WHEN JUDITH MATLOFF moved back to the U.S. after a career in foreign journalism, she dreamed of buying a home — and did just that in 2000. What she didn’t count on was that her dream brownstone — four floors, almost 5,000 square feet — in West Harlem would be surrounded by crack houses and infested with termites. In her new book, “Home Girl” ($25, Random House), Matloff documents everything about her renovation, from how she and her husband befriended local drug addicts and dealers, to how she coped with lousy grocery stores and ethnic tension.

» EXPRESS: Do you think somebody without years of experience being in war zones as a reporter in places like Rwanda, Chechnya and Sudan would be able to do what you did?
» MATLOFF: I think it takes a certain spirit of adventure, and a tough skin, to do it and not feel paroxysms of fear. When you’re in areas where people are actually starving it humbles you. It teaches you humans can adapt to anything. This [experience of renovating a house in a sketchy neighborhood] was not terribly dramatic; it was more of an annoyance.

Also, living abroad helps you deal with other cultures. [Moving to a new area] is a lot like moving into another foreign country, so you try to respect their mores and customs. Living abroad teaches you a little bit about negotiating, because you’re always an outsider. Your comfort level is always being jolted.

» EXPRESS: Would you buy and rehab a house in a gentrifying neighborhood again? Would you ever want to?
» MATLOFF: We were thinking of doing it again when the South Bronx was really cheap. We were thinking of buying an old factory warehouse, but then we looked at each other and — well, really, friends and family looked at each other and said, “You can’t do that again.” It’s a little like childbirth; you forget the pain each time.

Incidentally, the house is still a total wreck. We didn’t manage to fix the stairs totally to the wall; the stairs are coming off again. And the house is still sloping. An engineer came in and said, “It’ll cost just a little bit, just $50,000 to $100,000.” Increasingly, with the mortgage squeeze and food prices going through the roof, every little extra $5 matters, let alone $50,000. So we’ve kind of put that off. … We just hope the house doesn’t fall down in the next few years.

» EXPRESS: To me, your finding a termite nest in the kitchen seemed like the worst part of your remodeling project. What’s your vote?
» MATLOFF: The most horrible part for me was when the back wall fell down. We had these crack addicts living next door, one of whom was named Salami. We had no back wall … and these crack addicts who wanted to take over our house.

The other unpleasant thing would be the money. People always tell you to budget in three times more than you expect, but our renovation ended up being 10 times more expensive than we expected.

» EXPRESS: What’s the most important thing to do when renovating?
» MATLOFF: I would get quotes. Everybody says you should get quotes — and I really recommend you heed this advice. We really did not do things properly. Also, don’t play God with a house. Even if you can build bookshelves, do not think you can take on a job like this yourself. Hire a professional.

» EXPRESS: What’s it like, emotionally, to come home to a house that’s being renovated as completely as yours was?
» MATLOFF: Oh God, don’t even ask. I understand why a lot of couples’ marriages fall apart [during renovations], because it really frays your nerves.

The stuff on the street was nothing compared to the stress of living in this decayed environment with this rubble around us. Hacking coughs from all the dust, not having running water … and these guys would come at 6 a.m. and stay until 11 p.m. You couldn’t get rid of them. They were on every floor [of the house].

We didn’t even have a garbage can. There was no point to vacuuming, and because we were trying to get the job done really quickly, we didn’t really take days off. A normal person might go home to Mom over the weekend. We didn’t.

» EXPRESS: You write in the book about eating Cubano sandwiches day after day because there was nowhere else in the neighborhood to eat. But with gentrification, is that still the case?
» MATLOFF: Thankfully, all the Dominican diners are still there. A lot of Mexicans have moved in, so we also have these really great Mexican restaurants. And we just got a Yemeni restaurant. Some yuppie places have come in, so now we can buy whole wheat bread.

» EXPRESS: One of the first things you did when moving in was befriend the local drug dealers. Is this sound advice for someone moving to a dodgy neighborhood?
» MATLOFF: I like to think we didn’t befriend them, but we established a cordial working relationship. That was the best advice anyone could give us. You’re coming onto somebody else’s block, and you have to play by their rules. You have to make it quite clear that you’re not going to be antagonistic, as much as you might disapprove of what they do. You have to get along.

As for the actual residents on the street, they reached out to us first. We were absolutely thrilled. We would do anything in our power to make life good for them, whether it would be to shovel the snow of old ladies who live alone or have them over for barbecue.