First time homeowner here. The house was previously owned by an investment firm who cut a lot of corners on renovations at some point. Does anyone have a good resource for fixing botch jobs? A lot of tutorials cover fixing or replacing things that were done properly before hand, and I don’t want to spam forums with “How the he’ll do I fix this monstrosity??”
You should spam forums with those questions and I’m not kidding. But make it thoughtful and provide a lot of info.
If you put effort into finding the answer on your own and still come up short, there’s still a very good chance someone has the exact same question. So by posting it, you instigate a discussion that will save someone’s time in the future!
I suppose you’re right. Plus there will be more content on Lemmy which is always good! Thanks!
My first house was a rental for 12 years before I bought it, and it sounds like it was very much what you’re describing. I don’t want to give you advice, necessarily, but I can offer my experiences and perspective.
A lot of what you’ll be tempted to do is to “make better” and “correct” what someone else has done before you. It’s tempting to just try and “fix” this sort of thing. I tried that route, and found that I spent far more time, money, and emotional labor doing that than if I just ripped out the whole thing, and started fresh. Once I started fresh, I was no longer reverse engineering a clusterfuck. That part seemed to be the most difficult.
It’s hard to convince yourself that starting fresh is less work and often less money for better results, so it’s totally understandable that you may have to teach yourself that lesson by trying to fix bad work.
Secondly, check out some of these YouTube channels where I learned a SIGNIFICANT amount about how to do things, or what to look for when I felt like I needed to hire someone.
Scott Brown carpentry: Construction, renovation, and a great attitude every Friday
Samurai Carpenter: Look for the videos about 4-5 years ago when he was renovating his house
Tile Coach: bathrooms/showers
Home Renovision DIY: he’s got a video for damned near everything
Finish Carpentry TV: (older episodes) for trim, doors, general finish carpentry
Insider carpentry: Also finish carpentry, often tailored to the business side of things or focusing on production environments. However, tons of tips for regular folks
Life uncontained: general house diy construction tasks
Frank Howarth: Look for videos about 4-6 years ago about his house renovations
Essential Craftsman: specifically the spec house build playlist
Vancouver Carpenter: he’s good with drywall stuff (so I hear)
Additionally, anything else you want to do, just search YouTube. Watch a few different videos to get a feel for the parts of the task that everyone does the same way. You can also watch a few folks do it, then decide whether or not you think you’re capable.
If you’re concerned about budget and tools, check Craigslist for both used tools and building materials. If you’re ok with buying new tools, it’s hard to go wrong with the Big 3: DeWalt, Makita, Milwaukee. Really, it just depends on what your favorite color is. Ultimately, you’re committing to a battery style for all of your followup tool purchases, so just keep that in mind.
Full disclosure: my wife and I re-did every room in that house, which is why when we moved, we built new because we absolutely did want to do that again. It’s WORK. It’s satisfying and rewarding work that gives you much more confidence in yourself, however.
Good luck, and feel free to PM me if you have questions
Thanks for the advice! I imagine I’ll get a better idea on what to scrap and start over after a few fixes. But I’ll try and keep this in mind when planning. And double thanks for the channel recommendations! Looks like a lot of good content to binge :)
I, too, have one of these “landlord special” properties.
I predict really the only thing you’re going to have much trouble with is plumbing. Everything you find will be rigged, or leaks “fixed” with gobs of silicone rather than actually replacing the fitting, shut off valves omitted to save costs, etc.
Don’t go crazy buying tools just yet, but be prepared for the fact that you will, over time, wind up having to invest in quality plumbing tools probably including some specialty stuff like broken stub extractors, short-throw tubing cutters, faucet seat wrenches, etc.
Luckily it seems they didn’t touch the actual plumbing too much, but the aesthetic things around the plumbing. Like the tile around the shower faucet handle was done poorly and there’s gaps that need filling in. Or behind one remodeled sink they cut a huge hole in the drywall that’s almost star shaped somehow. But the plumbing connections at least seem to be done correctly.
Good tips for the tools. I’m lucky enough to live by a tool library so I’m checking there for anything I don’t have and I’ll only use it once or twice.
