Just for fun: how often do you think a bathroom or kitchen should be remodeled?

[punkin]

I am addicted to HGTV home buying and remodeling shows. I'm shocked at what some of those people consider dated. I don't think a 20 year old kitchen or bathroom is that dated if it was kept nicely. What do you think?

 

[Christine]

Well, considering I am going on 23 years in my house, I'm with you. I don't actually think I need a remodel; however, it is looking "dated." I suppose if I had tons of money, I'd do it, but a kitchen remodel is REALLY expensive.

 

[aprilgail]

I think 20 years is a good point to remodel- my kitchen is 10 years old and I can see having to redo in another 10. Bathroom I think can wait longer than that but mine is on about 28 years now and can surely need a remodel!

 

[momz]

Maybe update simply cosmetic things like paint, drawer pulls, light fixtures, etc. but I wouldn't go all out on changing the walls and cabinet arrangements. Flooring may need changed after twenty years. Mine is 15 years old and it will be changed soon prior to putting the house on the market.

 

[aprilgail]

Maybe update simply cosmetic things like paint, drawer pulls, light fixtures, etc. but I wouldn't go all out on changing the walls and cabinet arrangements. Flooring may need changed after twenty years. Mine is 15 years old and it will be changed soon prior to putting the house on the market.

To change the flooring is a major job for us- every appliance has to be disconnected and moved and all the cabinets removed to change flooring under there. The entire porcelain floor was laid when the remodel was happening so the whole thing is level and tiles run under cabinets and appliances, you just can't take the ones that are not under the cabinets because half is under and half is not..

 

[tvguy]

Well, I sold my parents house in 2013, and the kitchen and bathrooms were just about as they were built 53 years earlier in 1960. Yup pink tile. Only the flooring had been replaced.
We remodeled our kitchen, bath and doors in 2013, everything was 34 years old, as built in 1979.
We do not intend to ever remodel again. So I would say no more than every 30 years, and even then, only things that need repair.
Funny thing is, the HOT houses now are the ones that are as they were built 60 or 70 years ago, other than modern appliances.

 

[morgan98]

I am not sure there is really a set number of years and it really is impacted by how well these rooms are maintained and cleaned.

However, I really do think it has to do with the era of the design we are discussing and how "extreme" the original choices were. For example, specific color and wood choices of cabinets and countertop or color of bathroom fixtures make certain looks more dated than others.

Those home shows are often unrealistic and make us all think our homes are a mess!

 

[xlxo]

I needed extra storage and counter space in my heritage home. Got a couple of these and now I have an island.
https://www.amazon.com/Honey-Can-Do-SHF-01607-rolling-chrome-2-Shelf/dp/B0030BEPKW/ref=sr_1_31

 

[pryncess527]

I think it depends on what choices were made. Some choices scream of a specific era and make a house look dated fast. Even if you kept it in wonderful condition, if your house uses the shiny gold finishes that were popular in the early 90s, for example, it's going to look dated even if it's nice

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Our house was built in the 60s and had pretty much the original kitchen when we bought it. (We changed the Formica countertops once several years in.) It was fairly nice, but dated. We lived with it for about 20 years before we did a complete gut and remodel. We love our newer kitchen and can't imagine wanting to go through that again, but we chose to go with IKEA cabinets so if we do, it will be fairly easy to either replace the cabinets themselves, or switch out just the doors, and that was one of the features we liked about them, among many. So down the road if we want to change the colors or the style of the room, we can, and it won't be a major undertaking, nor break the bank - not that we plan to any time soon.

 

[morgan98]

I think it depends on what choices were made. Some choices scream of a specific era and make a house look dated fast. Even if you kept it in wonderful condition, if your house uses the shiny gold finishes that were popular in the early 90s, for example, it's going to look dated even if it's nice

This is exactly the type of thing I was referring to. Things like gold faucets, very dark stained oak cabinets, etc. definitely scream a certain era. My parents built a home in 1985, when I was 15. One of the things really in then was colored bathroom tubs, toilets and sinks. I am not talking white or almond, I am referring to mauve, black or grey colored porcelain. I remember going around with my mom to choose these things and her making a very conscientious choice to not go with these colors as she said a toilet, tub and sink are going to last a heck of a lot longer than the color fad is.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Oh, and bathrooms, it depends. Our main bathroom was gutted and redone in 2004. I went with classic everything so it still looks good, I'd say. I might change the paint color at some point, but there's no rush. We're about to remodel the second bath for the second time. It's in need of an update, but not for anything like pink tile, just really removing wallpaper and border which I liked a lot when I put it up in the 90s, lol; going back to just painted walls and will also re-do floor tiles ETA and ah, yes, gold faucet. Our third bathroom is in our in-law apt, and we also did that in classics as well as handicapped accessible, so it's ok even after 20 years. (ETA we did switch out the faucet a few years ago so also updated from gold there, haha.) I think sticking with classic features helps get you longer life in a remodel.

