Keeping the clawfoot tub was 100% the right call—those things have so much character, and honestly, new tubs just don’t have the same vibe. I totally get what you mean about old houses getting a bad rap. Yeah, you might run into some weird surprises (horsehair plaster is wild), but at least you know what you’re dealing with. I’d rather patch up some ancient quirks than try to fix a botched 90s reno where nothing’s square and everything’s glued together with hope. The quirks are what make it yours, anyway.
That’s exactly how I felt about our old sink—quirky, but it just worked with the space. We had to patch some plaster too, which turned into a whole thing when we found an ancient wasp nest (yikes). Curious, did you do any of the work yourself or hire it all out? I’ve been torn on what’s worth tackling solo vs. leaving to pros.
I totally get the hesitation—it’s tricky figuring out what’s worth DIY and what’s better left to the experts. I did a mix for our bathroom. Painting and demo were pretty manageable, but when it came to plumbing and electrical, I decided not to risk it. The cost difference was noticeable, but I felt better knowing the technical stuff was done right. That said, patching plaster turned out harder than I expected... not sure I’d do that part again myself. Sometimes what looks easy on YouTube is a whole different beast in real life.
I hear you on the plaster—last time I tried patching, it looked like a topographical map until I finally caved and hired someone to smooth it out. In my experience, the line between “worth the savings” and “not worth the headache” is pretty thin. Out of curiosity, did you notice any difference in timeline when you mixed DIY with hiring pros? On my last flip, the scheduling got a bit messy when I tried to juggle both.
Mixing DIY with hiring out was a scheduling headache for me, too. I thought I’d save time by handling demo and painting myself, but then the tile guy got delayed because I wasn’t quite done. In the end, it probably stretched things out by a couple weeks. Sometimes paying for the pros to just handle it all really is worth it—at least for your sanity. But hey, you learn what works for you after a project or two.
