Article published on Vacant House Lab | Roopt (Makigumi)
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This article explains how to proceed with self-renovation based on actual experience. Based on the difficulties, successes, and failures I encountered, I will discuss things that those planning a new renovation should consider from the start.
NoiHello everyone. I'm Noi, the host of this channel. In this video, we'll be discussing the evaluation of older, smaller houses as investments in modern times. Following on from last time, we'll be hearing from Mr. Yoshii, who has actual experience renovating old houses, about his renovation know-how. So, Mr. Yoshii, please go ahead.
Yoshii: Nice to meet you. In 2017, I got married and moved from Tokyo to Tottori, a rural area, and now I live there with my wife and child. Both my wife and I work from home using computers, so we don't have to commute every day. We've used our free time to buy an empty house and do some self-renovations. Today, I'd like to share our renovation experiences, what went well, and what didn't.
NoiOkay, let's get straight to the details. We'll be discussing renovation know-how. First of all, what's the very first thing you should decide?
YoshiiThe first things you need to decide are the purpose and the budget. In my case, it's for us to live in, but the way you renovate changes depending on whether it's for investment purposes or for us to live in. If you're renovating it as an investment property, someone else will be using it, so the person using the property will be a renter. If you're renovating it for someone to live in, for example, you can renovate the property in a way that people who want to rent it will like, and you can decide on the cost-effectiveness, budget and actual income coming in, so it becomes easier to decide on the investment aspect and so on. But in my case, it's a house for us to live in, so when my wife and I start thinking about what we want to improve because we'll be living there, it really becomes endless.
When I asked a construction company for an estimate based on my ideal budget, it turned out to be about three times what I had anticipated. Since I didn't have a budget to begin with, I got the estimate without really knowing how much it would cost. When I saw the estimate that came back, it was a budget that seemed like it could build a whole house, so I was left wondering what to do...
In such situations, it's important to decide on a budget beforehand and ask the construction company to come up with ways to make it work within that budget. Even if you're doing a self-renovation, deciding on a budget yourself will help you understand how much you can accomplish with that budget, or what kind of ingenuity you can use to reduce costs. If you communicate to the construction company that you want to focus on DIY, they will be able to propose what's possible even with a limited budget. So, I think it's very important to decide on your goals and budget from the beginning.
Noi: Indeed, as you mentioned in the previous video, it seems quite possible that the amount could balloon to several times the amount you expected.
Yoshii: When that happens, if you don't have a purpose or budget, you won't know what to cut, and if you don't know whether you're doing it out of passion or as an investment, the people involved won't be able to make suggestions. So I think it's better to be clear about your purpose, what you want to do, and how much budget you have, as that will help you stay on track.
Noi: I think there's talk about how doing a self-renovation can save money, but when you actually try to do a renovation as an amateur, I think the hurdles are very high. I'm a DIY beginner myself, or rather, I've hardly ever done it, but I think everyone gets stuck wondering where to start to make it work. Could you tell me what it takes to make a renovation work as an amateur work?
YoshiiIn my case, I initially thought I'd try searching online or on YouTube, but there are so many how-to videos out there that it's overwhelming, and I didn't know which ones to watch. Starting to search online without any prior knowledge really doesn't give you a clear overview, so I think it's best to start by buying a book.
Even when it came to buying books, I wasn't sure which ones were good, and since we were going to build a house, I wanted to reduce expenses as much as possible. So, although I hadn't been there much before, I decided to look for books at the library. Libraries have a pretty good selection of DIY books, and there's a Tottori Prefectural Library, for example. They had quite a lot of books on DIY, so I borrowed a few that seemed suitable for me and started learning from them.
In that context, I think it's important to first have a general understanding of the different types of renovations available, such as painting or cutting, and also what tools are available for DIY. Once you have that overall understanding, you can then search online, watch specific YouTube videos as needed, and learn about the specific work methods and how to use the tools.
As for studying itself, I proceeded in that manner, but what I had to be careful about was DIY. First of all, even amateurs can do it, and even amateurs can use the tools, but round objects in particular are very dangerous, so I watched a lot of videos on YouTube about the dangers of such things and how to use them properly.
Also, when you actually try to do the work, there are quite a few things that you just don't understand if you only rely on information written on the internet or in books, so I think it's important to have someone you can consult with at each step. When you think about renovating the whole house, you can probably list the things you're worried about, so first make a list of those things, and then when you buy DIY tools with that list in mind, you can ask the staff at the home improvement store, or when you buy lumber or other materials from the construction company, or if you hire a contractor to do the plumbing, you can prepare a list of questions and ask the carpenter who comes to do the work, and so on. By doing things like that, you can clear up the specifics of what to do in each area and learn as you go.
NoiThank you. I learned that reading books, researching online, asking people, and then going to buy the books—following the correct steps—is incredibly important.
NoiCould you tell me about the difficulties you encountered when you actually started working on it?