 

[Hikergirl]

My kitchen is almost 20 years old. It has builders oak cabinets, and "butcher block" laminate counter tops. We put in a new laminate floor that looks like tile that you can go out an buy today. We replaced all the original almond appliances with black. Sure the cabinets and counters could be updated, but every couple years I make it work with new paint, light fixtures and cabinet pulls. Its functional and is still in great shape so I don't see the need to go spending thousands of dollars on it right now. There are other things I'd rather do with that money.
we did re-do our bathroom a few years ago. It was hideous, and now it is beautiful. I'm sure in another 10 years it will look dated, but I doubt we will do it over again.

 

[SC Minnie]

We've been in our house for 19 years. We replaced the formica countertops with granite last year. The cabinets were a blonde oak-- builder grade. I sanded and stained them and put in brushed nickel hardware. We got new stainless appliances too. The bathrooms don't really need an 'update'- tubs/toilets/showers are all white. I did change out the light fixtures in all of them last year-- they had the builder light bar in them which I've hated since day one. I repaint every 5 years or so.

 

[loves to dive]

We got new appliances for our kitchen (except fridge) after about 10 years. They all worked just fine I just never liked them, it was a brand new house when we moved in. We need a new floor now, it's been about 13 years now. It's tile and the contractor cut corners and didn't install it properly so we have about 10 cracked tiles. We thought about just replacing the tiles ourselves but wouldn't you know they have been discontinued and the few we had were stored under the deck and got good ole Georgia red clay built up for 13 years on them and try as I might, I couldn't get them cleaned. We replace cabinet and drawer hardware just on a whim all the time. The bathroom is a different story. I would love to redo ours now and take out the big garden tub (it's not necessary since we have a hot tub in the basement) and make the shower bigger and tile it instead of those darn fiberglass inserts they use now days). I would also love to put heated floors in there. I don't see it happening any time soon and it still looks new except the cabinets could use a paint job. Neither would have needed a remodel to sell, they still looked modern enough. I think things like formica counter tops and old linolium floors make them look dated and would probably need a remodel at some point.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We've been in our house for 19 years. We replaced the formica countertops with granite last year. The cabinets were a blonde oak-- builder grade. I sanded and stained them and put in brushed nickel hardware. We got new stainless appliances too. The bathrooms don't really need an 'update'- tubs/toilets/showers are all white. I did change out the light fixtures in all of them last year-- they had the builder light bar in them which I've hated since day one. I repaint every 5 years or so.

Those have got to be one of the worst things ever invented in home building.

 

[Amanda999]

2 of my 3 neighbors have the original bathrooms - from 1928! And, what's funny, is that they are still (back?) in style! (White 3"x6" subway tile walls, white small hex floor, all white fixtures, chrome faucets. At least where I am that has basically never gone out of style, and is trendy now.) One of those neighbors also has the original kitchen (newer appliances), and its retro awesome. Everything works, cabinets look fine.

 

[disney junky]

I would only remodel if I needed to improve the functionality of something. Seems like everything is outdated every year or two when the next great thing comes along.

 

[aprilgail]

This is exactly the type of thing I was referring to. Things like gold faucets, very dark stained oak cabinets, etc. definitely scream a certain era. My parents built a home in 1985, when I was 15. One of the things really in then was colored bathroom tubs, toilets and sinks. I am not talking white or almond, I am referring to mauve, black or grey colored porcelain. I remember going around with my mom to choose these things and her making a very conscientious choice to not go with these colors as she said a toilet, tub and sink are going to last a heck of a lot longer than the color fad is.

Ours were light blue!! Light blue tub and toilet and then for who knows what reason the sink was replaced with a pale yellow one!! It was HIDEOUS!! We went with just beige with the "newer" one so we can paint any color and hang any color curtains.

 

[punkin]

I would only remodel if I needed to improve the functionality of something. Seems like everything is outdated every year or two when the next great thing comes along.

This is my thought too. It shocks me when on these shows, people remove perfectly good cabinets and granite countertops (I still have Formica, BTW) because they look "dated".