| Home remodeling in any form can be a nightmare if | | | | water heater stopped working. We had a plumber |
| you do not know what to expect or have the right | | | | come out to take a look at it but he said the wiring in |
| people doing the job. Even the smallest of projects | | | | the breaker box was no good. So we sent out an |
| can go way over budget and over the time allotted to | | | | electrician to take a look. As it turns out, the box in the |
| get the job done. If you are one of those people that | | | | attic was completely fried and full of smoke damage. |
| like to do projects themselves or enlist in free labor | | | | Somehow a spark ignited and ruined the box. How it |
| from friends, then you could really be in for a ride. I | | | | didn't spread to the house and burn it down is only a |
| have some experiences that you may benefit from in | | | | miracle that we could not be more thankful for. The |
| learning what I did wrong or what you didn't realize to | | | | electrician asked if we had any work done on the |
| think about. | | | | house and that it would have never of passed a home |
| My husband and I bought a rental house that was | | | | inspection. Our only theory is that when our friend |
| completely redone including a bathroom remodel and | | | | moved the water heater for the laundry room, he redid |
| kitchen remodel, the only thing left was the garage. It | | | | some wiring that was not up to code and could have |
| was once a carport and the previous owner | | | | costs us our house and possibly our tenants lives. |
| converted it into an enclosed two car garage but didn't | | | | Another issue that we didn't seem to realize is the |
| finish it. The washer, dryer and water heater were | | | | damage or awkwardness it would have on our |
| randomly placed in an inconvenient and not very user | | | | friendship. It was no longer a casual hangout, things |
| friendly location, the walls were not insulated and still | | | | became a little tense and more businesslike. They say |
| exposed the beams and the ceiling was a wreck from | | | | you shouldn't mix friends and business and I think that |
| being exposed to moisture and humidity. When we | | | | with the experience I have had, that is good advice. |
| bought the house we figured we would hire a friend of | | | | Especially when money is involved and you are paying |
| ours and knock it out in two weekends. | | | | them. |
| Well, we bought the house and hired our friend to do | | | | So what should you take from our experience? The |
| the job. We decided to do some space planning, which | | | | first thing is make sure you know what you are getting |
| resulted in building a laundry room into the garage to | | | | into if you decide to hire cheap labor or friends to do a |
| add more value and make it a little more "homey". Well, | | | | job. Expect to go over budget by at least 50% and |
| the good friend we hired ended up taking over a | | | | over time, double. When the job is completed, have a |
| month and a half to finish the job, including our help, it | | | | home inspector come out to make sure it is up to |
| went way over budget and he was only able to work | | | | code. The most important though, is just hire a |
| weekends. In the end, the job was not completely | | | | professional to take care of it. They know how to |
| finished because we got tired of throwing money into it | | | | stay on time and in budget and if something is done |
| and the countless hours it was taking him. We ended | | | | wrong, you actually have recourse through their |
| up finishing the job a year later. | | | | company and insurance. You don't get that kind of |
| Just recently, a year later from the garage redo, the | | | | guarantee with cheap labor. |