House Hunters Renovation - General Discussion

[suebee12]

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

what was up with that hideous green and white tile in the kitchen (backsplash)?

Yes, that was the most hideous backsplash I have ever seen, and that includes the ones with the "extra" tiles with fruit or birds or whatever on them!  I didn't think it was possible but it was ever uglier on the wall than just laying on the counter when the designer showed it!!!! Another thing, how the heck did HH Renovations manage to find three kitchens with the washer and dryer included? In all the houses I have been in (and I am old, so that is a lot!) have I ever seen the W & D in a kitchen! I know it is something one sees in European places but not the US where they are in the garage or if you are really lucky you have a laundry room! One last note...calling that sitting area on the front of the house a porch was really pushing it! It was just a covered area at the front door if you ask me. Don't think I would ever sit out there and enjoy my drink anytime!

[biakbiak]

The patterned tile looks like it was installed wrong, some of the shapes made no sense. Seriously, if I bought that house I would have to immediately change it.

I did think the floors ended up looking lovely.

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, biakbiak said:

The patterned tile looks like it was installed wrong, some of the shapes made no sense. Seriously, if I bought that house I would have to immediately change it.

I did think the floors ended up looking lovely.

I totally agree about the tile. It looked like a mistake. I wouldn't be able to focus on anything else in the kitchen until it was gone. I bet $5 that someone will blurt something out like "Did the contractor mean to install it like that?"

2 hours ago, suebee12 said:

In all the houses I have been in (and I am old, so that is a lot!) have I ever seen the W & D in a kitchen! I know it is something one sees in European places but not the US where they are in the garage or if you are really lucky you have a laundry room!

Me neither. I've definitely seen it abroad but I've never seen it in a house in the US. In all the places I've lived (houses and apartment buildings) it's been in the basement. I am of the belief that washers and dryers should go on the lowest possible floor in case they leak. (One of my friends scoffed at this; hers are on the second floor. Her husband was like, we should really move them down to the basement. She said it wasn't worth the trouble. Guess what happened?) I guess if I didn't have a basement or a garage they would go on the first floor and if that meant the kitchen, so be it, but I would find it odd.

[ByaNose]

The ugly green tile was in morse code. I think it spelled out the following......This Tile is the ugliest tile HH has ever done. Where in the hell did that designer find that ugly tile and how in the hell did the homeowners consent to it and/or like it. OMG! I thought it was a joke. I thought maybe it was a plastic wrapping like the chairs were in. Nope! It was just ugly green and white abstract designed tile. Seriously that was beyond hideous. The house in general was very tiny. The living room couch barely lets you in the front door. The kitchen itself was nice with the island but it was a super tiny kitchen. I don’t blame the couple though. They worked with the space they had and it looked nice. The bathrooms turned out nice, too. The front porch was an afterthought but I understood the wife wanting to do something with it. All in all, we have a new standard for kitchen renovations. The ugly green/white tile!

[sheetmoss]

I didn't care for the tile either,  it was too random....and I like  quirk

On Flip or Flop. Tarek & Christina have put laundry in the kitchen  during a flip justifying it, better there than an unattached  garage or outside space. 

Can't say in those instances I don't disagree.

My w & d are in the basement now,  my dream spot to have  them  would be off the kitchen because I could be multitasking  while cooking.  I

[laredhead]

My washer is in the kitchen and dryer is in the inside utility room about 15 steps away from the kitchen.  My house (in Louisiana) was built in 1957 in a subdivision of look alike houses all with carports and no garages.  All of the houses had the washing machine connections in the kitchen, and at that time, clothes dryers were not common household appliances.  There were small outside utility rooms attached to the rear of each house and that is where most people put a dryer when they eventually bought one.  Throughout the years, most houses in the subdivision have been remodeled and enlarged, as was mine, but the washer was never moved from the kitchen in my house.  It was high on my list when I moved in 15 years ago.  Once I found out that it was going to cost almost $2,000 to move it to the utility room, I decided I could continue to wash clothes in the kitchen and dry them in the utility room.  The cost is high because a new drain line has to be run, concrete patio destroyed, and a trench has to be dug through the landscaped backyard to tie into the city sewer system.  Repairing that damage will add to the $2,000 basic cost.  When I remodeled the kitchen 2 years ago, the kitchen designer made room for the washer in a closet that ties in with an entire wall of cabinets and a pantry so it is hidden.  Houses in my area don't have basements, and carports were very common on most houses built in the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's.  Didn't mean to be so long winded with my story, but even I was surprised to see that all 3 of those houses had the w/d in the kitchen.  In my perfect world, the w/d would be next to the master bedroom and bath.

