Dazzling the Crowds with Updated Kitchens and Baths

Giving Kitchen Cabinets, Countertops, and Sinks a Facelift

Homeowners often overcook when they renovate their kitchens, spending $30,000 or more on a kitchen that boosts the property value by only about $10,000. Assuming the homeowner loves the kitchen and plans on staying in the house and using the kitchen for many years, the choice may be a good one. When you’re flipping houses, however, you can significantly improve the appearance of a kitchen for just a few thousand dollars. Figures 17-1 and 17-2 illustrate the dramatic effect that a moderate renovation can have on a kitchen. Among other updates, the homeowner

Removed some old cabinets, added some new cabinets, and replaced the doors on existing cabinets
Added new drawer knobs and cabinet handles
Installed new countertops, a new sink, and a new faucet
Equipped the kitchen with several new appliances
Laid new flooring (see Chapter 18)

© Jeremy Goodell

FIGURE 17-1: This kitchen is well suited to curbing your appetite.

© Jeremy Goodell

FIGURE 17-2: The remodeled version is ready for dinner guests.

In the following sections, I reveal affordable options for cabinets, countertops, and sinks that can transform a dull, dreary kitchen into one of the main selling features of the house.

Refinishing or replacing cabinets

I’ve seen investors completely gut a kitchen with solid plywood cabinets and install all new cabinets made of particle board. Sure, the new cabinets looked great, but the old ones were perfectly fine. The moral of the story is don’t gut the kitchen if it doesn’t need to be gutted. Not only do you risk ending up with lower-grade cabinets, but you also take on the added expense and mess of tearing out the old ones and disposing of them.

Consider the following options before replacing the cabinets:

Paint the cabinets white. The safest, cheapest option is to paint the cabinets white with a high-gloss enamel. For about $50 total and a day’s work, you get cabinets that are immaculately clean and shiny, which is what most buyers are looking for.
Strip and stain. If the wood is good — oak, maple, hickory, cherry, mahogany — show it off. Take the doors off the cabinets, strip the stain, and re-stain everything for a fresh, new look. This option is cheap in terms of money but expensive in terms of time and mess.
Reface doors and drawers. Some companies specialize in re-facing cabinets, which consists of removing the doors and the fronts of the drawers and then applying a wood or plastic laminate to all exterior surfaces. This process costs much more than a standard paint job, but it’s about a third less than the cost of installing new cabinets.

If the kitchen has rusting metal cabinets or wood cabinets that are falling apart, or if the kitchen layout is poorly designed, refinishing the doors and drawers won’t do the trick. In such cases, new cabinets are the only choice. Affordable prefab cabinets are fine for most houses priced in the low- to mid-range. In high-end markets, consider upgrading to custom-built cabinets.

Updating hardware: A cosmetic fix

Most cabinets and drawers have hardware attached to them that’s both functional and decorative. You can often improve the appearance of the cabinets simply by replacing the hardware — door and drawer handles, knobs, hinges, and latches. This improvement can cost as little as $5 per door and drawer, and you can expect to get every penny of that back when you sell the house.

Before you run out and purchase new cabinet hardware, make a list of everything you need and then take measurements so that you purchase new hardware with holes that match up with the holes already drilled in the doors and drawers. The less re-drilling you have to do, the better.

Resurfacing or replacing countertops

To gain a deeper understanding of the emotional reactions that homeowners have to kitchens, wander around the kitchen displays at the local building supply store and watch the reactions of customers to various cabinet and countertop displays. The right countertop can make homeowners swoon.

Before you jump to the conclusion that you need a new countertop to make buyers swoon, consider these more-affordable solutions:

Polish the existing countertop. If the countertop is made of a solid material, such as granite or a composite, you may be able to have it professionally polished for much less than the cost of a new countertop.
Resurface the countertop. You can strip off the existing veneer and glue on new veneer, but when you add up the cost in terms of money, time, mess, and the dangers of using volatile solvents, you’re probably better off installing a completely new countertop.
Replace a damaged section of the countertop. If a section of the countertop is badly damaged, cut it out and install an attractive cutting board in its place. You can also use glass or Corian.
Add molding. You can glue a molding to the leading edge of some countertops to cover damage and give the countertop a new look.

