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| We have an old farm house which wifey and I decided to remodel. As a previous poster mentioned, "good bones" are a must. Our foundation was good, the 2x4 framing was in good shape, as was the exeterior brick siding. We took out all the plaster and lathe, rewired, replumbed w/pex, insulated, new HVAC ductwork, moved/removed interior walls, and also finished off our stand-up attic. We spent a good deal of money, but would have spent a good deal more to build a new house. We hired local Amish to do the work. We lived in a motorhome next to the house from Memorial Day through Labor Day. My guess is that we spent less than half if we had built a new house. We ended up with a very modern home, with the charm of an old house. I still chuckle at the comments made by our assessor when he came through the house. He asked 3 times if we had built on---the answer was "No". I would guess that the "rules" for assessors in our state are such that they can't raise the valuation of a house if it hasn't been added on to. Our assessment dropped by $11K when we were remodeling, and then went back up $11K when we were done.
On the other hand, my folks purchased a neighboring farm. That house was in poor shape structurally (foundations, walls, etc.). It was torn down and they built new. They ended up with a nice home.
A next door neighbor just put new basement walls in his house (an older home in decent shape). They jacked the house up, took out the old walls, put in new poured concrete walls, and set 'er back down. They also put new siding and roof on the house.
All these homes turned out well.
All in all, I would say that your decision will be based upon what you've got to start with, where you want to go and how much money you have.
Good luck. | |
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Building house or remodel questions?
