Buying A Home
TarHeels&Rebels
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Are you thinking of buying a home that needs cosmetic updates?
I made up this little bio of the costs DH and I spent doing the types of simple cosmetic updates you imagine all the time when you're HHing: painting, laying new tile, replacing an outdated light fixture, new faucets, etc. The house was built in 1989 and the only new thing the sellers had done was put granite in the kitchen - there was brass and vinyl everywhere.
The bio intentionally doesn't include things from the practical side of owning a home, like a new hot water heater, concrete repair work to the back patio, costs of rejuvenating and maintaining an acre of land, etc, etc.
Hope this helps some of you when you're looking at outdated houses.
Re: Are you thinking of buying a home that needs cosmetic updates?
Can you elaborate on what you mean by saying that if you did it again you would have the cabinets professionally sprayed? The house we've got our eye on has nice wood ones, but I don't like the color and want to make them white or off white. How does spraying compare to sanding/priming/painting?
Thanks!
Like this.
My Pinterest
The Googlesites Paint Bio
Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
Oh wow. That's a pretty intense process. If we end up with the dream house we intend to stay in for 20 years, I'll probably go ahead and invest in that. The result is gorgeous!
Thank you for taking the time to put this together and share. You have great decorating taste!
I have a question about the mirror framing that was done. Can you tell me what material was used to make the frames - a kit? wood? And also how it was attached? Was the mirror side of the trim painted black as well so the underside would not reflect a different color? Thanks.
Labor costs are local. Her labor costs are very low compared to what we have to pay. We do everything we can ourselves and only hire what we cannot do (electrical, plumbing and a few other things). ( Labor only for the installation of 3 windows runs $900 as an example )
As I explained on the first page, labor and material prices are local. The home is in a LCOLA where real estate runs about $90/sq ft.
Anything like this can't be the answer for everybody, but it can be informational for people considering projects like these.
FWIW, we've had similar work done, but in smaller scope, 250 miles away where real estate is $70/sq ft. The hourly rate for a contractor was similar.
My Pinterest
The Googlesites Paint Bio
Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
My contractor made the mirror frames himself in his wood shop at his house, so I never saw them unfinished. I believe they're pine, but I'm not certain. Whatever they're made of, the contractor's craftsmanship is impressive - they've been sanded to be butter smooth and you can't see a seam when you're up close to them. They're smooth enough to be MDF, but you can catch a glimpse of painted wood grain in the light.
They're only spray painted, not regular painted, and it was done on both sides. They're just glued on. (I figure he had to cut out little notches on the backside to allow for the original screw clips holding the mirror on.)
My Pinterest
The Googlesites Paint Bio
Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
Thanks for posting this! You guys did a beautiful job, everything looks so much better!
We're looking at a house right now that would need some updating (it looks like 1996 threw up all over it) so it's great to see what changes - big and small - made such a difference.
Thank you.