I didn't like the tile back splash either.  The wife said she liked color, but I think a different tile would have looked better.   

[juliet73]

Long Beach:  Between the constant Ford advertising throughout the episode and the wife's grating voice, I did more fast forwarding than usual.  I agree about the ugly green tile backsplash.  It would have looked a little better if it was done with a specific pattern, but the randomness of it, ruined the entire kitchen, IMO.  

The bathroom came out nice. 

I liked that they were able to move the laundry out of the kitchen.  

The husband mentioned they overspent by $10k.  It was refreshing to hear him say it like it wasn't a drop in the bucket, unlike some of these other homeowners who act like it's nothing when they go tens (or hundreds) of thousands over their initial budget.

[izabella]

Aren't concrete tiles expensive?   Besides being ugly and misplaced in that kitchen, they could have saved money with a different backsplash.  Instead of providing a pop of color and some interest, that backsplash stood out like a sore thumb and took over the kitchen.  Maybe they can hire someone to reglaze them in white?  I know you can do that with bathroom tiles, but no idea about the concrete tiles.

Edited May 28, 2018 by izabella

[ByaNose]

54 minutes ago, izabella said:

Aren't concrete tiles expensive?   Besides being ugly and misplaced in that kitchen, they could have saved money with a different backsplash.  Instead of proving a pop of color and some interest, that backsplash stood out like a sore thumb and took over the kitchen.  Maybe they can hire someone to reglaze them in white?  I know you can do that with bathroom tiles, but no idea about the concrete tiles.

Heck! I’d paint right over them. Maybe, a primer first for good coverage and then anything but green. LOL!!!!!

[biakbiak]

I actually liked the color of the tile, I just didn’t like the way it was laid out and there was way too much of it.

[msmarjoribanks]

I bought a house recently, and one of the places I looked at (I didn't make an offer, but it went fast with multiple offers) had a washer and dryer in the kitchen.  The basement of that place had a really low ceiling (the owner had storage and a wine cellar down there), so that's probably why it wasn't down there -- they were also handing out information on the cost of digging out the basement.

Most of the other washer dryers were in the basements, which is where mine is. In my prior place (no basement, 4th floor walk-up condo), it was in an area for it by the guest bathroom.

A few of the places I looked at had hook-up options upstairs by the bedrooms or in a couple of cases the washer dryer up there, and I got the impression that was seen as beneficial by some since people didn't want to be carrying clothes up and down (that's how it was sold). I wanted a basement laundry area with room for stand-alone washer and dryer and a sink, however, as I was tired of having it crammed into a small space.  

I've never seen it in a garage, but where I live most garages are unattached if you even have one.

[answerphone]

Re: the washer and dryer in the kitchen, house in Long Beach, CA.

I was raised in that area, and often the was a small extension of the kitchen, before you reached the back door, that was called the service porch. 

The service porch housed the washer, dryer, and water heater. 

The are no basements in homes in that area.

Otherwise, the washer and dryer, (if a family had one, instead of a clothesline in the back yard) were in the detached garage. Of course, that isn't the most convenient option if it's a rainy day or if there's toddlers looking for Mommy.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, answerphone said:

Re: the washer and dryer in the kitchen, house in Long Beach, CA.

I was raised in that area, and often the was a small extension of the kitchen, before you reached the back door, that was called the service porch. 

The service porch housed the washer, dryer, and water heater. 

That's what I have (not Long Beach, specifically, but Los Angeles), with a half bath off that service porch.  It's fantastic, because it means my washer, dryer, and laundry tub/utility sink aren't in the garage, as is common here (usually in an attached garage, but not rarely in a detached garage, which is what I have, and would not appreciate trekking out there even with our great weather most of the year), but when speaking to a general audience I tend to say laundry room, as service porch doesn't properly register nationally -- people picture a screened-in porch rather than a regular "room," original to the house.

