Sorry this is more of rant, i don't know where to start. We bought the house we have been living in for two years and the side next to us for more room for our family of six. We want to remodel everything including put up a fence, new roof, turning rooms into something they weren't before. We are gonna out a wall that's in the hallway to make the two houses into one. The one side we live in is a 3 bed one bath, other side is a 2 bed one bath, we are making a 5 bed two bath. One kitchen we want to to turn it into a master bed with bath since there is already a bathroom that is sharing a wall with it. One bedroom we want to turn into a laundry room off of what we are turning into a dining room, our laundry is in our kitchen, the living room we use now is gonna be turned into the dinning room. So as anybody can tell we know what we want to do how how to design anything but what is killing us is the money part everything is so expensive. I'm aggervated that we can't start anything on this project is because I'm the only one that works 40 hours plus a week just to pay bills, while dh is trying to find a job so we have money to start our projects. So we can get our family of six and get our 1 year old out of our room. Like I said sorry about our rant I'm just aggervated by the little bit of space we have for two adults and 4 boys.

Don't know what to tell you except to hang in there and maybe find simple (and inexpensive) ways to make your living areas 'better' while waiting for the money to do the ultimate remodel that you really want.

Even as a contractor, I am amazed at how expensive things can be. Not that it helps, but you are not alone. Very few can afford to remodel as they like.

I'm always amazed at how much room people feel they need for a family. I grew up in a 3 bedroom, one bath house with a family of 8. Be grateful you have a home and a family. I think part of the problem is you can "see" what will eventually happen.

Why can't you knock a hole into the next unit and use the other two bedrooms on a temporary basis? It doesn't have to be pretty and it has zero cost.

Jaybee thanks for the kind words, after the new year we are gonna do one room at a time. Mosternaz, my dh grew up in a three bedroom trailer house with 11 other sibilings and two adults, he doesn't want that for our family especially when his son comes and visits which would put 7 ppl in this house at once ranging 1to9 in ages of all the boys. The half we live in right now in just under 900 sqft.

Since this sounds like it will be a remodel dictated by budget maybe you can budget things so that it can get done a little at a time. Not so much doing one room at a time, but rather remodeling first to make it useful and then later to make it complete.

Do whatever it takes to expand into the other area first - access and make it livable. Just make it so that you can use the new space. Boys will not care if they have plywood subfloors (and probably would like it). Nor will it matter at first if the walls are patched and unpainted, no trim and inexpensive lights. This way you can have the use of the space now, when you need it most. As time and money permits, you can finish off one area at a time.

Or if the boys are old enough, turn the other house into an adventure! Use the two bedrooms in the other house for the boys rooms and you can make like they're away at camp or something. It would free up room in the 3 bedroom house and might be fun for them. Just a thought! Good luck and hope you get to start on your remodel soon!

the absolutely most expensive things you can possibly do to a house are ::=

1) tear out a wall and reset room floorprints.

2) triply so at least if it's a load-bearing wall.

3) move kitchens or bathrooms.

4) move the facilities (water, power, vent, drain) in a kitchen or bathroom.

5) new addition.

anything that is paint/floor/doors/faucet only replacement are the cheapest fixes you can perform.

keep the list handy in planning....

Some people would kill to have your problem. Rent the other side out till you have the money.

I can understand it's frustrating when you're only working one income while your husband is trying to find a job.

How about making the house earn money for you while you save up for your projects?

Have you considered renting out your two sides to earn extra money. Use some of that to save up for your joint projects later?

Plan out a year and save up for a year. Rent out only to people who are good about paying their rent.

You can save your money and time with a professional and reliable home renovation contractor. Because only a professional contractor suggest you right way to improve your old house look according to your budget. So if you want to hire a professional contractor for your house renovation work then contact www.instilerenovations.com.au

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AlbertMiller01,

So nice to have another spamer join us that can not read and follow the rules of this site.
Want an ad then go some place else and pay for it.
Your not welcome.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joecaption,

assume spammers take the money and run.

now... it looks like you bought both sides of a duplex. if this is a condo, everybody needs to stop right here... this is a structural change to the building, which is not DIY, and probably prohibited by the Association-Borg.

if a duplex, I like the idea above of putting a door through the common wall. fire codes might require it to be an steel exterior door unless you get the house reclassified. you need to check city hall on that.

you will be wanting to unify the electrical/gas/water systems to only have one meter, cut down on potential crossfeed issues (in the case of electric, could cause fires,) and simplify your life. this is going to require a lot of ripping up and punching through and repairing, so I'd figure on not doing anything pretty or room-changing until that is done.

that will be pricey stuff. it will all be professional-grade contractor stuff, permits, inspections, all that truck.

at that point, you can start thinking about blowing out walls, doing one set of rooms at a time, and the like.

what you can do right now is paint, hang pictures, and while you live in the spaces for a while, you can refine what you really want to do in the house, and in what order.

Increase efficiency, not size, if you can reorganize and equip your home for maximum utility, you may not need to blow out the walls to gain square footage.Bring natural light to make your home home more delight, Before cutting a big hole in the side of your house and rearranging the framing, consider less invasive—and less expensive—ways of capturing light.