Should You Remodel?

Spring is here and maybe you're thinking about remodeling. Remodeling magazine notes that nine out of ten high return projects are high curb appeal projects. The first on the list is garage door replacement with a 97.5% return on the value at resale. The second project on the list is replacement of vinyl siding with manufactured stone veneer and this returns 94.9% of it value at resale. 

Several of the other project that you might consider might be these projects:

• Replacement of existing siding with new siding: 75.6 percent

• Steel entry door replacement: 74.9 percent

• Vinyl window replacement: 73.4 percent

• Fiberglass grand entrance: 71.9 percent

• Wood window replacement: 70.8 percent

• Composite deck addition: 69.1 percent

Remodeling costs are rising but you can sometimes cut some of the costs by  shopping at places like the ReStore where they sell gently used building materials and appliance at a fraction of their retail prices.  

Do You Need a Handyman or a Specialist?

I often get asked for referrals for home maintenance. Sometimes it's obvious what the person is looking for. If it's an appliance I can recommend an appliance repair person. If it's a furnace an HVAC person. Sometimes however I need more information. I found this great chart on the HomeAdvisor website that gives a better understanding of the skills you're looking for when you do these projects.

Check it out, do you need a handyman or a specialist?

Subdivide the land

In Ballard, the neighbors were all upset about a home being added to a "backyard" when the land use signs went up for a subdivision, making one space into two. It turns out, each lot has it's own tax parcel number and that is good enough for the City of Seattle. Each may be sold separately, or changed without further zoning changes or lot line adjustments. 

Tiny Houses

This story in the New York Times about a Portland couple is sweet, except for the part where they will not use a general contractor or a Realtor in the future...of, course I have an opinion about Realtors.

Link here:

Aging in place

This is an older article, but still timely. Many people, as stated in a newer article in AARP (85%) of "older" people want to remain in their homes. This kind of remodeling can make that possible.

Selling my mommy's house part two

 The city of Tukwila hired a contractor to replace the storm drain alongside mom's house. It took three weeks. Here are some rainy day shots of the day they took the big hemlock tree down. Iplanted that one when I was in the 6th grade after a trip to Camp Waskowitz. Back then, they stopped the schoolbuses alongside I-90 LET THE KIDS OUT, and we used our lunch milk containers to dig up seedling trees (with a spoon, I recollect) and we got to bring them home to plant them. That neighborhood has quite a few trees of the same era. This one had to go, though.

Anastasia Faiella

This woman used to be a painter, now an interior designer. I see how that can work for a visual artist.

her website:  http://faiella-design.com

Remodeling or Moving, what to do

I was reading AARP magazine recently and there is an article about the option to remodel rather than move. Universal Design is the concept of (not gimpy)...a home for kids, and also for older people who may have a hard time getting around. In general, a home that works for all abled and not so able bodies, and looks...not sterile.

I am keenly aware of this as today I'm going to get my mom who has been in a nursing home for 100 days following emergency surgery prompted by cancer treatment. She would stay, but medicare won't pay after today. She had a bit of trouble getting around her house when we took her there a couple of weeks ago for a 3 hour visit.

Today she goes home to stay with her stepmom, a woman in her mid eighties. Her house has grab bars and the things one needs to get around if your body isn't so agile anymore.

By the way, my favorite Seattle Contractor is Jeff Reddan and my favorite Seattle Architect/designer is Barry Senter .

I would trust these guys to remodel my own house, or my grandmother's... 

Home Studio

Today we will rip up the floor in the studio. The sewer backed up and oh, what a mess I have on the floor. Or should I say, "under the floor".

This is how much stuff I have accumulated in the past three years in this studio:

That doesn't include the furniture:

But the floor I chose has to go away, ruined due to water running under it.

Gotta love the contractor who came to repair the floor. He is a great guy:

Jeff Reddan likes to do remodels where he jacks up the house and build a floor beneath the existing house. He did this remodel and will be here to fix the problem.

The Boundaries of a Breakup

Facebook and how to get or lose your "friends"...interesting article. Ok, it's an old article, but I just found my note on a scrap of paper, and wanted to share it here in November....so here it is!

NO BLOGGING about bad real estate photos

New rule from the NWMLS. Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

NO BLOGGING! Check this box, if you allow blogging. I am not allowed to give my opinion on a blog about anyone's property. What? Well, here is my favorite worst photo of the day. I won't say what house it is from, because it's a good representation of a million bad photos. Really...people! Hire a professional photographer. Please.

Wood and Relations

My father was a cabinet maker for 36 years. We lived in a house with exotic woods. I joke with my siblings that we should "part out" the house when we sell it, because the wood is now so precious and who could love it as much as we did? ( my siblings are horrified by this suggestion, by the way).

Here is an article in Dwell magazine about a guy who kept all the wood (plywood, mostly, not very exotic) from his grandmother's house in Poland.

do you Really want to sell that house?

OK! This house has finally been renovated. (Poor souls) and now it seems to be...for sale? This sign is about 3 inches by 5 inches. It's a bit of cardboard on a stick. Written with a magic marker, is, "for sale". I walked past an caught the sign. Is the grass (new...just put down in strips) for sale, or the house? How do you buy it? No number or way to contact anyone. Good luck.

Beach Condos Auction

Condos that are coming up for auction in Westport . Photo of the site, and the one they apparently abandoned next door.

And, then across the street, where there is a feral cat population problem, this sign:

CREEPY logo:

Keep your own yacht out front...to go...where...? Over the Gray's Harbor Bar for a day cruise? Whale watching? Out for a dinner cocktail cruise?

Perhaps just staying in, and watching the guys next door unload fish and clean out the fish unloading equipment.

Bad Builder Neighbor

I know this is just a sample...of the current times. This home builder just stopped working. I hope this builder sends his/her crews back around to finish the job, or at least take a dump run.

Houses on Rocks

This is an interesting article about a summer home in Norway. I see a peek into the sauna in one photo and it had me reminiscing about my years of enjoying saunas. My father immigrated here from Finland in 1947 so we grew up with the (sauna) Scandinavian tradition, at least once a week. Ours included building the fire, and keeping the furnace hot for at least three hours, which gave several hours of sauna enjoyment. This article is all about using available wood, and putting the home on the land with an artist's eye.

Fences

Some interesting fences. So much better than those six foot tall solid cedar fences that we had everywhere in the 1980's...

Garden Chairs

These are a couple of fabulous chairs! One with the willow twigs so tall they disappear into the trees they sit under...the other with fish head and fish tails as part of the design.

This article in DWELL magazine talks about some great green buildings and project frog.

Contractor Cleans Up!

Wow! This man did an amazing job on the repair to the holes in my walls after the plumbing repair, and best of all, he cleaned up after himself. I love that. If every contractor did that, I'd be so much happier with the jobs they did.