What's my next step? Spend or not spend?

Colleen

Colleen

Senior Member
Location
Pennsylvania
As most of you know, my husband died suddenly in October. We had moved into this house in PA in Feb., 2022 after leaving AZ. The house was an estate sale and needed a LOT of remodeling and updating (which we were never told). It's also a tri-level home, which we never wanted but that's another story on why we bought it.

We spent over $80,000 (so far) in remodeling and upgrades and we weren't done yet but when hubby died, I decided not to do any more to the house. I was afraid of over-improving it and I knew I wouldn't get the money back out of it.

Now, 6 months later, I'm wondering if I should go ahead and replace all the carpeting (which was going to be our next project when he died) that's been in here for at least 25 years. The carpet is in pretty good shape yet but there's stains that I can't get up, it's faded and the padding is broken down and any furniture makes permanent impressions that won't come back up. I was going to just have it steam cleaned but I don't think it would make much difference. It would cost about $6,000 according to estimates we had done.

If I stay in this house for at least 2-3 more years (God willing I'm still able to get up and down the stairs with no problems like I am now), would it be a waste of money or just another improvement for my own enjoyment?

I have a realtor that has been offering to show me condos that are coming up for sale soon but I'm not sure I want to go that route...yet. I think I'd like to stay here in my home where I have space and I can do what I want without restrictions.

Just need some opinions on this, please. Would you spend the money for new flooring?
 

I would make it livable for your comfort and enjoyment. Sure you need to maintain a home properly but upgrades need qualified value. Either you upgrade for resale or you upgrade for yourself.

So...do you care if you get a return on 6k in carpeting or do you care about walking into a room and thinking "yeah, this is nice".

Personally I'm all about making myself happy at this point in my life, I'd put the new carpet in and walk around barefoot.
 
I've heard--and who knows if it's true or not--that you shouldn't replace carpet or any other kind of flooring if you might be selling in the foreseeable future. The reasoning is that buyers almost always want to replace your old flooring with what they want; and even if you put in a really nice, expensive hardwood flooring, odds are (supposedly) that they won't like the color or something and will want to replace it anyway.

Like I said, who knows if that's true or not, but one solution I've heard is keep your old carpeting but put down some nice area rugs; area rugs have come down in price somewhat and are somewhat easier to take care of, cleaning and that. A warning, though; area rugs can be a trip-and-fall hazard. (It it isn't one thing, it's a dozen others.)
 
Jace said:
Yes, I was gonna.'say'👆...hard wood floors..are "in"..
What if you pick the wrong color of carpeting.
That would "turn a buyer 'off'"😉😉
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I'm not sure what would be the most "bang-for-the-buck" in my area. I'd have to talk to my realtor and get her opinion. I do know that the cost would be the same for either carpet or hardwood/vinyl.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
From your description, it sounds like the carpets are bothering you but if in a few years you are going to sell it, you’d be best off doing it right before you put it on the market. Fresh paint and fresh carpet can renew a house to get top dollar.
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Somehow I missed the age of the carpet. I actually agree on pulling it all out. Quite often people put new carpet over hardwood floor and having new freshly polished flooring is much healthier and easier to keep clean. 25 year old carpet with under-padding that disintegrating is really bad for your health.
I misread your initial post. Is there hardwood underneath or just particle board?
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Somehow I missed the age of the carpet. I actually agree on pulling it all out. Quite often people put new carpet over hardwood floor and having new freshly polished flooring is much healthier and easier to keep clean. 25 year old carpet with under-padding that disintegrating is really bad for your health.
I misread your initial post. Is there hardwood underneath or just particle board?
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When (hope hope hope) and if I buy a place, I'm literally having linoleum put in. I can do an area rug and with the pets, it's so much easier and those swiffer dry pads are my new best friend.
 
