Doing Home Projects to Save Money

 

 As you have read from recent posts on my blog, we purchased a home in Arkansas and have been moving everything in recently. We will have everything completely moved, and we will be permanent Arkansas residents. We took a trip last week and have been discovering projects that either need to be completed, or updates that we want to complete. Now I am not the best at DIY projects, but I have learned a lot through the years. There has been three huge influential people that has helped with that; my mom, my very good friend Chris, and his absolutely wonderful wife, Ella. Each of these people have taught me a lot about accomplishing things on my own. If someone else can do it, you can generally learn to do it yourself. Now in that you should also know your limits. If you are unsure of something or uncomfortable with working on a certain thing, get a professional.

There are several things we have started planning on the new home. The flooring has carpet in each of the bedrooms, and honestly I am not a fan of carpet due to the dirt that builds up in it. It just makes it worse when it is someone else's dirt in the carpet. The home is a log built home, built by the previous owners. There is some gaping in the interior wood that needs to be repaired. A couple of spots with electrical I want to get checked (a professional will do that). Loose faucets in all three bathrooms, a vanity in a half bath, running new water lines because of the pressure being low, and a big project of replacing a large bathtub and stand alone shower with a walk in shower and a linen closet. This is just to name a few projects, and most I will be doing myself and share my progress with everyone on here.

BIG PROJECT AREA WE ARE LOOKING AT

I began the home renovation process by starting with my moms room, which is the most important room in my home because she takes care of us all. I pulled all of the carpet off of a concrete floor, pulled all of the tacking, and scrubbed the floors and walls. On my next trip down I will be repairing the concrete and doing measurements to determine whether I want to put peel and stick flooring or paint the concrete. With just the pulling of the carpet I saved about $175 from the average costs I have found online. I spent about four hours on this project, so that is paying myself $43 an hour. 

BEFORE ON MOMS ROOM

                DURING CARPET PULL MOMS ROOM

 

AFTER PULLING CARPET IN MOMS ROOM

Another small project that we completed was to reset the key less Quiklock keypad for the door. I have to say this was all my six year old sons doing. He looked everything up, tried different options, and finally figured it out to have a all new codes and delete all of the old codes. We also ordered a rekey tool and will be rekeying this door to match a new lock we ordered for the back door of the home. 

The next couple of weeks we will be working on both homes, getting the Colorado home ready to sell and the Arkansas home ready to live in. At least be comfortable in the Arkansas home, because it is going to take a lot of work to get it to the point that we want. The one thing I will say is that home is a blessing. We have lived in a small A-Framed home that only has a loft bedroom. I have lived in a camper and the rest of the family in the home. Now we can all life together under one roof. 

As I work on projects I will share the progress and savings that I have for doing projects myself. I will also share any tips or ideas I come across during this time. I hope my experience can help others in their homes. Remember, I am a single mom raising two young kids. I have a bad back, bad knees and bad wrists, but I can complete these projects. I know you can as well!