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4a - PORT PERRY STAR - Wednesday, Sept. 7, 1994 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" HOME IMPROVEMENT Kitchen, bathroom safe for renovations (SOP) While renovating kitchens and bathrooms may never turn a profit, you will usually recoup 80-100 per cent of your investment in the resale value of your house. As such, kitchens and bathrooms are perhaps the safest renovation projects around. "You can add value in a bathroom or a kitchen," says a contractor, "but it really depends on what you are taking out and what you are replacing it with. If you get rid of something that was done in the '30s, '40s or '50s, COUNTRY UPHOLSTERY Free Pickup & Delivery Free Estimates Donna Anderson 705-328-1156 Viewlake JB home improvement Kitchens, Bathrooms, Custom Cabinetry, 5" Seamless Eavestrough, Soffit, Fascia, Roofing ALCAN PRODUCTS GUARANTEED WORK | Offers the finest in Rec Rooms, Dry Wall, | BH JOE MUZIK 986-5682 - * NEW CONSTRUCTION OR REPLACEMENT * WOOD * VINYL * ALUMINUM * PREFINISHED OR READY TO PAINT * ENERGY EFFICIENT « SIDE SLIDERS * VERTICAL SLIDERS, BOWS AND BAYS * WE INSTALL OR DO IT YOURSELF NIG RYN S * OAK * MAPLE ° PINE * HICKORY « MELAMINE * LACQUER « MODERN & TRADITIONAL Free Computer Kitchen Designs & Estimates We Install Or Install Your Own Home Improvement Centre 17991 LAKERIDGE ROAD (DURHAM #23) JUST SOUTH OF HWY. 47, R.R.#4, UXBRIDGE ° 852-7722 ISIN OUIE SITIO IROO VE 9.5 MON.-FRI. SAT. & EVENINGS BY APPOINTMENT. and replace it with some- thing from the '90s, then I bet you will make money. But if you change something from the '70s, hoping to make $5,000, then I don't think you will." And there are other pit- falls. "If you are only spending $2,500 on a kitchen or bath- room then it's not really a renovation, it's a waste of money. Low-budget renovations which try to work with exist- ing fixtures simply don't work." Unless they are low, low budget. "There are still some peo- ple out there making money by buying cheaply and redo- ing the kitchens and bath- rooms. They patch the plas- ter, wash the windows and the skylights and then paint everything white or off- white." "I've become a big fan of buying Canadian-made fix- tures -- I've seen a lot of Italian-designed sinks which turn out to be manufactured in Bulgaria or Romania and they've been disasters to work with. I would advise anyone thinking about doing anythingto take a plumber with them when they go to look at fixtures." STEEL ROOFING e AGRICULTURAL RESIDENTIAL plier 29 Gau Available 3/ " SIDING SALES Galvanized & Galvalume Steel ce COMMERCIAL o Free Delivery Free Estimates * Available in 14 standard colours o Full line of standard & custom trims 5/8" 7/16" *ALL 36" COVERAGE- DURHAM METAL SALES || Specialists in Metal Building Products 444 Simcoe St., S., Oshawa available Bus: (905) 432-7665 Fax: (905) 723-7311 « AN NNN NLA NANT 4 Q \ \ 7 ws 7% a 7 hy, % gas CURT O UL LL 20, rr WY, 7 0. 7 ZL ZZ MEN ZZ 7 3» RARER J " N NN NN A AR MN rr rn ANA, RADIANCE GAS STOVE Propane or Natural Gas "st REERAN N o Realistic Fire * Excellent Heat * Choice Of Enamel Finishes Solid Cast ron a Plus eJo[0] 5 [o oa RSI AF-14 3 VI(a EM gli) 668-3192 LROCA ST (Mey eT -- Think twice about that new jet tub The experts agree that turning bathrooms into entertainment centres by adding Roman baths or Jacuzzis- may backfire in the long run. These are, after all, lifestyle features from a lifestyle that has largely gone the way of the dodo. "I think that Jacuzzis are highly overrated, and I know that women are concerned about them because they are real hellholes for bacteria. I've never heard of anyone who used them on a regular basis." Jacuzzis are a waste of money because a good deep bath is better than a whirlpool or a jet tub. People installed, and after that, for- use them when they're first |. get about them. Converting bedrooms a bad idea But despite the value of bathrooms, one thing you probably don't want to do, the experts say, is convert a spare bedroom into one. It lowers the resale value of a house. No one needs a 12-by-14- foot bathroom. They say that it's bad pol- icy to ever remove bedrooms. If you have a four-bed-room house, it's more valuable than a three-bedroom house. Which brings us to the topic of adding or creating space, usually done by knocking down room divi- sions. "I have this theory that you should try and keep the original wall divisions," says the contractor. "It's so hard to try and open up a wall and then not have it look like a rough opening, because there are holes left in the floor and there are breaks in the baseboard and ceiling molding." He adds that installing an arch might be the best way of opening up space. Think fireplace There is an expression, the only efficient fireplace is one that has been bricked in. Although there is a roaring trade in installing airtight fireplaces into old chimneys. Fireplaces are good selling points because most people are attracted to them. The problem is that most of them are real heat thieves, though some of the new ones can help heat a home. Fireplaces are good, sec- ond only to the recovery rate on a bathroom. You're selling the sizzle, it makes your house better than the one across the street. on ee RT TNR AY GCI RH AD IRON