To remove or not to remove... Sketch added

9 years ago

Hi,

Deciding on whether to remove the wall between the kitchen and the living room. Please see attached drawing. We are thinking of removing the wall bringing it down to countertop height that is.

The other option is to keep half of it vertically that is.

What is the current trend, and what is the best option for us given the space?

Concerned about the cooking/dishwasher noise etc. in the living room.

Thanks,

Sue

Featured Answer

User

9 years ago

You obviously want to throw money away on this remodel. No one is going to stop you, but you'll take a loss financially if you are just about to sell. The time to have done this was right after moving in so that the results could be enjoyed during your occupancy. You would have received some experiential pleasure for hat expenditure. This will get you nothing but misery living through it, and then lose you 30-50% of what you spend. Your budget expectations for the project are laughbly low. Completely unrealistic. http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2015/

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Comments (16)

dekeoboe
9 years ago
If you remove the wall, where will the refrigerator be located?
spghouse
Original Author
9 years ago
We will be moving it to the other side of the wall where the island is right now. The island will go.
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PRO
Precision Carpentry
9 years ago
Looks like you have limited countertop space in the kitchen to begin with.If losing the extra counter and storage space of the island would not be a problem then go for it.I'm assuming you also have some upper cabinets on the wall to be removed?I have a small kitchen and storage is far more important to me than trends.
spghouse
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, I will lose one 24" cabinet. The one on top of the refrigerator I can hardly reach anyway. But we are going all the way to the ceiling with the other cabinets so inthink we're covered space wise.
spghouse
Original Author
9 years ago
Is opening it all the way a good idea? Or should we do a partial/half removal?

We don't have a basement in this townhouse/condo, so the TV will be in the living room and we have been told to beware of kitchen noise in the living room. Would that be a concern?

We also plan to sell the place in a year or so, selling wise is an open space a good idea?
User
9 years ago
It's a already open to the dining room. Yes, it will be noisy, and the only retreat from the noise will be the bedroom. I wouldn't do it.
klem1
9 years ago
With the house going on the market within a year,i would only redo something that is "wrong"because there's no way of predicting what a buyer prefers. Clean it up and make it look nice but leave reconfiguring/remodeling to buyer.
energy_rater_la
9 years ago
have to agree with klem on this one.
(klem1...get it?)

the problems with trends is that they are
trendy. they quickly date a house.

best of luck.
spghouse
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
We have a lot of things that are wrong especially the kitchen cabinets and flooring both of which are a mess in colors and also 30 years ago, so we have to care of that in order to even be able to sell at a reasonable price. We will be adding granite countertops to make it nice, hence the wall removal idea too just because we are doing other things anyway.

But I agree wall removal is not a fab idea. There are neighbors who have just cut it partially like 2 feet inside (to countertop height of course) and have been happy. Is that something that would be a put off to a buyer?

Thank you for your inputs. Definitely not removing the wall now! But cutting it inside a little will open up the space nice. Request you to use your imagination for inputs, but I also have a picture to share from the neighbor.

It was the cabinets guys idea to cut the wall altogether because the partial doesn't make sense to him. What do you all think about the 2 feet inside idea?
dekeoboe
9 years ago
Where is the sink? Can you post the kitchen layout you are considering?
spghouse
Original Author
9 years ago

This is hobbit should look

The wall on the side of the sink is the wall to be pulled down.

What do you all think? Corner sink a good idea?
Vith
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I agree with klem, I would not redo it before selling. Save your money and let them do it if they want to.
annkh_nd
9 years ago
I wouldn't do it - and I certainly wouldn't put in granite counters. If the counters HAVE to be replaced, use laminate - so the next buyers won't feel too bad about ripping it out to do the kitchen their way.

Whatever you were planning to spend to remodel - take that off the asking price.
spghouse
Original Author
9 years ago
Here where we live, open kitchen layouts are very popular, newer constructions around us are all like that. Because of the remodel we are doing, we are hoping to recoup those costs and more. This is only a town house and since we are doing work of about 8-9k just to do the kitchen. Cabinets, counters, painting and floor (all had to be done anyway), we think spending $500 to knock down a wall would be actually beneficial to recoup the costs.
spghouse
Original Author
9 years ago
This is how the kitchen is supposed to look after the sink etc is moved.