In case you've wondered

[jepinto]

QUOTE(Gary S @ Jul 13 2003, 1:58 AM)

Thanks jennie. I was thinking of having a little remudling done.

Think i'll just buy a new house.

$6,000-10,000.....how much over?

Had a friend out to get an estimate on putting a simple room in the basement. 4 walls, insulation and
electric....nothin fancy....$10,000.  

 'Bout 20%.  Which I should've expected, but I really wanted it to come in under.  (And pigs fly, the check is in the mail, and "I'll still love ya in the morning".)

Kitchen and bath are the two most expensive remodels.  Being in the business, I know this....but....  And remodel is more expensive than new construction, per sq. ft.  Cost here for new construction starts at $125. (Yep, that's what wind ratings and flood plain elevation does)

If we knew then what we know now, we'd torn off, and rebuilt.  Check out the condition of your base FIRST.  

• Are there weak spots in the floor?  Might be time to check joists.
• Is the electricity really sufficent?  Does the panel have unused breakers, or are you looking at upgrading service?
• How's the water pressure?  At the main?  At the sink?
• What age is the original plumbing?  Materials?
• How high is the ceiling now?  Can the add on be in line? "Shed" roof?  (NO, NO, NO! Looks easier now, but you'll regret it!)
• Can the family "camp out" for the two weeks (and plan for double the original estimate!) or is a motel in order?  (Makes it much easier on the workers if there are no people to trip over, and the job goes faster.)

 Add ons are easier, one can drape plastic over the hole, but the dust will still come through, so plan on a top to bottom clean afterwards.

Marble windowsills are nice, and very much in keeping, costwise, as wood sills (and last longer and look better!), but cutting marble creates a "hovering dust" that takes two days to settle and three to clean.   Outside!

If you add on, the kitchen cabinets you have are NOT going to fit; you'll need new ones to "fill in" or replace and what will you do with the old ones?  A new 30" mid range base cabinet is $150±, and don't forget countertops ($22 and up! a linear foot) are not included in the price.

Check surplus stores and check often, the stock changes daily, prices are much less, but! you must live with the available choices and sizes.

More thoughts later.

[Bill]

I've seen [many times] remodels go way .. way .. beyond  past the estimated cost for several reasons.
) Excepting an exceptionally low bit [lowball contractor] which isn't anywhere near in the ball park as the other contractors bid.
) As Jennie mentioned most already. So I won't go there. Though I'm not sure she mentioned added 'add ons during-after demolition-reconstruction'.
Prime example: A complete re-due of a two story water front home by a guy {who is by no means a dummy} who I've done business with on and off for years.
His new bride wanted a new place for them to start out with. As did he.

Anyway. He got all the contractors in place and they went-to-town. Practically from the slab up.
The newly weds went to Europe for a few months.

The new bride found some Italian floor tile she had to have for the kitchen.
That's fine. Kitchen boys haven't gotten that far.
Later stopped that part of construction when the shipping of said tile got held up with a ton of 'red-tape' from Europe-Italy. Finely arrived BUT countertop tile and floor tile in separate ((UGLY)) flavours. Still fine. They can work around it.

