Good story on what and why they are dumb. And some good alternatives.
I am sure some of you can add to the list.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/real_estate/0704/gallery.renovations.moneymag/index.html
Good story on what and why they are dumb. And some good alternatives.
I am sure some of you can add to the list.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/real_estate/0704/gallery.renovations.moneymag/index.html
Learn how to plan, fabricate, and install a chute to conveniently send your dirty clothes from an upstairs bathroom or hallway to your laundry room below.
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Replies
The "Great Room" was my first guess! Absolute waste of time, energy, and resources.
Jacuzzi was number two. Surprised it aint up there. I don't know a single client for whom I've installed one, who actually uses it on even a somewhat regular basis.
I hate recessed lighting. I thought that was more of a personal call though.
Decks oughtta be up there. Gimme a patio anyday.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Jaybird,
I totally agree with you regarding Jacuzzi! While I love big bathtubs to soak my weary body in you can stuff all the jets and pumps and potential leaks.
However I do disagree with you regarding great rooms. They do serve a function even if they aren't used every day.. that function is to provide a feeling of expansiveness. A feeling like you really aren't caged in, someplace where your eyes can go beyond 8 feet.
The secondary function is when guests are over it's the expansion room off the kitchen. Too many cooks can spoil the brooth unless they can visit and yet remain outside the kitchen..
Right now my great room is a staging area for construction.. it allows me to have ready access to tools and materials without having them underfoot.
Later when the house is finished it will serve several functions as I've mentioned plus if I figure out a way to make the dining table moveable my wife and I intend to use it as a dance hall. She loves to dance (as does my oldest daughter) and I'd like to humor her..
Actually I've nothing against "great rooms" as rooms used as you describe.
I'm talking more about the obnoxious, and obligatory, oversized, cathedral ceilinged, heating and cooling wastes of gigantic windows without views, smacked on to the rear of a Cape.
The room you desrcibe is our faminly room. A place to kick back, read a book, watch a movie, listen to music, contain kitchen snooping guests, etc. Its our most used room in the house.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
I've seen too many of those as well, big for the sake of being big, absolute waste. Both my loft and house tend to incorporate kitchen/dining and living all in one. Much more practical and efficient IMO.
I was thinking about unecessary rooms that people put in because houses have always had them. Front parlors seems to have finally gone out of fashion, now that we have funeral homes.
I tried to convince my brother, who is designing a retirement home, that a formal dining room was a lot of floor space and money for something he'd seldom use. He insisted that they entertained a lot and wife had to have it, yadda, yadda, and so I made him several plans that had it. Next thing I know, he's showing me plans he sketched and they don't have the formal dining room. I ask him about it and he says, "Oh, yeah, the wife decided we wouldn't need it--after we're retired, we won't be doing that much entertaining."
I do like Susanka's idea of an "away room" though--just a small quiet space to get away to. Seems like most houses now are always within earshot of a TV set. Most living rooms have a TV, so if you want to talk or read a book, or just look at the fire in the fireplace, you have to contend with the competition the TV provides.
And don't get me started on TV's and especially computers in kids' bedrooms--might as well put in a doggy door for predators!
Maybe you could get/build a dinning table like this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR931mtC3l4&mode=related&search=
Granite.
I had a customer sum it up very simply, she had just gotten Silestone for her bathroom and mentioned it was cheaper than granite and "most people dont know you have to reseal granite like every 6 mos!"
Couldn't disagree more.
Around here those faux stone tops are just as pricey as the real deal....just don't look as nice.
As for sealing every 6 months....nonsense, unless you're running a restaurant out of your kitchen.
Aint sealed mine in the three years since it was originally sealed at installation.
Are they worth the cost?
Dunno.
I'll get back to you in thirty years.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Do you really want to be looking at that same piece of stone 30 years from now?
I dunno. I'll let you know.
25 with the wife. Mornings aint as easy as they once were.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Yeah I do want to look at it. I've never resealed it...don't even think it was "sealed" to begin with. I got Black Pearl 15 years ago and it still looks nice,and every time I see it I feel I made a good choice. Of course now I don't see it as often since my ex got the house...but she still likes it.
Well, im only 37 and I dont have anything from my childhood. What makes you think you're gonna be dragging that rock with you for thirty years?
LOL
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
The garage that ate my home is the one that sticks out for me.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Dumbest fad to me is....{{{{{{{{{{{{{drum roll please}}}}}}}}}}}{
You heard it first here
THE LIVING ROOM!
Out of all the houses I've been in that room seems the least used.
Seems to me the kitchen and the den(which is usually next to the kitchen) are the two most used rooms in the houses besides the bedroom.
Reckon they don't consider the living room a fad, huh?
Oh well.
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I have alays lived most in the living room myself.There is a guy here who bought one pf the big places. It had a nice living room.
The architects had their way and in another location knocked out a wall and made another living room - actually they labeled it a piano room since there was a piano in there. The first living room got labeled great room and never got used for anything again, except gathering for cocktail parties - both of them.
The couple put a TV in the small 16 x 16 library and spent most of their time in that room - not reading.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
We've always used the living room as the dining room.
Troy Sprout
Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it."-- Thomas Sowell
I say bathrooms, who needs them. Get a good old fashioned out house, with a moon cut out on the door. No cleaning, no plumbing, I think it could be a future trend ;-)
I say bathrooms, who needs them. Get a good old fashioned out house, with a moon cut out on the door. No cleaning, no plumbing, I think it could be a future trend ;-) >>>>And before I buy a house I always make sure theres a private place outside I can pee beneath the stars...lol....true!
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Get a good old fashioned out house, with a moon cut out on the door.....
Technically, if you get one with the moon cutout in the door, you'll need another one with stars cutouts in the door.
It's how you tell the difference.
Or you need both cutouts to tell that it's a unisex model.
Support our Troops. Bring them home. Now. And pray that at least some of the buildings in the green zone have flat roofs, with a stairway.
Fond memories of gram and gramps bathroom. They had an out house until I was 19. Kinda miss it.
There's just something about the smell of an old outhouse that you don't find anywhere else. The smell of well aged wood, the smell of old composted poo at the bottom mixing still further with the new. Kinda like her bread yeast mixture she'd kept in a large pan for the last 40 years, still makin bread....
