Do This. Don’t Do That.

We’re still plugging away. So much is done, but there’s a lot more left to do.

Our Bedroom

There’s drywall up where there were once sad little two-by-fours. The tank-less is in, and so is the furnace. The floor’s down and most of the grinding’s done, but the terrazzo’s still got to be grouted and sealed.

Still, there are no kitchen cabinets. No usable bathroom. No finished place to sleep. I look forward to prettiness, big-time. So while we wait—and fret—we thought we’d pass on some hard-earned wisdom.

Poor Little Kitchen

We’ve never done anything like this before, and we’ve learned a lot about the right way to go about doing a remodel on a mid-century house. More importantly, we’ve learned what not to do. Along the way, there were red flags—big ones—but we didn’t see them right away, because we didn’t know what to look for. So we’re passing along what we’ve learned to our readers, which they are welcome to take or leave alone. Ready? Here goes:

• Do hire a licensed contractor. The first contractor we hired wasn’t. Big mistake. The fellow we’re working with now is licensed and came highly recommended. So while we’re a long way from the finish line, we’re sleeping a lot better now.
• Do check your contractor’s license. You can look up any contractor on the California Department of Consumer Affairs website to make sure he/she is licensed and that his/her license is current. Do it. There are a million reasons why you should.
• Do get at least two or three bids for your various projects. And don’t assume the lowest bid is the best bid.
• Don’t take someone’s word for something if it doesn’t feel right to you. Being told you don’t need a permit and you’re not so sure? Find out by checking with your local building department. The Department of Consumer Affairs website has a lot of useful information to help guide you through your project. Why not take advantage of it?
• Don’t go forward with anything that doesn’t feel right to you. Follow your gut. We averted disaster because we didn’t allow our first contractor—who tried to keep us from involving an architect—to push us around. We did hire an architect, who hired an engineer, who kept our house from falling down when we opened up our wall.
• Do shop around. You can almost always find a better deal on fixtures, appliances or materials, especially if you pay cash. Estate sales are a great place to find hidden treasure. And we love the Habitat for Humanity Restore.
• Do keep all of your information in one place. We assembled a three-ring binder with sections divided by project (different rooms, HVAC, opening the wall, paint colors, etc.), and additional sections with quotes/contracts, budget, receipts, and the like. Color samples, swatches, countertop samples, appliance specs, etc. are also in there. We take this notebook everywhere we go. That way, if a question comes up, we have the answer at our fingertips.
• Don’t let your budget get away from you. Keep track of all expenditures, large and small, in a spreadsheet or with software like Quicken. It’s those little $50 or $100 purchases that will get you—they add up when you’re not looking.