Budgeting 101 - It's almost always gonna cost more

Renovations, yup that's my next topic of financial insight. Houses are costly. They're costly to buy, to run, to maintain and then there's the added costs of renovating.

No matter how well you plan, it's always gonna cost more. I rather suspect that budgeting for renovations is a bit like budgeting for travel For travel, the advice goes something like this: pack half the clothes and bring twice the money. For renovating, you just need to adapt the concept slightly, plan to do half of the things you want to and double your costs.

We're at the tail end of renovating our rental suite. We had some old asbestos tiles ripped out. As the inspector said, "if you have asbestos in your home, floor tiles is the best type to have." Two rooms needed new flooring, the walls needed paint and the kitchen need to be functional. Here's the before pictures:

Kitchen, gutted
Next photo is the other side of the kitchen

Prior to gutting, original layout

Bedroom with asbestos tiles removed

Pale yellow (leaky) surround, white tub

The space can't really be described as large, nor really average, but it's a neat little space with a good sized bedroom and great outdoor space for enjoying the coming summer. It's diminutive size also makes it cheaper to heat in the winter, so that's a bonus. It's perfect for a single or a couple who REALLY like each other.

All the trim needed painting and the curtain rods were ridiculous, one was half falling down and the other was a modified shower curtain rod that didn't even fit into the window frame properly.

The shower surround needed an update and we ditched the fabric curtain and replaced it with a nice sanitary blind. The tub also needed resealing, the sink needed a new drain connector and we replaced the tap, as well. 

New bath

Extra expenses? The appliances, the fridge was way too big for the space and the oven was on it's last legs and so dirty that there was no hope of getting it clean. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

New kitchen

Two weeks after an epic investment of time, energy and (you guessed it!) money, we feel it was worth it, but we're biased, of course. Our biggest tip is let the professionals do the important stuff (major electrical and plumbing), all the other stuff can be done, as long as you do your research and take your time. We're hoping to find someone who likes the place as much as we do and that (just maybe) appreciates all the work we've put in to make it clean, comfortable and more manageable.

Fold down table with folding chairs

New hardware, paint and backsplash

New bedroom floor

Bedroom

Living room

Private deck