"Let's just replace a couple things" can often become much more complicated than it would seem at first glance.

Isn't THAT the truth! Four years ago I just wanted to change the paint color in my kitchen and by the time I was done I had new countertops, tile backsplash, tile floor, and an inground pool!

Who knew simply painting could end up being so dangerous and costly! :-)

Wow, from new paint to new pool...farthest project creep ever, lol!

I had the same problem with our new bathroom. I decided after the fact to paint the door. Just add new paint, that's it. Decided to change out the hinges and knob to match the room, should be fine, same exact size, etc. get it all reassembled, won't close. Ended up having to chisel out the hinges AND plane two sides to get it to close again. Now, of course, I need to paint the exposed wood. Good grief!

Any homeowner needs to hear your caution! Not one single "simple" project I have taken on has ended up simple.

I think the other thing that happens is the "while we are doing this, we might as well do this effect." It's happened more than once here.

Ahhh, you have entered the dreaded Kitchen Cascade.

Yup. Our dishwashwer and oven broke. Now walls have been removed, rooms have been gutted, and half our downstairs looks totally different. To borrow from Bee, if I hadn't run out of 1000 bills, we'd be swiftly moving through the rest of the house with our GC ;-)

I had never imagined that a simple request for a new range and new countertops would evolve into so much. I mean this is not a matter of deliberately saying we want to do more than necessary and want to do extensive things to our kitchen. It is a matter of the only way to get a new range and new countertops it is to do a whole bunch more than we'd anticipated.

I guess I should take that back. We could have minimized this if we'd replaced our range with exactly the same thing we had despite that fact that it was inefficient and today's newer model gets horrible reviews. However, even if we'd done that, I read that all of the venting on it would still need to be changed because he manufacturer made changes that necessitate re-dos even if replacing Jennair downdraft to Jennair downdraft.

My STBX GC DH used to say that the most expensive words in the English language are" While you're at it...."

Now, though, needinfo1. I'm looking forward to pictures!
That's why I stalk browse this board is because of the pictures. It's not that I need any help with my perpetual construction site or anything, just pictures. Yeah pics! :)

Good luck, dearheart. Arrrrrghhhhhh!

Yes, remodeling is an itch that if you give in to scratch it you can lose an arm and a leg :) I started a year ago to correct a little unevenness in the floor. After the foundation work was done and holes filled, it lead to new front and side yard landscaping, new windows, new HVAC, new interior painting, and now a new kitchen, and while we are at it, a new family room.

Same here in our kitchen, and also the rental condo we are "freshening up". We needed a new range, which led to a new refrigerator, new cabinet to hide the hideous black monolith, new finish on all the kitchen cabinets so the new cabinet would match, new countertops since we wanted to get rid of the tile countertops anyway..... you get the picture :)

Have you run across If You Give a Mouse a Cookie?

From Wikipedia:

The boy gives a cookie to the mouse. To eat the cookie, the mouse asks for milk. The mouse then requests a straw (to drink the milk), a mirror (to avoid a milk mustache), nail scissors (to trim his hair), and a broom (to sweep up). He then wants to take a nap, to have a story read to him, to draw a picture, and to hang the drawing on the refrigerator. Since looking at the refrigerator makes him thirsty, the mouse asks for a glass of milk, and "he's going to want a cookie to go with it."

LOL!! Just one question. Is this going to lead to the installation of a pool? That's the best of all.

I grew up in logging country and there was a piece of paper on the wall of the local saw shop about the $18,000 cord of wood. It started out something like "A guy decided to save some money by burning wood for heat..."

This phenomenon cuts across all facets of our society. My personal view is either gut the room completely or don't touch it except to fix something that is broken beyond repair.

Yup. And then of course, the new paint or whatever often makes the older stuff look like crap so... get on the merry-go-round.

One time I decided to replace a tacky wireless doorbell with a proper doorbell. Twelve tools, about eleven trips to the garage and two hours later I had completed the job. However, the newly painted front entrance looked good.

"Let's just replace a couple things"

It's never "just", no matter what you are involved in. :)

Doc

My hubby goes ballistic when a tv or magazine article says they simply "bumped out" the wall a few feet because there is nothing simple about it. That simple few feet probably meant new foundation and new roof, as well as gutting the whole room that was bumped. Simple? No way. Make it a kitchen and it just turned into an expensive few feet as well.

I am grateful you posted and I plan to have DH read this. I'm not up for a renovation money or time-wise, but I need a new range.

amck--

Yes, I guess we never realized ahead of time that just replacing an existing appliance can often end up being a lot more complicated than just selecting the appliance and then simply fitting it into place.

And, my latest update on the never-ending list of the unanticipated. The fabricator was out and told us that our floors and counters are not anywhere near level. If we want to keep our current backsplash, we need to take out the entire first row of backsplash so the fabricator can create a row of soapstone backsplash to fit under the current tile. This is the only way to get a level appearance and level countertops. And, because of the odd contifutation of our counters (they are of several diffenent heights) he told us that some of the existing backsplash, where the tile is cut to go around the current countertop, might need some replacement tiles...........

So, what are the chances that we can actually take out that row of tiles without actually breaking tiles above them? Probably pretty low. So, this may now also mean an all new backsplash. More work and more money.

All because I said I just wanted to do a quick upgrade to our counter tops.......