Well, if after reading the internet, you become displeased with the job you've done, then, stop reading the internet! LOL!

OK, so you want to know how to do it the right way, and the cheap way and not get discouraged along the way. The only way to do that is to take it one room at a time and gut. It really is cheaper in the long run that piecemealing projects that end up being sacrificed because some other project comes along that requires the prior work to be torn out.

If you've done drywall mudding and taping and developed some decent skills, then actually putting drywall on the gutted walls isn't that big of a deal. Drywall isn't that expensive either. All you need is a second set of hands to do a ceiling and some good ladders, and PATIENCE. If you own the basic tools, (especially a good level) then you CAN do a great job. It just won't be a fast project.

And while the drywall is down and the walls are open, you can address the electrical needs, and the plumbing needs, and the insulation needs. Those will all go undone without a gut, and they are way more important than a pretty paint job on top of the house.

For any DIYer, the key thing is to develop a master plan for the house. Start with the major expenditures, like does the home have enough electrical service to serve a modern home well. What is the age of the water main serving the home and what material are the supply pipes made of? How old is the HVAC and is it economically efficient to keep you comfortable? Those are the expensive major projects that will put a kink into the decor projects if they need to be addressed. And they WILL need to be addressed. So, that's why you deal with all of that as the FIRST priority.

That isn't saying that you can't slap some paint on a room to make you feel better about making some changes to personalize the space. Just that paint is cheap (oops paint is even cheaper!) and it's a small job that can cheer you up with the "instant change" if you need that boost. But don't mistake the decorative changes with the important parts of any renovation! And that's why you have the master plan, and know what needs to be done, and which project or which room you are going to tackle next.

For instance, my girlfriend bought a 1908 Craftsman in a semi seedy area next to a historic district. The first thing that needed to happen was to fix the roof leak! That was a self evident priority, but after that, she wanted to fix the water damage on the walls where the water had gotten in. Luckily, she pulled back from that and took a look at the home's major systems. It only had a 60 amp electric service panel! If she had fixed the wall damage, it would just have had to have been torn up again to pull out the knob and tube and that would have been a "wasted" project. So, the new electric service and panel was run to the home, and now the rooms with the water damage have modern proper grounded electrical service AND smooth and pretty painted walls. The rest of the rooms are being "little bitted" to death as she has the time and money to deal with them. The knob and tube works for now, even though there is only one outlet per room. It would be another story if her insurance company was one of those that won't insure K&T, but she was again fortunate on that front.

That's what I mean about developing the master plan for the whole home's issues. It's so you don't backtrack and waste your time and effort and money.

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. I tend to be one of those people that will fix a little thing because maybe it costs less and I know how to fix it myself BUT in the long run it might be a fix that has to be re-fixed because of a bigger issue under the surface so to speak. Case in point - the bedroom - prolly should have ripped the drywall down and took a look at the electrical and insulation needs first.

And yes, I should stop looking at the internet - haha!

My bf bought this house. After you mentioning the master plan idea it did make me remember that he did put a new roof on. He also had to address the electrical service panel like you mentioned. That was re-wired or fixed however it needed to be - I don't know too much about that area. Also, he had to put in a water tank and heater (one in the same? - not good with that area either ha!). The heating is a boiler system with the old fashion radiators. I'd rather have the space that the radiators take up - not that it is a heck of a lot - and they are a pain to clean. Really not sure if we should get rid of the boiler system altogether or not - of course we wouldn't get rid of it until we could replace it with something else at the same time. He added a pellet stove in part of the living area and that is what we use for our main heat source. Our house isn't that big - one level with full basement - maybe ~1500 sq ft. Since both heating systems require electricity we have a generator if the power goes out - had to use that once so far this winter.

I don't have drywall skills. Not to say that I haven't tried skim coating and patching but never full on gut and replace. Would like to hire someone to do it but there goes the $$$.

Other issues I think about are our hardwood floors. Love them BUT they need to be refinished and if you do one room at a time and who knows how long between rooms I am thinking the sun will darken one room before you get another done.

Also, I am attempting to strip and stain the two doors that were in the bedroom we fixed. I have stripped wood before lots of times but never have I encountered such a horrible door to strip. That very first coat of paint that was applied won't come off. Anyway, I am not sure what the wood is and of course I don't know how well it will stain after stripping - I have sanded a lot so I don't think I have any paint residue on what I have done thusfar. There are seven other doors just like this one - assuming same wood - sigh!...seven! I don't want to replace them with new so I have my work cut out for me. I will probably break down and take them to someone who strips them and hopefully get it back in close to stainable condition.

I feel as though if I DIY then I am always running into these situations or scenarios where I have no idea what to do. Then I get discouraged and mad then quit! I have no problem learning how to do things but it is hard when you are not shadowing someone - at least it is for me. For me it is always easier having someone show you and correct you as you go.

I think a lot of my problem is that I am too concerned what people will think. Will they walk in my kitchen and go, "holy wow, welcome to the 80s, you need to gut this!" Yes, I know I do. Hey, the fridge, stove, microwave, toaster works and the cupboards hold food!!! I have some good friends that are truly some of the nicest people I have ever met. They are from this area too and they don't have a lot of money either. If you were to see their house from the outside for the first time you would probably think it was a dump. The inside is not redone either but it is better than the outside. However, when you know these people you don't think about their house when you are there. I guess what I am trying to say is that they make the home and not the other way around. Sometimes I get caught up in thinking too much about what others will think of me or what I have.