Ya, you don't get memories like that in your new fangled porta johns. They just smell like fresh cherry flavored or cinnamin flavored poo.
Edited 4/27/2007 9:31 am by jagwah
LOL. So true. I though of putting one on my roof here in NYC.
andybuildz,
Aw come on Andy, I use the living room every night. Plop! my carcuss lays down on the sofa, click on comes the sleeping machine sometimes called a television, and soon I'm asleep. Sometime in the short hours of the morning I get up, use the bathroom and crawl under the covers. If I tried to use the bedroom in that function, SWMBO would object to the program I watch or the sound level or something! Usually reminding me that she's got a bus to catch first thing in the AM. The resulting ill will would cause at least a week to go by before there would be any joy in this house..
So the living room serves the very important function of a marriage counciler!
Reckon I like a great room cuz I in fact don't use every room in my house. I like having one room with "almost" everything in it. Whatever floats your boat...ya know? I'm not sure if the "FIVE DUMBEST" things in a house is refering to resale or what I'm supposed to like or not...I like what I like : ) Its like music....if you like it...then its good music....and I can appreciate that in "your" tastes...if it makes you a happy man and in turn you smile...that makes those around you happy...so that makes it "all good"...ya know : )I like cozy... so huge rooms were never a turn on to me...maybe in a shop though. Ya know...depends on where the stars are that day...but for the most part its all in your own Feng Shui...ya know?
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
The "weed smoking room"....oh....it's not a fad yet....but it will be soon...
Yo bro...where you been hiding? Whatcha up to. You in Pa or NJ??
Seems like just yesterday..Next time you wanna hop on the bike and take a trip...make it down this way!!
View Image
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Edited 5/3/2007 9:51 pm ET by andybuildz
The $1,000 renovations made popular by the glue-rice-on-wall designers.
House flipping in 5 days by strong arming low-bid contractors that shouldn't be allowed near a decent home.
Cheap smooth wall finishes. How clients think it should be easier for a level 5 flat finish rather than a wave hiding texture is beyond me.
Cheap light fixtures.
Cheap square additions to an otherwise nice looking house.
Vinyl windows.
R-38 as standard practice in attics.
Personally, I love great rooms that are well thought out, big bathrooms, big kitchens, huge garages, big guest houses and a number of other space wasting goodies.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Personally, I love great rooms that are well thought out<<<
I totally agree! I love "great rooms"! At least the one I just made for myself.
Everything I love all wrapped up in one room. As I said in a previous post...I almost never use my living room or dining room for that matter.
I'm happy in a room with an overstuffed couch. TV, tunes, books, bathroom puter, big library table..etc etc.
I think people see the definition of great rooms differently so here ya go...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_room
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
>>> bathroom puter
Andy, you are one addicted soul
:-)
Why else would they call them GREAT????
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Vinyl anything...
Ya, down with vinyl.
Especially for that beige and blue colors.
be thatgurl should have mentioned that
I have often lodged in their wigwams, and found them as warm as the best English houses." He adds that they were commonly carpeted and lined within with well-wrought embroidered mats, and were furnished with various utensils. The Indians had advanced so far as to regulate the effect of the wind by a mat suspended over the hole in the roof and moved by a string. Such a lodge was in the first instance constructed in a day or two at most, and taken down and put up in a few hours; and every family owned one, or its apartment in one.
Parolee # 53804
Faux finishes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,nuff said
Vessel sinks.They may look gorgeous (or may not), but are very impractical, water ends up on the counter and can't be wiped into the sink.Bill
I actually like vinyl windows. Mine work great and didn't cost an arm and a leg.
I agree with most of that article except for the porches. It's just too useful to have a large covered space on the entryways. Also, in some climates such as the southern US, there is an advantage in keeping the sun and rain away from the windows. I like the old houses in the south that had porches around three sides, called verandas.
I think the dumbest reno and building fad in the last 20 years or so is size. Honest to God, people don't use, much less 'need' the size of house that they build now a days. It's a huge waste of materials and energy and it's inefficient.
I work in some big-azz wealthy places, and a lot of McMansion areas and I see the people,(many times it's just a couple), leave for their high power jobs in the mornings from a 7000sf house where they leave the AC or heat on all day so they can prance in eleven hours later and be comfortable.
Then 90% of the time all they really live in is the kitchen, (which is as big as a 1950's house), the den, and their bedroom.
Then the appendage built onto the house that looks more like an aircraft carrier than a deck is used maybe 5 times during the summer.
They think they need it and it'll make them happy. I've yet to see either.
And no, I don't think downsizing size would make less work for us. It would weed out the hacks, fly-by-nights and crappy houses and that's a good thing.
Bigger bigger more. The Amuurican way!!
I agree!
I'm noticing the houses that are selling in our area right now are the smaller ones. We're in a high tax area with skyrocketing heating and electric bills. Why pay more for space not used?
For the fun of it, I added up last year's expenses on our brick, one-half-duplex and came out with $386/month for heat, light, taxes and insurance. It's +/- 1100 sq. ft.. We use every room every day. I've added a sunroom, a porch, brick patio, built-in library wall, and many other extras throughout our time here. We're not big party throwers nor do we have many overnight guests, so, although we don't have any extra space, we're comfortable. And solvent!
Figured if we ever fell on hard times we didn't want to have to sell our primary residence to bail ourselves out. Our house mortgage was affordable on one salary. We put the extra money saved by having a small mortgage into a waterfront rental here, and later a cottage up North.
Over thirty years this house has gained an average of 8%/yr. in value, about the national norm. While we don't have as much house to sell, we do have the equity in the other properties. There are a few times when we wish we had a bit larger house, but not a McMansion. Better things to do with our resources.
I think as the Boomers retire, the big houses will lose value and the demand for small, well built houses with fancy interiors will increase. There will still be plenty of work for builders. If I were a young carp. I'd be working on my finishing skills.
Edited 4/26/2007 10:01 am ET by oldfred
I agree wholeheartedly on the cheap light fixtures, we went to a "lighting store" in hopes of getting decent stuff, avoiding the big box chinese crap.Same thin metal sharp-edged chinese crap... I laugh about how there are big arguments about this or that being code for wiring, then at the end we stuff a bunch of al stranded wire in a too small fixture with sharp edges that is hanging by the treads of a #8 machine screw!!! ok end of rant.Siting is seems to be another big faux pas now days, just plop em down where ever it's convenient, no thouoght for sun or wind, or grading for that matter, count on a $50 sump pump to protect your 500K investment, that could have been darined for another $100 of sitre work. No really, end of rant. ;)A medium to large guy named Alan, not an ambiguous female....
NOT that there is anything wrong with that.
My top pet peeve, by far, is "supersizing"! Oversized, underbuilt, badly oriented, badly planned, inefficient, pretentious CR#P! Show(off)places are intended simply to bolster the owners self-esteem at everone else's expense, and the idiots are usually still miserable! I live in an area that is well-off and it is like a disease, otherwise pefectly nice people feel they "have" to show their "worth" to be acceptable. Modesty is a dirty word anymore.
#2 is dinky kids bedrooms and humongous master suites. The kids have one room to live, work, play, and sleep. It should be big, airy, with lots of windows - on at lest two sides. It would also help keep all their cr*p out of the rest of the house. Adjoin a playroom for the shared toys and games. Kids should share a large bathroom with lots of storage, so they learn to share. Parents never do anything in their room besides sleep (if you believe the stand-up comics), and those huge granite and gilt bathrooms are freakin COLD! Too much space to be heated to wet-and-nekkid comfort level.
#3 is the whole pseudo-european "ye olde" facade game. four or five materials, not including trim, on a facade. Stone "turrets" and 2 story arched porticos - bleachh! I am a student of midieval history, so I love that look, but if you are going to do it - do it right!!! Reseach Palladio, or Inigo jones, or Christopher Wren, or any of the anonamous builders of the period, don't just slap masonry on any old which way... Besides, at least in the midwest and the south, (and the west and the southwest too) the climate makes these styles horribly uncomfortable as well as silly.
#4 is related, but different. THOU SHALT NOT PUT A MATERIAL ON ONLY ONE FACADE OF A BUILDING!!!! Those places, ofter much more modest, that have brick or stone (or both) only on the front surfaces is cheezy, cheap, visually jarring, and speaks of sloppy thinking. Sometimes it is so bad as to have the returns of any projections on the front to be clad in vinyl with all the "street-facing" surface is brick. It is like combing only the front of your hair or only washing the front of your shirt. Since you inevitably see the corners where the material meets, it is totatly unconvincing. If you cannot afford to have the whole house in brick or stone, then use THE SAME AMOUNT OF BRICK as a water table all the way around the house, or for the walks and drives, or for chimneys, porch colum bases, and foundation coverings. If you alraedy own this type of house, at least paint the siding a dark color to blend better with the masonry...
#5 is just bad, sloppy,who-cares-the-schmucks-will-never-notice design and construction. Sunrooms facing north, noisy plumbing next to or above formal spaces, 3' deep "porches" (on fake colonial houses in places that were wilderness in the 1700") that can't be used for anything but leaf litter and cobwebs,10'square entrys that are 2 story high, all windows in two story spaces that can't be washed or opened, garages that dwarf the house (who uses it to park a car, anyway?), and of course all the cheap, lazy, shortcuts of sloppy construction - hacks are thieves, they devalue us all.
#6 is really #1, but is for the buyers, owners, and general public. They spend more time and energy researching and test driving thier cars than they do in finding, choosing, and/or building the biggest investment in their lives. STUPID! The more you know about how you really live (not what you see in some magazine!), what you (and your kids and pets and hangers-on) need and enjoy, and about basic good design (proportion, progression, flow, noise transmission, light, air qulity, variety and rythym, etc.) the better house (school, office, gas station, corner market, yada...) you will demand and get. That means we will get to build more Fine Homes, and we will have less to complain about here ;)
Lisa,
Always Opinionated
On #6:
I'm not sure people spend less time researching potential homes than potential cars. Think they do it just the same way. Study all the options, qualties and other important stuff.............. then go buy the sexy looking one.
Loved the article and all the additions here. I think there's a couple of underlying factors that lead to this type of misdirection:(1) Most consumers don't have a clue what makes a house better quality. Because they're unschooled and don't bother to research/understand what they find out about anything other than how pretty the countertops are. Not being critical here; it's not their field. But they can learn more than they think. (Yeah, sometimes just enough to be dangerous, too.) (2) Most consumers don't have a clue what they really want in a house. They're lead by peer pressure and by listening to all sorts of "experts" who wave the "but what about resale value" flag at them. They're scared, bullied, unsure of themselves. And thus ripe to get what everybody else gets. Even when they see a new concept, such as the Not So Big House notion Sarah Susanka started, they skim over the top of it. Then they say, "I want pretty wood trim like in her book, and I want it all over my 6000 square feet of excess." Etc, etc. I'd love to see more of this kind of thinking, talking, and media action.
(1) Most consumers don't have a clue what makes a house better quality.
I can't totally agree with that.
Consumers often know what quality is but let "keeping up with the Jones" overrule their common sense and choose "sexy" over "sensible".
Everyone should read "The Millionaire Next Door".
I don't agree that consumers know what quality is. There may be 10% of them that do. But the only really serious talk I ever hear about quality is here on BT.
One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
If you reread my post you'll see I qualified it. Not a set rule either way, but I think consumers know a lot and still let their desire for quantity rule over quality.
We don't have the full knowledge of a dietetitian, yet we know that shakes and fries don't build a quality meal. But what the heck, we like 'em, we want 'em, and we're gonna have 'em.
Of course the average consumer is not as good a judge of construction quality as the average BTer. It's not their job.
I'm guessing we could agree on a percentage somewhere between "very few" and "most".
ROFL! Such an outburst! This coming from guys who would insist on the God-given right to drive a POS American truck as long as it has the dualies, hemi, chrome grill, MP3 player, and mag wheels that make you feel 'special'. YOu guys talk about projecting a good "image" for your business and carp about extra gas burners? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.....
??????????
Irony isn't your forte', eh?
Huh?....
You don't see any irony in all these folks who glory in their McTrucks poking fun at the McMansions? Oh, well....
No shortage of oversized houses, trucks, and egos...the egos came first.Many carpenters (and others) do think bigger is better. Choosing a work vehicle most opt for a pickup truck and trailer when, while less cool, a van practically melds the two. I have resisted the temptation of full-sized vans and manage to run my trim business effeciently out of a minivan. I figure the lumberyards have big trucks, so they can do the lumber hauling. This is not always practical; today, I will end up unloading a few tools, so I can go get a few sheets of plywood for a bookcase project. The tools need to be unloaded anyway. My little van means I have to plan things out more.I have also been sharing a trailer (for cabinet deliveries, etc. with a landcape guy), but don't want to drag a trailer along on a regular basis.Someday I may move up to a Sprinter (for the room and better mileage than a minivan).We don't all drive monster trucks. My painter drives a step-van, but leaves it on-site and commutes and runs errands on his moped (he is from Wales, talks funny, and eats sprout sandwiches for lunch too). All the guys with big pickups know, "He ain't from around here."
Your painter sounds like a fun boy! I had a Welsh sweetie who drove a Deux Chevaux van, the lunchbox with wiper blades. I kept trying to get him to convert it to a coffee cart to take to art fairs, hinging the side windows would make cute serving counters. I might possibly have been dreaming about dressing as a French serving wench and putting on an accent too.Not everyone drives a monster truck, just like not everyone owns a McMansion. I do find it funny that the topic of other people's ostentatiousness would draw such fire from a group known to cherish its self-image rendered in steel and towing capacity. I've never seen a VW ad in FHB magazine, ya know? I just grabbed a FHB out of the rack (11/97) and opened to a page featuring the Dodge Ram: "More power, torque, towing, payload and [great!] room"...and it's red! ;^)
>>> ... the topic of other people's ostentatiousness would draw such fire from a group known to cherish its self-image rendered in steel and towing capacity.
Touche!
Dammit Splinte, I was with ya until you threw this out; and it's red!
I just bought a new, well new to me, truck today and it's RED.
I feel so guilty. I wanted white but as the Stones sing it, you cant always get whatcha want!
Doug
If you're going on a guilt trip, i think you can make better time in a red truck. <G>
I just grabbed a FHB out of the rack (11/97) and opened to a page featuring the Dodge Ram
From '97? Damn thing aint even got a hemi.
Ifn yer gonna bust on us, ya need to keep more current with your issues on hand.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
I tend to agree with you.I happen to have some pretty discerning customers that often challenge me to better myself, but amoung the retiorees who move here having haad several houses in their lives, I often hear the comment "Wow! I've never seen this kind of good work go into a home before"
And that often in jobs we might consider bottom of the line.
They can recognize the quality when they see it but they had been conditioned to accepting far less all their lives.When I travel and visit, I am often appaled at some places with large rooms but crappy trim and seethrough paint
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Most consumers don't have a clue what makes a house better quality.
This is absolutely true -- and not just true about houses. And the shame is that American society has got to the point where we rely on statements from "knowing sources" (that are probable an arm of the seller, though disguised.
Throughout the nineties, we all saw the comeercials that stated that certain cars did really well in the "J.D.Power and Associates Survey of Initial Automotive Quality".
If you read the small print, that survey had nothing to do with the number of defects or problems. It was a measure of how many features (cupholders and charger plugs) were there.
And with taht in mind, all of those poorly built McMansions would score very highly on such a survey.
Support our Troops. Bring them home. Now. And pray that at least some of the buildings in the green zone have flat roofs, with a stairway.
Edited 4/27/2007 9:12 am ET by YesMaam27577
Wow, I thought I had strong opinions!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
#6 is really #1, but is for the buyers, owners, and general public. They spend more time and energy researching and test driving thier cars than they do in finding, choosing, and/or building the biggest investment in their lives. STUPID!
Testify, Sister, Testify!
I've had a recent change of understanding about "common people" and design. I think it goes back to apartments and other rental properties.
Just about everyone soldiers on in some form of rental until they can buy (those that will buy, that is). The overall rent price is what drives the selection of property vice b/b & location. As a result, folks tend to live in the cheapest examples of what "works." So, they could be in a nicer 2/1.5; but this junker is a 2/2 in a 'better' neighborhood for $56 less per month or some such.
That's life. Those "cheaper" rentals are also the ones most likely to have the dumb "quirky" plans, too. Things like long skinny rectangles for rooms, or dinky spaces for tables and such, or "eye catching features" like closets--that look good in the model, but really have bugabear features like 1-6 doors and only being 10" deep or the like.
So, you scrimp and save to get out of that sort of design dementia. Oh, look, a brand new tract subdivision. Lookit the size of these rooms! Wow, brick, stone, it all looks so good (especially coming from the haphazard maintenance/upkeep in high-density housing)--woohoo!
These folk often have nagging thoughts about the "formal living room" and the "formal dining" room in these tract wonders; but they do not have the "design vocabulary" to express what is bothering them. After all, this model has adining room and a breakfast area--twice what their apartment has, how could that be bad?
So, I'm starting to fear that part of the answer may be in better designed high-denisty housing--which is near oxy-moronic. High-density clients are stingier than just about any other client in the biz, all too often (there are exceptions, but they are as common as full solar eclipses).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Good post. Wow, someone who knows about Inigo Jones. You ever read The Dramatic Imagination?Where you been hiding?
#2 is dinky kids bedrooms and humongous master suites.
Amen!! The message this gives the kids can't be good.
Kathleen
"Amen!! The message this gives the kids can't be good."
What if the message is "Work hard and maybe you too will have a nice bedroom some day. Until then, deal with it. You're just a kid.". I don't like tv's and computers in kid's bedrooms and we have nice spaces for the family to be together. I don't believe children and parents are equals. I had a tiny bedroom growing up and I was happy and well adjusted. I have a nice master bedroom now and I use every square inch of it. Having said all this, I do agree in proper proportions in any design so there is a balance. But doing it for the message it sends to the kids? I don't think so.
Edited 4/26/2007 5:43 pm ET by Mojo
lisa.. good to see your face around..
is there an interesting story in your absense ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
spend more time and energy researching and test driving thier cars than they do in finding, choosing, and/or building the biggest investment in their lives.<<<Sorry...I adamantly disagree.
The answer to your statement above would be marriage.
If people spent as much time getting into one than it takes getting out of one more research would go into it.
There's an awful lot of facades that go into new love...lol.The rest...I agree .http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Edited 4/26/2007 9:30 pm ET by andybuildz
I'm not sure if I understand. Are you saying that the biggest investment of our lives is marriage and that most people spend a lot of time researching before they make that investment?
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No...I'm saying people don't spend the tme it takes to learn about marrage,
If it were reversed...if they made it as hard to "get married" as they do to "get divorced" maybe there'd be a lower divorce rate.
Its the same with buying houses..........or anything with a facade.
Yopu realy need to see below the surface...like a quote I have in my web site " The secret to Zen in TWO words is, NOT ALWAYS SO".
Its about pre concieved notions and whats beneath the surface.
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
It would seem this thread struck a nerve. I am constantly showing people the Taunton idea books and Sarah Susanka's offerings.
Wow, you took the words (well many of them anyways) right out of my mouth.edit: I might add LeDoux to your list also.
Edited 4/27/2007 7:42 am ET by TGNY
Lisa,
I strongly agree with your posting. The time spent in designing a home is well worth the effort. We designed our entire vacation house after a huge amount of research and after going through a major renovation to our home. It is mostly based upon Susanka's Not So Big House series, as well as lots and lots of Fine Homebuilding articles and special issues. We designed a home to be lived in, not to impress. That's Susanka's take-home message. If you like to cook (and both my wife and I cook alot), design a WORKING kitchen. Have enough space between counter and island, have enough counter space, use pullouts rather than cabinets with deep shelves where stuff gets lost...
Also, spend the bucks on stuff that counts. We used blown-in cellulose insulation and the place is tight as a drum. Radiant heat throughout, ditra under the tile floors, floating wood floors elsewhere, Kerdi in the showers. One problem that the "tight-as-a-drum" caused..As the house was drying out on its first heating (heating came up in late fall/early winter in northern NH), the windows sweat in a big way. Therefore, the wood trim was always wet and could not get a coat of polyurethane. They therefore got stained and that'll be alot of work to sand and re-finish.
We really enjoy spending time in this house. It is a rental property when we are not there, and we have received lots of compliments from renters. So the time spent in design was worth it.
Johnny
I absolutely agree with just about everything said here. In my previous life I wrote for the decorating/design mags, and saw more dumbass, sadly misled, criminally stupid home design than should be allowed by law. As writers, editors, and photographers, we all tried our damnedest to select the best, and to do some basic educating about design - problem is, our advertisers (who pay the bills and call the shots) were far more interested in showing people how much money could spend -- and not wisely. My pet hate-on was for the decorating trends - one year stencilled ducks are all the rage, the next year it's ye olde Englishe Countrye, with faded chintz and and corgis nipping at your heels. Worst of the bunch was the late, unlamented Santa Fe look -- believe me, there's nothing quite so silly looking as a plaster kiva set against a pastel pink and green wall in January in Toronto! Kitchens! Kitchens were the bane of my existence. As a serious cook myself, it actually hurt to see all these high-end, professional-quality appliances and granite counters in homes where the most serious cooking that went on involved defrosting. LoML designed and built his home and there are design mistakes - mostly arising from over-enthusiasm. But in general, the house is warm, comfortable, and welcoming. We actually use every room, and every inch of every room. The kitchen is to die for, because he is a very serious cook, and planned it himself, for the way he cooks -- not for what looks good in photographs. As a result, it is a joy to use. The two of us can work together without getting into each other's way, and guests can cluster at one end, within conversational range, but well out of reach of flying grease, or hot pots. All six burners on the industrial-strenghth range get used. Both wall ovens come into play just about every day. The stainless steel counters are a godsend, especially when you're unloading a huge, heavy bain marie loaded with creme brulee from the oven.The problem is that most people don't get to design their own space, and most housing developments are driven by the geniuses in the marketing department, not by anyone who actually knows anything about design. In our neighbourhood, tract housing is springing up like mushrooms in a cow pasture. These are cheaply-built little boxes, but they're not inexpensive. $400,000 +/- gets you a bunch of knocked-together, badly-sited rooms that have no real thought to how they function, or what the flow should be. But the kitchens look good - the best (if minimal) glass-fronted cabinets Ikea can provide, and all the appliances are clad in stainless. All the kitchens have islands, whether they're needed or not. And all the bathrooms have multi-jetted tubs, and glass shower enclosures, so I guess that counts for something. Oh, and they all have "in-law suites" (aka mortgage helpers) in the basement - no windows, but what the hell, who needs natural light? Sigh -- it's sad, but evidently there is a market out there.
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
George Orwell, 1984
no windows, but what the hell, who needs natural light?
Or, to escape in case of a fire! Good post--lots of good points, especially about building things not suited for their environment. The Santa Fe look in Toronto was a good example. LOL
It's even worse out here on the Wet Coast. Nothing looks sadder than stuccoin
pastel colours meant for dry desert heat covered in mildew. This is really one of my hot buttons. I see it all the time - faux chateaus with absolutely no sense of scale, no context, no meaning whatsoever, with gewgaws and gargoyles stuck all over them, pseudo-Palladian windows in the cheapest, ugliest aluminum framing Home Depot can provide, "great" rooms with 14' ceilings - not quite high enough to be grand, just high enough to be pretentious, and too high to clean the damn windows. Aaarrgghhh! What really gets me is that I don't believe for a moment that good design costs anything more than bad design, or that nice colours cost any more than ugly colours.
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
George Orwell, 1984
Nothing looks sadder than
Well, that, because of the tract builders, likely happens all over.
That snow-shedding 10/12 or 12/12 pitched roof here in Central Texas always looks dumb to me. Especially on a single-story house that will never, ever, but never get a habitable "attic." Just ever so "dumb" to see 10' plate height single story's with 18 or 19' top plate-to-ridge heights. Not at all green, either--that ballooned up attic is often 125, 135, 150% the volume of the house under it, all to store huge volumes of air heated to almost twice ambient, through which all the R6 or R7 ductwork runs, and only a marginal R30 insulation coating floating on the ceiling keeps away from habitated space . . .