I didn't see the episode, but three homes with a washer and dryer in the kitchen would, indeed, have given me pause; that is not at all common here, certainly not to the extent three random homes would be set up that way.

[laredhead]

With regard to the location of washers and dryers, if any of you have ever watched Hawaiian Life or the other HH program set in Hawaii, there have been more than a few of the houses that have the washers and dryers outside on an open porch, and on a couple of episodes the appliances were actually out in the open with what looked like custom covers over them.   I thought at the time that was really odd, but one realtor mentioned that was common there.  I wondered how long an appliance like that would last out in the elements.  Over the years, and having lived in many houses, my w/d have sometimes been in a detached or in an attached garage, which are my least favorite locations.       

[Gothish520]

On 5/27/2018 at 9:56 PM, msmarjoribanks said:

I bought a house recently, and one of the places I looked at (I didn't make an offer, but it went fast with multiple offers) had a washer and dryer in the kitchen.  The basement of that place had a really low ceiling (the owner had storage and a wine cellar down there), so that's probably why it wasn't down there -- they were also handing out information on the cost of digging out the basement.

Most of the other washer dryers were in the basements, which is where mine is. In my prior place (no basement, 4th floor walk-up condo), it was in an area for it by the guest bathroom.

A few of the places I looked at had hook-up options upstairs by the bedrooms or in a couple of cases the washer dryer up there, and I got the impression that was seen as beneficial by some since people didn't want to be carrying clothes up and down (that's how it was sold). I wanted a basement laundry area with room for stand-alone washer and dryer and a sink, however, as I was tired of having it crammed into a small space.  

I've never seen it in a garage, but where I live most garages are unattached if you even have one.

Interesting to hear other people's preferences - I hate laundry rooms in basements! Growing up, our washer and dryer were in the basement of our Colonial, and trudging up and down those steep stairs was a big pain in the butt. Laundry was my household chore, and I did a minimum of three loads a day for a family of 6 for years. When my father renovated our only bathroom when I was in my late teens and moved the washer and dryer upstairs just inside the bathroom entrance, it was heaven! 

My first residence when I moved was a townhouse condo that had a stackable washer-dryer in the upstairs hallway. That was pretty good, a convenient location.The house I have now with my husband is a split-level and the washer and dryer are on the 3rd level of 4, in the second bathroom behind sliding doors. From the bedrooms, you have to go down two short flights of stairs, but it's still way more convenient than that darn basement ever was, lol!

[LittleIggy]

Re: the June 2 episode, did they say why the wife’s mother was moving in with them? Sounds as she should pitch in some ? for the MIL suite if she can afford it. I loved the “fairy tale” house! Would love to read the listing for it. Once again, an average house is unbelievably (for me) priced. $815,000 for that?

[twinks]

yes, mom will be moving in. They also said the 2 kids would share a room. Very odd but pleasant couple.

[laredhead]

I kept wondering where HGTV found the couple on last night's episode of HH Renovation because they seemed sensible in their wish list for a house.  There was not total revulsion from either of them when they saw original features even in the bathrooms.  Usually one of the couples wants "character", but when they see what character is in a vintage house they suddenly want granite and walk in closets.  Speaking of closets, the master bedroom closet was not large and not a peep out of either of them about how it would hold only the wife's shoes (the usual statement).  I did wonder about them saying they could live with a 2 bedroom house and the children (a boy and a girl) could share a room.  The kids are young, but that's not going to work in a couple of years, so I'm assuming they planned to add on if they found a 2 bedroom house.

Their expectations on the cost to turn the garage into a MIL suite were a bit unreasonable.  There was no way their budget would be able to handle that.  I thought they did great on spending just $40,000 on the kitchen and a couple of other small things.  Obviously they are fairly handy, and don't mind living with things that others we have seen on this program wouldn't tolerate for 5 minutes.  I liked the tile back splash behind the kitchen range.  I thought they looked much nicer than the gray concrete tiles that have been used so much.  I even liked the kitchen designer.  The back yard was great and I loved the mud and water area for the kids.  My grandson is never happier than when he's playing in the mud outside.

Go find more people like this for us to watch.            

[CruiseDiva]

4 hours ago, laredhead said:

Their expectations on the cost to turn the garage into a MIL suite were a bit unreasonable. 

