Remodeling? It's a waste of money

[DayByDay]

You might want to try a dehumidifier. We just bought one last week. It does pull a lot of water out of the air. I'm amazed at how much water it collects that I have to dump out into the sink. It remains to be seen just how well it will prevent mold from growing on our bedroom and other walls this winter.

[rob62521]

I would say most of the stuff in this article is on target. We like HGTV, but have to remember it really is for entertainment.

We have done some remodeling in our home since we bought it about 12 years ago. Some has been cosmetic, while others have been for value. Value? We just put in new windows because the old ones were original with the 30 year old house and were single paned. I don't know if we would recoup everything we spent, but it sure has helped with the utility bills. We have new kitchen cabinets -- partially for cosmetic, but partially for value. The ones that were original had solid wood doors, but everything else was junk -- drawers were constantly coming unstapled, twisting, etc. We didn't change the layout, just the cabinets. We have been replacing a few of the kitchen appliances as needed and as a result they don't match, but we are buying Energy Star.

We did repurpose a room -- we had both a family room and a very small living room and out kitchen was eat in. Well, it was eat in if you didn't have more than 4 people. So, we had a wall torn out and made the living room into a dining room which then opened up the kitchen. Not sure if we would get our money back for it, but it sure makes my life easier.

We had some friends who bought a house about 14 years ago that was basically stuck in the 70s. A couple of years ago before the housing market dropped, they decided to sell it. They didn't do much to update anything, but wanted a big price. They did not even get an offer and couldn't understand why. Their realtor kept asking them to repaint and get rid of stuff, but they refused.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Removal of lead paint is necessary for babies, so that remodel was well worth it to us.

[PrincessPerky]

thanks for the tips on mold. I do the liberal application of bleach, might have to look into timer, cause I can't see husband or I shortening the showers...

though wonder if we started using the other shower more often, share the damp so to speak....