Also be prepared for things not being exactly the standard sizes that stores carry in stock. I have a home built in 1915, stucco exterior made of terra cotta block, sort of a Craftsman/Victorian. I needed to replace all the windows (they were that far gone due to the prior owner neglecting them for over 30 years) and 3 of the doors which had pretty much deteriorated by the time I took possession. All the windows were odd sizes, as were the doors. 3 doors, turned out to be over $9000 alone because of having to be done custom (and they weren't even that "fancy") and all the masonry repairs that went along with it. Unbelievable. This wasn't even the front door! It was for my side garage door, side door and a French door in a bedroom (that one, the threshold was ruined, causing leaks into my living room). I still have 2 more doors to go but they weren't as pressing and I'm waiting until I feel I can fit it into the budget; front door and a door in the living room that goes to a port cochere. The front door will be ok once it's sanded down a bit and painted, the other one is just a hot mess and I haven't found an appropriate door I like enough. Those two, will be another $4K at least. *cringes* I had to rewire substantially in order to be able to have an updated kitchen and laundry facilities. Knob and tube was everywhere. I'll have to do the same once we get around to renovating the main bathroom. Not looking forward to how much that will cost. The "unknowns" are what will ruin your budget completely. Things that just can't necessarily be seen on your inspection. I purchased my home for $225K. I've now put in just under $200K in upgrades and I'm still not finished. And my neighborhood is not the kind which will get me back that money at this point in time if I decided to sell.

Gah. OK. For the record, I am not in debt. I do not shop to the point where it affects my life in a negative way. But yes, I do love beautiful things and every now and then I buy myself one of them. I refuse to allow this to somehow reflect on my suitability for restoring an older home. On that note, given that I have no experience, how does one go about getting experience if not having any is a serious enough lack to possibly can the whole idea? As noted in previous posts, I have no experience. I am not an idiot. I am fully aware of how contractors would look at me were I to roll up alone all 'omg! I have no idea what I'm doing! teehee!' - they'd hear KACHING ringing in their heads. This thread is for information, not to hire people, my straightupness here would not carry over to convo's with contractors. I need to do research and I also need an advocate of some sort, possibly a hired advocate, not someone who works for the realtor or who has ties to any contractors etc. I get this. And of course I'm excited! This is something I have dreamed of doing since I was about 14, and now I can realistically consider it, finally. Lovmkitchen, that Iowa house is great - it looks like it belongs on the prairie - is Iowa prairie? Edge of prairie? Heh. I don't know, it makes me think of wide open skies and fields. Interesting to see prices, too. I definitely think I got the wrong idea about average house prices coming from BC. it's not even that Nova Scotia is so wildly cheap, it's that BC seems to be inexplicably expensive. Vancouver I udnerstand, but little hick towns on the island (one of which I'm from)? Who is paying half a million for a fixer upper there?

Lol. I hear ya. Thanks for pointing that one out to me - I haven't done as much research into RO units as I did the softeners. I guess I'll get an education on how to do some actual plumbing in the next couple weeks... I'm bet the guy used a saddle valve in my basement when he installed my humidifier a year or so ago...I'll check that out. This post was edited by Jlmurph2 on Fri, Apr 26, 13 at 11:03

I love old houses - the quality, the history (I was THRILLED when I saw the names of the owners of our then under 5 year old house on the 1930 census), and the style. If I don't win the lottery, I will never live in another "new" build (80's and up) because the vast majority of non custom built homes are just not up to my standards. Of the 4 new builds I lived in in my life, only two were decent. The last decent one had been built by a guy who had previously done commercial building. It was built to last and I have no doubt that one would still stand after a tornado. Because of the commercial background, the finish "prettyness" wasn't there, but those details were added later, by us. The last new build was a nightmare. The "quality" semi custom build was so lacking that I can't even imagine how much worse some of the mass produced really poor quality houses will last. Within the first 5 years the deck was partially rotting (no flashing between the house and it), the roof leaked at the chimney, many of the windows wouldn't work well and/or leaked at the top, lots of the trim wood was rotting out and the floors of both 1st and 2nd floor creaked in almost every spot as did the entire staircase. And then of course you had the "minor" issues like one couldn't use a hairdryer in the master bath before resetting the outlet in the upstairs bath if someone had used a hairdryer in it before the master bath. And the defective shingles requiring a complete reroof at 3 years is hard to forget. My brother has a friend who last year moved into a house in one of those new mass built neighbourhoods in South Carolina. Brand new. 6 months after moving in, a water pipe junction burst (iirc, they thought it hadn't been correctly connected or something) in the attic while they were on vacation and ruined most of the house and their items. The builder denied responsibility and the insurance company was blaming it on the builder since the house was still under "warranty" and it was turning into a huge mess, to say the least. New does not equal free of work and I'd rather strip wallpaper than deal with finding out what corners were cut.