i'm gonna need to work some SERIOUS OT.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by DanielDudley

Labor to do that rendering would be even more than materials. When you remodel, you need to look for the low hanging fruit, and concentrate on what will make your life better living in the house. You don't need to impress the neighbors to improve your living arrangements unless you have money to burn.

Do you really want to be a slave to a house payment, or do you want to have a house so you can have a secure base for living a full life? Sacrificing a year of your life to get a great house is one thing, working OT for the next 10 years to pay for it is another. If you have to tear the whole house down to rework it, it would be cheaper to start fresh.

I saw a lot of people go upside down after the 2008 recession. They had really nice houses though. Too bad they couldn't afford to keep them. Don't blow your nest egg on your pad, pad your nest egg.

Amen to that. My house is paid for and “good enough”. We have room for our family, room for our stuff, and it’s a decent neighborhood. My wife and I used to plan on fully renovating our house to build sweat equity (done), then selling it and moving to 10 acres or so just outside of the city. Which would probably be double what our house would sell for, and starting over on a new mortgage. No thanks. Like I said, “good enough”.

Cliff I think your house looks great as is. If it’s modern curb appeal you’re looking for, there’s a lot you could do that wouldn’t require a new roof or extensive remodel.

[vash]

i dont give a **** about curb appeal.

i dont want a roof that traps 4 feet deep pile of leaves. and messing with the scuppers sucks. i like efficient drainage. climbing up there to rake my roof sucks.

i am not that far from paying off my home. we have been dumping cash into the payments.

[creaturecat]

ditch the rake. use a leaf blower.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have a steep roof and still have to get on a ladder and clean my gutters weekly.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by vash

my wife and i have been batting around the idea of taking the 1970's roof design off of our house, and making it much better.

let me draw you a mental picture. my roof is pancake flat. all okay, but some 1970's house designer thought it would look smashing to put a parapet around the entire thing. to get on my roof of the main house, i have to climb onto the garage flat roof. take a aluminum 5-6 foot ladder and lean it against the parapet wall..then take another 5-6 foot ladder and lift it over the parapet and lean it against the wall from the other side. then i can climb up a ladder and down the other side. rain runs to the corners and flow into scuppers. i am at the mercy of my neighbors oak trees. i climb up annually to clear leaves. all well and good, but i am not getting any younger. in a siege, the parapet would be nice to duck behind to reload

i want to take the entire roof off and install a semi sloped roof. modern looking. then i can do some fascia updates, some new windows, new modern garage door, etc. make it look nicer and less "brady bunch neighborhood". maybe even SOLAR!!

i was just visiting my friends full house remodel. i was halfway talking chit and i told asked the Contractor (who told me he was retiring after that job), "you should do my house before you retire!". he is doing a great job, and it was a design/build thing. full drawings and everything.

he just told my wife for us to give him a call and get a cost estimate.!! yikes!! he will do our job before he retires! . i really want to do it..install some real lighting and stuff on the insides while i am at it, some vent-able skylights.

just a pic to show the idea of a remodel.

Again...What does it look like now??????

[908/930]

tcar, there is a pic on page 1 and page 2