MissKitty -- even though your home is not really 'old', you will find a lot of kindred souls on the 'The Old House' forum. You're definitely not alone in your frustrations - especially the one involving living in the middle of project after project. Hang in there, and good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Old House forum

Thanks mjlb...I will def check it out :-)

I can relate to your problems especially to being overwhelmed. You need to make sure you have other interests and fun in your life besides repairing your home, else you will go crazy. If it's like my experience, getting your house in order will take a fair long time. But... on the good side, I am so glad I didn't have money to get everything done at once in the beginning because I would not have come up with the great plan I have now (which in itself took a lot of time).
Not sure if you are like me but things really didn't start happening for me for real (besides just dreaming and wishing) until I learned Sketchup which is a free graphics program you can download on the web and draw floor plans to scale - somehow having the plans in front of me and being able to "tweak" so easily really helped motivate me a lot.

The best news for you, I think is that when you are finished, you will have learned some tremendous skills, not a small thing in this world where good contractors can sometimes be hard to find.
---Good luck.

I think you are correct about having other things in your life that are fun besides just the home repair. It seems this winter I have done nothing but house "stuff" and it is driving me insane. Now that Spring is coming I need to get back out in the woods like I love to do - something we are going to do today.

I think it would be nice to have a wad of money to get everything done at once but I also would have to agree that the waiting would allow you to learn more things and figure out the best plan for your house. Like you said, if you had the money in the beginning you wouldn't of had a great plan as you do now by the slower progress.

I'm not going to give scrap my DIY-ness. I am just one of those people that can't keep my hands from doing something and I like to make things better even though we did make mistakes on that bedroom..sigh. We are going to sit down and start with a master plan that someone else suggested - major stuff first like the plumbing, heating, etc. My worst fear though is after that is done and we get to the part of re-sheetrocking that we will find something that is bad in those walls - who knows what.

For now I am just going to try to educate myself on a plan of action and what is best to do first, etc.

Hi Kitty,
Great advice there from live_wire. Some of the best I've heard on the forums. I'll chime in to add that when you do gut a room (which you shouln't be afraid to do) don't start on other projects until you finish that one. Otherwise you'll suffer from SPS... Starting Projects Syndrome... and it'll be easy to think "we need to redo that too" for everything at once. Keep the non-construction zones of your house nice, very clean, liveable, and comfy to walk around in your socks or bare feet.

Home construction is fun and rewarding so stick with it, just keep it under control, have a plan, and follow thru on it.

Also keep in mind you probly won't get to even half of the projects you have in mind as possible projects so pick the one's you'd like to do most.

Thanks squishyball. Ha it is funny because I tend to do the SPS thing. It is a struggle for me to start one project and finish that before I start another but I completely agree with you.

I had my BF read live_wires post about the master plan and we discussed what we felt were major issues that need to be addressed first. 1) We know that some of the plumbing needs to be updated but I am unsure of the timing of this. Nothing is leaking mind you. I wasn't sure if we should replace the plumbing when we gutted the bathroom and kitchen and otherwise leave it alone unless something leaks or needs repair in the meantime. 2) We need to finish replacing the rest of the older windows. We have done approx. half of the house. Figured this is one of those major expenditures that needs to be done first. 3) The house does need to be sided. Right now it is wood clapboard that is painted. The paint is peeling. There are a couple of clapboards that have rotted that we will replace this Spring. I do not know if siding the house should come before any work with gutting is done on the inside? I have been told our tax assessment could go up if we side even if the inside is still outdated.

I appreciate everyone's advice.

I used a gel type strip ease product to do my doors.
lots of layers of paint, took each door off the hinges,
cleared a room put tarps & newspaper on the floors
put doors on concrete blocks & sawhorses.
painted on stripper, waited for it to bubble off & used
a plastic scraper to scrape off paint. once done, lightly
sanded, stained & polyurethaned doors. hung & done.

if it gets to be too much..take a break and work in
the yard a while. its great to be outside after winter
when things are starting to sprout & leaf out.

homeownership is one project after another. ease up
and have some fun with it. its your house, you have
only yourself to please.
we all find better easier ways to do some projects,
and question prior projects. its a learning experience.

things sturctrual always come first.
roofing, electrical, hvac have priority over
refinishing floors & re-doing walls. else you
work on these areas & have them damaged
when roof leaks, or you have to open the wall
for electrical. (although I've never had to do that..
we just pull new wires thru attic or under house)

best of luck. and have some fun with it.

Good luck Ms Kitty 31 -- we too live in a house that is a little older (WW2) that wasn't built for long term living and after sitting empty for quite a few years after the war, superficially brought up to code by a developer. We've fixed things as we needed (replaced a rotting bathroom wall with tile, damaged flooring after toilet seal leaks, installed French doors replace a broken slider, new roof) - up until this year we've replaced items that will affect the integrity. The year we were able to add space and change some cosmetic things such as duct-taped carpets, heaters, make a laundry area more usable, etc. Be planful, but don't beat yourself up. Sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed and second guess yourself. It's really easy to not think long term and have to change things later.

We've found (so did my mom) that you can research, plan and investigate in depth, then find things that you wished you had changed or done some things differently. Also we found that dream designs need to be set aside or modified due to money, space, etc.

My strongest suggestions are to make sure what jobs need permits (ensure that they are pulled by the contractor - check with your locality, our county requires that the person pulling the permit is required to ensure the work passes code), check out contractors with the state licensing agency (ensure that they are currently licensed and bonded with workman's comp), and even check references but view with a grain of salt. I've found very few homeowners who do one of those things, let alone all. Above don't let people tell you that your ideas are stupid or that you don't know anything. Think about suggestions and advice from others, but ultimately it's up to you. Good luck and enjoy yourself.