The above picture is a beautiful bath but in most homes this will be considered overbuilt. There are a number of things to remember but the biggest is do not build or remodel your home to be better than the rest of your neighborhood.
The worst house in the neighborhood is brought up by the rest; similarly the best house on the block is usually brought down by the rest.
What else should you not do to your home? On the eastside of Portland I used to see many gorgeous homes built befor the ’40’s that had been gutted and made to look like McMansions on the inside. If you have the charm of a certain era on the outside you have to match it on the inside. It is like an accidental bait and switch and you won’t find the value that you expect.
Granite counters are not for every kitchen; there are other and cheaper alternatives that will look better. Crazy paint jobs? Be ready to paint over it. You would be surprised how distracting it is. “But Mike, it is JUST paint! They can paint over it!”, you scream. Your creatively painted room will be a distraction and in the back of some buyer’s mind it also equates to work. I have seen some beautiful homes where someone said, “If only this was move in ready.” I still don’t know what they were talking about.
People have “a feeling” when they walk into a house. Sometimes it is logical but don’t expect it. People will fall in and out of love on a house for many reasons. One time in a 3-story townhouse, my clients and myself spent five minutes looking at close to 100 tiny frames of odd photos and “things”. All we talked about was the frames afterwards.
Look at model homes for your inspiration. They are very sparse with their decorations. They use it to augment the home not to be the home. One of my neighbors recently put EIFS on the front of their home. If I knew them I would’ve said something. EIFS almost always fails and 99% of real estate agents will tell their clients to pay less for that house for the future issue or not to buy it. Everything else these people did is beautiful but it is beyond the nearby homes. They will be sorely surprised on the value when it comes to sell.
So, the Golden Rule?
Remodel to fit your neighborhood.
Remodel to fit the era your home was built in.
Don’t go overboard with colors and decorative items.
Everything else will take care of itself.
2 thoughts on “What Not To Do To Your Home”
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Dear Sir:
Your opinion that “EIFS almost always fails” is not shared by the Dept. of Energy. Please educate yourself about two recent studies done by the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory that show EIFS performs better than brick, stucco and fiber cement board. An excerpt from the study found at http://www.ornl.gov states: ” An Oak Ridge National Laboratory study shows that a newly redesigned generation of Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems, or EIFS, walls perform better than several other wall types tested for moisture and thermal performance. EIFS walls use foam insulation, fiberglass mesh and performance-engineered coatings as an alternative to various other cladding systems. ORNL researchers teamed with construction industry EIFS partners to develop “water management systems” that greatly improve durability, moisture management and thermal performance of the EIFS walls. The 15-month ORNL study conducted in the Southeast showed EIFS outperformed walls made of brick, stucco, concrete block and cement board in moisture protection and temperature control. The data are being used to benchmark a computer simulation, called a hygrothermal model, to predict wall thermal and moisture performance. The work is funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the non-profit EIMA Industry Members Association.
I will be more specific. It almost always fails in the NW. We have too much rain which is why LP siding failed here, almost always, but did better in other climates.
There are numerous lawsuits and class action lawsuits. One website claims, “Since 1995, attorneys with the EIFS Legal Network have settled EIFS related cases approaching $100 million in total recovery.”
The manufacturer blames the installer and the installer blames the manufacturer.
With a product that is this difficult to install and with numerous claims against it, I would still advise people against it.
In full disclosure, one of my limited representation clients had EIFS on the front of his house. I mentioned that it would most likely be an issue with any buyer. It was. But as he told me, he told the buyer that with his roof overhang as far out as it was, water would never hit it. They decided it was worth it and moved forward.
Maybe the product has gotten better but the stigma is there and I may be perpetuating it but my job is to protect my clients as well as possible. Hyundai will not have the resell value that a Honda has for a very long time because of it’s past history. EIFS is stuck with that until it’s “newly redesigned generation” shows it performs better.