Where Paying Top Dollar Makes a Big Difference



Where Paying Top Dollar Makes a Big Difference

By EILEEN GUNN

Americans love to spend money on fixing up bathrooms, kitchens and other parts of their homes. They spent $125 billion on home improvements in the year ending March 31, says Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

But not all projects are created equal. Some homeowners pay too much for their improvements because they don't understand that style and design often cost more than durability. Others pay too little -- not realizing that even materials as mundane as polyurethane and vinyl can vary in quality. Moreover, it's more critical to install higher quality materials in some areas of a home than in others.

Here's advice on where quality counts in popular home-renovation projects from master builder and plumber Tim Carter, who runs a home-improvement Web site, , and homeowners who have recently completed projects.

Cabinets

Mr. Carter lives in a Queen Ann Victorian in Cincinnati that he built from the ground up 16 years ago. Cabinetry is one area where homeowners shouldn't try to cut corners, he says. He learned this lesson from personal experience.

He'd bought cabinets for his kitchen that began pulling apart under the weight of the china and glass. "There wasn't enough reinforcement between the sides and the shelves," he says. Eventually, he and his wife had to store this tableware elsewhere and buy lighter plastic dishes and glasses until they could replace the cabinet.

He's having new cabinets custom made from cherry-wood-covered plywood (his preference) with solid cherry doors. But, he says, "there's no structural advantage to custom-made if your standard cabinets are made well."

Kitchen cabinets and vanities tend to look similar, says Mr. Carter. The box and shelves typically are made out of an engineered wood, such as plywood or particleboard covered with a wood finish, and are fronted with solid-wood doors. But the difference between a well-made and a poorly made cabinet "is night and day," he says.

Over time, he says, low-quality cabinets "will start to warp and twist, and the shelves might come apart. They'll be less water-resistant, so the finish will start to wear off. And the hardware will wear out, so the doors don't line up right."

In major metropolitan areas with lots of competition, price will be a good barometer of quality, Mr. Carter says. Your best bet for making a good choice is to ask people you know who bought the same make and model you're considering how well the finish, shelves and hinges are wearing, he says. Always ask: "Would you buy them again?" Make sure your warranty says the cabinets will hold the weight of your dishes and glassware (use your bathroom scale to estimate their weight).

Remodelers may find it worthwhile to hold on to cabinets that are still in good shape. If you want a new look, paint them. Pickle or stencil them, or try faux-painting. "Sometimes it looks better than new," he says.

That's what Kathy and Anne Jordan-Baker did at their house in Oak Park, Ill. "We could have spent more than $3,000 on cabinets, and I don't think we would have gotten that back in terms of the value of the house," says Kathy Jordan-Baker. Instead, they paid about $30 for a gallon of paint and put new knobs on the doors. "They look fabulous," she says. And with the savings, the couple installed central air conditioning, which they estimate will add about $5,000 to their home's resale value.

Flooring

Since water is "the enemy to a lot of building materials" in kitchens and bathrooms, including wood subflooring, homeowners often replace vinyl or linoleum flooring with harder surfaces, such as ceramic tile, slate or more expensive granite.

Julie Chan, 33, a commercial real-estate broker in Queens, N.Y., got fed up with the linoleum floor peeling up in the kitchen of her one-bedroom prewar building apartment because of water damage to the floor underneath. After looking at several options, including laminated wood and tiles, she chose slate for its natural beauty. "The tiles I saw looked manufactured, and my contractor warned me they could be slippery. And I was afraid the wood would deteriorate quickly in a high-traffic area like a kitchen," says Ms. Chan. Slate squares for a 250-square-foot kitchen cost less than $200 at Home Depot, plus $300 for installation. After three years, "I still love the way it looks, and cleaning is an easy mop-up," she says.

"The harder a tile floor is, the better it will hold up over time," Mr. Carter explains. But more durable tiles are more expensive to make and ship.

Still, price and durability don't necessarily correspond in flooring materials, he says. You can find strong tiles that will withstand miles of foot traffic and dozens of dropped pots and myriad spills for under $10 per square foot.

If you're concerned about a pricey tile's quality, ask the salesperson why it's expensive, says Mr. Carter. If it's because it was hand-painted or handcrafted, and it seems you'd be paying more only for the labor/artisanship, ask how durable your selection is compared with other tiles. Save fragile hand-painted tiles for a decorative area in front of your fireplace or a little-used guest bathroom.

Windows

Windows come in as many styles and qualities as there are faces in a crowd. A homeowner can buy cheap wood, expensive vinyl or hybrids like aluminum-clad wood. How much you spend will depend on the number of windows in your home, your style preferences and the quality and energy efficiency of the glass and frames.

Pam and Marty Wiaczek, a sales executive for a pharmaceutical company and a materials engineer who works from home, aren't novices when it comes to home-improvement projects. Over 13 years, they've redone their kitchen twice and their bathroom once, completed major landscaping and upgraded their air-conditioning system. But researching windows for their Westfield, N.J., colonial-style home took the most time.

They wanted windows that would not only keep them and their six-year-old son warmer, but also fit the style of their 1929 home. They could have saved money by upgrading only the windows on the main floor and bypassing the less-used attic and basement, "but we wanted the house to look uniform, so we did it from top to bottom all at once," says Ms. Wiaczek.

She finally chose vinyl windows. "The wood people said theirs would hold up better, but the vinyl ones had the same warranty and insulation factor," she says. And they were $250 to $300 per window, versus $900 for unpainted wood frames. While the furnace is old and not very efficient, she says, "the house feels warmer. It's definitely holding more heat in."

"You don't have to spend the most to get good quality, but you have to spend a certain amount," says Mr. Carter. These days, window quality has as much to do with energy efficiency as with style. "If you'll be in your place for a long time, it behooves you to replace all your drafty windows and be comfortable," Mr. Carter says.

How much new windows can reduce energy bills depends on several factors, from the number of windows and size of your house to the quality of your heating system. But Mr. Carter notes that homeowners who invest in high-quality windows should feel good about the difference that superior insulation can make. "I can't tell you how many newly built homes I've been in where I'll stand in front of a window, and there's so much air coming in, I feel like I'm outside. The builders used poor-quality windows," he says.

Since price can vary and differences might not be apparent to the casual consumer eye, Mr. Carter says buying a certified window is the best way to ensure that you'll get the level of energy efficiency and quality you want.

The American Architectural Manufacturing Association puts its seal on windows tested by an independent third party to determine if they meet the association's standards for quality and durability. The National Fenestration Rating Council (an organization for the window, door and skylight industry) looks for energy efficiency and scores windows on how well they insulate, prevent drafts and resist condensation, among other things.

While replacing windows on an entire house is a sizable investment, it's one that homeowners can largely recoup when they sell. According to Realtor magazine, buying and installing 10 replacement windows with a high-end product will cost $15,502 on average and owners will get an average of 77% of that back on resale. Replacing those 10 windows with a midrange product will cost $9,424 on average, and homeowners will get 74% of the expense back when they sell.

-- Ms. Gunn is a free-lance writer in Brooklyn, N.

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