The idea of a "green remodel" started after I got laid off. Yup. Me no workie. Which the "no workie" part was quickly leading to insanity with all the time at home and me being, well, restless.

I've been intending to remodel my kitchen, living and dining rooms now for over a year. I decided to make good on those intentions with all my new-found time. But with no job, I was forced to seek alternate ways to complete the project without spending a lot on materials.

So I came up with the notion of doing the remodel with used materials. All of our kitchen cabinets can be re-used, and Portland has an amazing resource, the Rebuilding Center, where I can buy most of the rest of the materials I need at 10-30% of market value.

There will, of course, be some items I will buy new, for example the counter-top granite. But the bulk of the materials from flooring to sheetrock to lumber to the kitchen cabinets I will seek from stuff I already have in my house or from the Rebuilding Center.

This blog charts my progress and will log all my expenses along the way. Hopefully this experiment will be a good example that you can learn from for your own future projects. To learn more about my project plans, click here.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Cost vs. Value

Are you curious about how much value you're adding to your home with your remodel? Is the $45,000 kitchen upgrade your planning going to add $45,000 to the price tag when you decide to sell? It's a valid question, and something you should explore before planning your remodel. The answer may surprise you, and will probably influence your planning decisions, such as how much to spend on your remodel, how big your remodel project should be, and possibly whether to do the remodel or not.

I've heard many an eager home-owner claim that their remodel investment dollars will be returned 100% or more. But the truth may surprise you: it is rare to get 100% of your money back on a remodel. In certain circumstances, such as a great price on a foreclosure, or a flip, you may be able to get a dollar-for-dollar match on your investment or more. But the average home-owner should plan to see less than 100% return on the dollar amount they invest.


There is an amazing online resource that can help you take the guessing out of your remodel decisions. It's the Cost vs. Value website, where they use national, regional, and city data to produce a report that shows the cost vs. value for most project types. Of course the data is derived from averages, which means that the dollar values are not going to reflect the actual costs that you may encounter. But they are a powerful tool for setting expectations before you start smashing walls.
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