I thought it was way unreasonable. They in actuality want to build a "tiny house" at the end of their driveway. In addition to bringing the garage structure up to building code standards, I wonder if there are any city building code restrictions for adding what is essentially a second (detached) house on their lot.

IMO, it was really dumb on their part to think converting that garage to living space would be easy or inexpensive. When they mentioned that there was already power in the garage I knew their expectations were unrealistic.

[LittleIggy]

As I mentioned above, I think the wife’s mom should pitch in for her housing if she is able. 

Re: the blue and white china, there were pieces on display in the kitchen. Maybe there was nowhere to put that beautiful platter.

[ByaNose]

I must be in the minority the California couple kitchen renovation. I thought it was an epic fail. Nothing matched. The floors were ugly. The upper and lowers with the counter weren’t very pretty. The backsplash behind the stove was ugly and staggered which made no sense. The color was so wrong. Painting some of them blue made matters worse. They didn’t even put the blue on every tile. I didn’t like the copper sink either. The patina will just look like rust over the years. That’s not a look I would want. I did appreciate they worked with the bathroom style already there without doing the famous “gut job”. The backyard was nice and very Californian. I liked the couple though. They seemed very nice with no drama. 

Edited June 7, 2018 by ByaNose

[CruiseDiva]

1 hour ago, ByaNose said:

I must be in the minority the California couple kitchen renovation. I thought it was an epic fail. Nothing matched. The floors were ugly. The upper and lowers with the counter weren’t very pretty. The backsplash behind the stove was ugly and staggered which made no sense and the color was so wrong. Painting some of them blue made matters worse. They didn’t even put the blue on every tile. I didn’t like the copper sink either. The patina will just look like ruse over the years. That’s not a look I would want. I did appreciate they worked with the bathroom style already there without doing the famous “gut job”. The backyard was nice and very Californian. I liked the couple though. They seemed very nice with no drama. 

I agree. I thought the entire kitchen looked like crap.

[ByaNose]

14 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

I agree. I thought the entire kitchen looked like crap.

Whew! Now, I feel better. LOL!!

[biakbiak]

I will go one step further not only was the kitchen ugly, so was the grandmothers platter.

[SPLAIN]

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I will go one step further not only was the kitchen ugly, so was the grandmothers platter.

I agree. It had cows on it, correct? The colors were gorgeous, though.

Why didn't she inform the designer of this platter and the need to incorporate it in her kitchen when coming up with designs and colors? Idiot.

20 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I must be in the minority the California couple kitchen renovation. I thought it was an epic fail. Nothing matched. The floors were ugly. The upper and lowers with the counter weren’t very pretty. The backsplash behind the stove was ugly and staggered which made no sense. The color was so wrong. Painting some of them blue made matters worse. They didn’t even put the blue on every tile. I didn’t like the copper sink either. The patina will just look like rust over the years. That’s not a look I would want. I did appreciate they worked with the bathroom style already there without doing the famous “gut job”. The backyard was nice and very Californian. I liked the couple though. They seemed very nice with no drama. 

Nope. You are not alone. Agree with your post. 

[aguabella]

About inspections ...

The majority of the HH / HHR transactions were normal RE sales and had home inspections.  In fact, the HHR producers use the inspection report to semi-script the so-called repair "surprises".

Lenders do not require home inspections.  They manage their risk by relying on the appraiser and appropriate adjustments of the loan-to-value ratio, i.e. a higher downpayment and/or higher interest rates. 

An appraisal isn't a home inspection but it would include (hopefully) any major repairs or deferred maintenance affecting value.

FHA loans typically require lower downpayments but also require a much more extensive appraisal report.  FHA encourages home inspections but doesn't require them.

Huge public and buyer/seller misconception about "As-is" sales:  the As-is designation doesn't prevent home inspections.  If a property is sold as-is, it simply means the seller won't pay for any repairs (other than statutorily required payments, e.g. some termite).  

Let's say you're in a multiple bid situation on an As-is sale.  Do you really wish to pass on a home inspection?  If a seller refuses to consider offers unless they waive all contingencies, including a home inspection, I always encourage clients, friends and family to walk away from on that deal.  Home inspections can usually be scheduled within days of an accepted offer.  Why's the seller in such a hurry?

Each time I've lost out in a bidding situation, I always felt relieved and found another property shortly thereafter!  Usually a better one, too!