Countertops range in quality, material, and price. If you’re going to install a new countertop, choose a material that’s suitable for your market. In low- to mid-range markets, that means laminate. In high-end markets, look for granite, marble, Corian, stainless steel, or other custom products. If you choose a material that’s substandard for the home’s price range, you probably need to reduce your asking price or field low-ball offers.

You’re not buying the countertop for yourself, so tame your personal tastes and choose colors and patterns that are conservative and neutral.

Installing a new sink and faucet

Cleaning and polishing a sink is often sufficient, but if a thorough scrubbing doesn’t do the trick, install a new sink and faucet. In the low- to mid-range market, stick with stainless steel. In high-end markets, consider cast iron with a porcelain or acrylic finish or a customized sink.

While you’re swapping out the sink, consider adding a garbage disposer (often called a garbage disposal) if the kitchen doesn’t have one, or replacing the disposer if the current one looks old. A new ½ or ⅝ horsepower garbage disposer ranges in price from $50 to $100, and when the homeowner or inspector takes a peek under the sink, you’ve already earned that money back.

Modernizing Kitchen Appliances

When you purchased the property, the generous owner bequeathed you her 1970s refrigerator with the avocado finish. Now that you’ve completed your kitchen remodel with a tasteful display of muted tones, the fridge just doesn’t fit. It works fine, but it doesn’t work with the décor. What should you do?

You have several options. If you have rental property, move the refrigerator to one of your rental units. Otherwise, donate it to charity or call a used-appliance dealer to haul it off. Whatever you do, don’t keep it. The house is more valuable without a particular appliance than with one that clashes with the surrounding décor.

When you’re trying to make your kitchen look its best, update any appliances you include with the property, as I discuss in the following sections.

Deciding whether to install appliances

Appliances can jack up the cost of your kitchen remodel in a hurry. You can drop anywhere from $250 to $3,500 on an electric range, $400 to $6,000 on a refrigerator, $150 to $2,000 on a microwave oven, and another $200 to $1,500 on a dishwasher. Go top of the line on every appliance and you add more than $10,000 to your kitchen remodeling budget.

Before you splurge, take a deep breath and a look around at the housing market in your area. Do most homes for sale include all those appliances? If they do, are the appliances in the low-end, medium, or nosebleed price range? Just as you assess your renovations to meet the demands of the market (see Chapter 14), gauge the amount you spend on kitchen appliances to meet the demands of most home buyers in your area without exceeding those demands:

In low- to mid-range housing, supply the bare essentials — a dishwasher, garbage disposer, refrigerator/freezer, and freestanding range.
In mid- to upper-end housing, consider supplying the higher-end essentials along with a cabinet with warming drawers and a built-in wine cooler. Upgrade to a built-in refrigerator with an ice maker and water dispenser, and consider upgrading the oven and cooking surfaces, as I describe in the later section “Roaming the range, oven, and cooktop.”

You can trim the cost of kitchen appliances by purchasing gently used or returned merchandise at outlet stores. If you buy used or returned appliances, inspect them carefully for any damage and make sure that the doors open and close without a hitch.

Adding or replacing the dishwasher

In the not-so-distant past, a dishwasher was a luxury. Now it’s a necessity. Not only does a dishwasher automate the task of washing the dishes, but it also frees up valuable counter space that may otherwise be consumed by an ugly dish drainer.

If the kitchen already has a dishwasher, inspect it inside and out. If you wouldn’t take a bath in it, replace it. If you purchased a house without a dishwasher, add one, even if it involves losing a little cabinet space. Expect a first-time installation (for a kitchen that doesn’t have a dishwasher) to cost another hundred bucks or more for the plumbing installation. Look for a quality unit that has a reputation for being quiet (read customer reviews).

Install the dishwasher as close to the sink as possible. This proximity makes loading the dishwasher more convenient and places the washer close to the hot-water pipe and drain pipe. If you’re installing new flooring (see Chapter 18 for details on flooring), lay the flooring before installing the dishwasher.

