Planning to Remodel a House Two States Away

**Our honesty policy: This post may contain affiliate links and I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no extra cost to you. Some are, some aren't--I do some comparison shopping. The important thing is you will know exactly what we are talking about. Drop a note/comment if you have any questions on the products as these are materials and tools we use on our own projects.

Suggestions for Success!

Suggestion #1: Don’t do it!

Suggestion #2: If you still want to despite the previous suggestion please read on. Hopefully, by the time you are done you will  decide to go with option #1. I promise to not tell anyone if you change your mind.

Suggestion #3: If you are still determined to follow through on a long distance house remodel, please put your email in that little blank box below “Get JustNeedsPaint in your inbox” and then hit the “Subscribe” button. I will try to help you the best way I can at this time, which is through this blog.

Suggestion #4: Start on your own home.  If you do not have one yet, help a friend with theirs.

My First Adventure in Home Ownership

When I bought my rental property in 2008, I lived two states away. Part of the reason was the house prices were still too high where I lived and the other being the stock market crash. I wanted to diversify my financial portfolio and I was far too impatient about getting my hands on my own house projects.*

Once I found the house and had the paperwork going, I began amassing the materials needed for a total gut of the kitchen and bathroom. The job not only needed cabinets and appliances, but also critical tools like drills, levels, and a tile wet saw. You name it, I did not have it. My tool chest consisted of an Ikea paper measuring tape, a hammer and a pencil (I still have the tape for times I am in a pinch…). This venture was quickly becoming a reality and my lack of construction experience and equipment was the first priority. The time between the accepted offer and getting the keys was full of researching tools and materials as well as how to do each and every job.

The Best Part: Designing from Scratch

The most enjoyable part of any remodel is coming up with the design, in my book. What items should there be included in a new kitchen and bathroom? Are there any problems in the current design or is the old layout sufficient? What is the color scheme? Are there other design elements that would eye catching and worth the extra effort? What are the local building codes (even better, what are codes?!)?

Design allows you to dream and create. Design calls for contemplation about beautiful form and effective function. For instance, I came up with an inlaid granite diamond pattern. This pattern brings a touch of class and unexpected visual interest to otherwise utilitarian materials and spaces.  My design would incorporate this inlay into all the rooms with tile: the back splash of the kitchen and bathroom, as well as the floor of the laundry room.  Spoiler: it looks amazing!

When you watch HGTV shows like House Hunter’s Renovation they always seem to have a designer.  The people swinging the sledgehammers and shelling out the money are outsourcing one of the most fun and creative parts of a renovation.  Going to stores, touching the different types of granite, holding up the different tiles against cabinet colors calling your name are all part of the experience that lets you discover your own taste.  If pulling out tiles in a store seems daunting you can start determining what you prefer on websites like Pinterest, Houzz, or HGTV.  Then you can go to the store and match what is in your price range to the pictures you downloaded to your phone.  YOU CAN DO THIS!

Going through the exercise of designing this house highlighted the best part of the design phase: the possibilities are endless!  While your budget may not be endless (mine certainly was not), you can still have a gorgeous design and once properly installed you get to enjoy it long after the renovation is over. The bonus is that creating a design is an essential exercise with absolutely zero finger lifting, hard labor or real physical sweat.

Amassing My Tool Arsenal, Building Materials and Appliances

The second best part of a renovation is hunting for the best deals.  It is a requirement to go out and find the prettiest and shiniest fixtures and appliances! Oh darn.

Not only is it fun, but hunting for deals is one of my strong suits (as my husband points out as I am writing this).  Some ladies are expert shoppers and I am no exception.  One small but significant difference is my favorite store: Home Depot.  I also make short work of Craigslist, eBay and Amazon for comparison shopping.

The second item my husband reminded me was when I would give him so much grief for clicking on so many listings and then spending time reading through them. He is not a software engineer. He does not look at thousands of lines of script and computer code daily. I scan. I find. I can tell from a title and picture if a listing is worth opening.  When I do click on a listing, I have a laser focus that quickly answers the check boxes in my head.

