After years of living in a tract home, Gilroyan Christine
Hernandez and her husband Al were looking for a change of scenery.
The couple figured they could spruce up their kitchen, sell their
home and invest in a new place, but one look at local real estate
prices quickly changed their minds.
After years of living in a tract home, Gilroyan Christine Hernandez and her husband Al were looking for a change of scenery. The couple figured they could spruce up their kitchen, sell their home and invest in a new place, but one look at local real estate prices quickly changed their minds.
“We decided maybe we should just remodel, so we could get the kitchen we really wanted, but we wouldn’t have to move,” said Christine Hernandez. “The house is 1,700 square feet, but the dining room, front room, kitchen and family room were all separate, so all of them were pretty cramped. We decided to open it all up to make one great room.”
With the help of contractor Curtis McCowan, the Hernandezes created the kitchen – and living space – of their dreams. They poured $60,000 into their kitchen, but despite the heavy price tag attached to the remodel, they’re coming out in the black.
That’s because kitchen investments, although pricey, are also functional improvements that can increase the value of a home. To get the biggest return on an investment that large, there are a few decisions to make, according to local contractors.
Partial kitchen remodeling jobs for this area usually cost $16,000 to $20,000, and larger jobs involving a total gutting of the kitchen can cost $40,000 and up, according to McCowan, owner of A-1 Service and McCowan’s Construction. However, remodeling a kitchen can return 97 to 108 percent of value on a total remodel and 110 or 111 percent on a smaller change, he said.
The amount of money a homeowner decides to spend on his or her kitchen should be dictated, though, on what
a homeowner is planning to do with the property, according to Roger Gish, owner of RW Gish Construction in Morgan Hill.
For a simple resale, Gish recommended giving the cabinets a fresh coat of paint and replacing one or two elements of the kitchen – a chipped sink or a tired-looking dishwasher, for instance.
“With today’s market, where a lot of times you’re going to get multiple offers, I wouldn’t go to the extent of what I’d call remodeling,” said Gish.
For those who do decide to go a bit farther with their kitchen makeovers, cabinets are often the first thing
homeowners decide to change, said McCowan. Rather than pull down existing structures, he suggested homeowners who simply want to refresh the look of their storage space try refacing their cabinets or replacing some cabinet doors with glass centerpieces.
“A cabinet is just a box,” said McCowan. “And you’re better off having a plywood box than a particle-board box. One thing I’ve found people doing that’s a major mistake is they’re taking down solid wood cabinets and sticking in these particle board things they get at Home Depot or Lowe’s or Sears. Sure, they look good on display, but the quality’s not there.”
The only time that full cabinet replacement is a good option, McCowan said, is when a homeowner is gutting
and significantly remodeling his or her kitchen, or if he or she wants a significantly different style of cabinet.
When it is time to replace a cabinet, go custom, said Gish.
“Even low-end modulars are fairly pricey,” said Gish. “You’ll pay through the nose for high-end modular. You’ll pay through the nose for custom, but custom cabinets have advantages. If I’ve got a 9-foot wall, a custom cabinet will come in one piece, which will reduce my man hours for hanging it. A modular may come in four or five pieces, so it’s going to add to the cost. It all is about even in the end.”
Rather than sinking significant amounts of money into cabinetwork, both contractors suggested that homeowners replace worn countertops and flooring to give their cooking spaces new light.
Granite, marble and Korean countertops are all popular replacements for traditional tile counters because they aren’t grouted, said Gish. These materials can also be timeless, neutral additions that will allow homeowners to work in trendy color and style combinations without giving their kitchen a dated feel later on, he said.
To finish off the polished look of a new room, McCowan also suggested refinishing wooden floors or re-flooring the kitchen in a patterned tile.
“Try to stay away from a square pattern,” said McCowan. “Do an offset pattern or a diamond shape in big-sized tiles to really bring some more interest to the area.”
And rather than dropping big money on appliances, said Gish, invest in lighting.
“Light is a major element (in a good remodel),” said Gish. “If the room is too dark, it makes a nice kitchen miserable to work in. If you’ve remodeled your kitchen, and you’ve put some nice tile or granite feature strips in your backsplash, but you don’t have sufficient lighting, it doesn’t show it off. For energy efficiency, you need fluorescent lighting overhead in the kitchen. Then, if it’s big enough, you can put some accent lighting in to really enhance and polish.”
Appliances, while necessary, are lowest on the list of makeover items, said McCowan. If you’re a die-hard chef, consider installing new appliances should you plan to stay in a home for long, but otherwise, don’t worry about it, he said.
“Good-quality appliances are all that’s really important,” said McCowan. “You don’t have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars just to have a Viking stove.”
If you do plan on re-selling in the near future, stick to neutral color tones for appliances such as stainless steel, white and black, said Gish. Otherwise, feel free to experiment with color, and be sure to have fun.