Roaming the range, oven, and cooktop

No kitchen surface gathers as much dirt, grease, and grime as the oven, cooktop, or range. If the kitchen’s cooking equipment is old, cheap-looking, or crusty beyond cleaning, look into replacing it with a new unit that’s appropriate for your area’s housing market. Your options are limited only by your imagination, budget, and market demands:

Freestanding ranges: This most common cooking unit combines an oven with a cooktop and has finished sides, so the range looks good no matter where you position it.
Slide-in ranges: Like a freestanding range, a slide-in range combines the oven and cooktop, but its sides are unfinished, so you must install it between cabinets to hide the sides.
Drop-in ranges: Like the slide-in range, a drop-in unit has unfinished sides, but the top rests on the tops of the adjacent cabinets.
Wall ovens: Unlike a range, a wall oven has no cooktop. The oven is built into a wall or the surrounding cabinets, placing it about chest high so you don’t have to bend over to check your pizza.
Combination ovens: A combination oven typically consists of two stacked ovens, which is great if you need to bake a pork roast and an apple pie at the same time. Some units combine microwave, conventional, and convection (hot, swirling air) energy to cook faster and more evenly.
Dual-fuel units: Can’t decide whether you want to cook with gas or electric? Then get a dual-fuel unit that uses both!
Cooktops: A cooktop consists of burners (gas or electric) with no oven below them; they mount level with the countertop. Cooktops are great for kitchens that have wall ovens or an island on which you want to add another cooking surface.
Downdraft cooktops: Downdraft cooktops are essential for those homeowners who want to grill steaks all year. A fan pulls the smoke down below the cooktop and vents it out of the house. Some downdraft cooktops include grills, griddles, rotisseries, and even woks.

You may be able to get a builder discount for ranges, cooktops, and other kitchen appliances. Tell the retailer that you flip houses on a regular basis and ask whether you qualify for the discount.

Don’t forget the hood. Most kitchens have a ventilation fan to pull smoke, grease, and humidity from the air and vent it outside. That’s the least you should have. For a high-end kitchen, an exhaust hood over the range is a must, and an attractive hood can really jazz up a kitchen. Houses in the low- to mid-range market commonly have hoods that circulate the air through a charcoal filter, so they don’t require an external vent. You can easily replace the hood without going to the trouble of venting.

Installing a space-saving microwave

The microwave oven has revolutionized the way people cook, but it also adds to the countertop clutter, unless you can move it elsewhere. One option is to go with a combination oven that has built-in microwave capabilities, as I discuss in the previous section. Another, more-affordable option is to mount the microwave over the range. Some microwave ovens double as a cooktop hood, providing ventilation for the range.

Keeping or replacing the refrigerator

I can almost guarantee that anyone looking at the house is going to open the refrigerator, so the inside of it shouldn’t look like a high-school science project or smell like roadkill. The refrigerator must be immaculate, inside and out. If you have to use a bungee cord to tie the door shut, if it’s beyond cleaning, if it’s loud, or if it just doesn’t work right, it’s time for a new fridge.

Your approach to providing a new refrigerator depends on the market in which you’re flipping. In the low-end market, in which you plan on selling to first-time buyers, supply an affordable top-mount model (freezer on the top and refrigerator on the bottom). First-time buyers are usually moving from a furnished apartment and don’t want to have to spring for appliances after purchasing a house. In the mid-range market, a house without a refrigerator is the norm because most home buyers bring their old refrigerator with them. In the upper-end market, buyers expect a built-in refrigerator.

Clear all the magnets, calendars, sticky notes, and photos off the outside of the refrigerator. All that stuff contributes to the sense that the kitchen — and the owner’s life — is cluttered.

Updating the Bathrooms

Modern and shiny clean — that’s what most buyers want in a bathroom. Examine the bathrooms first to see what you have to work with and then head to your local home-improvement store to check out what’s currently available. The latest offerings are mesmerizing — free-standing sinks, elegant fixtures, one-piece shower stalls, prefab vanities with single or double sinks, lighted medicine cabinets, and numerous collections of floor and wall tile — and they’re all pretty affordable.

Don’t let a substandard bathroom sink your flip. The following sections lead you through the process of exploring your many options. Figures 17-3 and 17-4 illustrate the possibilities. Among other tasks, the homeowner replaced the old linoleum floor; the shower/tub; the countertop, sink, and faucet; and the mirror and medicine cabinet.

© Jeremy Goodell

FIGURE 17-3: This bathroom is a little drab.

© Jeremy Goodell

FIGURE 17-4: A remodeled bathroom is a sanitary sanctuary.

Want more information on bathrooms? Chapter 15 has a list of affordable bathroom touch-ups; Chapter 19 has the scoop on adding a bathroom (only if necessary); and Bathroom Remodeling For Dummies, by Gene Hamilton and Katie Hamilton (Wiley), is full of bathroom renovation ideas.

