Cost of upgrading kitchen, bathrooms

[lindismith]

Looks reasonable to me.

Only you can say if your toilets and baths need re-surfacing.

My only input is that I think you should be very careful of using granite counter tops at this point. Essentially they are already an indicator of 2000s remodeling, and at this stage look exactly like every other home on the market. Can you imagine how they will look when you go to sell the house? Probably already dated.

If you can afford it, and depending on your tastes, marble or something different like Corian, might be well worth it in the long run.

[briansd1]

[quote=jpinpb]
“Okay. Can you give me a quote, more or less.”
“How much do you want to spend?”
[/quote]

Salesman’s speak.

Once you get a quote, any changes will cost you. Contractors make all the money on the “upgrades” and changes that housewives generally think they need.

I personally like to be my own general contractor.

In Philly, I found a guy on Craigslist to do tiles for $2/ft. He does good work. And I paid him cash.

If you want your hand held through the process, you’ll pay for the service.

[briansd1]

[quote=jpinpb]
“Okay. Can you give me a quote, more or less.”
“How much do you want to spend?”
[/quote]

Salesman’s speak.

Once you get a quote, any changes will cost you. Contractors make all the money on the “upgrades” and changes that housewives generally think they need.

I personally like to be my own general contractor.

In Philly, I found a guy on Craigslist to do tiles for $2/ft. He does good work. And I paid him cash.

If you want your hand held through the process, you’ll pay for the service.

[briansd1]

[quote=jpinpb]
“Okay. Can you give me a quote, more or less.”
“How much do you want to spend?”
[/quote]

Salesman’s speak.

Once you get a quote, any changes will cost you. Contractors make all the money on the “upgrades” and changes that housewives generally think they need.

I personally like to be my own general contractor.

In Philly, I found a guy on Craigslist to do tiles for $2/ft. He does good work. And I paid him cash.

If you want your hand held through the process, you’ll pay for the service.

[briansd1]

[quote=jpinpb]
“Okay. Can you give me a quote, more or less.”
“How much do you want to spend?”
[/quote]

Salesman’s speak.

Once you get a quote, any changes will cost you. Contractors make all the money on the “upgrades” and changes that housewives generally think they need.

I personally like to be my own general contractor.

In Philly, I found a guy on Craigslist to do tiles for $2/ft. He does good work. And I paid him cash.

If you want your hand held through the process, you’ll pay for the service.

[briansd1]

[quote=jpinpb]
“Okay. Can you give me a quote, more or less.”
“How much do you want to spend?”
[/quote]

Salesman’s speak.

Once you get a quote, any changes will cost you. Contractors make all the money on the “upgrades” and changes that housewives generally think they need.

I personally like to be my own general contractor.

In Philly, I found a guy on Craigslist to do tiles for $2/ft. He does good work. And I paid him cash.

If you want your hand held through the process, you’ll pay for the service.

[LAAFTERHOURS]

My kitchen facelift costs (in 2010):

My home had white ceramic tile on the countertops and backsplash and white banged up appliances. We had the tile demo’d and picked out slabs of granite in a stone yard and had them cut and installed onsite. Counter space was about 68 sq ft. We also bought a new dishwasher, french door fridge, double eletric oven and microwave (all stainless energy efficient stuff). The gas range stayed but we may eventually replace that.

One comment above about granite being dated. Prior to choosing granite to replace our white ceramic tile, we looked at some of the neighbors kitchens and decided that for our area this was the right way to go. Lots of of the neighbors had ceramic or granite tiles, prefab slabs so a custom higher end granite was an upgrade..

I installed the dishwasher, microwave and oven (had a buddy who is an electrician wire the oven for 50 bucks per code). The sink was installed by the countertop installers but I installed a new faucet and garbage disposal. My wife and I found subway tile sized honey onyx at a discount and installed it ourselves.

Total cost was about 7K plus some sweat and elbow grease.

