Ever get discouraged?

[Texas_Ranger]

All the time! The farm project was started in early 09 and still isn't anywhere close to habitable (just tiling the bathroom ended up taking TWO YEARS!), the downstairs renovation project in Vienna was started last year and hasn't seen ANY work since summer, etc, etc. Yet I'd love to dig into new projects! Thanks heaven I'm lacking the energy to do that at the moment...

[Gothichome]

Jeremy, I'm a bit of a putter'r so part of old home restoration is the fun of puttering. My only old home frustration are days when no matter how hard I try to get things done, it doesn't happen. Some times, you can make the time table other times the home dictates the time line, and of course other times life changes the time table, my only suggestion would be don't loose sight of your original intention over the long haul, absorb the accolades of you efforts and sit back relax with your significant other looking at the home and what you have accomplished, and congratulate your selves for a job well done.

[jharkin]

Glad to hear I'm not alone.... I expected as much, but just needed to hear it...

Main frustration is that we had been to the point of concentrating a lot on the functional upgrades we wanted to do the last couple years and I *though* most of the basic emergency repairs where behind us but they seems to be roaring back left to right... We wanted to concentrate on painting and starting the kitchen refresh this year, but now I have to weigh that against emergency plumbing repairs, wood rot, risky trees, etc.

And we came to the realization a couple years ago that expanding in place is just not going to be realistic so sooner or later we have to move out and up to a bigger house (my house could fit in the living room of some of the grand old places I see here - as soon as the kids where walking it started to feel cramped. I cant imagine sharing one bathroom with a pair of teenagers ) - So every time I tackle a project I have to now consider whats the value of doing something if we wont still be living here in 5 years. I don't want to cut corners and do a cheap job, but there are somethings that I don't want to just live with for years either.

[phil]

the mechanicals are the least satisfying but the most necessary usually. You are not alone for sure. I have gone into so many projects and come out with them finished but usually with more work and money once I got focused. I figure anything I work on should be done to a certain quality and speed is secondary. forgetting my timeline and only focusing on the sequence helps. could a portable building work for you to give more space? it might depend on your area if it's allowed but they can be bought and sold.. or could you build a cottage house or laneway house that could be re-allocated as garage space when they grow older? I certainly can identify with not wanting to sell what I have worked so hard to achieve but in reality If I did after I moved it would be on to other projects without the regret I imagine now. for me it would be to sell and buy in a cheaper area and to use the difference for retirement but that would mean moving away from my job in the city and I m not prepared to do that now. I think i'd have the same feelings about renting it. Id' always be worried of the damage they might do especially to the softwood floors.

[jharkin]

Phil,
We are living on a bit under a half acre. The house is only 1400sq ft with one bathroom on a very busy intersecrion.Literally no space for any portable buildings without putting it smack in the middle of our back yard.

Beyond the fact I would not want to stare out the kitchen window and see a building 10 feet away, we would never get zoning approval.

Nor do we have the budget. The biggest issue is needing a second bathroom and extra bedroom, few options to renovate and add on that square footage for less than 6 figures. We can get the space we need cheaper by buying another house than expanding in place. At this stage in life, economizing so we can focus on saving for retirement and the kids college has to take priority over getting our dream forever house.

[BungalowMo]

Oh, believe me, I'm feelin it too. Nearly 10 years ago when I bought my place, I was so excited...because it was so cute & so perfect. Now, it's needing a full scrape & repaint on all the wood on the exterior. More paint to be done inside with plaster repairs first.

I had a roof leak, which soaked into the attic & into my bedroom ceiling. This room had finally been completed. The weight of the wet insulation made the ceiling cave in & dumped a massive pile of plaster & insulation onto my new (black) bedroom rug.

This past spring & summer, I got the leak fixed. Then got the ceiling fixed. Had the same guys redo the decking on my porch & re-screen 2 of my screen doors. Much of this I could have done myself, but I now have arthritis in both hands & dealt with Lyme disease all Summer. I'm hoping it's gone. No symptoms for 2 months.

Gonna be 59 this summer & honestly wondering how much more I can do...:0(

Do I get discouraged? You bet I do.

[Wackyshack]

Oh yes, and the unexpected things that need your immediate attention and destroys the budget you have set. Rubber roof on the sewing room, 2 7 ft picture windows on the house had to be replaced long before we counted on having to do so.

They say add a 1/3 for unexpected costs... not for us here. When my simple removal of the siding and fixing the stuff that was ripped off, the front of the house was estimated at 6 grand. We ended up spending $13,000 had us draining 1/2 of our life savings to fix a torn up mess. We figured we could restore the funds, had some put back when my 16 yr old van died and we had to pony up for a replacement.
This summer of 2015 the pool lining leaked so we never could keep enough water in the pool to run the filter (pin holes and many of them). Had the money set aside to fix in 2016... perfect, had money to start fixing things we had to repair but ran out of money to finish, because the water heater went along with the cash on hand. The riding mower (we have over an acre) died and needed replacing before the drought and had we known we could have waited on that....
Waiting to see how far this years tax return takes us... just trying to get the "construction site" look out of the main rooms down stairs and then figure what rotted corner boards and soffits need help. We still have yet to take the siding off the North side of the house. If it needs anything near what the other sides have, I better save 8 grand before I dare remove a single sheet of siding.

We still have the main support beam to fix. I know the house flipper's appliances are 12 years old....

[Texas_Ranger]

We are living on a bit under a half acre. The house is only 1400sq ft with one bathroom on a very busy intersecrion.Literally no space for any portable buildings without putting it smack in the middle of our back yard.

You know, I grew up in 1100 sq. feet with three younger brothers! Two bedrooms plus the old servant's bedroom with no real daylight (set in between the bathroom and stairway). We only expanded when I was 17. Only one bathroom and another for emergencies in another apartment my parents had as an office.

Could you add a powder room somewhere to take some pressure off your current bathroom?

[Wackyshack]

our slab ranch was about 1100 sq feet... 4 people, 1 bath... My mother is German, you do not defy mother when she tells you to get in, get done and get OUT! Showers were timed. We didn't have situations of bathroom hogging, she would have murdered us!
Her constant nagging, OCD personality was enough to make you want to scream so you did whatever was short of homicide to make sure she got her way and kept quiet.

[Willa]

Wackyshack: kids these days ! What with their outrageous bathing demands (etc. etc.).

Personally I don't understand fancy victorian reno'd city houses where there are two bedrooms but four baths. Do the owners have kidney problems or something ?

Speaking of bathrooms - my calcimine and rotten plaster horror bathroom is making me feel glum. I'm trying to stick with it but am surely at the point of feeling overwhelmed and foolish. But if I stop the horror just stays. I am trying to move forward albeit with some fancy procrastinating.