We'll just over two weeks in and the job is great so far. Team is lovely and supportive, patient and willing to spend time to train. Truly a delight. Partner's first few weeks of her PhD are going well too which is awesome. She's learning so many fun and terrifying things! Us epidemiologists are super fun at parties... The house is going well. We probably need to drop 15k on electric to get rid of leftover knob and Tube that's burned through insulation and is still active. We need to spend another 15k on a roof and want to add in a skylight when we do that for an additional 5k. Turns out a beautiful garden is a ton of work. I spent two weekends thinning out a 6 ft by 3 ft patch of bamboo because it looked horrible and filled out compost bin twice, and bent the brand new pair of garden shears. Painting and even finding the right colors is a long and adventurous game, we've got most of the house chosen but still need a few rooms of color. Our doorbell broke, our washing machine plumbing is dripping, and our below kitchen sink stopper doesn't work, but we have a home warranty and all are covered, just trying to organize those contractors to come out and visit. And we need to add a garbage disposal because not having one sucks, but we need to add a switch in too, which means more electrician work. It's a neverending charade, and I am loving it even if it's too expensive.
Skylight should be substantially cheaper than that. Velux Actives in 2x4 are $1700 at Home Depot all day long and while I haven't added any, I've had three or four replaced for $200 per. I'd maybe find another quote on the roof. "Thinning out bamboo" is a fool's errand. Cut it down to nothing and keep an eye on it as it grows in. Garbage disposals are easy. If you have power under the sink you don't necessarily need a switch installed in the countertop. Just put one of these in the face of the counter. The hole saw you need is $18 at Home Depot and $5 off Amazon. srsly tho. Garbage disposals are easy. Ours died and I had the Costco replacement in and functional within two hours, and that included an hour going to Home Depot to get the parts I needed to install it.
Roof quotes were 13k and 25k without skylight. Skylight I had 5k because we're cutting in the new hole so leaving room for installation, drywall and attic work+insulation if need be. We're lower than our neighbors behind us by a good 20 feet. The space is weird, the bamboo actually is well contained, part of it was dying off and so I trimmed it to actually help it grow back. There's a 10 ft retaining wall behind it, and then someone's yard and house. It's a lovely green wall that maybe one day we'll exchange for something else but that's not anytime soon. We have the plug under the sink but need a switch. We could drill the countertop hole, didn't think of that thanks! I do think we could do the install ourselves, just a question of a switch for it.
I won't tell you to decrease your budget if that's how you're looking at it. I will tell you that you should have a lot of money left over afterwards. I've got thirteen skylights (because of course I do) and only two are active, but they're upstairs and they're great for moving hot air out of the house. Not sure it would matter that much to you but I recommend doing some cursory research before any purchase decisions. And I'm not saying "get rid of the bamboo." I'm a big fan of bamboo, actually, and find that it's predictable and well-behaved within parameters, those parameters to include things like "will shoot runners clear under a sidewalk." What I'm saying is it's a grass not a tree and cutting it down regularly is good for its health. Check with your local of course but one of the things I've had difficulty letting go of from my desert upbringing is "green things like to grow." "Prune harder than you think" is perhaps a better way to convey my advice. You can wait until December or January to keep what you have but if you straight nuke it before February it'll be lush and green by April. And I wouldn't necessarily drill through the countertop. Drill through the face of the cabinet below the sink. It should be 3/4" beech or whatever. Those pneumatic plungers are a pain in the butt to trigger accidentally.
The bamboo is actually well contained directly in front of a massive retaining wall between us and the people behind us. I watch the garden to make sure it doesn't jump but the previous owner had few problems with it and looking at how it's growing I understand why. It's in a 6 inch thick cement box in front of the retaining wall. I'm ready to dig it all up eventually but that's not an immediate need. We'd want to replace it with something else that grows as tall and dense but is native, and that's the part I need to research.