You are a single mom with a
little four-year-old boy. Your husband has left you for someone else, and your
grandmother has died and left you the little bungalow in which she has lived
for sixty odd years.
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.
