Home renovations/remodel
 

Have you ever had a major home reno or remodel? We are currently in the midst of a renovation and I'm at my wit's end lol. While I am both grateful I can do this and excited to eventually see the final result, I am also annoyed at delays and cost bonkers-ness (thanks, inflation!).
I've been waiting 4 months for an egress window permit. (My basement doesn't have a window big enough to allow emergency help to fit into my home / residents to escape. An egress is required to finish the basement, which I want to do so my out-of-state family can stay here when visiting and so my kids have a fun hangout for themselves and friends.) My contractor says they've never had these holdups before. I am not feeling good about that lol.
So, can anyone reassure me that everything will work out, or at least get finished? I know this isn't a real "problem," but I'm still stressing. And if you have Reno Woes, feel free to share! I know it's stressful to have work done to your home!

Good luck! We've never done huge renovations on our house, but little stuff! Just hang in there, think of how great the finished product will be (maybe plan/shop/ design a little while you wait! The interior decorating part would be the most fun in my opinion!)

We redid our roof, our front steps and our backyard during 2020 when everything was shut down. We managed to get that all done before inflation hit, but I know how frustrating it can be!

Years ago we had to reno a bathroom before selling (it had carpet in the bathroom...so gross!!) That is the extent of remodeling. we have done small projects but nothing major.

One of my coworkers started redoing her bathroom in May, I think. She's almost done. Another coworker got a new roof, new windows and AC pretty quickly but is now well into a kitchen remodel that miiiight be done by Jan 1. One of the central cabinets came with the openings reversed so that is adding 6 weeks since they have to reorder it. I think you have to expect delays but the ones now do seem extra long. Just keep thinking how nice it will be when it's done!

Home renovations are crazy stressful. I have done a few. First, when I bought my house, I needed the whole place painted & all new flooring. It was pretty expensive so to save money a friend installed the wood floors for me across the great room but he was no pro so he was just doing it in his spare time thus it took months. So stressful. I also later fully remodeled the laundry room, finished an unfinished room, fully landscaped outside, and a brand new deck (which also took way longer than I was quoted). Every single renovation was super stressful. I hope you get yours done soon.

That sounds stressful! I hope it comes through soon. I'm sure it will all work out, but it's hard to be stuck in limbo. We've only remodeled a few bathrooms so far, both after leaks that did a lot of damage. We want to do the basement and DH wants to start as soon as possible, but I keep hearing stories like yours and feeling like we'd be better off waiting a year or two.

Thanks for your stories, ladies. It makes me feel better to know I'm not alone. And I know there are staffing and illness issues, so it just compounds everything.

I now have a date for the painters, who also do the drywall work (we reframed two doorways) and patch work. Once that's done--it's a LOT of square footage--I think that I'll start feeling like progress has really been made. I'll still need a door to my office and my bedroom, but hey, progress is progress!

Awe man, I hope things go smoother & faster for you going forward! We had our basement finished, but thankfully we did it in small doses so that 1. it was more affordable and 2. easier to manage! We did have a contractor come in to finish it the rest of the way after we had already had the framing, electrical & plumbing completed. There were a few snags with measurements & a few other delays that were stressful at the time, but thankfully not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. We also did not have a "had to be finished by" date, so that really helped.

Home renos can be fun to design and enjoy when done, but getting there is sometime a royal pain in the butt. We usually do all the work ourselves so it takes us forever.... and the dust and dirt get everywhere.
Our old house we gutted the kitchen and one bathroom and totally redid them. We also turned the garage into a real room.
In this home we have done two bathrooms, turned the back part of the garage into a laundry room, our basement was finished, but we have updated it some, built a new patio and roof over it, built a pool deck, a new shed, and other smaller projects....like painting the kitchen cabinets and flooring. I hope to gut the kitchen in 5 years or so and knock down some walls.

Good luck on your reno, it will be worth it in the end.