Time is not on your side when you are in need of a entire tool set on top of a new bathroom and kitchen.  Speed is key and a system is required to get this done yesterday! (a follow on post is in the works)

When you have time on your side, Craigslist and eBay are the way to go for your initial attempt on deal finding.**  Craigslist is an free online garage sale for nearly anything and is broken apart into different areas to cover a general area all over the world. There are many more Craigslist style websites that have popped up between 2008 and now, but I will refer to them all as Craigslist for this post. “Nearly anything” certainly includes almost any house building material or tool (eBay, too, but you have to wait for an auction to end as well as the needed for shipping). One of the benefits of being in a major metropolitan area is the sheer number of people using Craigslist.  Craigslist is great, but items are for sale at any price, so be aware a that better deal may be had elsewhere.

98% of my experiences on Craigslist and eBay have been positive.  I cannot claim too much knowledge of the selling side (although it is on my todo list this year), but I have had some *huge* scores on items I would never consider at full or honestly even partial retail.  The preparation part of the renovation puts you very much on the buyer side of the equation.  I even met some fantastic people who I continue to work with today.

A Craigslist Story…

Unfortunately, not all experiences were the best.  My first bad experience happened right at the very beginning of my materials and equipment hunt.  I prioritized buying appliances first.  Craigslist presented a nice set of matching stainless steel appliances: oven, refrigerator, microwave and dishwasher. I happily found this gem and replied to the listing seller. The guy said it was still available and we arranged to meet for pickup the same evening. Time to get to work!

First, I needed to rent a storage unit that afternoon. Why?  I lived on the third floor of an apartment at the time. Then, I needed to rent a trailer for the day. I recruited my future husband and his truck to haul the trailer to the meeting place, then back to the storage unit loaded with appliances.  Last, we had to drive across the metro Phoenix area.

We show up at the mutually agreed upon time time and place discussed with the seller from Craigslist. The house was dark. Knocking and text messages were met with radio silence. The set had been sold out from under me! The seller did not have the decency to even call even though we had communicated through the afternoon. Suffice it to say I was livid, but foreclosures were happening all over the valley of the sun and the house was empty. For all I know the seller might have already ripped the cabinets out and sold them earlier in the day. There was nothing I could do.

Yet, one very terrible experience did not deter me. I still needed to fill up the storage unit and there were a whole bunch of other screaming deals on Craigslist. I ended up piecing together an even nicer set for about the same price without the refrigerator.  The microwave and oven matched only by chance (and careful hunting).  The detail oriented part of me is highly satisfied that the two appliances lining up on top of each other are exactly the same style. I was also able to use my research on dishwashers and found a super fancy Bosch with a stainless interior and high reliability ratings.

This deal hunter is ecstatic with the end result, all said.  The appliances are still in service today. The bad experience ended up being a blessing in disguise: there would not have been enough space for a refrigerator in the trailer going cross country. At the same time, it was a painful lesson on how individual sellers can be even worse than a no show buyer.

Mind you, dear reader, do not just stick to the online world for your building/ remodeling needs. Remember what I wrote above? Home Depot. There are many other  brick and mortar stores for comparison shopping (Lowe’s, saving big money at Menard’s, local suppliers, etc.) along with looking online. While at worst an item can sell out especially during a great sale (such as “Black Friday”), retailers intend to keep a customer happy for potential future sales. However, monetarily the deal may not be as good as a gently used item.

THE LIST: Including the Kitchen Sink

Here is a breakdown on what and where I collected before closing on the house. I also included numbers if I can recall the price. This list contains items bought on Craigslist in 2008 when foreclosures were at an all time high.  The rampant foreclosure environment drove down prices significantly because people were ripping everything out of their houses before handing over keys and no one was buying the houses or the stuff being taken from them:

• Dewalt D24000S wet tile saw and stand combo – Amazon (At the time the price was better as a combo as opposed to separately buying the saw D24000and stand D24001.  There is no difference in the saw in the combo pack versus buying them separately except price.)
• 2 tilting oval mirrors for the bathroom – $10 each on Craigslist
• 1 dolly – Home Depot
• 2 stainless finish indoor 52″ ceiling fans with light kits – $15 each on Craigslist
• 1 ½ HP disposal – Craigslist
• 1 fancy bathroom vanity light – discontinued on clearance at Home Depot
• 1 Fridgidaire Professional Series Stainless Microwave – Craigslist
• 1 Fridgidaire Professional Series Stainless Oven – Craigslist
• 1 Bosch Stainless Dishwasher – Craigslist
• 2 Schlage Keyless Access Doorhandles – $75 each on Craigslist
• 18”x18” travertine tile – Southwest Set’n’Stone found through Craigslist
• 18”x18” porcelain tile – clearance at Home Depot
• 12”x12” granite tile – I do not recall which one of the many flooring places in Tempe. It was more of a contractor supply place with not much of a storefront.
• 1 Peerless bathroom faucet – eBay***
• 1 Pfister high arc kitchen faucet set – eBay***
• 1 bathroom sink – $25 on Craigslist
• 1 Sterling Southhaven stainless steel 8” deep kitchen sink – $50 on Craigslist
• 6 saw horses – Lowe’s
• 10” profile diamond blade – $200 somewhere online
• 1 set of graduated diamond polishing pads – $80 somewhere online
• 1 Black & Decker Jig Saw – Home Depot
• 1 Milwaukee variable speed grinder – $80 a store like Monterrey Tile found through Craigslist
• 1 Haulmark 6’x12’ dual axle enclosed cargo trailer – new from Jacksson’s Trailer Sales
• 1 set of various tools – $75 on Craigslist
  • 1 8’ level
  • 1 4’ level ← the original reason I found this listing on Craigslist
  • 1 Craftsman hand saw may possibly be as old as me
  • 1 Sears drill I am sure is older than me
  • 2 crowbars
• 3 3M reusable respirators – Grainger (Wow! These are so much smaller than what was available in 2008.  These come in different sizes now too!)
• 1 tie dyed pair of goggles – high school chemistry class (thanks, Mom and Dad!)
• 1 iHome – gift from a dear friend (thanks, DJ Milo!)
• Who knows how many brushed nickel Kwikset door levers – I don’t remember where or the price.

I am sure there is more missing from the list, but 9 years is a long time ago. I will admit resorting to viewing pictures during the remodel to “recall” what is listed above.

Acquiring New Skillsets

Equally important to a great design is learning how to use the tools to make the final result look not just good, but professional. If you had the choice between a ho-hum house or a house that looks like it should be in a magazine, you would choose the magazine and be happier to pay for it. Your potential tenants and/or the next person who buys your house will feel the same way.  YouTube, Google, Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual and New Fix-It-Yourself Manual are your best friends in this time frame.  Protect yourself and learn to speak proficiently with building tradesmen and building inspectors. Possessing a working knowledge pays dividends (and saves money, too) when calling in a plumber or electrician, which I did on both counts. Speaking the trade jargon does not hurt either when dealing building inspectors for your job.

On top of having nothing and no experience, I needed to hit the ground running once I had the keys in order to minimize the time spent away from work and allow the waiting tenants to move in. Anything I could learn and do in the interim would cut down the time spent at the remote job site. I bought materials such as granite tile, plywood and hardibacker as the tools arrived at my apartment. My boyfriend and I set up a mock kitchen in his roommate’s garage and started building the granite tile countertops. Those two weekends gave us a jump on learning to tile using the very awesome DeWalt wet tile saw in addition to speeding up the installation process when we were on site.

I also started bullnosing edges of the travertine tile which was going to go in the bathroom back splash and surround. This is another skill I will be covering in a follow on series of posts.

Another way to gain a new skillset is to volunteer.  If you know anyone in the middle of a remodel, jump in and offer a hand.  They may think you are crazy to offer, but it is a great way to learn how to do something new (or how not to do something).

TL;DR: Revisit Suggestion #1

Designing the theme of the house, buying the materials and starting to learn is the easy part. Actually following through a long-distance house remodel while still being gainfully employed with a full time job is insane.  In addition to suggestion #1, I blatantly recommend #3, and ask you to consider #4 too.

*I do not recall all of the reasons for doing this but I would never do this again with the same circumstances. Instead, I would buy the house next door so I don’t have to lug my tools far. Or better yet live in the house and then move out when finished. On a good note, it felt good at the time to know I had sunk a lot in a house and not in the stock market just prior to the crash. Too bad I didn’t have extra money to throw in the stock market when it was on its way back up.
**I have to laugh because this is my first post with affiliate links and I am already undercutting any potential profit from this post with Craigslist, eBay, and every other kind of source. You have to do what makes sense for your situation. 
***When I helped with a friend’s bathroom and kitchen remodel in May of 2009 the Craigslist market had dried up. We had to go the retail (online or in a store) route.