Articles published in Akiya Lab | Roopt (Makigumi)
Makigumi, which operates Roopt, constantly researches case studies and other information on revitalizing vacant homes and publishes them as columns.
We will explain how to proceed with self-renovation based on actual experiences. We will discuss what you should anticipate from the beginning if you are undertaking a new renovation, drawing from the difficulties, successes, and failures we encountered.
Noi: Hello everyone. I'm Noi, the host of this channel. In this video, we're discussing the evaluation of old, small detached houses for investment in modern times. Following up from last time, we'll be hearing from Mr. Yoshii, who has actual experience renovating old folk houses, about renovation know-how. Mr. Yoshii, please go ahead.
Yoshii: Thank you. In 2017, when I got married, I moved from Tokyo to Tottori, and now I live with my wife and child. Both my wife and I work with computers, working from home, so neither of us has a daily commute. We used our free time to purchase a vacant house and self-renovated it. Today, I'd like to share our renovation experiences, what went well, and what didn't.
Noi: Let's get right into the content. We'll be discussing renovation know-how. First, please tell us what should be decided first.
Yoshii: The first things to decide are the purpose and the budget. In my case, the purpose was for us to live there, but broadly speaking, the renovation method changes depending on whether it's for investment or for personal residence. If you're renovating for an investment property, others will be using it, so if you're renovating for people who would rent it, for example, you can decide based on what renters would prefer, considering cost-effectiveness, budget, and expected income. This makes it easier to determine the investment aspects. However, in my case, it was our home, so when my wife and I started thinking about what we wanted to improve for ourselves, it became endless.
When I got an estimate for my ideal vision, I asked a construction company, but the estimated cost was about three times what I had expected. It turned out that way because I didn't have a budget in the first place and didn't really know how much it would cost when I got the estimate. When I saw the estimate, it seemed like I could build a whole new house with that budget, so I was left wondering what to do next.
In such cases, it's very important to decide on a budget beforehand and then ask the construction company for ideas to achieve your goals within that range, or even for self-renovation, to set a budget for yourself. If you decide how much you can spend, you'll know what's possible within that budget, or what creative solutions can be found to reduce costs. If you tell the construction company that you primarily want to do DIY, they can propose options that are feasible within a limited budget. So, I believe it's very important to decide on the purpose and budget first.
Noi: Indeed, as you mentioned in the previous video, it seems quite possible for the cost to balloon to several times the initial estimate.
Yoshii: When that happens, if you don't have a purpose or budget, you won't know what to cut, and if you're unclear whether you're doing it for personal preference or investment, it becomes difficult for everyone involved to make suggestions. So, I think having a clear purpose and budget will help you stay on track.
Noi: Among those, there's talk that self-renovation can save money, but when it comes to actually undertaking a renovation as an amateur, I imagine the hurdles are quite high. I'm a DIY beginner, or rather, I've hardly done any DIY, so I think many people get stuck wondering where to even begin to succeed. Could you tell us how to succeed in amateur renovation?
Yoshii: In my case, I initially tried searching online and on YouTube, but there are so many how-to videos, almost too many to choose from, that it's hard to know which ones are good. And if you start searching online without a clear overall picture, it's really difficult. So, I think it's best to start by buying books.
Even when buying books, it's hard to know which ones are good, and since I was about to build a house, I wanted to reduce expenses as much as possible. So, although I hadn't done it much before, I tried looking for books at the library. Libraries often have quite extensive DIY sections, and at the Tottori Prefectural Library, for example, there were many books on DIY. I borrowed a few that seemed suitable and learned from them.
Through that, I think it's important to first understand the general types of renovations available, such as painting or cutting, and what kind of DIY tools exist. Once you have that overall understanding, you can then search online for specific areas and watch YouTube videos for those particular tasks to learn concrete work methods and how to use tools.
Also, while studying proceeds in that way, it's important to note that DIY can be done by amateurs, and tools can also be used by amateurs, but especially tools like circular saws are extremely dangerous. For such tools, there are many YouTube videos explaining the dangers to be aware of and how to use them properly, so I watched many of those before attempting the work.
Also, when you actually try to work, there are often things that are hard to understand just from information written online or in books, so I think it's important to have someone you can consult with at any time. When considering renovating an entire house, you'll likely encounter many points where you wonder what to do. So, it's a good idea to list those questions first. Then, when you buy DIY tools, you can ask staff at a home center, or ask a construction company when you buy lumber or other materials. If you're hiring a contractor for plumbing, you can prepare a list of questions and ask the carpenter who comes for a small job. By doing this, you can clarify specific points and learn how to proceed.
Noi: Thank you. It was very educational to learn that reading books, researching online, asking people, and then going to buy things, following the steps properly, is very important.
