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I've had a kitchen from 1947 for the past three decades. I'm tired of it. I want a dishwasher and solid surface countertops and a nice floor too. If I sound spoiled, trust me, I'm not!
If I am called for any Mitchell Lama, I am going to seriously consider putting serious money into the kitchen!
My neighbor with the identical layout as mine did a partial redo of his kitchen with a quartz countertop, and undercounted deep sink, a lovely dishwasher and a bigger refrigerator and a new stainless steel range. He stripped one wall of its counter and cabinets. upper and lower. He has no room to store anything but a couple dishes, no toaster, no microwave, no toaster oven, blemnder, moxer, etc. He must eat all hios meals out.
I have too much STUFF to consider anything like this, my cabinetry is too necessary.
Since we cannot leave these apartments to our loved ones, I think major repairs are valid IF you are under 50. Over 65, I think the mess is not worth doing for the benefit of the next tenant. Between those ages, flip a coin.
New Yorkers are are a strange breed. I know one senior who threw out his stove, another who lived for 17 years using her oven only to store pots she never used, and her stovetop only to make Quick-oats for breakfast, and two more who use their stoves only to heat water for tea.
These are all people who never learned to cook not realize the money they waste on having all meals prepared for them.
So they have no need for pots and pans, nor for cabinets to store their non-existent food purchases.
Like shadypinesma, I need cabinetry, far more than I have. If it means I need the fuss of a portable dishwasher, so be it.
I too love a Spartan minimalist look as much as the next guy. But since I am stuck with my small one bedroom City apartment I know I shall never have that look.
Since we cannot leave these apartments to our loved ones, I think major repairs are valid IF you are under 50. Over 65, I think the mess is not worth doing for the benefit of the next tenant. Between those ages, flip a coin.
I agree with that in principle, but I think the numbers need some tweaking. Someone who's 65 today and in relatively good health has a decent chance of living another 20 years. The mess for a month or two doesn't bother me, given the 20 years of use I might get out of it. And a $20K renovation (just guesstimating on what a decent if not super-lux reno would cost) pro-rated over that time is less than $100/mo, which is definitely worth it IMO.
Counting on living to 85 might be foolhardy, especially gioven that life expectancy in the U.S. is stagnant or decreasing for the last 3 years.
I am older than 65 and in good physical health but I doubt that I will make 85, but like Vegas, you gotta play your own odds. And it is a given, If you drop dead the year after renovation, you will miss neither the money nor the renovation.
this is our dilemma now. how much renvo to do now? under 40 but will get on the 3BR waitlist. so do we wait for that one or do what we can now and take our stuff to the new apartment (if that's possible)
One thing to keep in mind when renovating your bathroom are the frequent plumbing issues throughout the complex. I've lived in Penn South for 9 years and have now experienced the third major plumbing problem requiring the coop to break into my bathroom ceiling and wall. Sometimes, it's not even an issue in your unit, but a unit above or below you.
When this happens, the coop will fully restore your bathroom after the plumbing work is done--if you still have the stock bathroom. However, if I had renovated the bathroom with floor to ceiling tile or marble, I would need to replace whatever custom finishes were disturbed in the process.
Setting aside plumbing issues, if the grout in your tiles starts to discolor the coop restores that--for free every 3 years. I've had that done 3 times.
this is our dilemma now. how much renvo to do now? under 40 but will get on the 3BR waitlist. so do we wait for that one or do what we can now and take our stuff to the new apartment (if that's possible)
Is there any way to find out approximately how long your wait might be for a three-bedroom? You're just moving in now, right? So you would have to live there three year before even going on the list.
Good advice from barkomatic:
Quote:
One thing to keep in mind when renovating your bathroom are the frequent plumbing issues throughout the complex. I've lived in Penn South for 9 years and have now experienced the third major plumbing problem requiring the coop to break into my bathroom ceiling and wall. Sometimes, it's not even an issue in your unit, but a unit above or below you.
When this happens, the coop will fully restore your bathroom after the plumbing work is done--if you still have the stock bathroom. However, if I had renovated the bathroom with floor to ceiling tile or marble, I would need to replace whatever custom finishes were disturbed in the process.
Setting aside plumbing issues, if the grout in your tiles starts to discolor the coop restores that--for free every 3 years. I've had that done 3 times.
It's kind of disheartening reading about the plumbing problems at Penn South, though. So when the pipes were replaced recently, that was just for the heating/cooling system? The kitchen and bathroom pipes are still the original ones? In photos that I saw the pipes that had been taken out of the walls were really corroded.
From what I've been reading, I think I would leave the Penn South bathroom pretty much as it is and get a nice shower curtain. I would do some renovating in the kitchen without going over the top.
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