anyone putting off home redos because of cost ? (kitchen, cabinets, plumber)
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We just got this house 3 months ago and we are putting off redoing anything right now due to how costly everything is , anyone else noticing this trend of how things are going up and up and yet salarys and paychecks stay the same ? I mean really one can barely afford to live anymore . I do think we must be living in the end times and things will only get more exspensive and frankly we can barely afford to paint and it is just not us . I see other folks having a hard time as well . Have any of you put things off in redos because of the cost ?
I have not yet fixed things in the home inspector report when I bought my house in 1999.
I'd be very careful with major renovations to a home. Do like they do on shows like flip or flop, especially if you plan to sell after you renovate. If you do a major redo to a house, and the result is that you have one of the more expensive homes in the neighborhood, you may have just wasted a lot of money as people will not pay as much as you have invested. If you're going to stay in the house for a long time, then its totally up to you. Just remember the updates will be out of date in 20 years. Styles will change to something else.
You've got to learn how to do some things yourself. Things are getting more expensive because labor costs and supplies are going up. You can attribute this to supply and demand for labor, lifestyle inflation of contractors (they like to live nicely too), insurance premiums, supply/commodities price increases, corporate profit protections of industrial/retail companies, etc.
We bought our first house 4 years ago. We have since poured in $8K for a new furnace, coil, plenums, new return lines, and ducting. We also spent $66K on 36 push and helical piers to stabilize and lift our house, $2K for partial deck removal and replacement, $2K for 300 cfm of concrete jacking/removal, $3K for 800 cfm of concrete pouring, and $6K for new venting skylights, torch-down roofing, and releveling of 2 sliders.
After all that, I decided to do the paint/texture, new baseboards, insulation, whole house fan, attic fan, patchwork, and toilet wax ring replacement myself. It's expensive to hire professionals, but that's how the economy works. It pays to handle the things you know how to do yourself.
My problem isn't with the cost of professional tradesman, it's finding ones I can trust to do the job right.
I've used three different plumbers and two different HVAC contractors, with all of them I've discovered (weeks or months later) shortcuts and other problems, just things that make me not want to use them again.
My problem isn't with the cost of professional tradesman, it's finding ones I can trust to do the job right.
I've used three different plumbers and two different HVAC contractors, with all of them I've discovered (weeks or months later) shortcuts and other problems, just things that make me not want to use them again.
This is my problem too. Large companies are a little more reliable because their name is on the line, but the labor rates are crazy...like $100-$150/hr. Handymen will work for around $25-40hr here in the south (most probably don't claim all income on taxes), but you really need to do research on what you're wanting done so you can make sure they know how to do it right. I had to get 3 or 4 of them out after seeing what they did on the first day. 15+ were dismissed after simply asking them how they would go about doing the work (tiling a shower for example). Most think they know how to do everything but a few hours of reading construction forums can tell you they don't.
We just got this house 3 months ago and we are putting off redoing anything right now due to how costly everything is , anyone else noticing this trend of how things are going up and up and yet salarys and paychecks stay the same ? I mean really one can barely afford to live anymore . I do think we must be living in the end times and things will only get more exspensive and frankly we can barely afford to paint and it is just not us . I see other folks having a hard time as well . Have any of you put things off in redos because of the cost ?
When we bought our house we bought what we could afford, with an eye for what needed to be fixed. Lots of places were nixed because too much work that would have to be hired out. But cosmetic things we could do.
We discovered Oops paint. A lot of places have paint they mixed wrong, and the customer said no to...so you can get high quality paint for lots less. We bought home repair books and learned how to fix things... Now we'd use you tube...love what you can learn on you tube.
I also feel it's important to live in a home before undertaking a large remodel. I had great kitchen plans, that scaled way back when I realized that my plans didn't work for the space.
I'm also a strong believer in pay as you go. Open a savings account, and set aside a set amount for home repairs. The rule of thumb I was told was 10% of the amount you paid for the home. So if you paid 100K you need to set aside 1K a year. Divide by your paycheck numbers -- you get paid twice a month, that's 24 checks, husband gets paid every two weeks, that 26, so add 24+26, that's 50. Divide 1000 by 50, that's 20 dollars a check to stuff away. Makes it painless.
Definitely. I live in a high COL area (suburb of Boston), and just can't wrap my head around the estimates to renovate our master bath (about $1,000 per sq'). I'm not even talking about high end contractors with designers on staff. Kitchen cabinets alone are around $50k (with labor to remove old/install new) here, so I live with the melamine that was here when I moved in.
Definitely. I live in a high COL area (suburb of Boston), and just can't wrap my head around the estimates to renovate our master bath (about $1,000 per sq'). I'm not even talking about high end contractors with designers on staff. Kitchen cabinets alone are around $50k (with labor to remove old/install new) here, so I live with the melamine that was here when I moved in.
That's insane. At those prices I'd keep what's there or try to DIY. Demo isn't hard and you can buy/put together IKEA cabinets pretty easily. If you keep the same footprint, you'd just need to hang them which is pretty easy.
That's insane. At those prices I'd keep what's there or try to DIY. Demo isn't hard and you can buy/put together IKEA cabinets pretty easily. If you keep the same footprint, you'd just need to hang them which is pretty easy.
Thank you - I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that's crazy money!
I can demo, and hang cabinet/vanity, and probably figure out changing out a faucet and maybe even toilet (neither leaks or is broken - just 1980's ugly), but the problem is the shower plumbing is ancient and that we have a large unused space next to the too small shower stall (no tub, don't want one). I'm not going to figure out how to expand and build a new, waterproof, larger shower stall and redo the plumbing for it.
I'm pretty close to just calling a tile guy (I have a good recommendation) and have him re-tile the shower surround (and live with the smaller size). Or maybe a gen. contractor can do just the shower stall (larger and all new plumbing, and then tile the walls).
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