Noi: Could you tell us about the difficulties you encountered after actually undertaking the work?
Yoshii: There were three main things: first, the demolition work; second, the extensive painting; and third, the significant amount of waste generated and the cost of its disposal. A lot of time was spent figuring out how to reduce waste disposal costs.
Demolition was the hardest part. Breaking down walls was fun, but then a lot of trash and smoke came out. I used cardboard boxes to dispose of the trash, including wall fragments. I was surprised that just breaking down one wall produced enough fragments to fill about 30 cardboard boxes.
For the kitchen, I peeled off tiles, and for the bathroom, which was solidified with tiles and concrete, I removed everything to install a unit bath. There's a construction term, "hatsuru," which means to chip away or shave off concrete. I used a drill to chip away all the concrete to create enough space for the unit bath. The demolition work was quite tough, both physically and mentally, as the drill was very noisy, and a lot of dust flew around when chipping concrete, even with a mask on.
: Next, I struggled quite a bit with the painting. For painting, I finished most of the walls and ceilings with paint. When painting, it's important to mask off areas you don't want to paint, using masking tape, and then apply a primer called a sealer twice before painting. This process took about two to three months, so it can feel a bit tedious, but it's important to figure out how to approach that time. In my case, as I mentioned in another video, I listened to Audible and Voicy, spending the time listening to audio content.
: The third point is reducing waste disposal costs. In my house, four rooms were Japanese-style with tatami mats, but I converted them all to flooring, so all the tatami became waste and had to be disposed of. In total, there were probably about 50 tatami mats. When I tried to dispose of them, a contractor quoted about 2,000 yen per mat, which would have been a considerable amount. So, I researched and found that if I cut them up and put them in garbage bags, they could be disposed of as combustible waste. Since I couldn't dispose of them all at once due to the volume, I cut and disposed of one or two mats with a circular saw each week.
Noi: How long does it take to cut one mat?
Yoshii: It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to cut one mat, but I kept doing that for about three or four months, and it was subtly tough. It also got in the way of other work, so I had all the tatami mats outside the house. From the perspective of people in the neighborhood, it looked like a suspicious house with a huge pile of tatami mats, and they would say, "Oh, that's the house with the tatami mats" (laughs). I really understood that there were many tasks that required a lot of patience.
I think it's really important whether you can make time. If you can make time, you can save costs even on tasks like disposing of various types of waste if you put in a little effort. So, the more time you can make, the more you can reduce costs, making it a battle against time.
Noi: Next, regarding the renovation areas, I'd like you to talk a bit more specifically about the parts you outsourced and the parts you did yourself.
Yoshii: The areas I outsourced were mainly the wet areas: toilets, kitchen, unit bath, washbasin, and EcoCute. I converted to all-electric, so it involved purchasing and installing the EcoCute. I wanted to do most of the DIY myself, but for wet areas and electricity, qualifications are required, and electrical work is difficult without proper skills, so I decided to outsource it.
I handled the demolition work myself, such as removing the existing kitchen, washbasin, toilet, and bathroom. I separated the tasks by requesting installation only at the final stage of equipment setup.
We coordinated with the construction company beforehand regarding the necessary sizes for installing new items like the unit bath and kitchen. They inspected the site before construction to confirm there would be no issues with installation, and then we handed over the work to them.
: As for the EcoCute, I arranged it myself online and requested installation after the product was delivered. Considering after-sales care, it would be better to have the construction company handle everything, but it's often cheaper online, and the construction company even advised me to buy it online. So, I think it's good to consider it based on your budget and discussions with the construction company.
Noi: We've heard a lot about the difficulties so far, but conversely, if you recall anything about the successful aspects of the renovation, please share it with us.
Yoshii: Regarding the successful points, I think the painting went well. The house was a Showa-era house, generally dark, and I wondered how to improve it, but I boldly decided to paint the entire house white. By doing so, I was able to finish the house with a much brighter feel.
Initially, there were 'mawari-buchi' (picture rails) between the walls and ceiling, and baseboards between the floor and walls. Since it was originally a Japanese-style room, these were made of wood, and even in the Western-style parts, there were plastic versions. If I tried to paint, those parts couldn't be painted, so I only painted the areas that could be painted white. However, by purchasing liquids that could paint plastic for the picture rails and plastic baseboards, and painting everything white, the entire room became white, giving even the Japanese-style room a modern feel. So, I think it turned out well.
As a result, I was able to renovate a significant portion of the house with just painting, without having to strip down all the walls and ceilings, and make it a bright home, which I think was a good outcome.
Noi: Conversely, are there any points you'd like to redo?
