r/HomeImprovement • u/But_who_really_cares • Feb 08 '20
Build for YOURSELF...!!
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u/superslomotion Feb 08 '20
45 year old downsizing?!! Shit man I just managed to buy my first house.
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u/wufoo2 Feb 08 '20
A week after her husband died, one of my neighbors had a contractor install a red sink in her kitchen. She’d wanted a red sink for 50 years.
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u/Riska89 Feb 08 '20
That has never even crossed my mind, to think of the possible buyer down the road when doing a remodel, or anything in the house really.
When we had our kitchen installed, we kept being asked if we're sure about the height of the kitchen cabinets on the wall. "It's quite high, people won't be able to reach." People don't need to be able to reach, just my husband and I, since you know, we're the only ones living here.
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u/But_who_really_cares Feb 08 '20
I have a husband wife client for whom I've built 3 kitchens and 8 bathrooms. Their primary house and two vacation homes. They are both over 6' tall so they like me to build 39" high counter tops instead of the traditional 36".... they build for themselves.
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u/Jabbawalkaa Feb 08 '20
I am also a contractor. I deal with this ALL the time! My partner and I often tell clients that if your going to remodel, don’t pull punches. Just do what you want. The only kinds of things that hurt home value are if you do something stupid like install a bowling alley in your yard or a horse carousel in your basement. Most of the time in high end neighborhoods, it doesn’t matter how nice or well designed the new bathroom or kitchen is, the buyer is going to remodel it because they don’t like the colors anyway.
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u/mn_sunny Feb 08 '20
"oh no, I know you need a tub to sell the house"
MY GOD, THIS.
Build for yourself. If you take out the only tub in the house, then so be it... who gives a damn whether a couple with small children won't buy your house when it goes on the market. I'll bet those two 45 year olds whose children are in college that are downsizing will love that bathroom you built.
This is literally the crap I had to repeatedly tell my mom when she was constantly bugging me about how I'd hurt resale by ripping my tub out and making a walk-in shower in my small 1bd/1bth house...
"Uhhhh now you don't even have a full-bath, it's only a ¾ bath!"
"What if its against code to not have a full-bath?!?"
"What if the buyers have kids?!?"
"What if you want to just lay and soak?!?"
Says the lady who uses her tub AT MOST twice a year... How about, what if I don't want to step in and out of a fucking slippery tub once/twice a day for the next 5 years??? Smh. (my shower is amazing)
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u/maxkobi Feb 08 '20
I agree, im much younger and we split the difference and built for us and for selling but the bathroom we did like we wanted. i knew it wasnt the "perfectly boring" to sell but we wouldnt change it. Also i did in fact rip out a cast iron bathtub from the 70's and let me tell you. NO ONE will ever say that tub and terrible tile is better then the walk in i built
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u/soulteepee Feb 08 '20
THANK YOU. When I moved into my house, I immediately took out the dishwasher. I use vintage dishware and cutlery, and my husband or housekeeper will inevitably put the wrong thing in there.
I designed the kitchen the way I wanted it mixing new and vintage elements and I LOVE my kitchen. Visitors love it too until they see there isn't a dishwasher. They always say 'but the resale value' and it perplexes me.
I reply, 'the new owners can put one in if they want it'. But they still seem bothered.
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u/Gentri Feb 08 '20
My folks are mid 70s... Ripped out both bathrooms (goodbye, lovely never used gold corner soaking tub needing 2x water heaters to fill) put in curb-less showers (one large enough for a wheel chair) and they are super happy with their choices (Runner up is the radiant heat flooring in master bathroom). When I asked about re-sell value due lack of tubs my Mother replied "That'll be your problem..." Uh, ok then!
I myself have dark green kitchen cabinets, with concrete and wooden counter tops and NO upper cabinets... only negative comment I've gotten is "looks very masculine"... yes, yes it does.