While you're at it

They say that the most feared expression in home remodelling is "While you're at it".  When we needed to reshingle our roof in Yellowknife, we actually changed the ceiling in the living room to be a cathedral ceiling.  That's a fairly major change, and as always with remodelling, cost more and took longer than we originally estimated.  That's nothing compared to what my brother Robert did though.  Their house needed new siding - and they added an entire second storey, as well as super-insulating the whole thing.

I've been thinking about doing some remodelling in my house.  I can't afford to anything much right now - but dreaming is free.  There are several things I'd like to have done.  I'd like to add a shower to the half-bath that's just off my bedroom.  In order to do that, it'd be necessary to reconfigure the main bathroom so that there'd be room for the shower in mine.  (While we're doing the renovations, let's get rid of the pink tub, sink and toilet.) While we're doing that - I'd really like a fan in both bathrooms.  And... I'd like to move the washer and dryer out of my kitchen - and steal from the linen closet that's in the hallway just outside the master bathroom, and put them there.

That's just bathroom renovations - but while I'm talking about that - I'd really like to add a third bathroom.  I have a really large, strange closet just off the back door. It's L-shaped,  easily 6 feet long, before you get to the L, and about 5 feet wide, before the L (the part past the L is very small and narrow).  It's easily large enough for a bathroom.  Then when I have guests, everyone wouldn't have to share one bathroom.

Then there's kitchen renovations.  I'd like to get rid of my furnace room; change to a high efficiency furnace and put it in the crawl space.  Put the hot water heater down there too.  Then the kitchen could take over all the furnace room space.  That would give me a kitchen that's 18 x 20 feet - or big enough for an island in the middle; and that's before you even touch the dining room (where I'd like to get rid of the carpet).  I'd like to replace my original appliances from the 1950's with up-to-date new ones (that aren't pink).  I'd like to have enough plug ins that I wouldn't have to plug one crockpot in the hallway and another in the dining room whenever I'm cooking.  (I'd also like more than one plugin in each of the bedrooms.)

Then, I'd like to do an energy retrofit - replace the windows with tighter ones, add more insulation, etc.

Dreaming is free - and that's all it's going to be for a long time, just dreams.  I think that the renovations would cost enough that I should consider taking out shares in a plumbing business to start with.  However, I've lived here two years now, and maybe if I start saving, I can afford to do some renovations to the bathroom in another two years.