YoshiiThere were three main tasks: firstly, the demolition work; secondly, the painting of the larger areas; and thirdly, the amount of waste generated, which was quite expensive to dispose of. We spent a significant amount of time figuring out how to minimize waste disposal costs.
The demolition work was the hardest part. While tearing down walls was fun in itself, a lot of trash and smoke came out afterward, so we prepared cardboard boxes to dispose of the garbage. We threw away fragments of the walls and other things, and I was surprised that just tearing down one wall produced enough fragments to fill about 30 cardboard boxes.
In the case of the kitchen, we removed the tiles, and in the case of the bathroom, which was made of tiles and concrete, we removed all of that and installed a unit bath. There is an architectural term called "hatsuru" which means to chip away or cut away the concrete, and we used a drill to go "gagagagagaga" all over the concrete to make space for the unit bath. It was a demolition job that made a lot of noise when using the drill, and a lot of dust was flying around when we were chipping away the concrete, so we wore masks and such, but I think it was a pretty tough job that was physically and mentally draining.
Next, I had quite a bit of trouble with the painting process. For painting, I mainly painted the walls and ceilings. When painting, I made sure to protect areas that weren't meant to be painted by using masking tape and other protective measures. After that, I applied a primer called a sealer about twice before painting. This took about two or three months, so it was a bit of a boring time, but I think how you spend that time is important. In my case, as I mentioned in another video, I passed the time by listening to audio content such as Audible and Voicy.
The third reason is that it reduces waste disposal costs. In my case, four of my rooms are Japanese-style rooms with tatami mats, but I'm going to replace them all with flooring, so all the tatami mats will become waste and have to be thrown away. I probably had about 50 tatami mats in total, and when I got an estimate from a company to dispose of them, they said it would cost about 2000 yen per mat, which I thought was quite a lot of money, so I did some research and found out that if I cut them up and put them in garbage bags, I could dispose of them as combustible waste. I can't get rid of them all at once because of the quantity, so I cut up one or two mats with a circular saw each week and put them out.
NoiHow long does it take to cut one slice?
YoshiiIt took about 5 to 10 minutes to cut one tatami mat, but we were doing that for three or four months straight, so I think it was surprisingly hard work. We had to move all the tatami mats outside the house because they were getting in the way of other work, so when people from other areas saw the house with a huge pile of tatami mats sticking out, it looked like a suspicious house, and they would say things like, "Oh, that's the house with the tatami mats!" (laughs). I really got a sense of how many tasks there were that required a lot of patience.
I think the most important thing is whether or not you can make time. If you can make time, even tasks like disposing of various kinds of trash can be done with a little effort, which can reduce costs. The more time you can make, the cheaper it becomes, so I think it's a battle against time.
NoiNext, I'd like you to tell us a little more specifically about the parts that were renovated, including the parts you commissioned and the parts you did yourself.
YoshiiThe main areas I requested work on were the plumbing, including the toilet, kitchen, unit bath, washbasin, and also the EcoCute water heater. I switched to all-electric, so this involves purchasing and installing the EcoCute. I wanted to do most of the work myself, but for plumbing and electrical work, qualifications are required, and in reality, electrical work is difficult without proper skills, so I decided to hire someone.
I took on the task of removing the existing kitchen, bathroom sink, and toilet, and dismantling the bathroom myself. I planned to ask for help with the final stage of installing the fixtures.
We coordinated with the construction company in advance about the necessary sizes for newly purchased items such as the unit bath and kitchen, and they inspected everything before construction to ensure there were no installation problems. From there, we handed over the project to them.
As for the eco-friendly water heater, I decided to order it myself online and then arrange for installation after the product was delivered. While it would be better to purchase everything through the construction company considering after-sales service, it was actually cheaper to buy it online, and the construction company also advised that it would be better to buy it online. Therefore, I think it's best to consider your budget and discuss it with the construction company before making a decision.
NoiWe've heard a lot about the difficulties you faced, but now, conversely, could you tell us about anything you remember that went well with your renovation?
YoshiiOne thing that went well was the painting. It was a Showa-era house and had a generally dark feel, so I was a little unsure how to do it, but I decided to go for a complete white paint job. By doing so, I was able to give the house a much brighter feel.
Initially, there were things like "cornice moldings" between the walls and ceiling, and baseboards between the floor and walls. These are originally made of wood in Japanese-style rooms, and although there are similar things in Western-style rooms as well, they were made of plastic. When we tried to paint them, we couldn't paint those parts, so we painted only the parts that could be painted white. For the plastic parts of the corner moldings and baseboards, we purchased a liquid paint that can be used on plastic, and by painting everything white, we were able to give the Japanese-style room a modern feel, so I think it turned out quite nicely.
As a result, we were able to minimize the amount of work that required stripping down walls and ceilings, and instead renovate a significant portion of the house with just paint, which I think was a good thing because it resulted in a brighter home.