Modern isn’t always better, especially in bathrooms. People spend thousands of dollars to get their hands on antique claw-foot bathtubs, so know what you have before you toss it in the roll-off dumpster. Sometimes, redesigning the bathroom around a precious antique showpiece makes more sense than trying to shoehorn in a modern bathroom.

Repairing bathroom walls and floors

Before you get into any heavy-duty bathroom remodeling, inspect the walls and floor for any water damage. Rock the toilet to make sure that the floor below it is solid, and press on the walls, especially around the sink and the tub or shower, to test whether they’re spongy. If you detect any water damage, fix any leaks and replace the walls and flooring before you do anything else. Other things to keep in mind:

When replacing walls around a tub or shower, use cement board rather than standard drywall. Cement board is designed to repel water. Install cement board to the top of the shower stall or at least three feet above the bathtub.
Even if the floor requires no repairs to the sub-flooring, most bathrooms can use new vinyl or tile. I recommend that you hire a professional for the job. After a quick look around, the eyes of most buyers immediately travel to the floor and check the edges around the bathtub, toilet, and baseboards, so you want the flooring done right. See Chapter 18 for details about flooring.

Refinishing or replacing tubs and showers

Bathtubs and showers are prone to becoming matted with soap scum, mildew, and other colorful collections of slime and microscopic organisms. In addition, the surfaces get scratched and eroded by years of scrubbing. When a bathtub or shower is beyond cleaning, even with that foul-smelling mildew and soap-scum remover, you have a choice to make — you can replace or refinish. In the following sections, I explain how to make the best decision for tubs, shower stalls, and tile.

Evaluating bathtubs

Bathtubs are pretty sturdy, so you rarely need to replace them unless one has severe cracks and chips. If the color is hideous or the finish is rough, you can have it professionally refinished. Refinishing consists of treating the old finish with a caustic substance, such as a strong acid, to roughen the surface and then applying a glaze that makes the bathtub look like new. After refinishing, replace all the old fixtures and the drain cover, and you have a whole new bathtub.

Resurfacing a bathtub is something I don’t recommend for do-it-yourselfers, even though you can buy a kit at your local hardware store to do the job yourself. The chemicals are harsh, and applying the glaze properly requires the right tools and skills. If you wouldn’t think of painting your own car, don’t consider resurfacing a bathtub by yourself.

Whether you choose to resurface or replace the bathtub, you can’t go wrong with classic white.

Surveying shower stalls

In bathrooms that have a shower stall (no tub) that is damaged or too filthy to clean, consider ripping out the shower stall and installing a brand-new one. You can purchase a new shower stall complete with a floor, walls, and glass or plastic doors. Of course, if the old shower stall is in good shape, a thorough cleaning and some fresh caulking around the edges may be enough to salvage it.

Assuming you can measure properly and cut or drill the necessary holes in the right places, installing a shower stall is within the realm of a do-it-yourselfer. Keep in mind, however, that if you’re off an inch, you’re going to be buying a new shower stall for a lot more than it costs to pay a qualified installer.

Taking a look at the tile

If your bath or shower walls are tiled, chances are good that they look like the inside of a Petri dish. To make them look sparkling new, you have two options — strip the tile and retile the walls or call a grout doctor. Other tips:

Always re-tile the walls if the walls behind the tile are damaged. Don’t simply try to patch the wall. Chances are good that if one section of the wall is damaged, surrounding sections are soon to follow. You should also re-tile if the existing tiles are out of style or if tiles are missing or damaged.
If the tiles look good and are securely in place, don’t waste money replacing them. Hire a grout doctor to make them look like new. A grout doctor leaves the existing tile in place and re-grouts it, typically restoring it to mint condition for a lot less than you’d have to pay to have new tile installed.

Dealing with la toilette

Toilets are built to take a lot of abuse, so a good scrubbing, a new seat, and a new handle are all that most toilets need. If the bowl or tank is cracked or beyond what a thorough cleaning can fix, however, you may need to replace it. The following sections reveal your options.

