Every day it looks more and more like the financing is going to come through and I’m going to have a house in December. When my fiancee and I buy this house we have four items on the to-do list before we move in: get rid of popcorn ceilings, paint, buy appliances, and install new flooring.
Getting rid of popcorn ceilings takes a ladder, some water, and something to scrape with like a $10 taping knife. This will just take a lot of time but the tools are cheap.
Painting the walls takes a ladder, paint, brushes and rollers, and tape. I don’t need to cover the floors because I’m going to pull them up anyway. Also I’ll be getting a Turbo Roller for $40 which eliminates the need for a paint tray and should make painting faster and easier. Again, time intensive but relatively cheap.
The owner is taking the fridge and the washer and dryer so we’ll need to buy those. Luckily Black Friday is around the corner and Craigslist exists. We’re going to get a brand new fridge, but we are either going to get a huge Black Friday sale or find something around 50% off with minor cosmetic damage from the Sears Outlet (as a new homeowner, that place is AWESOME!). Tag and I are hoping to get all three appliances for under $1,500.
That leaves us with the most expensive item left: flooring.
It Takes Time to Find Deals on Flooring
If you want cheap carpet or laminate flooring you can get that stuff for under $1 per square foot. If you want something that looks nice you’re probably going to have to spend a little bit more. However, I’m on a very strict budget and I can’t spend more than $2 per square foot and I want hardwood or bamboo.
I started with Home Depot and Lowe’s, then moved onto flooring stores like Lumber Liquidators but didn’t find any quality materials at the price range I wanted. Part of me wanted to just give up and either decide to keep the existing floors (which would put me in Tag’s doghouse indefinitely) or increase my budget (which will put me in the poor house).
After over a week and even a few free samples we hadn’t found anything, but we kept looking and sure enough I found some bamboo floors that usually sell for $4.99 per square foot marked down to $1.99 per square foot. On top of that, there is a 20% off EVERYTHING deal going on between now and Friday. That means it will cost $1.60 a sq ft + shipping (which is also 20% off).
I ordered some samples and they should be here tomorrow. If the floor is as good as the specs suggest then I will have found incredible flooring for under $2 a sq ft even after paying for shipping. That’s freaking incredible!
I don’t hold out for cheaper prices on small things. Whether I spend $8 or $12 on a tape measure isn’t going to impact my finances significantly. Whether I spend $2.00 or $3.00 per sq ft on over 1,000 square feet of flooring is at least a $1,000 difference. $1,000 is worth the extra time to keep looking for exactly the right stuff.
As long as the sample looks good then I have myself some new floors. If it’s bad then I’m just gonna have to suck it up and keep looking. The deal is out there somewhere; I just have to have the patience to find it.
Readers: Have you ever done a big home improvement project? How did you save money on materials?
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
Sears outlet is the place to go! My dryer came from there. I was able to get it for under $500. I picked up a high efficiency washer for under $600 on a closeout from Best Buy (top rated model from the previous year.) and then I found the matching dryer 150 miles away at a Sears outlet. My best deal was an Electrolux range at Lowes. You know the display with the range with the blue interior and ALL the options? It was the priciest one they carried out here at the time. Someone kept one for a year and then returned it as the financing came due. I had to scrape some corn out of the corners (gross I know) but I got a $2,500 range for $999 with a $100 rebate. I would never have been able to afford such a luxurious range brand new. If they have an Electrolux at the Sears outlet for a decent price I HIGHLY recommend it. You don’t think you will use all the fancy options, but trust me, if you are cooking at a home a lot you will. The integrated meat thermometer probe is a lifesaver.
This is where we got really lucky buying my grandparents old house… The whole house has hardwood floors that are in great shape (even the ones under carpet). We are currently taking bids to have them refinished, but are glad we don’t have to put down new ones.
As far as appliances I agree the Sears outlet is awesome, but we had to buy our fridge from a regualr Sears since the space it fit into was a little smaller than newer homes and the outlet store didn’t have one we liked in the size we needed.
One thing that shoked me was how expensive paint can be. We got a little unlucky there and the walls had an oil based paint on them so we had to prime them before putting a water based paint over them.
Bamboo floors are gorgeous, especially the vertical grain floors. They look exactly like any other wood.