Yoshii: If I had decided from the beginning to paint everything white, I could have significantly shortened the time spent on masking and protecting surfaces, which I did for everything. I feel that there was a considerable loss of time in that regard.
Also, I converted all the tatami rooms to flooring, which I did without any prior knowledge, just thinking, "This feels about right," and managed to finish it quickly. However, when I later asked professionals and looked at how flooring was done in other houses, the finish was completely different. I saw examples where even amateurs had achieved a beautiful finish. For large-scale tasks, I think it would have been better to have a professional come for about a day to teach me before I started the work.
Noi: I see. As with the white paint story, it's easier if you have a clear vision of the final outcome from the beginning, isn't it?
Yoshii: That's right. I felt I overdid it without really seeing the finished product.
Based on that, please tell us if there are any things you should anticipate or prepare for from the beginning. There's the point about designing the goal image, but besides that, regarding tool purchases, I think it's better to buy everything at once. Things like a circular saw, a circular saw guide, an impact driver, an electric sander, cleaning tools like a blower for dust, an electric drill, and a crowbar. Initially, I didn't buy much and slowly added things, wondering if I really needed each one. But the moment I bought them, the speed of work increased dramatically. For example, I was slowly removing tiles with a flathead screwdriver and a hammer, but when I bought an electric drill halfway through, it was done in an instant. So, instead of buying one by one, I think it's better to boldly buy all the necessary tools at once.
As for tools, if you look on Mercari, you can buy and sell them used, so you can sell everything after your DIY project is finished. Considering that, buying everything used and then selling it used would minimize time loss and wouldn't cost that much money, so I think that would have been a good approach.
Also, I think I should have considered the timing of material purchases. I bought flooring boards early on, but I bought them too soon, and they ended up sitting in the house for about half a year. This not only got in the way of work, but wood itself can warp if left unattended for too long. So, while it's good to buy tools early, I realized it's better to prepare materials according to the progress of the work.
Noi: Next, and finally, I'd like to ask about the recommendation for house sharing, including financial aspects. Please go ahead.
: If you live in a house normally, and you set a budget of 10 million yen, you have to work within that range. As a way to increase that budget, I recommend considering subsidies. Depending on the region, there are often subsidies available for immigrants for vacant house utilization, or for renovation costs to improve insulation. These are usually available every year, so it's a good idea to check the subsidy pages of each prefecture or municipality.I recommend house sharing. The house we live in is not only for our own residence but also set up for vacation rental, with workspaces, making it a property used for business as well. In rural areas or certain regions, there are often subsidies to promote vacation rentals. This can significantly reduce renovation costs, and for vacation rentals, there are often subsidies of 3 million yen, or even up to 6 million yen for larger projects, so it's worth looking into.
I was also able to significantly reduce the burden of renovation costs and new equipment purchases by utilizing subsidies related to vacation rentals. Also, for houses 40 or 50 years old, there are often many rooms, and toilets might be separated on the first and second floors. Sharing a house can also be an effective way to utilize unused rooms, so I think it's a good idea for families to share their homes.
Also, if you can create a simulation where sharing your house generates income as a business, it becomes different from just living there yourself. You can then take the perspective of increasing your budget to install better facilities and create a situation where guests will be pleased.
In my house, the doors were such that smart locks couldn't be installed, so I renovated by replacing all the doors to install smart locks. Since many people would be coming to the house, I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible, so I also replaced all the window glass with double-paned glass to improve insulation. There was a subsidy for this as well, so I was able to replace the windows quite cheaply.
When people come to the house, to make them as comfortable as possible, I want them to enjoy delicious coffee, so I have a De'Longhi coffee maker. If it's just for our own comfort and buying good things for ourselves, it's hard to decide, but if you consider it as a business and increasing income, it becomes easier to buy slightly better things.
This is a bit different from the budget discussion, but living in the countryside often means less diversity and a narrower perspective. However, by sharing your home, you create opportunities to connect with people from outside the region, or even from overseas. So, I encourage anyone living in the countryside and working remotely to consider it.
Noi
: That's really good. Living in the countryside, it can be hard to get stimulation, and the amount of information and people tends to decrease. But creating such a space and opportunities yourself is truly wonderful, I thought. This time, Mr. Yoshii, an experienced renovator, shared his renovation know-how with us. I think this has been a very helpful session for those who are about to start DIY. We will continue to upload videos on the evaluation of old, small detached houses for investment in modern times, so please check them out. Thank you, Mr. Yoshii, for today.Noi
Yoshii: Thank you very much.
First published: Akiya Lab (2024 - now integrated into this site)
FIND YOUR STAY
Feel free to contact us for inquiries about accommodation reservations, move-in consultations, viewing appointments, media coverage, etc.
Contact Us
