To Stay or To Go? Some Pros and Cons of Remodeling

We love working with families who are trying to figure out the next step in their living situation. Maybe the house was fine when it was just a couple or the kids were young, but now everyone and their stuff is taking up more space, and more privacy is needed for everyone's sanity.

Many people choose to remodel, if they have room on their lot. Others will chose to look for a larger house. If you are considering whether to move or remodel, here are some pros and cons to consider:

Remodeling Pro/Moving Con:

• You have already invested in a home and made it your own. In our transient culture where so many people move around constantly, trade up for larger homes, and view homes as just another investment, there is something so innate about owning a piece of dirt, watching a tree you planted 20 years ago mature, marking the kid's growth on a wall. This goes beyond just a sentimental attachment.
  
• You know what you want, and there is freedom (within the parameters of your property lines and zoning codes) to make this happen. Unless you build new custom, there may not be another house on the market that fits your needs.

Moving Pro/Remodeling Con:

• Buying a home is a known quantity. You get approved for your mortgage, you know exactly what you can afford, with professional and visual inspection you know what you want to improve upon and what is move-in ready.
  
• Remodeling is not a known quantity. I recently spoke with a woman who is pricing out adding a dormer to her cape cod and received bids ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. The contractor does not know what he is going to find until the walls are actually opened or what the building inspector is going to require in terms of bringing the rest of the building up to code.
  

Both moving and remodeling can be equally unpleasant. It is best to be armed with as much information as possible before beginning a remodel, to avoid surprises down the line. Have a designer and a structural engineer visit you home. Have the designer prepare a code review of what will have to brought up to current code during the remodel, and what type of permit will be required (Seattle, for example, has different levels of inspections and costs depending on the extent of the remodel). Check the accuracy of the most current survey of your lot if this is available, or have a surveyor or or city official visit your lot if expansion is questionable. The structural engineer or designer should make note of the current framing and support situation. Make note of the electrical system and if this will need to be brought up to current code. If you have a septic tank, make sure your system will work for any new bedrooms you would like to add.

Armed with this information, you should be able to gain somewhat accurate bids from a contractor. Again, remodeling entails a lot of unknowns, and the contractor needs to make sure they are covering all their bases.

None of this is meant to sway anyone either way, but to provide more fodder for discussion. Of course, I am biased towards remodeling, for many reasons: yes, I am sentimental, and there is such a comfort in having the constant of my grandparent's and parent's houses in my above mentioned transient life. As a designer, I love the challenge and problem solving involved in a remodel, and who does not appreciate a great before and after, especially when the "after" is a home where a family can share a lifetime of memories.

New Year, New Space: Under $500 Remodel/Makeover

Like many 20-something, first time home buyers, when we bought our first home a few years ago, an 840 square foot condo, the interiors were not exactly what we would chose for ourselves. When we moved in, we asked them to leave out the carpet, and instead spent a mad weekend installing wood floors. We recently spent another long-overdue mad weekend painting and tiling our kitchen and bathroom.

Before: with lovely fake-tile sheet vinyl, rubber baseboards and white walls.

After: Porcelain tile, tile baseboards, gold walls (my husband's choice!), and new accessories.
 

The inspiration for the "someday we should tile the bathroom...." project came when a pipe leaked in the kitchen and I watched in pain as a moisture damage repair crew tore into the wood floors we laid ourselves. We decided that tile would be more practical for the kitchen anyway, and this provided the push to finally replace the brown sheet vinyl flooring and rubber baseboards (yes, you read correctly, rubber baseboards in a new condo) with tile.


The quick makeover was exactly what the bathroom needed. I also replaced the light switch and outlet covers, towel racks, and shower curtain. I am usually wall-color-phobic, but allowed my husband to pick a bright yellow-gold paint for the bathroom. The bathroom now looks like it belongs in an urban condo, not a college apartment. The entire job cost under $500. Though there are many disadvantages, this is one of the great advantages of living in a small space: a partial makeover of two rooms can be done yourself, quite inexpensively, in one weekend.

An inexpensive way to update any room or the entire house: stylish light-switch and outlet covers.

The final product.

New Year, New Space: Rethinking "Space"

If you are thinking of re-arranging, remodeling, buying, or building, it's important to think about, or re-think, spatial relationships. It will help you consider how much space you need to think of your rooms and home in terms of meeting your needs, not as places to house furniture.

• Cozy TV viewing area: Think about how much space you actually need in the "living" room if it's basically a TV viewing area. I have seen new houses with large living areas where the couch is placed 12' from the massive TV. You can go with a smaller TV and place the couch/coffee table/chair arrangement closer. Along these lines......
• Switch it up: If you have a formal dining room and one living area, consider switching them. (I will refer to the one living area as a "family" room) A few years ago, my mom, who is gifted in interior decorating, switched the formal dining room and family room, and it works wonderfully. In many homes, the one living area serves as the next stop off of the entry foyer and a circulation hub of the home, which is not an ideal space for TV viewing. Now, the large area meant to be the family room serves as a formal dining area, sitting room, and library, in addition to being the central circulation area. The TV viewing/music/couch area is now in what was meant to be the formal dining room, which is a more cozy, smaller space. Also, many formal dining rooms end up collecting dust, and this arrangement makes it a centerpiece in your home, to show off treasured centerpieces or flowers, and remains active thanks to shared use, reminding you to break out the china for a family dinner more often.
  
