Pour on the Concrete

Last night I found a better picture of what the house looked like when we first bought it.

The exterior was in need of a few updates.  I wanted to do more, but the budget wouldn’t allow so we had to focus on some needs.  The siding is in good condition but is dirty.  It will be getting a power spray soon.  Before we decided to purchase the home we accessed what needed to happen on the outside.

• New Gutters (This was a must)
• Driveway and walkway (This was a must)
• Open up the deck (Note: we could only do this if the driveway/walkway and garage doors came back lower than expected.  As you know we did this step already so fortunately they did!)
• Stain Deck (This was a must…whether we changed the deck or not)
• DIY new Shutters (this project is coming soon)
• New garage doors  (This was a must)
• New front door  (This was a must the original door is all wood and has water damage)
• Paint the front door
• Siding for the back of the house.  (it’s not sided with holes so this was a must)
• New Windows

Whew…all those those things add up.  Our strategy when we purchase a home to sell, we make a list of what needs to happen in the house and then we estimate the cost of all we want to do.  My husband worked for a contractor and from a few other houses we renovated we have an educated guess.  If you have never done something like this before, make sure you take your list to someone who has experience to help you look at your project realistically. Do this before you put an offer in on the home.  It can also be used as bargaining power to get the right price.  We knew that we wanted to start on the exterior immediately because in the winter, it’s a race against weather.  Before we even touched the exterior we had two or three sub contractors come out for each of these things to give us a quote. We knew the largest cost would be the driveway.

It was a bummer right when we pulled up to see the house, you could see Lee starting to add up the cost in its head.  It would mean we would not get to do something else on the inside or outside.  After going inside we saw immediately that the kitchen needs some help.  Having to pour a driveway meant we would not get to purchase new kitchen cabinets but would have to repurpose the existing ones.  I was a little bummed because I was excited experience picking out new kitchen cabinets. I have painted cabinets here, here, here, and here.  Oh well, it would be weird if I didn’t come out of this project with paint in my hair. If you live in my area we used Brock’s concrete and were really happy with their product.  We did nothing for this project but watch them do it.

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We had the garage doors installed between when the concrete company installed the first side.  You get a preview of what is next.

The next step was to pick out new garage doors. I would have loved to pick doors like these carriage style doors.

source: Garage Doors 4Less

If I were moving in this house and could do these projects throughout a few years, I would have picked these.  When you flip a house you have to make sure you stay on budget. Doors with windows are more expensive.  These doors could have been a reality if we didn’t have to pour such a massive driveway, but I have to remember that the new owner, can switch them out if they really want to.  I did want something different from these small panel doors.

Source: Garage Doors 4Less

I have nothing against them.  My garage door is this style, but its the style of door for many homes in this area so I wanted to do something different.  I really liked this longer panel door and it was the same price as the smaller squares.  We also looked at doors with windows.  Doors with windows are more expensive.  It was in the budget but more importantly, we wanted doors that were insulated. Insulated Doors can help with keeping cold air out of your home.  We had to choose and we picked insulation.

Source: Garage Doors 4Less

The doors went from this:

to this:

The next step is to paint the trim around the doors.  Yes, that is my job.  I really like how they turned out.  I would have loved to add some windows but I am sure the new owner will appreciate lower heating bills instead.

I stated above that, because of our experience, we knew an estimate of what different things would cost.  I remember the day when we didn’t have a clue. I always want this blog to be a resource for you, even if its just getting an idea of how much things

will cost.  I am sure costs are determined a little by location.  Missouri might be different than California or Oklahoma in the cost and labor combination.

• Concrete:  our driveway was huge and we added a walkway.  We guestimated $7000 for everything and it came under budget in the upper $5,000
• Garage Doors:  This all depends on style you get.  We went with standard door, in one of the colors they offered.  We had to get two doors with all new hardware and motors.  We budgeted $3000 and we were surprised that it only cost $1500.

I have some projects to do this weekend!  I can’t wait to share them with you!

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer