The kitchen is usually the most featured room in any home buying tour, so it pays to invest your remodeling dollars where it really counts. Make sure you choose the right kinds of counter tops, cabinets, and tiles to help boost your property's value.
Kitchen Remodeling: Counter Tops and Installing Counter Tops
Unlike most other rooms in your home, the kitchen is fairly static with tons of surface space. On the one hand, this makes major remodeling a real challenge if you want to remove entire cabinet fixtures or change electrical wiring. On the other hand, giving your kitchen a facelift is relatively easy since all you have to do is replace current surfaces with new materials and colors. For a reasonable amount of money, you can transform your current space into an entirely new design.
Counter Tops: Granite, Wood, Vinyl, and Tile
There are a ton of counter top options available, from organic materials like wood to space age vinyl polymers. Each has certain pros and cons, and it really depends on what you hope to get from your kitchen remodeling experience. Laminates and vinyls are usually the most economical option, and they come in the widest range of colors. However, they tend to scratch easily and do not last as long as some of the other options out there. If you have more than $15 per square foot to spend, consider ceramic tile surfaces. At $10 to $40 per square foot, you can affordably add a touch of class to your kitchen. However, maintenance and mildew might add to the total cost.
If you move to wood surfaces, you can easily spend $50 to $100 per square foot. Again maintenance is a concern since wood is susceptible to extreme heat, moisture, and bleaching. Granite is comparably priced and requires less maintenance after installation.
Resale Value of Remodeled Kitchens and Counter Tops
As the official hearth of most homes and the room that receives the most traffic, the kitchen is usually the most featured room in a typical house tour. This means that if you have money to spend on some aspect of home remodeling, it makes sense to devote those resources to the kitchen. Doing so can potentially bring your more bang for your buck when it comes time to resell your property five, ten, or twenty years from now.