Replacing the seat and handle

The fastest, cheapest way to restore a toilet to mint condition is to replace the toilet seat and the handle, to the tune of about $25 and 15 minutes of your time. Two bolts hold the seat in place, making it a simple out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new operation. The handle is a little more complicated because you have to pop the hood on the tank, disconnect the chain, and work inside to remove the nut that secures the handle in place. Still, these fixes are easy.

When shopping for seats, make sure that you buy a round seat for a round toilet or an elongated seat for an elongated toilet. For a little extra, you can purchase a soft-closing seat and lid that doesn’t slam down when a kid drops it.

Replacing the toilet

Shopping for a toilet can be more complicated than actually installing it. You can buy a basic model for less than $100, but if you’re looking to upgrade in both function and appearance, check out the following features:

Elevated height: Two to four inches higher than a standard toilet, elevated-height models make it easier for tall people to do their dismounts.
Elongated bowl: An elongated bowl provides more room to relax on the throne.
Power flush: To avoid having to flush twice, a power-flush toilet puts some oomph behind the water to shove it down the drain. These models can be a little on the noisy side.
Quiet flush: If the bathroom is near the kitchen, hearing the toilet flush may help curb your appetite, but people generally prefer a more muted tone. A quiet-flush toilet muffles the sound.
One piece: One-piece toilets combine the bowl and tank in a single unit. Although they cost extra, they give a nice, streamlined look to the bathroom, and they’re easier to clean. As a bonus, most of the one-piece units include the seat.
Insulated tank: Condensation often builds up on the outside of the water tank because it’s colder than the surrounding air. An insulated tank reduces the condensation.
Two-level flush: When a little water will suffice, pull one lever. When you need a little extra power, pull the other lever.

Here are a few tips for selecting and installing a new toilet:

If you have a two-piece toilet (tank and bowl), you don’t need to replace the entire toilet if the tank is bad. You can purchase the tank separately for about half the price of a whole new toilet.
Match the size of the toilet to the size of the bathroom. You shouldn’t have a small bathroom with a large toilet. An oversized toilet consumes precious maneuvering space, and people may mistake it for the bathtub.
If you’re a weekend warrior, a toilet should be no challenge to install, although you may need help lifting it.

Updating the sink and medicine cabinet

The first thing you see when you step into a bathroom is the sink or vanity (cabinet with a sink) and the medicine cabinet or mirror, so these items should all be in tip-top condition. If they’re not in showcase condition after a good scrubbing, or if they’re out of sync with the rest of your renovations, you have several options for replacements. Begin by choosing a sink:

Wall sink: A low-cost wall sink is an option for a second bathroom in the basement or attic, but the pipes under the sink are visible, and this option offers no under-sink storage.
Pedestal sink: Stylish pedestal sinks can add a touch of class to a bathroom and are great for small bathrooms and half baths, but again, they offer no storage below.
Countertop sink with vanity: More expensive than a wall or pedestal sink, a vanity with a countertop sink features two benefits: It hides the pipes and provides additional storage.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You can often refinish a vanity and resurface a sink without replacing either one. You save money on both materials and labor, and you cut your renovation time in half.

Even if the existing sink is in excellent condition or you choose to have it resurfaced instead of replacing it, you should install a new faucet and drain. Bathroom faucets tend to corrode at the base. A new double- or single-handle faucet with a matching drain is a nice touch.

You also need a mirror above the sink, and in some bathrooms, that’s all you have — a mirror glued or screwed to the wall. If that’s what you’re working with, upgrade the bathroom with a lighted medicine cabinet.

For smaller bathrooms, you can often save space by installing a corner vanity and medicine cabinet.

Adding or improving ventilation

If the bathroom you’re renovating has a lot of mold and mildew, chances are good that the ventilation is insufficient. Fix the problem by adding sufficient ventilation either through a window or a ceiling or wall fan. Window ventilation isn’t the best. When you’re paying to heat or cool your house, the last thing you want to do is open a window in the middle of winter or summer to air out the bathroom each time you use it. A $50 exhaust fan provides a more economical solution.

Make sure that you have the right size fan for the room. Fans sizes are expressed in cubic feet per minute (CFM). Multiply the area of the ceiling by 1.1 to calculate a good ballpark estimate.

You want to vent the warm, humid bathroom air to the outside of the house, not to the inside of a wall or ceiling or even into the attic. Venting the air the right way requires installing a pipe that extends through an outside wall or through the roof of the house, and that’s certainly not a job for the average do-it-yourselfer.