Which renovations are easy DIY for a condo?

[Dagart Allison]

Currently, I am looking at condos to buy and renovate while I live there. Most of the places I look at have out-dated kitchens, bathrooms, carpet, and popcorn ceiling. The condos I look at are priced under the market value and I hope to add value to the condo through renovation. But of course, if I spend as much as on the upgrades and as the appreciation, I don't make any money. Which features are easy DIY and which are contractor necessary? Also, I do not have any experience in home improvement, other than having painted a room and torn-up carpeting (aka. not-experienced).

Thanks!

[Mindy Jensen]

I am a huge believer in DIY and do much of the work myself. You would be amazed at how different a room looks with a fresh coat of paint.

There are numerous sites online that show how to paint cabinets. Rather than install new ones, you could save a bundle if you are willing to put in the work to paint. There are lots of steps, including degreasing and sanding, but this is very easily something that could be done over the course of a couple of days or weeks. Adding a tile backsplash would be very easy as well, and tiling requires very little specialized tools - a notched trowel, a small bucket to mix the mortar up with, sponges to clean up afterwards. 

My favorite tools are a cordless drill and a compound miter saw. You can do so many things with these two tools.

OK, so to your original question: Which renovations are easy DIY for a condo? In the bedroom(s) you can paint and remove the outdated flooring and replace with laminate which requires almost no tools other than the compound miter saw, which you need to trim pieces at the end of the room. You could also install hardwood, but that requires a special flooring nailer - which could be rented - and an air compressor.

In the bathroom, you could remove linoleum or outdated tile and replace with tile. You need the notched trowel and bucket, plus a level to make sure the floor is straight. Spacers, grout, sealer and you are done. A new vanity (turn off the water to the old one first) is easy to install, although plumbing is my nemesis. I do not have the strength to tighten the fixtures up so they don't leak - but maybe you do or know someone who does? If you have old, ugly shower doors, you can remove and replace with new doors from Home Depot. They have off-the-shelf glass doors that look really amazing, and are unbelievably affordable. You could also skip that whole thing and just put up a curtain. Toilets are heavy, but easy to install if you can lift them or bribe someone else to lift, so go ahead and buy that condo with the pink toilet...

In the kitchen, you have those cabinets. If they are ugly, you can paint them. Paint the walls, replace the floor if necessary. Get new appliances if the current ones are outdated. 

Look for sales during all the Government holidays at the big box stores. I think Labor Day will have some big sales. They usually come with free delivery and haul away of the old. And those big box stores have store credit cards that offer no interest for 6-24 months depending on how much you spend. You can kind of game the system by making the minimum payments and paying it off in full before the end of the promotional period, essentially giving yourself a no-interest loan. But if you don't pay it off before the end of the promo period, you will get dinged for interest on the entire amount for the entire length of the loan, so make sure you pay it off.