Remy said:
When (hope hope hope) and if I buy a place, I'm literally having linoleum put in. I can do an area rug and with the pets, it's so much easier and those swiffer dry pads are my new best friend.
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I prefer hardwood and porcelain tiles. They both are easy to clean. Linoleum is too easy to ruin in my opinion but it’s also the cheapest thing to use.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Somehow I missed the age of the carpet. I actually agree on pulling it all out. Quite often people put new carpet over hardwood floor and having new freshly polished flooring is much healthier and easier to keep clean. 25 year old carpet with under-padding that disintegrating is really bad for your health.
I misread your initial post. Is there hardwood underneath or just particle board?
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No hardwood floors underneath, unfortunately :(
 
If you choose to replace the carpet, go with the hardwood, engineered wood or vinyl snap down floors in a neutral color. Hardwood would be your most expensive option & the other two more reasonable of a price. They are all easier to keep clean than carpet or the grout for tile. The house we had for my SIL was on a slab & the couple who sold it put down a vinyl snap down all through the house when they moved in which was very nice. It was a neutral gray which went with any of the paint colors we used. When they bought it, the carpet that was there was very bad looking which I had seen previous photos on Zillow.
 
Colleen said:
When we tore out the old kitchen and main bathroom, we had vinyl flooring put down. Here's the kitchen flooring....View attachment 339320
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Colleen said:
No hardwood floors underneath, unfortunately :(
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Vinyl flooring has come a long way. Before we sold our house, we had 24 year old linoleum which had holes in it. If you dropped something on it, it would dent easily. New vinyl flooring these days has come a long way. If I were you, I’d talk to a professional that knows and understands all products and get their opinion along with pricing. Flooring has come a long way in 25 years. New flooring is MUCH easier to clean. You can even buy a robot to clean them these days.
 
officerripley said:
I've heard--and who knows if it's true or not--that you shouldn't replace carpet or any other kind of flooring if you might be selling in the foreseeable future. The reasoning is that buyers almost always want to replace your old flooring with what they want; and even if you put in a really nice, expensive hardwood flooring, odds are (supposedly) that they won't like the color or something and will want to replace it anyway.
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So true. It’s 6 of one half dozen of the other.
How long will you be there? How bad is the carpet? Putting new flooring in WILL increase the price and if you choose neutral colours the chances of new buyers wanting to re floor the house are much less. Having said that we didn’t redo our bathroom before we sold it. It had that old linoleum but it was in excellent condition.
 
Another consideration: our house is on a concrete slab as opposed to a foundation, a poorly laid slab at that, cracking all the time. I was told by a contractor that, no matter how much you spend, there is no flooring that holds up worth a darn when laid onto a concrete slab, so the best bet is to just buy the cheapest vinyl flooring you can stand the look of and accept the fact that you'll have to replace it (or any flooring) every 3 years or so.
 
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When we were selling my MIL house, our realtor told us we should change the carpet. It did need to be changed before she passed, but she wouldn't do it along with painting the walls. It made a big difference & the house looked warm & inviting & went fairly quick. We did get our money back in what we did & that was just a few years ago.

The contractor we used for the house we had for my SIL gave us the name of a hole-in-the-wall carpet outlet that had all kinds of carpet grades, wood flooring, tile & vinyl. We told them we wanted something to put in to sell a house & he showed us what they us in apartments. Very nice neutral colors & felt nice along with the padding.

The installers told us they never put expensive carpet in their houses. They get the same grade & replace it when it's needed. They said the expensive carpet isn't worth that kind of money. Personally, I don't like carpet & we are almost done replacing what we have now with nail down wood.
 
Colleen said:
Just need some opinions on this, please. Would you spend the money for new flooring?
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I'd do it now so you can get some enjoyment from it yourself. That was my mom's advice to me once, that she'd learned from going through several homes that if something was going to be improved to sell the home, she preferred to spend the money for it sooner, so she could enjoy it.
 
Whatever you do, you're going to need cash.
Can you live with the carpeting? If not, and you can afford it, get rid of it. You're living in the house, now. Will you be there in 5 years? 2 years? 1 year?
If you don't have a clear idea for your future, it's hard to plan for it. Is your house going to be your home, or a real estate investment?
 


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