Sorry for the long post; obviously, it's a topic I feel strongly about.  Happy house hunting, everybody!

[aguabella]

Running a bit behind (sorry) but about that Denver "bungalow":

I'd call it a Craftsman so I wanted to cry (not really, haha) when they removed that fireplace and extended the kitchen and dining room in front of the Craftsman windows.  Instead, I hoped they'd spruce up the f/p and retain it, even non-working, to enhance the original Craftsman feel.  And, homes have f/p's in Denver, naturally!

Besides that, their reno had one of my pet peeves:  an oversized kitchen.  Sure, they might be beautiful but what's the capacity of that home?  2 adults plus 1 small, preschool child?  Who wants to live, long-term in that basement?  Anyone?  Any parents want to move their young child down there?  Any hands up, lol?

The biggest boo-boo, in my opinion, was removing that bedroom.  A below-grade basement would not be included in the appraiser's sq. footage calculation.  Yes, they'd assign a value to the space but at a lower rate per sq. foot.  That means they went from an 850sf 2/1 to an 850 1/1.  And, they didn't even turn that b/r into an ensuite!  (It was very small.)

My suggestion:  a nice but smaller kitchen with a bar-height 4-top for dining ... for a downtown loft feel.  Use pantry cabinets for storage and add that back area to the master, as a bathroom, if possible.  Otherwise, enhance the existing bathroom, jack-and-jill style.  Another alternative, possibly turn the front bedroom into a flex space, maybe using sliding panels or a barn door for add'l living space.

$$$ turning to the budget, I'd probably stage the basement upgrades after enhancing the yard and outdoor patio / entertaining area.  Would consider doing the basement as a second master / 1 living space instead of two rooms.  Those rooms were small, lol.

Drop me a PM if you'd like the listing photos.  (Don't want to publish their home address.)  Incidentally, that realtor had been involved in their neighbor's sale, 6 months earlier.  The neighborhood had several recent sales.  Comparing those figures, he must have been joking with the "FP, fully profitable" comment. 

BTW, about the surprises in the episode, those should have been on their inspection report.  And, with a home that age, a 30% contingency wouldn't be unusual.

Edited June 8, 2018 by aguabella

[aguabella]

On 5/27/2018 at 4:56 PM, ByaNose said:

Heck! I’d paint right over them. Maybe, a primer first for good coverage and then anything but green. LOL!!!!!

Yep, with the right primer, you can pretty much paint over anything!

[LittleIggy]

If I never hear the word “beachy” again, it will be too soon! ? The baby and the Siamese cat were adorable, but the couple annoyed me. Why do you need high ceilings in a bathroom. The new master bath was lovely.

Edited June 10, 2018 by LittleIggy

[twinks]

Did I hear correctly about the cost of the plaster wall? $6400? The design was well done.

[biakbiak]

I didn’t get the initial need for higher ceiling in the bathroom. It wasn’t vaulted but it appeared to be a decent if not higher than many ceilings of that kind of house.

The fireplace I am confused by. They make flue less gas inserts and  based on how he lit the fireplace it was gas.

I did think the cabinets made a huge difference in the kitchen and I am typically not a white cabinet fan.

Edited June 10, 2018 by biakbiak

[irisheyes]

There is no way they spent $55K on renovations. The cabinets and fireplace were $25K alone, plus all the work in the bathroom. I’m still not sure what the big deal was with the bathroom’s layout. They seemed completely confused, but it looked OK to me. 

[Lisa418722]

On 6/8/2018 at 12:50 AM, aguabella said:

FHA loans typically require lower downpayments but also require a much more extensive appraisal report.  FHA encourages home inspections but doesn't require them.

1

I bought my condo with an FHA loan. I had an inspection and they mentioned three little things:  the sprayer in the kitchen sink didn't work, the bathtub didn't have a stopper and I don't remember the third thing, but nothing was big.  That fall I had a someone come out to check the gas heater and there were many things that needed to be replaced for safety reasons (I didn't want to die from carbon monoxide poisoning my first year living there) and in the long run, it ended up being cheaper and definitely safer for me to replace the whole thing.  I asked if the inspector should have seen that when he did the inspection and the technician told me, "yes, if he had inspected the unit, he would have seen it."  If I had known I wouldn't have bought the condo unless the seller had replaced the unit or decreased the price of the condo.   So for me, an inspection didn't really do any good because to replace the things he mentioned was probably under $100 (probably not even that much, but I can't remember the third thing).  

