What Do Renovations Cost in Panama?
I recently decided to renovate every square inch of my apartment. Even though I've been in Panama for almost six years, I was still shocked at how cheap it was to remodel my apartment. Labor is cheap, and much of renovation is labor versus materials. So I got a hundred thousand dollar remodel for literally pennies on the dollar. We had all of the contacts for the subcontractors, so we opted to save money and not hire a general contractor. Keep in mind that I'm more comfortable in stilettos than in overalls, and my husband had never held a screwdriver in his hand before he met me. If two people as un-handy as us can manage a complete renovation, you can certainly do it, too! When you're looking at the before & after photos, take the time to press the arrow (play button) as most photos are part of a gallery and not a single picture.
Kitchen Renovation
My apartment was originally created in a modern European style with sleek, flat cabinets in a dark finish. The color was too dark for my beachfront apartment, and the flat cabinets didn't mesh with the old-world style of my furniture. I wanted to lighten up my dark kitchen, but I also wanted to give my kitchen a Tuscan look by adding texture and depth to my cabinets. I didn't want to spend the money to change the granite, so I needed to find a look that went with my black granite counters. While I was renovating, I wanted to add more cabinets to meet my need for more storage space. Rather than invest in all new cabinets, we refinished the facing and added molding for depth. Then by adding more cabinets in what had previously been wasted space, we were able to completely change the look of our kitchen and double our storage. I spent $700 on a pre-fab island, so the rest of the cabinetry cost about $2,000. Renovation Cost: $2,700
Kitchen - Before |
Kitchen - After |
Living Room Remodel
Walls in Panama are typically made of concrete blocks and then faced with more concrete. Structural walls and pillars are one hundred percent concrete. I used to be afraid of renovations because it seemed complicated to knock down a thick concrete wall. Thankfully, I took the plunge! While I was opening walls, I also dropped the sliding window to my balcony to make sliding doors. By opening walls & changing windows into doors, the entire look and feel of my apartment morphed from boring to fabulous. We did several things to save money. For example, new sliding glass doors would have cost about $4K alone. Rather than spend a big chunk of money there, we opted to re-use our windows. After demolishing the concrete pony wall and fixing the flooring, we used the same window glass, adding a small glass panel to the top of the door. Once the windows had been dropped to the floor, the handles were too short, so that panel of aluminum frame had to be replaced, but thankfully we were able to re-use the handles.
I also changed the curtains from inside the living room to outside on the balcony. This opened up the living space and allowed for sun protection for the balcony as well.
The renovation cost includes everything but three things: the chandelier, the stone itself, and my new dining table (which will be the subject of another blog). The work included knocking down the living room wall, changing the electrical and cable wiring, redoing the marble floor where the wall had been, knocking down the partial wall underneath the sliding windows, changing the handles on the glass doors to an appropriate height, creating an arch out of sheet rock, doing the stone work, adding a support to the ceiling above my chandelier, adding new outdoor curtains to the balcony, and repainting. A few things we got wrong (like the height of the handles on the sliding glass doors), but we were able to easily fix them. Renovation Cost: $3,050
I also changed the curtains from inside the living room to outside on the balcony. This opened up the living space and allowed for sun protection for the balcony as well.
The renovation cost includes everything but three things: the chandelier, the stone itself, and my new dining table (which will be the subject of another blog). The work included knocking down the living room wall, changing the electrical and cable wiring, redoing the marble floor where the wall had been, knocking down the partial wall underneath the sliding windows, changing the handles on the glass doors to an appropriate height, creating an arch out of sheet rock, doing the stone work, adding a support to the ceiling above my chandelier, adding new outdoor curtains to the balcony, and repainting. A few things we got wrong (like the height of the handles on the sliding glass doors), but we were able to easily fix them. Renovation Cost: $3,050
Living Room - Before |
Living Room - After |
|
|
|
Wine Cellar
I love wine as much as I love oxygen. I've always had some sort of wine room in the US, but I had never had a temperature controlled space. For this project, I would have gladly paid a wine cellar professional to think through all of the issues for me, but I couldn't find anyone in Panama who specialized in temperature-controlled wine cellars. I was forced to research it myself... and come up with a design that inspired me. I spent dozens of hours on Pinterest looking at wine cellar photos. Having a smaller space, I needed something beautiful as well as multi-functional. I didn't just want to close it off and store wine... I wanted a place where I could also entertain. I wanted to keep the brightness of the natural indirect light that my apartment gets, so I opted for dual-pane insulated glass in lieu of traditional walls.
The "Inspiration Photo" below shows a look that I really liked. The problem is that it was a small area with a straight line of wine racking, and my area would have L-shaped wine racking as well as an entertaining counter. I started with my wood worker, and we created the design for the wine cabinetry. Because I was getting custom racking for the price of pre-fab, I was able to fulfill my every whim and desire. For example, I wanted large bottle racks for oversize bottles, display areas for decanters and wine collectibles, and a few produce drawers for cool (but not cold!) fruits and vegetables. Having never designed a wine cellar before, we made a lot of mistakes, but we were able to correct each one without too much angst because the labor cost is so low.
Instead of installing fixed panes of glass, I decided to do something no one else has done before (to my knowledge)... I created a wine cellar that could convert to a usable wine bar by flipping open the dual-pane windows in front. Although it might cost a bit more in electricity, it gave me a dual-purpose room. The wine cellar was the most expensive part of my overall renovation but I think it was easily one-third the price of what it would have been in the US. Because this had so many moving pieces, I've included the INSTALLED cost of each component. Custom mahogany wine racking ($4,200), new vinyl flooring ($300), stone work ($600), a new air conditioner ($1100), granite ($1850), barstools ($800), a travertine sink and faucet ($515), and dual-pane glass windows and doors ($2,200). I didn't separate a few other costs such as electrical work, painting, etc., but it's included in the overall renovation cost.
I had initially budgeted $20,000 for this renovation, and I can't tell you how happy I am that this came in 40% below my original estimate. Now I have money to stock my cellar! Renovation Cost: About $12,000.
The "Inspiration Photo" below shows a look that I really liked. The problem is that it was a small area with a straight line of wine racking, and my area would have L-shaped wine racking as well as an entertaining counter. I started with my wood worker, and we created the design for the wine cabinetry. Because I was getting custom racking for the price of pre-fab, I was able to fulfill my every whim and desire. For example, I wanted large bottle racks for oversize bottles, display areas for decanters and wine collectibles, and a few produce drawers for cool (but not cold!) fruits and vegetables. Having never designed a wine cellar before, we made a lot of mistakes, but we were able to correct each one without too much angst because the labor cost is so low.
Instead of installing fixed panes of glass, I decided to do something no one else has done before (to my knowledge)... I created a wine cellar that could convert to a usable wine bar by flipping open the dual-pane windows in front. Although it might cost a bit more in electricity, it gave me a dual-purpose room. The wine cellar was the most expensive part of my overall renovation but I think it was easily one-third the price of what it would have been in the US. Because this had so many moving pieces, I've included the INSTALLED cost of each component. Custom mahogany wine racking ($4,200), new vinyl flooring ($300), stone work ($600), a new air conditioner ($1100), granite ($1850), barstools ($800), a travertine sink and faucet ($515), and dual-pane glass windows and doors ($2,200). I didn't separate a few other costs such as electrical work, painting, etc., but it's included in the overall renovation cost.
I had initially budgeted $20,000 for this renovation, and I can't tell you how happy I am that this came in 40% below my original estimate. Now I have money to stock my cellar! Renovation Cost: About $12,000.
Wine Cellar - Inspiration Photo
|
Wine Cellar - After |