Scope of Work and Budget

Now that you've seen a bit of what we are doing, I thought it might be a good time reveal our overall plan and budget.  As I've mentioned, we purchased a small, foreclosed condo.  The price was right but every square inch needs renovation.  Almost, a complete gut job.

Here's the floor plan.  A 2 bd/2bth condo, just a little over 1000 square feet.
Note:  Ours has a fireplace in the living room along the inside wall adjacent to the bedroom.

Here's what we have in mind:

• Entire Unit - Remove all flooring, light fixtures, baseboards, and door trim.  Scrape popcorn ceilings.  Sand, prep and repaint ceiling, repair drywall, replace trim, repaint walls and trim.  Install new flooring, replace baseboards.  Install new ceiling fans and light fixtures.  Replace interior doors and hardware. 
• Kitchen - Remove all cabinets, take out partial wall between kitchen and dining room, replace appliances, install can lights.  Replace cabinets, countertops, sink, faucet.  Install backsplash.
• Dining Room - Extend kitchen cabinetry along dining room wall for extra storage.
• Bathrooms - Install Durarock, create walk-in shower (1 bathroom), re-tile and grout floors, install new vanities, faucets, and toilets.  New lighting and mirrors.
• Bedroom 12'x12' - Install overhead light (there is not one), re-frame dual closets to create one walk-in.  Customize closet.
• Living Room - Remove the fireplace and re-frame the wall.  Remember, this is Charleston, SC and we are 2.5 miles to the ocean.  Do we really need a fireplace in 1000 square feet?  Plus, it's wood burning.  It's gotta go!  Create media storage wall in place of the fireplace.  This tiny space really needs storage.
• Balcony - Repair screen and install plexi-glass barrier for our sweet Yorkie, Cookie.

I guess it should be said that this renovation will most likely be done in two phases.  Both bathroom tub/showers are in good condition.  The bathrooms will be spruced up with temporary flooring and vanities.  Once the other renovations are complete, the bathrooms will be gutted and re-done.

And now for our budget!  Did I mention we are doing this on a shoestring budget?  This third renovation is my challenge to see how glamorous I can make this condo by "hacking" every great idea out there and turning it into a DIY project.  

The condo project budget has been set at $20, 000.  This is for renovation only and does not include furnishings.  The budget may seem unreasonably low, but I have taken the challenge to create something from nothing, and most importantly, Al is a general contractor and will be doing most of the work himself.  With a little instruction from me.  I'm fairly optimistic!