Edited June 10, 2018 by Lisa418722

[juliet73]

Valencia ep:  I didn't care for the couple.  Husband wanted a "sitcom house" ... whatever that means.  And everything needed to be gutted according to the wife.  

I thought the master bath came out beautiful!  Then clean lines and plaster shiplap were design elements we don't see often on HHR.

The kitchen came out lovely.  It's amazing how a coat of paint on the cabinets and a different backsplash can completely change the look without "gutting" everything!

Every other room was paint, etc and they all came out nice for a minimal amount of money.  I think the biggest fails for this reno were not updating/painting the stair rail and especially not replacing the floors!  Putting down area rugs over that ugly tile looked horrible!  Installing wood floors would have looked so much better and well worth the extra money, IMO.

Edited June 10, 2018 by juliet73

[LittleIggy]

Yeah, every time Mrs. Beachy walked into a bathroom or kitchen, I said “this will need to be gutted!” ?

Did they pick the house with the AstroTurf backyard? I’m assuming not since it wasn’t mentioned again.

[laredhead]

Juliet73, I agree that the stair rail would look a lot better if it was changed from that 80's oak look to a darker stain.  They should do that because that could be a DYI project for very little $$.

Were the shower surround walls done in the plaster ship lap style, and if so, how well does plaster hold up in a wet environment?  I thought it bubbled under wet conditions.  Anyone familiar with that process? I was also glad to see a minimal kitchen redo which improved the looks of it 100%.

[chocolatine]

I thought the spruced up kitchen with the refinished cabinets and muted backsplash looked much better than most of the kitchens done by "designers" on this show. The bathroom reno looked nice, though I still don't get the need for palatial master bathrooms. I thought the size of the original one was perfectly adequate, so I would have just made some cosmetic updates, especially if I were on a tight budget like they were. I'll take more storage over a bigger bathroom any day.

On 6/10/2018 at 2:07 PM, LittleIggy said:

Did they pick the house with the AstroTurf backyard? I’m assuming not since it wasn’t mentioned again.

I thought they did pick the one with the astroturf, though I wasn't paying 100% attention. There was a screen-cap thingie that said new sod would cost $1400 (I think), and then it was never mentioned again.

[sheetmoss]

Re: Valencia

I did not like red brick he picked for his side of the fireplace -  that and the decor looked grandma.

I think I would have liked this episode even more if I had turned 'beachy' into a drinking game.

[Bastet]

23 minutes ago, sheetmoss said:

Re: Valencia

I did not like red brick he picked for his side of the fireplace -  that and the decor looked grandma.

I think I would have liked this episode even more if I had turned 'beachy' into a drinking game.

Wait, wait - what?  Valencia, CA?  And someone wanted "beachy"?  HA!

Valencia is a cookie cutter den of blandness and HOAs north of Los Angeles, and there is absolutely nothing beachy about it -- not its climate, certainly, and not its look in terms of how the homes and strip malls are styled. 

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Valencia is a cookie cutter den of blandness and HOAs north of Los Angeles, and there is absolutely nothing beachy about it -- not its climate, certainly, and not its look in terms of how the homes and strip malls are styled. 

She wasn’t implying it was asa beach community, just that her preferred style was beachy, specifically Cape Cod.

[Bastet]

21 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

She wasn’t implying it was asa beach community, just that her preferred style was beachy, specifically Cape Cod.

That's what I'm laughing at - that's just not the style of home there.  It's not just the lack of proximity to the water, there's nothing about it that's beachy -- it's a suburban desert, filled with look-alike homes and strip malls.  A style of any kind, other than '90s/'00s over development, is hard to come by.  Cape Cod or anything "beachy"?  Good luck with that.

[Nysha]

On 6/7/2018 at 9:50 PM, aguabella said:

Let's say you're in a multiple bid situation on an As-is sale.  Do you really wish to pass on a home inspection?  If a seller refuses to consider offers unless they waive all contingencies, including a home inspection, I always encourage clients, friends and family to walk away from on that deal.  Home inspections can usually be scheduled within days of an accepted offer.  Why's the seller in such a hurry?

