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The following questions are a sampling of the kind we get asked
all the time. To learn more about these topics, or any others you
have in mind, call us today at 651-227-7061 or send
us an e-mail message.
Should We Remodel, or
Should We Move?
This is the first big question many people ask. While there’s
no hard, firm answer to this question, a few hours of research should
suggest the costs of remodeling vs. buying another house. North Star
does not charge for a first consultation and rough estimate, and you
can probably figure out your house’s approximate value by searching
recent real-estate sales figures in your area. Consult a local realtor,
on look up the figures on web sites like Domania
and Yahoo!
Real Estate. Maybe there aren’t many houses on the market
in the community where you live, or where you’d like to live.
Maybe they aren’t very affordable. Houses in outlying areas may
lack the churches, schools and other amenities that you’re comfortable
with. If so, remodeling may be the best choice by default.
Why Do People Remodel
in the First Place?
It would take a whole book to answer this question. (Search
on Amazon.com to find some of the books that are on the market.)
A new space can help us relax, for one. It can fill us with new
energy, purpose and pride. It can make our home our very own, adapted
to our unique lifestyle. Then, to put the answer in more practical
terms, remodeling is often prompted by such factors as:
- The need for more space, as when a new child comes along.
- The desire to adapt old space to new uses, for example, by converting
a very small bedroom into a very big walk-in closet.
- The feeling that now we can afford to indulge ourselves and
we deserve it, as when empty nesters create luxury bathrooms,
with whirlpool, heated stone floors and upscale fixtures.
- Deciding that our house is configured wrong for the social uses
it requires, which is why a small, dark kitchen might be expanded
and transformed into a gourmet kitchen and social meeting place.
- A natural desire to bring more of the outdoors indoors through
such additions as sunrooms, porches, windows and skylights.
Some of these changes may be connected to the various life stages
we go through. Others are perhaps inscrutable!
What Will Be the Return
on Our Investment?
The ROI may not be the primary reason you remodel, yet you can use
and enjoy your remodeled or add-on space and still recoup much or
all of your investment. Different studies give different results,
but most agree that your return will depend on factors like where
your house is located, its all-around condition and the quality
of the remodeling work. An annual
survey conducted by Remodeling magazine suggests that minor
kitchen remodels return the highest value of all project types,
about 87% on average nationally; major kitchen remodels return 80%;
and bath remodels about the same. In hot real estate markets, the
returns can be considerably higher. Other good investments, especially
in older homes, include family rooms, garden rooms, and small-room
expansions. Experts warn against investing too much money in idiosyncratic
lifestyle remodels (remember Dudley Moore’s disco-bedroom in
the movie Foul Play?).
What Exactly Can a
Professional Do for Us?
Building something new or adding on are not necessarily simple.
An expert in the field will see things that you can’t, and
be prepared to help you save money and trouble during the course
of your project. At the start, a good designer will help you come
up with all sorts of ideas for planning your ideal space and making
it fit your budget. He can help you specify the right product, and
our builders will make sure it works in your space. When you remodel,
you’re really buying not just a finished product but also a
process. Experts can help guide you through the intricacies of this
process.
What Kind of Materials
Do I Need in Order to Do the Project Right?
Selecting the right materials and products for your needs can be
a painstaking process. But a good design/build company can help
a lot in identifying materials on the market, evaluating them and
making a final choice within your budget. Also, design/build experts
know what the trends are, what good taste is and what things go
with what. They can also help, as you look through products
and materials, in distinguishing the things that you need from
the things that you desire.
What’s the Relation
of Function and Form in a Remodeling Project?
Depending on what your motives are, a remodel can add comfort as
well as function to your home. If you’re after luxury, maybe
in a way you’ve never been, a good designer will help make
sure you’re spending your money wisely and well. He will put
together the materials in a way that makes for an integrated, functioning
and beautiful whole. If you desire function more than luxury, he
can make sure that all the details contribute to this end. Some
would argue it’s impossible to separate form and function.
Can you have one without the other? Of course, luxurious or opulent
forms cost more, but they’re not necessary, or even advisable,
for everyone. Today’s market has a superabundance of excellent
new products for every budget and need.
What are the Current Remodeling
Trends?
- Openness is the rage, according to the pros. Gone are
small, dark, separate spaces. In are expanded and expansive rooms,
gathering places, light-filled rooms.
- Kitchens retain their traditional function as cooking
and cleaning places, of course, but more owners than ever want
kitchens that serve as gathering places. Appliances are being
upgraded, including cooking-show type appliances. Islands are
being added that serve as cooking or food prep spaces, or even
as game playing, TV watching, chattering spaces.
- Bathrooms are looking more and more luxurious. Some of
them even include home entertainment systems and fireplaces. They’re
using more natural materials, including stone. Plumbing fixtures
tend toward the luxury side, too. More and more, this private
space is about letting go.
- Wide-open spaces, too, are in vogue today. They may be
extensions of the kitchen, in fact, so that the cooking, eating,
talking functions are projected into the house as a whole. There’s
more of a connected feeling, plus more flexible use of spaces.
These connections may require the knocking out of walls, or the
moving upward into vaulted ceilings and other vertical places.
- Automation might make sense, especially if you are having
walls opened up, or new rooms added. Why not, in these circumstances,
eliminate cable clutter and upgrade the type of cable you’re
using? The whole house can be integrated and automated, including
phone and cable jack wiring; security system; lighting, heating
and cooling; audio-video equipment, including home theaters, whole-house
speakers and intercoms; satellite equipment; and multiple phone
lines for phones, faxes and computers.
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