"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote

Post formed counter tops can be made quite reasonably.

I think she just wants to make the place liveable for a period of time,
not renovate just yet.

Agreed. The first year can be pretty tough financally and she's probably
got other things that she may not have even discovered yet, that *have* to
be replaced. I'd expect a slurry of 'how do I..' posts from them over the
next few months.

When we got back stateside and into our house which had been a rental for
6.5 years, we also had to make choices. I'd love to redo both bathroom
floors, kitchen floor and kitchen cabinets as well as replace the main
carpet, but we have to live with them as is for now. Just can't afford it
all at once.

Things fixed (no particular order):
1- Back porch fully rescreened. Had to replace much of the wood. Have to
hang the porch screen door. Turned out the wood frame was rotting a bit and
we decided the long view of replacing it is best although we 'could' hang
the screen at need as that portion is ok.
2- Attic spider infestation gone, caulked ceiling of bathroom too
3- Fireplace repaired
4- trees (saplings) cut out of yard
5- Fence back up and wing of fence with door replaced
6- Wndows replaced (front kicked out, bathroom broken inside pane and
dangerous)
7- back room sealed from further water damage and mold treated (pends taking
out insulation and 3 walls of drywall to be replaced and 'windows')
8- weather stripped outside along back porch with caulking and plastics,
will later have proper vinal and metal applied.
9- patio doors replaced
10- dryer replaced
11- old chest freezer now at a foodbank/Church as a donation (Monster
commercial unit)
12- new vertical blinds up in 3 places
13- removed estimated 12 large trashbags of beer bottles, cans etc from back
yard
14- Termite infestation fixed and various small moldings replaced (Thank the
lord, the damage was cosmetic not structural)
15- fixed exterior static back yard flood lights and front garage 'auto on
at movement' flood light
16- repaired various corner molding and baseboards
17- arranged for tub liner which should come in any day and temp sealed
rusted out hole at drain with silicone
18- replaced dishwaher

Pending work we already asked about but havent done yet:
1- paint the new front door to match the rest of the house
2- install 2 new ceiling fans with light fixures (have them)
3- get Electrician, we have 1 on standby but he's busy just now and due in
sometime soon for estimates, agrees it sounds like about 375-400$ if we are
right an no actual wiring needs to be replaced and Don can help hold stuff
such as the ceiling lamps while he attaches to existing undamaged junction
boxes. Part of the wait there was the attic spider infestation. We told
him we didnt want him up there until that was fixed and he was really happy
to know we were upfront about that and would fix it first. Now he's busy
doing small jobs for folks for Xmas lighting. Older gentleman who says he's
slow so doesnt charge by the hour but by the job. Thats fine with us.

Pending work we havent asked about yet but will in separate posts when we
get ready:
1- How to lay floor tiles before the fireplace (I have them there now, just
layed over the peeling up poorly done linoleum job)
2- How to replace *properly* the 2 walls of roughly 4ft tall solid
plexiglass panels in the damaged back room. We also will get a professional
estimate. Needs to be done before we have the damaged siding along there
replaced as depending on what we do, it will require changes to the siding
work.
3- How to replace the 'veneer' (I think thats the name, thin overlaying
pretty wood lookingstuff) over pressboard on the built in bar.

Pending work we know how to do and need no help with:
1- replace wallpaper in kitchen
2- replace drop ceiling tiles in kitchen
3- Install closet organizers (1960's house with the tiney closets and only 3
in the house)
4- replace sink and cabinet in main bathroom (sink rusting, custom cabinet
built around odd size 1960's sink)

Now, I left lots of little things out there but you get the gist. Not
ragging on anyone but I agree fully, they may not have the money just now to
replace the countertops if they can be made functional for a bit. There's
no shame in that, just reality. I reckon many of us here are handy, but
none of us at everything. Even though I make a reasonable income for my
area, I can't possibly afford to fix all that at once without serious DIY
and even then, it's not affordable right away.