NoiConversely, are there any aspects you would like to redo?
YoshiiIf we had decided from the beginning to paint everything white, we would have had to do all the masking and protection work, so I think we could have significantly shortened that process. I think we wasted a lot of time in those areas.
Also, I replaced all the tatami mats in the Japanese-style room with flooring, and although I did it without any knowledge whatsoever, I managed to finish it in one go, thinking that it was probably about right. However, afterwards, when I asked professionals or looked at how other people had done their flooring, I realized that the finished product was completely different, and I saw examples of how even amateurs could do it beautifully. For tasks with a large scope, I think it would have been better to have a professional come in for a day or so to teach me before starting.
Noi: I see. Just like with the white face paint at the beginning, it's easier if you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve in the end, right?
YoshiiYes, that's right. I didn't really see the finished product, and I think I went a little overboard.
With that in mind, could you tell me if there are any things that should be anticipated or prepared in advance? I think there's the point we made earlier about designing a goal image, but besides that, something that I wish I had done earlier is purchasing tools. I think it's better to buy everything at once. Things like circular saws, circular saw guides, impact drivers, electric sanders, cleaning tools like blowers to clean up dust and such, electric drills, and crowbars. At first, I didn't buy much, and I bought each item little by little, wondering if I really needed it. But as soon as I bought something, my speed increased dramatically. For example, when removing tiles, I was doing it little by little using a flathead screwdriver and a hammer, but then I bought an electric drill and finished the job in an instant. So, instead of buying things one by one, I think it's better to just buy all the necessary tools at once.
Regarding tools, if you look on Mercari or similar platforms, you can buy and sell used tools, so once you're done with your DIY project, you can sell everything. When you think about it, buying everything used and selling it used again is the most time-efficient and cost-effective option, so I think that would have been a good idea.
I also think I should have thought more carefully about the timing of purchasing materials. I bought flooring boards first, but I bought them too early, and they ended up sitting around the house for about six months. They got in the way of the work, and if you leave wood out for too long, it starts to warp, so while it's good to buy tools early, I think it's better to prepare materials in line with the work you're doing.
Noi: Next, and this will be the last question, I'd like to ask about the advantages of sharing a home, specifically regarding finances. Thank you.
YoshiiIf you have a budget of 10 million yen for your home, you're limited to working within that limit. However, I recommend considering subsidies as a way to increase your budget. In many areas, there are subsidies available for new residents, such as budgets for utilizing vacant houses or for renovations to improve insulation. These subsidies are available every year, so I recommend checking the subsidy pages of each prefecture and municipality.
I would recommend sharing a house. The house we live in is not just for our own residence; it's also been converted into a short-term rental property, a workspace, and is used as a business. In rural areas and certain regions, there are subsidies available to promote short-term rentals, which can significantly reduce renovation costs. Some subsidies for short-term rentals can be as high as 3 million yen, and some even go up to 6 million yen, so it's worth looking into.
I think I was able to significantly reduce the burden of expenses such as renovation costs and the purchase of new equipment by taking advantage of things like short-term rentals and applicable subsidies. Also, with older houses that are 40 or 50 years old, there are often many rooms, and the toilets are often separated into two floors, so it's a good way to make effective use of unused rooms, and I think it's a good idea for families to share a house.
Furthermore, once you can create a simulation of how sharing a house can generate income as a business, it becomes a different matter from simply living there. You can then consider increasing your budget to improve the facilities and create a situation that will please your guests.
In my case, the front door wasn't the type that could have smart locks installed, so I renovated it by replacing the entire door and installing smart locks. Since I'm going to have a lot of different people coming to my house, I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible, so I also replaced all the windows with double-glazed ones to improve insulation. I was able to get a subsidy for this too, so I was able to replace the windows at a fairly low cost.
When guests come to our home, we want them to feel as comfortable as possible, so we have a coffee maker, a DeLonghi, so we can offer them delicious coffee. When it comes to making things comfortable or buying nice things just for ourselves, we often struggle with the decision, but when we start thinking about our business and increasing our income, I think it becomes easier to buy nice things.
This is slightly unrelated to the budget discussion, but I think that living in the countryside often means less diversity and a narrower perspective. Sharing a house can provide opportunities to connect with people from outside the region, or even from overseas, so I hope that people living in the countryside and working remotely will consider it.
Noi: That's certainly great. When you live in the countryside, it's hard to get stimulated, and the amount of information and the number of people you meet inevitably decreases, but I thought it was really wonderful that you can create such a space and opportunities for yourself. This time, we had Mr. Yoshii, who has experience in renovation, talk about the know-how of renovation. I think this was a very helpful opportunity for those who are about to start DIY. In the next episodes, we will upload videos about evaluating older small houses as an investment in modern times, so please check them out. Thank you very much, Mr. Yoshii, for today.
Yoshii: thank you very much.
source: Vacant House Lab
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