Home Renovation Ideas on a Small Budget: Planting, Driveway and Paint

Not every improvement needs a contractor. Three projects give a house the most change for the least money: planting, the driveway and paint. An owner can do most of each. In New York City each also has a line where the owner’s part ends and a permit or a licensed trade begins, and knowing where that line sits is the difference between a cheap project and an expensive one.

Planting

A green yard with something in bloom is the picture most people start from, and buying it fully grown is the costly way to get there. Established plants, shrubs and bark mulch add up quickly. Seeds and small starts cost a fraction as much and catch up within a season or two. Budget the upkeep along with the planting: mowing, weeding and trimming are what keep a yard looking the way it did the day you finished.

One rule is particular to this city. The tree at the curb is not yours, even if you rake its leaves. The Parks Department issues the permits for work on street trees, and planting one, pruning one or putting a guard around one all need a permit (NYC311). Your own yard is yours to plant.

The driveway

Salt and snow are hard on a driveway. Repaving is not a job to do yourself, and it is not cheap: concrete costs the most and asphalt is not far behind. Often the surface does not need replacing at all. A fresh sealcoat, a driveway squeegee and some preparation time make sound asphalt look new, and that part an owner can do.

Two things beside the driveway are regulated.

• The curb cut. The dip in the curb that lets a car reach the driveway cannot be added or widened on your own. The Department of Buildings must approve plans and issue a permit, a licensed engineer or registered architect submits the application, and the Department of Transportation issues its own sidewalk and curb permits. The Buildings Department’s page lists a minimum distance of 7 feet from trees, hydrants and utility poles.
• The sidewalk. The Department of Transportation states that property owners are responsible for installing, repairing and maintaining the sidewalks adjoining their properties, and an owner has 75 days to make a repair after a notice of violation. The city does not charge owners of one-, two- or three-family properties for a sidewalk damaged by a city tree or its roots (NYC DOT).

Paint

Before you buy paint, ask whether every wall needs it. Repaint what does: a wall with damage, or a color that works against the room. Start where you spend the most time or have guests, because small costs add up: paint, primer, rollers, brushes, tray liners, and caulk for cracks and nail holes. If you may sell in a few years, light grays, earth tones and soft yellows or blues are safe choices that will not put off a buyer.

Painting needs no permit. The Department of Buildings names it first among the work that does not. The caution is what lies under the new coat. In a house built before 1978, old layers may contain lead. The federal renovation rule does not apply to homeowners working in their own homes, but the dust is the same hazard whoever makes it. The city’s housing agency sets out lead-safe practices for work that will disturb 2 square feet or more of paint in a room, and they are worth following in your own house as well: plastic sheeting on the floor, daily cleaning with a mop and a HEPA vacuum, and surfaces clear of dust before the room is used again. Scrape and sand as little as you can, and never dry-sand old paint indoors.

Where doing it yourself ends

• Paid help. Anyone you pay more than $200 for work on a residential building needs a Home Improvement Contractor license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
• Wiring. An electrical permit is required for most electrical work, and it is done by a licensed electrical contractor.
• Gas and plumbing lines. Even ordinary replacement of plumbing and gas piping has to be done by a licensed master plumber.
• Debris. The Sanitation Department collects material from do-it-yourself projects at the curb. Waste from a contractor’s job cannot go out as residential garbage and has to be hauled privately.

When a project grows past that line, it is a renovation, and it is worth planning as one. Our pages on house renovation in NYC and home renovation describe how we run those jobs. For small indoor updates, and for when to schedule larger work, see our piece on timing bathroom and kitchen renovations.

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