Review: Home Remodeling Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

[wshaffer]

Home Remodeling Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them: The Definitive and Comprehensive Guide to Successful Home Remodeling Projects! by Duncan Calder Stephens


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm jumping the gun a little bit here - I haven't even managed to buy a house yet, and already I'm researching how to remodel one. Still, it's looking increasingly likely that any house we do buy is going to have something "wrong" with it that we might like to fix if it's within our budget, so it seems like a good idea to be prepared.

I pulled this book almost at random off the library shelves, and it turned out to be almost exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It covers everything from what to look for when reading a bid to how not to drive your spouse crazy during the remodeling project. (That last chapter mostly just made me feel smug about my marriage. But who knows - perhaps my spouse and I will uncover a previously unknown tendency to fight bitterly over kitchen cabinets.) It packs a lot of information into a small space, and is easy and fun to read.

View all my reviews >>

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Jumping the gun is totally normal here. We did a lot more reading and TV watching related to home renovations etc. before we bought one than we have since. Now it is not in any way a pleasant diversion, because we are dealing with it up close.

Other people's marriages apparently suck, lo, mightily. Our realtor turned to us on Day 4 of the Housing Death March and said, "You are all so nice to each other! Most families I deal with would have had at least one fight by now." And we were boggled by the things she said after it, too.

Ah, remodeling

[(Anonymous)]

Oren and I specifically decided never to take on a major home remodel, because we like being married to each other and weren't sure we'd survive the process. I like to think that says less about my marriage and more about how stressful we find the idea of remodeling. At least we know our limits...
Diana

Re: Ah, remodeling

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd definitely be afraid of the effects of a home remodel on my sanity. You're not wrong there. But some of the stories in this book portray couples who have so little in the way of conflict resolution skills or respect for each others' preferences that you wonder how they planned their wedding or bought a house successfully enough to get to the point where they could crack up over a remodeling project.