facades or furniture. Frank hates painting, so this work really hits me. But that doesn't matter, I'll give him another job while!
If you are going to renovate yourself, it is very important to have good tools at home. In the course of time you will of course collect everything you need, but if you still need it, you can easily get it online. For example, you can buy Makita tools or go for Bosch or Metabo. We do not have specific brands that we work with, but we do have a number of tools that we find very practical. In addition to the standard hammer drill and the like that everyone probably has at home, we have a very handy tool for the electrical wires:stripping pliers. With this you can easily strip the end of the sheath from the electrical wire so that the copper appears. How many times have I heard how handy that thing is, haha!
I really enjoy doing everything myself and the fact that we save a lot of money with it is of course also nice. Do you like to renovate yourself or do you prefer to outsource everything?