I have a friend who was trying to buy a very nicely priced home and the owner was trying to pressure her into foregoing the home inspection. Come to find out, the house is in the flood path if/when the street drainage systems overloads and the wooden support beams in the crawl space all needed to be replaced. She decided not to buy the house.

[msmarjoribanks]

On 6/10/2018 at 1:57 AM, biakbiak said:

I didn’t get the initial need for higher ceiling in the bathroom. It wasn’t vaulted but it appeared to be a decent if not higher than many ceilings of that kind of house.

The fireplace I am confused by. They make flue less gas inserts and  based on how he lit the fireplace it was gas.

I did think the cabinets made a huge difference in the kitchen and I am typically not a white cabinet fan.

You picked up on the things I was confused about too (I finally watched this one).  The fireplace fix could have been put off and they could have used an insert.  If they didn't use it, it wouldn't have been a fire hazard. Of course, I'm someone who had a fireplace for years in my last place without using it, and I don't live in California.  I'm going to try to be better about using it in my new place, and I imagine when I'm used to using it (mine is wood, not gas) I'll do it more.

That said, it sounded like they probably would have gone over similarly without the chimney thing, it just caused them to save money elsewhere.

I saw no need for the raised ceiling in the master bath (which they sensibly decided against, but I really don't see what would have been the point of raising it a lot if they could have, it's a bathroom and the height seemed fine), and I didn't see that the layout was particularly confusing, but it did look good when redone.

When she went in the kitchen and said "it's a gut" my response was "I don't think she knows what that means" because even if she hated the cabinets and the backsplash (I also thought the backsplash and counters looked awful together and the cabinets seemed cheap), I didn't see the issue with the rest of it and the counters seemed to go with the look she wanted.  That's pretty much what she changed, I think, and it did look nice.

I think the red brick on the one side of the fireplace was the original look, wasn't it, and the brick on the other side her preference?  I didn't care for the fireplace particularly (just not my style for a fireplace), but that's just a personal preference thing.

I missed that they added sod to the back yard, and for me that would have been important.

Overall a good reno close to their budget if the information was given was accurate.

(And the cat and baby were adorable! I actually liked the couple too. I forget why he said he wanted a sitcom house, where he had lived that such that that seemed different and cozy.)

[Mittengirl]

Good god, this Denver woman really thinks she is something special.  The house sure isn’t - gray and white and subway tile.  Yay.

[LittleIggy]

38 minutes ago, Mittengirl said:

Good god, this Denver woman really thinks she is something special.  The house sure isn’t - gray and white and subway tile.  Yay.

Thank you! She got on my last nerve with her “oh, I get my way now” shit. Guess she thought it was cute, but I found it belittling to her husband. Instead of talking to him as if he were an idiot about those tiles for the shower floor, she could have said to start with that the”ding, ding, ding!” tiles would be safer. I didn’t like all the monotonous grey and white either. How bland. Since the kids were very young, why not some whimsy for their bathroom? Ugh. I’m glad I’m not the only one who found Bronx...I mean, Brooklyn annoying.

Edited July 15, 2018 by LittleIggy

[twinks]

VERY annoying. Hated the white tile wall. Considering how picky she was I'm surprised she let it go. $4500 to paint the kitchen cabinets? Wow!

[Empress1]

10 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Good god, this Denver woman really thinks she is something special.  The house sure isn’t - gray and white and subway tile.  Yay.

I was done with her at "mom boss." The house turned out very basic, and I didn't love the lost bedroom (although one of the girls could move into the basement as they get older).

[LittleIggy]

13 hours ago, twinks said:

VERY annoying. Hated the white tile wall. Considering how picky she was I'm surprised she let it go. $4500 to paint the kitchen cabinets? Wow!

And $700 for the cabinet knobs in the master bath!

[twinks]

2 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

And $700 for the cabinet knobs in the master bath!

I will never understand this. You're over budget, yet you go for those over priced items. smh

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, twinks said:

I will never understand this. You're over budget, yet you go for those over priced items. smh

When Target exists! One of these renovators spent a hundred bucks on a towel rack when they had paid well over asking - so much so that they couldn't actually afford the renovation and robbed their retirement savings to pay for it. Like, what?