The one thing I want to warn you about is they are extremely soft. Bamboo is not a hardwood. If you have or plan to get a dog, their nails will scratch easily. You must also be extremely careful when moving furniture. Put pads on everything. When you get the samples, take a fork or something and bang it against the wood. Drop a small, hard object on them from table height, just to see the results and make sure you are OK with that.
I don’t want to discourage you from going with bamboo because I love the sustainability and the look, but just be aware of the hardness (or softness).
As for price, are you a Costco member? At the Costco near my house, I’ve seen really nice bamboo for pretty cheap (though I don’t know the price).
I’ve done some research and I’ve found that bamboo can be soft or can be extremely hard. When looking at flooring the important thing to look at is the Janka Rating.
For the particular bamboo I’m looking at (linked above), the hardness is 1650, which is quite a bit harder than red oak (the most popular hardwood) which comes in at 1360.
However, what you said is very important. When I get my sample I’m going to drop my keys on from table level and see what kind of damage is done to the sample. If it destroys the sample I won’t buy it. If the damage is minor then I have my floor.
When the time comes for me to buy a house and do some remodeling I am lucky that my parents have a home improvement store. Well, it is looking more and more like I won’t buy a house to near to my parents. I would still probably try to at least get my paint though them which would help a lot. Quality is paint/ paint in general really adds up.
I highly recommend an outlet store called Floor & Decor. Check to see if they have any in your area, or the cost of shipping to your area.
Also, bamboo is much cheaper than most hardwoods, because it’s easier to grow. Bamboo is a fast-growing and dense-growing invasive species; it can sprout up in record time over a small surface area. By contrast, it takes decades to grow an oak tree, and the tree’s root structure occupies a lot of space.
Oh yeah, also: Build.com is a great resource. They have all kinds of stuff, both high-end and low-end.
Check to see if you have a Habitat (for Humanity) Re-store. Great stuff and super low prices!
I installed bamboo flooring in a home we built about 5 years ago and while it does look good (I prefer red oak) you have to worry about the coloring from package to package. We ended up having to send back about 10 packages because the coloring was so different than what the homeowner wanted. They were going for a light colored floor and half of the boards were extremely dark compared to what they wanted. If you do go with the bamboo be prepared to exchange some of the packages. The end result did look pretty sweet though.
looks like a steal kevin. When we moved in, we were very suprised when we pulled up the carpet and found an amazing, original to the house hardwood floor that had been covered up by carpet for what we estimated was 40+ years. We had to pay someone to have it refinished, but it looks amazing now and was totally worth the cost.
Later, we found out that our city had a code until the mid 60s that all flooring that was not bathroom or kitchen had to be 3/4″ solid oak. So there’s a lot of older houses here with nice floors buried under carpet, and most people dont know.
I have only done smaller projects but I do plan on renovating my kitchen eventually. I will definitely be looking for deals when it comes time to plan that renovation. Hopefully big deals.
POPCORN CEILINGS!!!
Like you, I prefer my popcorn at the movies and not on my ceiling.
Buyer beware, while a lot of homes were built with this up already, older homes had it sprayed on to hide cracks and other issues. I found that out in my 1940’s house.
Also, it’ll cost you more than the $10 knife as you’ll need a garden sprayer, plastic tarp to catch the corn, and paint (primer and top coat).
Word to the wise, if you think you’ve sprayed too much water on the popcorn to get it to break apart, just add more. Keep spraying until it is literally falling off on its own!
Good Luck!
My rule of thumb for DIY home improvement projects is to take the amount of time you think it will take, double it, and then take it up one time unit. So, if you are thinking 2 days, it will probably take you 4 weeks. So on and so forth.
All my purchases at Lowe’s are around 30% off. Discounted gift cards + stacking other coupons on top. If looking for appliances, trip them up with a competitors ad, they beat by 10%. The guy in the appliances won’t want to give you a further discount, but tell him to save in the computer while you walk around and think about it. Hit up the checkout counter and pass them the coupon (or your friend/family member with a military discount). Pay with discounted gift cards. 50% off new should be the target.
The popcorn ceilings will be far from fun. Personally, I’d bring the whole ceiling down and put in the lights I want, where I want them and then re-sheetrock. They probably did a poor job taping the joints.
IKEA has great laminate floor on the cheap.