[LAAFTERHOURS]

My kitchen facelift costs (in 2010):

My home had white ceramic tile on the countertops and backsplash and white banged up appliances. We had the tile demo’d and picked out slabs of granite in a stone yard and had them cut and installed onsite. Counter space was about 68 sq ft. We also bought a new dishwasher, french door fridge, double eletric oven and microwave (all stainless energy efficient stuff). The gas range stayed but we may eventually replace that.

One comment above about granite being dated. Prior to choosing granite to replace our white ceramic tile, we looked at some of the neighbors kitchens and decided that for our area this was the right way to go. Lots of of the neighbors had ceramic or granite tiles, prefab slabs so a custom higher end granite was an upgrade..

I installed the dishwasher, microwave and oven (had a buddy who is an electrician wire the oven for 50 bucks per code). The sink was installed by the countertop installers but I installed a new faucet and garbage disposal. My wife and I found subway tile sized honey onyx at a discount and installed it ourselves.

Total cost was about 7K plus some sweat and elbow grease.

[LAAFTERHOURS]

My kitchen facelift costs (in 2010):

My home had white ceramic tile on the countertops and backsplash and white banged up appliances. We had the tile demo’d and picked out slabs of granite in a stone yard and had them cut and installed onsite. Counter space was about 68 sq ft. We also bought a new dishwasher, french door fridge, double eletric oven and microwave (all stainless energy efficient stuff). The gas range stayed but we may eventually replace that.

One comment above about granite being dated. Prior to choosing granite to replace our white ceramic tile, we looked at some of the neighbors kitchens and decided that for our area this was the right way to go. Lots of of the neighbors had ceramic or granite tiles, prefab slabs so a custom higher end granite was an upgrade..

I installed the dishwasher, microwave and oven (had a buddy who is an electrician wire the oven for 50 bucks per code). The sink was installed by the countertop installers but I installed a new faucet and garbage disposal. My wife and I found subway tile sized honey onyx at a discount and installed it ourselves.

Total cost was about 7K plus some sweat and elbow grease.

[LAAFTERHOURS]

My kitchen facelift costs (in 2010):

My home had white ceramic tile on the countertops and backsplash and white banged up appliances. We had the tile demo’d and picked out slabs of granite in a stone yard and had them cut and installed onsite. Counter space was about 68 sq ft. We also bought a new dishwasher, french door fridge, double eletric oven and microwave (all stainless energy efficient stuff). The gas range stayed but we may eventually replace that.

One comment above about granite being dated. Prior to choosing granite to replace our white ceramic tile, we looked at some of the neighbors kitchens and decided that for our area this was the right way to go. Lots of of the neighbors had ceramic or granite tiles, prefab slabs so a custom higher end granite was an upgrade..

I installed the dishwasher, microwave and oven (had a buddy who is an electrician wire the oven for 50 bucks per code). The sink was installed by the countertop installers but I installed a new faucet and garbage disposal. My wife and I found subway tile sized honey onyx at a discount and installed it ourselves.

Total cost was about 7K plus some sweat and elbow grease.

[LAAFTERHOURS]

My kitchen facelift costs (in 2010):

My home had white ceramic tile on the countertops and backsplash and white banged up appliances. We had the tile demo’d and picked out slabs of granite in a stone yard and had them cut and installed onsite. Counter space was about 68 sq ft. We also bought a new dishwasher, french door fridge, double eletric oven and microwave (all stainless energy efficient stuff). The gas range stayed but we may eventually replace that.

One comment above about granite being dated. Prior to choosing granite to replace our white ceramic tile, we looked at some of the neighbors kitchens and decided that for our area this was the right way to go. Lots of of the neighbors had ceramic or granite tiles, prefab slabs so a custom higher end granite was an upgrade..

I installed the dishwasher, microwave and oven (had a buddy who is an electrician wire the oven for 50 bucks per code). The sink was installed by the countertop installers but I installed a new faucet and garbage disposal. My wife and I found subway tile sized honey onyx at a discount and installed it ourselves.

Total cost was about 7K plus some sweat and elbow grease.

[Author]

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