That old idea of regional design is really not so bad. Too bad it would be too much effort for tract builders to actually respond to local conditions, rather than to cheapest plan the design people have knocked out in the office. Ski chalet on the prairie; Salt Box & Capes in the desert; prairie-style in rain country; what ever the other big builder does, one supposes.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Any chance you could show us a floor plan of your kitchen?
I don't have a floor plan handy, but can scare up some photos in a little while.
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
George Orwell, 1984
Got any pics of that house you could show us?
Here are a few I posted at cooks talk. Let me know if you want others.
Johnny
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-cookstalk/messages?msg=33765.60
Funny how that thread went back n forth between mad cow diease and your house.
DW and I went into some $500 to 600,000 open houses a couple of weeks ago.
Here in Plano, TX, all of the lots are about the same size of 80 to 100 feet by 120.
One house was 5,000 sq ft with huge living room with 2 story window wall. I guess it would be ok if it wasn't for the fact it faces the neighbors solid brick wall. One benefit is the hot TX sun won't get to them. Here in Plano, they stack 'em close. The other noticeable ugliness is the houses are very close to the street- not much front yard.
Every home had the large TV room with projection units on the ceiling. Very nice.
One whole high end addition has the round turrets on the front with stone that wraps around the side and then turns into brick. UGLY.
They also put pools in that are really small since the house takes up all of the space.
Pete
Here in Plano, they stack 'em close. The other noticeable ugliness is the houses are very close to the street- not much front yard.
Scary how a half-million dollars in Plano barely buys enough lawn any more to need more than a weed-eater to mow--which does not stop the Hank Hill wannabes from using a Cub Cadet . . .
The pool situation does and does not make sense to me. Only having 13 square inches of lawn, but with a sprinkler system, I'm not quite "with." But, given that the side yards are only 5' wide, you have to put the pool in first, or never at all . . . that, I get. (Pool heaters, on the other hand--classic case where the water 'ought' to be mandated to be used to help heat & cool the house; but I'm a curmudgeon that way.)Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Yes, that's a good one considering the 10-foot setbacks for big houses sited on tiny lots. Houses where I live average $250K, so a $700K house is considered "high-end". We have a development where a builder put in a 2nd story patio deck on a 3500 SF, $750K house so the owners could stretch out and enjoy a view that's above the level of the small lots and their backyard fences. Along comes builder #2 who decides "Hey that's a great idea!", and proceeds to build his mini-mansion with a 2nd story patio facing the first. They are literally only 25 feet apart.So now the new owners of both houses can sit on their elevated patios, cook Allen Brothers burgers and contemplate putting up a privacy fence...
I see that around here all the time and I just don't get it because 15 miles down the road you can get 10-15 acres for $300K. I'd take a 1,500 sq/ft house on 10 acres over that mess any day.
those are all fads that have been around for awhile
The kitchens always get me. Local Parade of Homes shows always feature these spaces right out in the open, with some silly developer touting how they're 'great for entertaining.'
What's entertaining is imagining a homeowner shoving pizza boxes and dirty lasagna pans in with the clean dishes whenever someone rings the doorbell.
with some silly developer touting how they're 'great for entertaining.'
Well, they are and are not (largely due to how well the kitchen design is carried out).
Now, for me, given how I entertain, and who I entertain, I need a kitchen in which either 1, or 5, people are cooking, and at least that number spectating. (And that condition is redoubled if relatives are involved.) That's me and mine, too--not all are the same.
Pizza boxes & lasagne dishes? Back to better design (for those few times when from-the-box, or from the dish, is not the serving plan, then storage is wanted, or better scheduling).
Gets back to my semi-hypothesis on apartment dweling--hard to "do" formal dining in most apartments, so, there's no basis for practicing any, 'cept at the relatives, and that's on card tables all over the house anyway . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
My neighbor has a two story home. Last summer he wanted more light on the bottom floor kitchen/living room space so he added more windows. One small problem, the whole side of the house on the bottom floor, a load bearing shear wall is now window area on the ground level. The entire second floor is being held up by the end walls and two 4 x 4 posts between adjacent windows and glass slider rear entry. We're talking a distance of about 55 feet here. Nothing has happened YET, but I'm waiting for the next California shaker to come along just to see if it remains standing. I debated telling him of the mistake but decided it's not my place or business to do so.
One of my biggest pet peeves is that I can pay $500,000 for a house and only get a 1 year warranty. You may not find out there is a foundation problem until a few years has passed. There use to be a group that offered 10 year warranties. However, they went out of business because of a lot of poorly built homes in the 80's.
Formal Dinning rooms and excessively large homes. I once knew a gentleman that built a 5000 sq ft 1 bedroom home.
I think that well made vinyl windows have a place in todays homes. Not everyone can afford Pella or Marvin windows.
One last comment concerning do diligence for home buyers, it would be nice to research homes. Around here the big builders don't always use the same crews to build their homes. So while one home may be built well another one next door may be poorly constructed. Thousands of homes in Texas were built by Fox-n-Jacobs. Do I need to say more.....
Just my 2 cents .....
Can you name a "Well made vinyl window"?
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PiffinI certainly can.....I've CertainTeed low-e in my home. They came with a lifetime warranty. Cost me $350 per window installed. When I got an estimate from the locals for Anderson, Marvin, and Pella the range was $500 to $700 per window installed. None of my windows were a standard size (Fox-n-Jacob Home)and all had to be custom. This wasn't a problem for vinyl.I've had them for over 10 years and they're still in very good shape. Made a big difference in my home's looks and helped with the cooling bills.My uncle put them in his house over 20 years ago and has had no problems with them. I guess it's like everything else, you get what you pay for.Just my 2 cents .....
Thank you. I wonder what they would cost now...Are they casements or dblhung?
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Another renovation fad-nomena they missed...paneling. I admit that I put up quite a few sheets of that stuff. It was very popular and I had to earn a living.
Yeah, paneling is fun stuff--several years ago, everyone had to have it. Now, many people who had it (and, of course, they bought the cheapest (and usually darkest)crap they could get) are tired of it and want painted walls, so I do quite a bit of tearing the old panelling out and putting up drywall.
Then again, a friend just showed me the new paneling he is putting up in his den--but he is a woodworker and is doing it all himself and is using quality wood (cherry). He was telling me that some other often-used wood-veneerd plywood was hard to get and more expensive than cherry--don't remember if it was oak, birch or walnut--I, myself, like birch about the best).
