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I've looked at a lot of houses in the last three or four years. I consider tile to be going out of style and hardwood flooring come into style. I see it in a lot of houses and even in the kitchens. I think you'll do better with tile than with wood.
You might take a look at stone tile rather than ceramic. It looks great, and many slates and limestones are not expensive. I would definitely also look at low-voltage electric heating under the tiles. I have it-- cheap to install and run, extremely comfortable.
You might take a look at stone tile rather than ceramic. It looks great, and many slates and limestones are not expensive. I would definitely also look at low-voltage electric heating under the tiles. I have it-- cheap to install and run, extremely comfortable.
Maybe cheap to run in Portland. Not so cheap in Montana. Nights get suprisingly cold and it takes a lot more electric to warm surfaces.
You might take a look at stone tile rather than ceramic. It looks great, and many slates and limestones are not expensive. I would definitely also look at low-voltage electric heating under the tiles. I have it-- cheap to install and run, extremely comfortable.
There are some very cool ceramic and porcelain products out there that look like natural stone, travertine, etc. Unless you have them side by side, you really can't tell the difference. Much cheaper. Same look.
We just pulled our house from the market after a year. We were thinking that this would allow us to do a couple of things that were listed as negs when it was showed.
When we built the house 3 years ago we put in high end (is there such a thing?) vinyl flooring in the kitchen/laundry/pantry rooms that looks like tile and many have had to bend down and touch it to tell. The problem is the installer botched it and it started getting ripples in it so we ended up having to litigate and that is ongoing.
The 3 negs we've had so far is the flooring, one comment was it should be real tile for a house this price. We are thinking now that it's off the market since the floor is failing anyway and will need replacement why not add the tile and increase the value of the house when we decide to relist. Every other house in our upscale neighborhood has wood flooring so we'd be a bit different and we really don't like wood floors around the kitchen anyway.
The other thing we were thinking is building a 3 walled gazebo with a 15x15 or so concrete pad and a gas fed log fire pit in the middle to sit around either summer or on those light snow winter evenings. We are on 2 acres in the woods...
If we do all this I'd hope to get some value out of it when we relist in a year or two or am I just waisting money????
Here it is.
Single Family Home - 442 Lynnewood Drive, Columbia Falls, MT, 59912 - Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?zp=59912&mnp=29&mxp=28&typ=1&si d=fd04ec862ced465182eebc8cee1bf711&lid=1093428177& lsn=2&srcnt=7#Detail - broken link)
I am astounded by the prices where you live. Being from a lower cost of living are it never ceases to amaze me what people pay for housing elsewhere. I would have thought that Montana would be reasonable, but I guess not!!! Your house wouldn't even be $200,000 in my neck of the woods.
My advice would be to just lower the price a bit. Most people want to change things anyway when they buy a house. As for the Gazebo, I think I'd rather put in an "outdoor living area" adjacent to the house instead of build something that is out in the yard.
Jim, truth be told... I am a wood over tile person. I find tile to be difficult to clean, not warm (to look at) and very hard on my feet (standing in the kitchen). I have it in my kitchen, but would prefer the hardwoods. So... if there is a choice that would be mine. If you choose to go tile, than make it as natural stone as possible.
It is hard to decide which is better tile or hardwood.
At first I would have said tile but after looking at your photos of the kitchen and the area that you are in, I think that hardwood would look very nice. It would accent your cabinets greatly if you choose the right color stain. Yes tile would set your house apart from the rest but you dont want it to negatively set it apart, but again if you choose the right color it could work.
The gazebo would be a nice feature and could peak a buyers interest, but I would not build it for the intent of selling the house. Personal use is a better reason, because it will not add value to the home.
I think some tree removal would be a better route, if the investment intend is to sell the house.
These are just my opinions. You may choose to use them or not.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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I was struck by the lack of landscaping. I love the lodgepole pines, but perhaps a few azaleas in a cluster in some of the bigger lawn areas would be a reasonable bang for the buck. Perhaps even clustered around a gazebo. I guess I'm not a big fan of big lawns
Maybe cheap to run in Portland. Not so cheap in Montana. Nights get suprisingly cold and it takes a lot more electric to warm surfaces.
It's still cheaper, because you aren't heating a huge volume of air, just surfaces down at the ground. Far less stratification, among other things, so you need less energy to feel "warm enough." You also have a switch in each room using this system, so you can turn down the heat in rooms you aren't using. And the tile holds the heat for quite some time, so it's not wasted, either. In any case, you can't pump "more" electricity into the system than it will take-- it's low voltage-- but you don't need a lot to create plenty of heat. It's more about thermal mass than anything else.
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