• Keep the bedroom sacred: There really needs to be nothing else in the master bedroom besides a bed. The bedroom should be a sanctuary for sleeping, free of clutter, dirty clothes, and papers. Today, closets are large enough for dressers, and if you have a TV, it can be mounted on the wall. And of course, no computers allowed.
  
• To save square footage in kids rooms, get creative: When I was little, my dad built me an elevated platform bed, and every night was like playing in a tree house. He constructed built-ins on wheels to go underneath, so that I could rearrange them and use them for whatever I wanted. A platform bed is a win-win: kids love them, and they make use of wasted cubic feet above a child's head. Also, with growing concerns about what kids will find on the internet, you can keep the computers and work spaces out of their rooms: homework progress and computer use can be monitored from a shared computer desk or media space. (When they do need privacy later, they can use a laptop in their room).
  
• Section off a space: Use a sliding door or room divider from Raydoor or The Sliding Door Company to section of a room, or part of a room, to create an office or split a shared bedroom. Or, if you like the previous tip to convert a master closet to a different room, use sliding doors to section off a portion of the master bedroom to create a closet.
• Go outside: Covered outdoor spaces and defined "rooms" can double the living area of your house. In Seattle specifically, there are at least 4 months where you do not need to condition your living space, so life can spill over to the outdoors.
  

Thinking about space in a new way can help you save money in building, buying or remodeling. Say that you leave off one bedroom at 120 square feet, if the cost to build your house is $150 a square foot, you save $18,000 + interest (not to mention the cost over the years to clean, furnish, heat, cool and maintain that space). By considering how you actually use space, you may find you can live with less square footage.

New Year, New Space: Less Invasive {Easy} Remodeling Ideas

Each week for the coming weeks, we will feature ideas for New Year, New Space. After the excess "stuff" of the holidays (guilty: I still have not taken down my display of Christmas cards), you may be ready to organize, purge, update, or overhaul your living space.

While the economy and the housing market are slow to recover, life goes on, and many may find that their current home just does not suit their needs. In many areas, putting a home on the market is not a desirable option, in addition to the costs and trouble associated with moving.

Dealing with a massive remodel or addition can be just as stressful, but as families grow and change adapting your current space may be necessary. Here are some ideas for less invasive remodeling:

• First, look up: For adding extra space, look at the attic areas over the house and garage. If you want to add a bedroom, a window will be required. Also, check the floor framing. If the attic was originally designed as a "bonus room," the floor framing should be adequate for a sleeping or living area. However, if the attic was designed exclusively for storage, the floor framing may not be adequate, and updating it to current code may be more than you bargained for. Have an architect or a structural engineer do an initial consultation, as they should be able to visually evaluate the situation. Insulation may also need to be added to bring the area up to current code.
• Next, look out: Do you ever think about how much space in your home is devoted to your car? Unless you live in an extremely cold climate, why can't your car be comfortable outside, or under a carport? The standard garage is a perfect size for a bedroom or living area plus a closet or bathroom. Many garages may even have adequate windows for egress (required for a bedroom). Also, you can consider building a new wall a few feet in from the wall with the doors, so that the garage doors can remain and you can keep some storage that can be accessed from the exterior, for storing bikes or garden supplies (this will require a ceiling soffit for the doors and opening mechanism).
• Do you really have that many clothes?: There was a streak in spec home construction where the master closet and bathroom are huge, while the house may have only 3 bedrooms, for instance. A large master closet can be converted to an office, craft room, or combined with a laundry room. The master bedroom is probably large enough for some dressers and free-standing wardrobes, especially if there is no TV, or the existing TV is placed on dresser, over a wardrobe, or hung on a wall. Also, how often do you really use that jetted tub? Remove the large tub and build a smaller closet in its place.
  
• Treasure odd spaces: Many small spaces can be hidden by drywall, such as areas under stairs or around mechanical units. Look for spaces like these that can be converted to built-ins. A space can be cleared either between the studs (if studs are a standard 16" on center, this will give you 14-1/2", about a foot after finishing), or a header added to create a wider space (consult a structural engineer if you are not sure about this). In doing this, you may be removing insulation used for sound control, but think about areas like the one under the bar counter in an open kitchen. You can gain valuable cubic footage by placing books, games, etc in these nooks.

Example of bookshelves built into the kitchen island support wall. Built-ins can be placed between studs so that no structure is disturbed.

You don't need to overhaul your entire home to create some much needed space. Look for ways to improve your existing space with minimum disturbance and maximum sanity. If you need to borrow money for a project, points paid on Home Improvement Loans are tax deductible.