Flipping / Home Improvement - help

[Go2Guy]

My parents are moving and have been in their original--owned house for 35 years. It's run down and needs to be upgraded to sell in today's market.

Needs a lot:
Kitchen - new cabinets, countertops, appliances.
Bathrooms - needs big roman tubs and countertops.
Bedrooms - need walk-in closets
Living - hardwood floors

How do I go about managing this? Do I hire a General Contractor? Do I get home-remodeling specialists?; do I keep watching 'Flip This House'?

 

[cybsball20]

My parents are moving and have been in their original--owned house for 35 years. It's run down and needs to be upgraded to sell in today's market.

Needs a lot:
Kitchen - new cabinets, countertops, appliances.
Bathrooms - needs big roman tubs and countertops.
Bedrooms - need walk-in closets
Living - hardwood floors

How do I go about managing this? Do I hire a General Contractor? Do I get home-remodeling specialists?; do I keep watching 'Flip This House'?

Just don't overdo it... Can the cabinets be refinished/painted? Countertops and applieances can be installed by the vendor. A good cheap upgrade is granite tile. You can sell it as granite at 1/10th the cost.

Bathroom - just hire out the plumber to install the tub...

Closets - have someone take a look at the structure and make suggestions and do the work yourself. The demo is the scariest part, but once you get to the bones it's pretty easy.

Floors, are they already hardwood? Can they be refinished? This is really easy and cheap to do. If you are installing, lamanite can be a cheaper and easier alternative...

 

[CHim]

Unless you have a fair amount of construction experience and are very close to the project you should hire someone. Construction in general and remodeling in particular take a much bigger time commitment than most people realize when they try to do it alone.

 

[Go2Guy]

Just don't overdo it... Can the cabinets be refinished/painted? Countertops and applieances can be installed by the vendor. A good cheap upgrade is granite tile. You can sell it as granite at 1/10th the cost.

Bathroom - just hire out the plumber to install the tub...

Closets - have someone take a look at the structure and make suggestions and do the work yourself. The demo is the scariest part, but once you get to the bones it's pretty easy.

Floors, are they already hardwood? Can they be refinished? This is really easy and cheap to do. If you are installing, lamanite can be a cheaper and easier alternative...

Thanks? Do I hire a general contractor? Or do I just look for home remodeling specialists?

For the walk-in closets and the new bathtubs, it will require to knock-down walls and add expansion.

 

[bufante]

I have been working on my basement for about a year and half...it has sucked, but I am cheap. I do feel a sense of accomplishment though. Having said that, if you want to sell and don't have the luxury of time, hire someone to get it done.

Or you could be your own Contractor...that isn't all that hard.

 

[Go2Guy]

Unless you have a fair amount of construction experience and are very close to the project you should hire someone. Construction in general and remodeling in particular take a much bigger time commitment than most people realize when they try to do it alone.

Yeah, I won't have the time, or location convenience to be their the whole time. Just don't know where to start with hiring someone.

 

[Cyclonepride]

My parents are moving and have been in their original--owned house for 35 years. It's run down and needs to be upgraded to sell in today's market.

Needs a lot:
Kitchen - new cabinets, countertops, appliances.
Bathrooms - needs big roman tubs and countertops.
Bedrooms - need walk-in closets
Living - hardwood floors

How do I go about managing this? Do I hire a General Contractor? Do I get home-remodeling specialists?; do I keep watching 'Flip This House'?

Not trying to sell you anything here, but updating the flooring can make one of the biggest differences in the overall feel of a home. It also offers one of the best returns on investment if you don't over do it. Refinishing the wood floors isn't too terribly expensive when done professionally (about the same price as a medium/low end carpet and gives you good bang for the buck. Doing that part yourself has mixed results. We spend a lot of our time redoing the do it yourselfer refinishes, just because you generally can't tell how badly you screwed it up until it's almost done. If you need some free advice on doing that yourself, send me a private message and I'll give you some tips.

 

[Go2Guy]

I have been working on my basement for about a year and half...it has sucked, but I am cheap. I do feel a sense of accomplishment though. Having said that, if you want to sell and don't have the luxury of time, hire someone to get it done.

Or you could be your own Contractor...that isn't all that hard.

I know what you mean, I finished my basement (electrical and all) and it took two years of running home after work and going downstairs for 4-hrs a night.

 

[Go2Guy]

Not trying to sell you anything here, but updating the flooring can make one of the biggest differences in the overall feel of a home. It also offers one of the best returns on investment if you don't over do it. Refinishing the wood floors isn't too terribly expensive when done professionally (about the same price as a medium/low end carpet and gives you good bang for the buck. Doing that part yourself has mixed results.

Thanks - I'll probably hire somebody. But my buddy just replaced carpet w/ hardwood in his living room and after his wife had a party, the entire floor was dented with stiletto hoof prints from all the ladies high-heeled shoes.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Thanks - I'll probably hire somebody. But my buddy just replaced carpet w/ hardwood in his living room and after his wife had a party, the entire floor was dented with stiletto hoof prints from all the ladies high-heeled shoes.

Stilletto heels are certainly a terrible thing for hardwood floors, as are very large dogs. It's all in the pounds per square inch (not that you want to point that out to a lady at a party:wink. Hardwood floors also offer a good selling point to a prospective buyer with allergies- carpet holds the dust, with wood floors you can sweep it away.

 

[cybsball20]

If you aren't able to spend the time there then you should probably look into a GC. Make sure to find out how many other jobs they have going and that they commit to yours though...

 

[Cyclonepride]

If you aren't able to spend the time there then you should probably look into a GC. Make sure to find out how many other jobs they have going and that they commit to yours though...

And, if you do so, require lien wavers with each check that you cut.

 

[Ms3r4ISU]

Kitchens are among the highest "return on money spent" when selling a house, but if you're just updating to sell and not live there, don't spend a ton of money on the high dollar stuff there. New and modest beats used and high quality any day. We're just finishing a kitchen expansion and remodel that's already taken 6 months, so you might want to plan your work needs according to who's available AND your finances. We were not the GC. That's a better way to go, in my opinion, if you trust your GC.