Affordable Home Renovations for a Single Mom

The property is not unlivable, but it is old and musty, and still has appliances from the fifties and sixties. Everything from light bulbs to the toilet seat has to be changed. To get started, make a list of everything that has to be done, and which areas need your most urgent attention. Here are some tips to get you started and transform your house at the most affordable price.

• Get rid of the musty smell in the house by removing every piece of carpet and old linoleum from the floors. This contains decades of dirt and is most unhygienic. If you can afford it, you might as well have the wooden flooring you want.

• Get a contractor who is an all-rounder – not a handy man, but one who has experience working with bricks, plastering, tiling, and if he knows about plumbing too, you will save lots of money if he can do the whole job for you. Get him to remove all the carpeting with attendant nails, glue, dirt, and so on.

• Remove all the wallpaper from the walls, and give the house a fresh coat of paint. Make sure you let the walls dry properly in between, and give it two coats in all. Here is one place you can save money as you can do the painting yourself, after plugging up the holes in the walls and wiping the walls down first.

• Ask the contractor you have hired how much it will cost to remove the old stained bath, and install a shower and a new toilet bowl. Tell him you would also like the floor tiled and would like him to do it, but at the right cost. Don’t do any of the above before you have settled on an amount. Make a list of what he has agreed to. As you pay him for work done, have him sign that he received the money.

• Use one of the rooms in the house where you will sleep with your child for the time being while the other rooms are being painted. Move from room to room until the walls and floors have been done. If you are laying down linoleum, you can walk on it right after. If you are installing wood or tiles, there should be no one in the house to walk on it for at least a day.

• Your bathroom should be done first as you will need drying time there as well for the tiled floor. You may have to live with a friend or family member for a night or so as you will not be able to use the toilet while the plumber is working in the bathroom.

• If you’ve discovered wooden flooring under the ratty carpet, you have to sand down the floor and stain it. This job is done at the very last.