Oh, and now wainscoating is a fad. Usually the cheapest crap they can get, but nowadays they seem to like lighter colors or painted.
PiffinThey're Dbl-Hung and Slider. I believe 1/2 inch gap between panes.Makes the house a lot quieter than original single pane aluminum windows that came with the house.
Easy to understand your rating if AL is all you have to comopare to.Vinyl does better in the sliders and Dblhung but poorly in Casemnts and awnings
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PffinI had several groups come out and give me their spiel. I didn't want all AL windows even though several of the groups recommended them (@ $550 a pop). I wasn't too impressed with my options. However, that was a little over 10 years ago. There were not a lot of options for Low-E. There are a lot more choices today.
Piffin,
I've used Certainteed vinyl double-hungs about five times in as many years. I was impressed with the ease of operation (counterbalance mechanism is well-designed and well calibrated).
As I recall, there are two product lines; the ones I used were from the Bryn Mawr line, and seemed to be a bit better in quality than the "base" product.
My two cents.
Thanks. I don't typicaly use them, but know the time will come when I need to sooner or later.
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Piffin,Window types and materials are also driven by regional differences, like everything else in homes. Case in point. I started my profession in Colorado and looked down my nose at vinyl windows. Why? Because they fail in the high altitude sunshine. Good aluminum-clad wood windows are the standard of excellence in the high country.At 40 I moved to the southern California coast and bought an older home with an assortment of single pane windows made from aluminum. The salt air destroys exposed metal, and the termites feast on wood. Guess what? I selected vinyl windows to replace the old ones, one or two at a time. They are wonderful, and affordable. I use the Windowmaster 800 series rolling windows, now a part of Jeld-Wen. The IGU's are full 1" thickness, and all exposed hardware is 316 stainless steel. They stop the freeway noise pretty well, too. All sorts of glass options are available, and vinyl lasts very well in our local environment.I have one casement, in our shower, and it has the laminated glass for safety and for sound isolation, plus the stainless casement hardware. Expensive! But the rolling windows are reasonably priced for what you get.Bill
1. McMansions: architectural nightmares, pure and simple. Example: my BIL bought one for his certifiable ex-wife - 7000+ sq.ft of cheap, oversized, poorly finished interior space; Big Box lighting and plpumbing fixtures, flimsy luan doors, vinyl windows...you get the picture. When the housing market slipped here in the DC area he was forced to sell short... to the tune of 110K out of pocket - OUCH!
2. Supersized open kitchens, with miles of granite counter space, multiple sinks/pot fillers, and six-burner, dual-fuel/grill/griddle/twin oven ranges with thermonuclear BTU levels...usually for people whose idea of cooking is a microewaved Hot Pocket and couldn't make a pot of tea without burning down the neighborhood... much less prepare a gourmet meal.
3. Cheesey faux-European design that tries to convince status-obcessed homebuyers that a brick veneered box with a hip roof, a vinyl arched window, over an equally hedious, vinyl wood-grain look, Victorian entry door (yeah, complete with the obligatory floral-etched oval light ) somehow constitutes a French Chateau.
4. Hugh attached garages stuck onto the exterior of the house, and festooned with windows, flower boxes and carriage lamps to make the overall house appear larger thah it really is.
5. Ill-designed, poorly thought-out, and ultimately wasted interior space that produces supersized, unusuable rooms utterly lacking in intimacy, human scale, proportion, balance or style.
Le Corbusier
>>2. Supersized open kitchens, with miles of granite counter space, multiple sinks/pot fillers, and six-burner, dual-fuel/grill/griddle/twin oven ranges with thermonuclear BTU levels...usually for people whose idea of cooking is a microewaved Hot Pocket and couldn't make a pot of tea without burning down the neighborhood... much less prepare a gourmet meal.<<
This type of comment gets me! We have a 6 burner high output range with griddle, and at least 4 nights a week more than four are going at once. The griddle gets used at least once a week, usually more. DW and I are serious about cooking, and use that pot filler every day. We make gallons of stock at a time, several times a month....
The thread is about dumb renovation fads, and I agree with most of what's been written; but when we renovated our kitchen into the "supersize" model, it was with the purpose of creating a great kitchen that we could do the type of cooking we like in. Hot Pockets do not make it in our driveway, much less into the house!
=====Zippy=====
You're the exception.
I agree with Steve, there are a few folks who actually build bigger and use it, and you obviously are of that crowd. Actually, I too cook a lot and would love to one day own a commercial 6 burner. I used to cook in restaurants and there's nothing like them.
Zippy,You are one of the exceptions, the minority who really cook. More power to you! Most trophy kitchens are sold to people who are compensating with money for a lack of "hearthside living."Bill
Some of those hot pockets are tastey!
But I just have an old avacado electric range. Even so, sometimes all 4 burners are on.
Enjoy....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUVmSBGyKm0
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Yeah, I like Nascar too. Pretty funny stuff there.
Zip.....you'd be the exception to the rule.
Far more high end kitchens out there then chefs.
Viking ranges are all the rage in these parts....second only to french restaurants.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
My comment wasn't meant for folks like you Zippy who actually need and use a mega-range. Our kitchen has a six burner Thermador, with a grill (alas,no griddle, but we do have a pot filler), and a hood that could double as a wind tunnel for Lockheed-Martin. The granite counters were a necessity with all the hot dishes we crank out. Our families are over our house 3-4 times a month and at holidays, especially Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years we can have upward of 40 people, so the range and dual ovens get a workout.
Yes, the query was about renovation fads, and my observations were not intended to slight a fellow gourmet. My DW and I love to cook as well. However, I'm sorry to say I know of way too many people who have professional-grade stoves sitting in their kitchen just because the saw Emeril, Bobby Flay or Tyler Florence using one on the Food Network. The truth is, most people don't need a high-end professional equipment. A standard-sized, good quality appliance is sufficient. In your case it isn't about buying into a fad, it's about having the right kind of professional quality equipment.
And that Hot Pocket @#$! dosen't do it for us either.
Steve
Granite countertops, formal dining rooms (unles the people do a lot of entertaining under "formal" conditions), showers that use as much water per minute as Niagara Falls, master bedroom suites that could house a normal family of four, garages that are as big as the houses they hide, oak floors and trim because it's "in".
