Renovation Horror Stories Serve As Warning To Home Buyers
31764 01/17/2015 News 249 /Just about every home renovation show on TV follows a similar story line. The people buy a house with a certain renovation budget in mind, remodeling efforts start and unexpected expenses pop up as it turns out there’s water damage to the sheetrock, the electrical outlets have been wired wrong, and the main wall they wanted to remove is load-bearing. Sometimes the home renovator experts are able to cut costs elsewhere so the family stays within their budget, others end up spending thousands more than they were planning on.
Remodeling disasters more common than you’d think
The repetition of this story line probably has real life home buyers wondering, is this for real? How common are budget-destroying renovation nightmares anyway? More common than you might want to believe, according to contractor and business owner Dave Figgs. Most of the time, he said, “depending on the age of the house, they’re gonna have some hidden issues that we don’t know until we open things up.â€
Home inspections don’t always catch these deep seated problems. They’ll be able to point out surface and cosmetic problems, but things like fire and water damage or bad electrical wiring might be hidden behind layers of sheetrock just waiting to pop out at you like scary clown heads on a sideshow ride.
Water damage ruins a new home owner’s day
It happened to new home owner Krista Bennett a few days after moving into the home she’d dreamed of owning for years. She was moving her son’s bureau when her foot suddenly sank through the floor. Water had leaked from the adjacent bathroom and rotted the floor of her 6-year-old’s bedroom. “All I had to do was push with my hand and it went right through,†Bennett recounted.
It was too late to go back on their purchase. The contract was signed and the house closed on. So she was faced with thousands of dollars in remodeling expenses and a seriously negative experience with being a home owner.
Seasoned contractor saves day with contingency budget
Figgs worked on a project where the family was faced with similarly expensive problems, but they were lucky that he’d planned a contingency into their budget. The roof of the home hadn’t been supported properly during a previous renovation and it sagged dangerously, necessitating a $5,000 fix. After it was all said and done, however, thanks to Figgs’s planning, they weren’t out much more than they expected.
His rule of thumb is to add 5 to 7 percent of the total cost of the renovation to your budget.
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Source: lacrossetribune.com/special-section/homes/if-these-walls-could-talk-homeowners-discover-houses-hidden-dirty/article_9ad32cbe-43b6-5529-a530-915554dc01f9.html
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