I am putting in new windows and trying to find level and square places. Saw where one person put a shelving unit inside of an old window where the house had been added on to. I was just wondering if there are others out doing fixer uppers by themselves.

hay trout how the heck are you?I hope i find you well and full vim&vigor whatcha think im out her on and off i have a lil dog now my friend so i don't spend much time on this box anymore take my friend koolaid,,,

Living in a fifty year old house there is always some fixin-up to do.

! live in an historical, I'v own for 26 yrs... whew I know the cost and blood sweat and tears to it all...but worth all the time.I have a Frank L Wright home.(underwriter)

I envy you. I had to move out of my 1890 farmhouse, and into a horrible 55 slab. I LOVED working on my old house. How old is yours?

My house was built in 1895 or something like that, but it's definitely not historical..... It's what they called a farm house but it's in town. I think it was basically a shack that just got built up and onto every once in awhile. It's got character though, and that's what I love about it! I don't like cookie cutter homes. Good luck with your projects!

Mine was built in 1917, my great grandmother. i'm the 3rd owner.

You know, I kind of feel like mine was in the family although I am not family.....hehe. The family before me owned it until I bought it. The old lady I bought it from was born in it and her hubby had just passed. Was kind of neat to hear them telling stories about the house.

Ya my parents just bought a repo and I did most of the remodel and fixin and completed other contractors work...was a lot of work but they are happy with in....and I myself was impressed on how much I have learned over the years from other contractors and my grandfather being carpenter and my ex's dad was a general contractor.

I have a historical house built in 1810.... lots of work. Its pretty sound now just needs finishing work. I have lots of old doors in the basement if anyone wants some!

It's amazing how rewarding, restoring your home can be.Sure you get a few slivers,and bumps and bruises..but what a reward when your finished.And the Money you saved doing most yourself.You reach out and ask questions and advice from others,make new friends as well.
My father was a electrician by trade, and a jack of all trades on the side.So give me the tools anyone can learn,male or female.Today i'm a woman that can be a lady 100%,and still work hard along side any man.Now if I could just be on that show Extreme Makeover, but I want my hard hat,and gloves in lime green please!

It is not hard to remodel or restore a home, doing it right and doing a good job is another story, doing a good job, takes time and money. If you are going to restore your home, you need to look at different factors such as am I going to stay here for a while or do I plan to sell (house may not be as marketable if older), a lot of times too older houses require more mainteance and care, and can become costly, a lot of older houses are insulated poorly too, or are very energy inefficient. There is a lot of factors that relate to remodeling houses. I am not into remodeling/construction as a profession my my father has been in the business for a long time so I have learned a lot about the trade. An idea I can give you is if you are going to remodel the living room, but leave old heaters in there and have the rest new, new trim, knew receptacles, new thermostats, it would make sense to put the extra money into new heaters too unless you are going with centralized air /heat pump, but then you are talking 7,000+depending on size of house, unless you are an hvac technician or do it as a trade. Asphalt a small driveway, there's another 3,000+ easy. So much to look at you know. You should sit down and prioritize your wants and needs and check pricing.

I do them all the time, there are many old houses in Phila, it's what I do...windows are a pain because of the settling, usually you have to order them a tad smaller, but sometimes you get lucky if they have the false frame that holds the metal weights in them for opening and closing the window, just remove it and then you'll have plenty of room to work with.. Leveling is another issue, sometimes you have to create a mirage with the capping.....

yup i am trying to redo an old 55 year old rambler. what a pain in the turkey butt...

i want to become my own general contractor. can anyone tell me how to do this?

there are many venues to learn the trades, many stores and even sites on the internet "google" can teach you the proper do it yourself techniques, but word to the wise, the old heads know their stuff, talk with the ones that don't cut corners but know the trade inside and out.....

http://education-portal.com/becoming_a_general_contractor.html

^an awesome link, hope it helps

thank you.

tried that site.
i am looking 2 b my own general contractor for a remodelling project. going to school 4 four years is way to long. i might be dead before it ever gets done.
i think i appy through L and I in Olympia, WA....
and may have to get some kind of license with city....

am i right or wrong?

Fixing up your own place is a lot of fun but it does take skill and there are some things you really want to leave to the professionals. Reading city codes are important because you can mess your house up and you can't sell.

hahahaha
mess up my house, and so i can't sell?
we can't have that now can we....

My next project is to get some of the dead plug-ins working. Since electricity follows the path of least resistance I have the suspicion that in a line of wall plug-ins the two that is working out of four would be the first and second in the series. I was replacing old plug-ins with new ones but now I think it might be after the two hot ones that a bad connection might be found since the other two after aren't working. After that I plan to replace the kitchen faucett with one that doesn't leak and also has a spray hose. I found a nice one by Pearless for only $40. I figured while I was at I would pull up the sink and finish sanding the wooden countertop. I saw a nice belt sander at a pawn shop that might work.