We were so excited to be under contract, and the closing date was approaching fast. We really wanted to hit the ground running on that first day, so we did some design work, did some shopping, and made a bunch of phone calls before our closing day arrived.
Design
From the county property assessor page we got an outline of the house with overall dimensions. Coupled with the measurements we took during the inspection, we were able to rough out the basic floor plan of the house. Once we closed, we could double check all of our measurements and fill in any gaps, but this would give us a good starting point.
We downloaded onto our computers a program from RoomSketcher.com. Their basic program is free and easy to use. It allowed us to be pretty accurate in not only room dimensions, but wall thickness, and ceiling height. You can even switch modes to drop in furniture and then toggle back and forth between the two different screens as you work.
One way we brainstormed our design was to go online and look at other houses in the area that had the same floor plan. Many of them had already been renovated and it was interesting to see how they had modified the layout, especially relating to opening up the kitchen. We got a lot of good ideas there, and a few definite no’s too!
Even this early on we were not just designing the floor plan, but also what we wanted the overall design concept to be. We settled on a modern farmhouse concept and used this to help us choose everything from paint color to light fixtures. We weren’t buying any of this stuff yet, but we did set up a Pinterest page with a folder for each room and the exterior. In it we would drop pictures of elements we liked and that way we could see them all together. If something felt like it didn’t belong, we would just delete it. Pinterest has so many great pictures to get ideas from and you can do pretty specific searches. We would also pin photos directly from suppliers’ sites, so tiles, lighting, plumbing fixtures, everything we needed eventually found its way there. If we were out in a store and saw something we liked, we would take a photo with the price showing and upload that to the Pinterest page. This way we could get everything visually in the same place.
The layout at this point was still conceptual, and more than once we found ourselves changing what we thought was the final plan. Even though, after days of work and decision making and knowing that we DEFINITELY had it now, we would remind ourselves that this was still the time to make changes to the design as it wasn’t going to cost anything. Yet. Keep tweaking it until you are happy and avoid as many change orders as you can down the road.
When we finally had the design we liked, we printed up the current floor plan and the revised floor plan for our General Contractor so he could easily see the direction we were going.
It’s a lot of detail work, but we’re detail kind of girls, so this kind of planning was right up our alley.
Planning
One tool we found online that we used from day 1 and found to be extremely useful was Flipperforce.com. This site helps you estimate costs, set up timelines and schedules, maintain a list of contractors and suppliers, plan your budget, keep track of your actual expenses, and just about anything else you can think of when it comes to flipping a house. Because this was our first flip, the cost estimator was especially helpful.
Using all of this information, we wrote out a plan as to the order in which we wanted to proceed. For example, we knew that some of the yard work could wait until later in the project, however, there were a few things we wanted to do right away. The back of the house was covered in intrusive vines, so we wanted to tackle that first and foremost. Also, the hedges were so overgrown and would have to be cut back so dramatically, we would need that 3 months of growth so they would look good again by the time we were ready to sell. Putting in new flowers could wait until near the end of the project. This way we would have what was currently in bloom planted for when the house went on the market. We made this plan for as many aspects of the job as we could come up with, and it really helped us stay on task for most of the project.
Hiring Trades
We also spent a fair amount of time on the phone during this period. We wanted to get our trades lined up and on the schedule so we would have as little down time as possible. Because the construction market is so busy right now, we knew we would have to be well organized in this area so as to not waste anyone’s time.
We had some guys we knew and trusted that Lynda had worked with before, including our General Contractor (GC), electrician, and plumber. We wanted to get some quotes from them as soon as possible, so we scheduled meetings within days after we had the keys. In fact, the electrician was our first order of business as we had to have the electrical box out back replaced and moved. This required him to schedule the electric company to move some lines and an inspector to be scheduled. Our GC lined up other trades as we needed them, and that worked out well for us.
When you meet with your GC, have a detailed list of what you want him to take care of and what you will do yourself. Also, find out how change orders will be handled and what the payment schedule will be. The more informed you both are, the less chance for conflict later.
We had a dumpster lined up to be dropped off as soon as we closed. When deciding which company to go with, besides just comparing prices, make sure you know what materials they allow you to put in their dumpsters (some of them have quite a restriction list), and how much it costs to be over-weight.
One trick we learned about before starting our demo was using Habitat for Humanity for free cabinet and appliance removal. Cabinets can really fill up a dumpster so you will save on that space (which means money), you can get a charitable tax write-off, and we didn’t have to spend the time pulling all of that stuff out ourselves. Win win! Just make sure you schedule them a few weeks in advance. They will also want pictures of the cabinets and the appliances as they don’t take them if they are in really bad shape.
Finally, don’t forget to set up utilities and any services you might want (e.g. pool and yard service), insurance, etc.
First Things First: Demolition Supplies
We did a LOT of the demolition ourselves although we left taking out walls and removing the hallway ceiling to the professionals. Nevertheless, for the most part, it was all us. If you don’t want to do the work yourself, you can hire a demolition crew, and they’re pretty fast and efficient, but we learned so much by doing the demolition ourselves, and we saved a little money too.
If you’re doing demolition yourself, here’s our list of stuff you'll want to have on day 1:
· Camera- don’t forget to take lots of "Before" pictures!!! You will regret it if you don’t.
· Safety goggles, dust masks, work gloves
· More than one size of crowbar
· Carpentry Hammer/nail remover
· Large and small sledge hammer
· Reciprocating saw
· Cordless drill/screwdriver
· Chisels, scrapers, and putty knives
· Box cutters
· Hand screwdrivers in a couple of different sizes
· Circular saw
· Wire cutters, snips
· Pliers and needle nose pliers
· Plumbers wrench and regular wrench
· Buckets
· Floor scraper if you’re taking up tile
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