Redo the Kitchen or add a deck??

I was really interested in putting on a deck to the front of my house. I live right across the street from the playground of a school. My thought was I'd be able to sit on my porch and watch the people at the playground and walking. Also, if my brother and his two kids came over, we could watch the kids while they were playing and not have to entertain them ourselves.

When talking about the deck, I mentioned I'd love to move the hot water heater and the washer/dryer out to the garage, turning the cabinet the hot water heater is in into a pantry. Moving the washer/dryer out of the kitchen would allow me to add a dishwasher (the water is piped over there from the washer) and some cabinets and then new countertops over the dishwasher and cabinets and also redo the counter where the sink is. The cabinets would be customed made and installed because of the type of wood my current cabients are.

The guy who I would have do either project is the husband of a friend of mine. I trust that he would do quality work, but with either project, this would be a side job for him so it could take up to a month to completely finish either.

I'm leaning more towards having my kitchen redone. I think if I ever sold the house, I'd get back what I'm putting into the redo. With a deck (and without the kitchen redo), I wouldn't see much of what I'd pay to have the deck (12X24) done.

Thoughts???

BTW, this is my first major project on my house. I've bought the paint for my office - going silver so all my sports stuff matches. Gotta prime and paint that then it's onto my bedroom where I'll paint the two walls with windows a K-State purple and the other two the same silver as in the office. After that it's off to the smallest space to paint - the bathroom which will be a light lavender with the silver on the cabinets I have in there. I guess I'm beginning to add my own personal touches to the place. (BTW, I still need to unpack! LOL)

 

do the kitchen first coops. then you can add the deck later. this way, your equity would jump immediately.

 

You'll get way more use out of the kitchen.

 

extend the kitchen onto the deck and paint the whole damn place grape-purple

 

I'd go with a porch in the front rather than a deck. But yeah, kitchen first.

 

First mistake.....

....is to have your friends husband do either job. If your friends need the money, ok, then work out some kind of "per job" deal to get things up and running.
As for bang for the buck.....a kitchen remodel is the best use of your money, as long as you have a good floor plan. This type of remodel is not for the part time carpenter friend.
As for the deck in the front, buy some beer, ask a few friends over, grill some steaks for all, and let these guys go to work.
Sounds to me that its a quality of life gig. How will you feel in your new kitchen when your best friend won't speak to you?
Been there!!!!

 

stfu

 

I'd think twice about letting a friend, or friend's friend do the work too. What if the guy gets "lackadaisical," maybe gets other jobs that he puts before yours? If you check up on him he could be insulted, etc. The work could drag out for months and months, even a year or so.

Btw, Panthers Carolina blue would be sooo much nicer than that....silver.

 

Yep, kitchen upgrades add nice value to the house. Much more than a deck, on the FRONT of the house.

 

The kitchen sounds like the better idea...but exactly what do you want to gain from it?

More cabinet space and a pantry?

From a resale standpoint, I can't imagine the washer/dryer in the garage being a good thing coops. Is there any way it can be moved to a hallway or somewhere else? Even off the bathroom/bedroom is better than the garage in my opinion. It gets damn cold up there to be doing laundry outside unless your garage is heated, but still.... for resale, that's gonna suck.

If it's just a matter of putting a dishwasher in because you have pipes from where the washer is... it would be much better to get a plumber to run pipes than redo your kitchen for that reason.

Secondly... a deck on the front of the house would have to be done exactly just right to look ok. Ie... it needs to be more of a porch, but if you want to call it a deck you can. It would need some railing/steps or something to add to look more like a porch.

Is this the house I've seen pics of? If so, something can be done to the front probably without adding a deck. Just my opinion honey, I don't wanna see you screw up your equity....