Custom built cabinets for kitchen,bathrooms,game room were finished and installed.
Special ordered appliances for kitchen arrived and fit perfectly.
Call From Europe. Bride found some appliances she had to have from Germany.
~~~ Did I mention that he was no dummy? ~~~
Contractors: What the h*ll. It's his money.
Delay with customs plus anything else that could go wrong including weather.
Would NOT do any demo till new appliances' showed up.
Arrived. Practically start from scratch.
Btw. Ever see a four door stainless steel oversized refrigerator before .. other than in a restaurant?
Kitchen finished.

Shorten this up some ....
Entire home very close to done. Exterior landscaping done. Including a custom pool and spa. Lighting everywhere.
Everything looked and worked great!
After six months in Europe, newlyweds come home.
They (she was anyways) were happy with the lake front home.
Contractors finished all the fine tuning. Was paid.

End of story? Nope!

Six/seven months later she didn't like the city, home, car, color of her fingernails.
Separated .. then divorced. Court battles up the gazzo still going on because he owns or lets say he has a piece of the pie of anything that doesn't move and some that do and she's trying to get it all. Never ever gonna happen but .....

QUOTE

{who is by no means a dummy}

Well. Business yes. /sigh\

Moral of this: Material items are just that Material!
What really, really counts is your loved ones.
Don't ever, ever let anything get between that.

My friend is in his sixties.
His wife of thirty plus years passed away a few years back.
All their kids have their own lives and families now.

Guess my friend was trying to fill an empty/missed void in his life...

[beacher]

Heck, Jennie, your sweetie is doing great!  I had never even built a box when my "friends" convinced me that for $300 and 3 weeks of work, I could put a second story on my little 22' X  24' house. . .Oh yeah; I bit. . .That was 31 yrs. and a wife ago (I have to say though, that the "remodel" didn't have anything to do with that!), and I still don't have a ceiling on my upstairs, and haven't trimmed out the windows (13 of them)!  "Don't want to rush into anything", as one of my best friends is want to say. . .Actually, I'm just saving projects for the day that I can't play guitar anymore!   So, keep that in mind when you're reaching the end of your rope, and feel like it's taking too long. . .

[Paddy]

It took my Dad something like 20 years to get the quarterround moulding back down in the kitchen....just a few years before my Mom decided it needed remodelling again. This time...she had it professionally done.

We had the house fully painted, floors finished/refinished, new kitchen cabinets & appliances and one room re-drywalled (it had funky heavy plaster work, horizontal barnboard wainscotting and dark beams...not my style!) etc. all before we moved in, in June '97. Everything pretty much on-time and not too much over budget (a small miracle!) and I was the general contractor - hiring all the subs. Of course, found a few things long after moving in...including one 1' long section of baseboard that didn't get painted...which I can now proudly declare has been painted. Last week. It only took me 6 years. There's still the odd circle around the light in the hall (that one took me three years to notice - the ceiling color is only slightly different from the original) and the bit of wall where hubby installed the new thermostat...and the bit of wall in the bathroom where the new hotwater baseboard went in...and...and...

The bathrooms are still 1970's/early 80's taupe (who invented that color anyway?) but since hubby has delusions of doing them ourselves, nothing has happened. (this is a man who spends 5 days a week at work and another day there writing a book on circuit design) They're still quite functional - ambience is another matter. I've seen worse though - much worse. I think this nation was collectively color-blind/severely deluded during the 70's and 80's. Why did we let anyone convince us that harvest gold, avocado green, rust, brown and orange were colors suitable for appliances, wallpaper or heaven forbid...bathroom fixtures? Our last house had a bathroom we referred to as the "brown room". It had brown and silver tulip foil wallpaper. Thankfully, they hadn't installed brown fixtures (though a friend of mine did, in 1979, and regretted it soon after)

Somehow I can't see us reacting quite the same way 20 years from now as we survey our tidy white fixtures...but, ya never know.

Houses...time-sinks/moneypits you live in!

[Bill]

Jennie, your young man can drive ya around in

the limo while he spruces up the place.

[jepinto]

Oh, so you've realized his champagne tastes on our beeer budget?

[pendragon]

Jennie, It's good to see that (at least) your true needs are being met, e.g., the satellite dish on the carport roof. Betja get pretty good up-link and down-link rates with a spifty system such as that.

Harv

[jepinto]

QUOTE(Paddy @ Jul 13 2003, 5:40 PM)

I've seen worse though - much worse. I think this nation was collectively color-blind/severely deluded during the 70's and 80's. Why did we let anyone convince us that harvest gold, avocado green, rust, brown and orange were colors suitable for appliances, wallpaper or heaven forbid...bathroom fixtures?

Somehow I can't see us reacting quite the same way 20 years from now as we survey our tidy white fixtures...but, ya never know.

Houses...time-sinks/moneypits you live in!

 Remember pink?  I've sold a house with a pink stove. (I wanted it, but strangely enough, it was what sold the house!  

Green and pink bathrooms, I've seen a few.  Hw about a black kitchen with blue contrast?

One of the criteria has been, "Will I still like it in 20 years?"  Kept me from a really funky ceiling fan...

[Paddy]

A PINK stove??? REALLY?  

Is that what Mary Kay reps get if they don't quite make it to the Cadillac level?