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I moved to a 2b/2b first floor condo about 18 months ago. I knew the condo would require some remodeling and was spot on with cost to replace the carpeting with a good laminate flooring, put in a new heating system, have the unit professionally painted, some new appliances etc.
The cost that I totally under estimated was the cost of window coverings for all of the windows and the 4 sliding glass doors to access the enclosed wrap around porch. Custom drapes for the 4 sliding glass doors alone took 48 yards of fabric -that is where I seriously under estimated the cost. The labor and drapery hardware were reasonable, but, even though I was only charged wholesale cost for the drapery material- it cost way more than I had originally budgeted.
So, with your remodel project - where did you go way over your originally budgeted cost?
I'm in a similar situation to yours, OP - I bought a "move in ready" 2BR 2B condo at the end of September, and anticipated just a few minor fixups before moving in... HAH! Every time I turn around, my contractor is finding something else that needs repair, and the renovation has been going on for a month now, with at least another 2 - 3 more weeks to go.
The big ones I'd underestimated were the costs of having the unit professionally repainted, and the (unanticipated and thus not budgeted for) flooring upgrade. I had thought originally I'd just be replacing some carpet, but after getting a better look at the dilapidated state of the parquet floors I decided to have a new engineered hardwood floor installed throughout the entire unit except for the tiled kitchen and bath areas. Ouch!
I'd also drastically underestimated the cost of buying more quality furniture. I had never fully furnished my current house to begin with, and some of the furniture I already own is stylistically wrong for the condo, so I'll be donating it to Habitat for Humanity rather than moving it to the condo. So my wallet's taking an unexpected hammering there! (I adore Arts and Crafts style, but Stickley's motto should be "If you have to ask what it costs, you can't afford it!")
But it will be worth it in the end, or so I keep telling myself.
I'm in a similar situation to yours, OP - I bought a "move in ready" 2BR 2B condo at the end of September, and anticipated just a few minor fixups before moving in...
The big ones I'd underestimated were the costs of having the unit professionally repainted, and the (unanticipated and thus not budgeted for) flooring upgrade.
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My new place was 15 yrs old when I bought it. The seller had originally priced it 22K higher and it sat on the market for 15 months. It was not "move in ready". When I was ready to buy, she had just relisted it for 22K less. I am so glad her new realtor recommended the lower price rather than suggest she replace the carpeting (it was in really bad shape) and repaint the unit. The new price fit my budget to buy & remodel the unit to my flooring and paint choices.
I totally missed the issue of living in a first floor condo and addressing window treatments for privacy. My previous home was a two story SFH of about the same square footage. If you count the windows of the enclosed porch, there are 17 windows of various sizes and 4 sliding glass doors onto the enclosed porch! Twice as many windows and 3 additional sliding glass doors than my 2 story house.
Window treatments for a first floor condo were not on my radar. The shape of the condo building allows for windows on the N,S,E and W for each unit.
Window treatments for a first floor condo were not on my radar. The shape of the condo building allows for windows on the N,S,E and W for each unit.
Isn't it amazing the things we somehow manage to overlook, even though they should be perfectly obvious? My current house has a large eat-in kitchen with floors and cabinets stained golden oak, and so the table I chose is a country-style in a light oak stain, which works perfectly in that room. It should have been glaringly obvious to me that it was going to clash like crazy with the dark Mission furniture I have in my downstairs family room, but it was only recently I started juxtaposing the two together in my mind. The condo, unlike my house, has a living room and dining room that have no visual separation; how did I manage to miss that until now?
WINDOW TREATMENTS. I once bought a lovely 1940s built house that had tons of windows and not a one had one ounce of window treatment - no blinds, no shades, nothing. I counted the windows and there were about 30 windows total.
WINDOW TREATMENTS. I once bought a lovely 1940s built house that had tons of windows and not a one had one ounce of window treatment - no blinds, no shades, nothing.
Were the previous owners exhibitionists?
Quote:
I counted the windows and there were about 30 windows total.
OMG. Was I ever surprised at that quote.
It seems to be some sort of rule that anything having to do with windows will be expensive. At least my new place does come with nice shades already installed; I got very lucky in that regard.
My last place had wooden blinds on every window. Not necessarily my first choice, but definitely a bonus. Current house is new construction and I had to get cellular shades for every window. Ouch.
The cost to take off some wallpaper and paint a bathroom..should have been about $100 (DIY). Well, it lead to taking down the plaster, new insulation, new drywall, new flooring, new vanity...and the toilet was fine and we were going to keep that....until a hammer got dropped on the tank as we were putting in a new wax ring....
Every room in this house so far has cost a whole lot more than we budgeted. We didn't expect to find a total lack of insulation and vapour barriers, flooring joists that needed replacing.
In my case the only part of our renovation that hasn't surprised me are the upholstery and window coverings but then that's what I do for work. Currently working on 14ft wide full length curtains for the bedroom to put an end to drafts from the french windows.
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Were the previous owners exhibitionists? 