How about the roofs that look like they were designed by a computer with no logic to placement of gables, dormers etc.
"Smart houses" that outsmart me, and possibly their owners. Lighting control systems that belong at the stage of a live theatre. Esp. the insistence on dimmers in the kitchen. The whole country and the kids, too, are getting so fat that we need to stay out of the kitchen--not make it an enticing hangout with mood lighting.
A change of wall color in every room. It lays the foundation for overly decorated houses rather than comfortable living spaces. Takes me back to my childhood in the fifties: our LR/DR was gray; one BR was dark green; one was deep rose. We couldn't wait to break outside.
What you said about overly complex lighting was good. We recently remodeled a kitchen and added all sorts of recessed lights (another thing I generally dislike because they "waste" light and the heat goes into the ceiling) and pendant lights (one of which turned out to be in the way when one cupboard door was opened and had to be moved), and lights in and under the cabinets--all on separate, sometimes three-way switches. But it made for a lot of work for us and that means money.
That reminded me of another peeve--customers who get ideas from all sorts of magazines and then they try to cram a hundred different and sometimes conflicting design/decorative features into one small kitchen. Several houses we've worked on ended up looking very busy--like a crazy quilt with all the various features. Often, in a magazine, there is one feature that draws attention to it and is a nice accent to the design, but when you shove a couple dozen of such attention demanding features into one small space, it becomes disturbing.
Hear, hear. How, for instance with lighting, does this nonsense happen? In production building maybe there's less planning, but I see certified kitchen designers do it all the time. Leads me to think that one good grandma should be designing the lighting. But homeowners get seduced into the notion that they must have their lighting done by a "specialist." Whereas, grandma would've called BS on most of it as soon as she saw how it was set up.In fact, maybe all these specialists. Have to think that profit motives and laziness drive a huge amount of "design" of all types.
No way this thread is gonna die at 99. It's just too ripe for pluckin' and has to go over 100.
So, here's that boost: McMansions here, with all the pretentious, useless multiple gables and geegaws, and they routinely have cheap windows that need replacing in a few years.
I'm with what Rich Trethewey at TOH said when he started to build his own new house. Maybe a paraphrase here: "I don't need granite countertops; I'm putting my money behind the walls."
Unfortunately, most consumers don't know about what goes behind the walls. And that ignorance is being fed by production builders who have started marketing themselves as "custom" builders in subdivisions of "custom" homes. When your choices as basically wall color, appliances, flooring, etc., since when is that "custom"? It annoys the heck out of me.
Buyers aren't offered the custom behind-the-wall options because they aren't available from these new "custom" (production) builders. It's too expensive to offer those options when you're doing production building. So, you don't mention them and no one gets them and more confusion mounts!
You hit a nerve with me on the subject of cheap windows. It should be ileagle to make windows that last less than 20 yrs. Hell even 50 yrs is not asking to much considering that old wood windows can go 100-200 yrs with a little TLC.People in in the EU do not understand why Americans put roof shingles on a building that will only last 15-20 yrs.
"Pictures" of fireplaces glued on the walls.In this area you can get new construction starter homes for $140-160k. And very nice move up homes for $250-300k.A couple of years ago I went to look at a $695k house that was Midwest Magazines cover home of the year.I went to look at it because of the Craftsman details.Anyway it had 5 gas fire places that looked like pictures glued to the walls. No surrounds, no hearths. Did not open to make it look like a fireplace.BTW, it also had $19.95 bathroom fans that sounded like they where over priced at $19.95.
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Sell the Sizzle, not the Steak
I still contend that consumers know more than we give them credit for, just opt to put their money where it shows.
We've become more mobile as a nation. Not sure of the current figures, but each generation changes jobs more frequently than the previous one . Often, the best way to move upward is to change jobs. The McMansion buyers exemplify this. This means housing today is temporary.
So people can now rationalize that they should buy, or renovate, with resale value in mind, i.e. what's popular, not necessarily practical. We have TV shows dedicated to preparing homes for resale.
The flip side of the 5 dumbest reno. fads is the deluge of articles written about the best returns on renovations.
We tend to change by crisis. Watch what becomes a fad when we get a real energy crisis.
We have TV shows dedicated to preparing homes for resale.
May be all that applies to some house out there, too; "lipstick 'n' paint, make'r what she ain't."
It coming up on 15-20 years agog for the subdivisions cranked out by a builder which is a division of Gulf Oil. Going to be some shocked folks in thouse subdivisions, when they find out that they only have 15 year shingles, and so many hanging valleys & ridges as to many a "real" roof out of reach. That the hvac plants in the attics are about worn out from running in uninsulated spaces 180, 190, 200+ days per year (that would be 130-140º uninsulated attics, cooling only to the 80s-90s at night). More than 2/3 of those stick built wonders have WH in the attic, too (a good third are electric rather than NG, and already lie, abandoned, in the attic they can't be removed from). Getting close to time where the slab-on-grade foundations ought to be finally beating up PVC drain lines, or wearing through copper supplies, too.
"Here, look, we'll paint the formal dining room and it will Filp for big bucks! Promise! It's easy, that's why I'm on tv, and you're not . . . " Right.
I already know of a couple of these burkes stuck on the market, unsold, upside down; doomed with a decent home inspection "on the record." One will probably be foreclosed upon, just to finish the divorce procedings. It's best renovation would be to be sent to a landfill--but that won't happen.
Luckily, Texas has a vast inventory of existing houses of known quantity--they will always support some form of quality renovation. There are decent houses being built, too; they are not all junk. But, I'm frightened that the perceptions are driven by the subdivisions of junk that do exist. One after another, started ten the block in winter, and 20 the block in summer.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Google on to "Neighborhood life cycles" for some interesting articles on those problems.
I've seen the term I think three times now. What is a 'geegaw'?
What is a 'geegaw'?
gewgawOne entry found for gewgaw.
Main Entry: gew·gaw View ImagePronunciation: 'g(y)ü-(")goVariant(s): also gee·gaw /'jE-, 'gE-/Function: nounEtymology: origin unknown: a showy trifle : BAUBLE, TRINKET
SamT
Praise the Corporation, for the Corporations' highest concern is the well being of the public.