While I love the image of the new doors, I don't think you'd recoup your $$.

following. I honestly have no idea.

keep in mind that the surroundings matter too. the louvered doors to the right make me think of construction from the 70s-90s, so how would a heavy, classic door look next to that? esp when you don't have room to make the trim thicker.

but slab doors can sometimes seem cheap and new ones might really class up the place! can you give us more pictures? (like, the hallway zoomed out, or from inside the rooms?)

@User here are more photos

The same door from the distance so it includes one other room to the left

The rest of the corridor with many doors both ways

@kempek01 you might be right

When we were looking at selling our former home in 2008 we had an area realtor come and give us an her thoughts on what to improve/change to get ready to sell within a year. One of her suggestions was to replace the slab interior doors with the cheap composite six-panel (painted) doors to improve the look. We took her suggestion, and it did help a lot. They were around $100 each, and it was a DIY job - no door jam or trim changes were needed. But we had a small cape in a neighborhood of similar homes, so it might have been a neighborhood specific suggestion.

Is your house a Craftsman? The suggested door you posted is Craftsman style, so unless your house is a Craftsman, the doors will look out of place. And, as was already pointed out, you don't have enough room to add the wider trim.

Personally, I wouldn't want black hardware.

But, in answer to your original question, I don't think you will recoup the $9.5K that you would be spending.

@Lindsey_CA no, it's a rancher and I just thought of this particular style of door as I am seeing it everywhere I go and I thought this is what people currently like.

I wouldn’t change them to sell. I would prop open all bedroom, laundry room, and bathroom doors to take the focus off the doors. For the one at the dead end you could put some kind of simple decor on it, or not— it’s fine as is even though it’s plain. Blank slate for the new owner.

@function_first - the cheapest door I found were $140/piece + $35 hardware + installation $350/piece (CA, Bay Area)... yeah, it doesn't seem to make sense...

If you are good at DYI, get some trim at the hardware store or home center. Measure it out on your current doors, so it looks like a more expensive door than it is. Either cut it yourself or have them cut it for you (you have to have the measurements just right). Attach with glue and nails. Paint. Voila!!!!

9500?? that's a huge amount of money that won't see a return.

Besides, based on that photo and the photo of your hallway, I doubt that large door casing will even fit around the door in the space you have.

This is a craftsman style door and molding. I don't think it will fit literally, and/or style-wise.

Plus, doing the casing and baseboard in the hallway will mean it won't match the rest of the house. (unless that money will also be spent on changing out all of the other baseboards and door casings)

when you show the house, the doors are always open. most people won't even notice the doors. (except for those hallway closets. what you might consider doing is updating the hardware to a lever door handle instead of the dated round knobs)

based on those photos, everything looks contemporary (esp because of that modern glass door). slab doors are a perfectly nice look with this style home. I wouldn't risk changing them out if you're trying to get a ROI.

Yeah, that's way too much to spend. Your doors look like they're in good shape, too. And they fit the style of a rancher. Save your money.

You don't need to spend that much $

Unless you're fixing a fundamental flaw like an entrance or traffic flow, cosmetic remodeling rarely returns on the money invested.

Slab doors are not that great, so buyers will appreciate a non-slab door. However, it is a bit silly to try to recreate that door just to add value. Lowe's on Bayshore Blvd has nicer doors for $60 and black knobs are $12 -$15 each. Find a handyman who can install doors. Even in the Bay Area $350 per door is a rip off. That may be a fair price to install a single door, but not 18 doors.

I am not in CA and I got a great deal on doors that I DIY'ed it, but I just did 14 doors with new hardware for under $1,000. This is a crappy photo, but this will give you an idea of what I did.

no, it's a rancher and I just thought of this particular style of door as I am seeing it everywhere I go and I thought this is what people currently like.

No one is going to notice the doors and in fact if you change them to those craftsman style doors, you've just remuddled the house because doors, trim and yes even paint should work with the style of the house.

In fact I hope you didn't just do what's popular for your kitchen and baths without considering the age and style of the house.

Keep your money in your pocket. Just make certain they are all painted and in good condition. As an appraiser, I wouldn't give you a dollar increase in valuation. Spend your money elsewhere.

@cpartist we have remodeled everything for ourselves some time ago according to our liking which hopefully matches the rest of the house

I LOVE the red!

Regarding the doors: nope.

Love the pop of red in the kitchen. Hardly neutral, but it looks great. I'd buy it.

You wanna add some value, undermount that drop-in sink in the kitchen.

leave it. everything looks great! let the next home buyers decide if they want any more changes, that way they can choose their own finishes and not wind up ripping out new stuff.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC - it comes to the ROI again, is it worth it to spend at least $700 to replace it?

ania,,no. there isn't one person who will say, "oh if only they had an under mount sink I would have bought the house".

I wouldn't go out of my way to replace it. if they want the house, the sink won't matter.

paint them! I had slab doors in the house I just sold and I painted them SW Peppercorn. Everyone who toured the house LOVED the doors! Super easy and cheap to pain (I took them off the hinges and just rolled them) and they looked so good.

SW Urbane Bronze

SW Tricorn Black

SW Peppercorn

I live in a 1950s ranch and both the slab and louvered doors were original. Forget about making the hallway look like a dungeon by painting everything dark and dreary. It makes the walls appear to be closing in. If there is a complaint about the doors then you can give a little so the people can replace.

Don't replace the doors, you won't get anywhere close to the cost to replace.

If the doors are an issue at showings, then do as maifleur03 suggests, provide a credit if necessary. I've never seen it necessary in the hundreds and hundreds of sales I've completed over the years except if there is an occasional damaged door.

I wish the all slab doors had been left on my rancher. The six-panel big box doors are cheap looking and don't fit the style. One closet door and the hall bathroom are slab doors and look much better.

Your house is just fine. Don't buy into the improve for quicker sale trend, at this time, anything and everything is selling. Keep your money for your next place

The answers to questions asked in a vacuum are always going to be less than perfect, however, I disagree with some of the advice.

When I flip a home, the one thing I know I am going to be replacing is base molding followed closely by doors. They are absolutely some of the best bang for the buck. I swear that with good, crisp, well painted molding that people loose the ability to see pet stains on hardwood and/or walls that look like a five year did the most recent patch job.

The trick is to put enough work into a home to get it above market value and then stop working on it. Doors and molding are good because they can prevent redoing floors and walls. But you have to know when to leave well enough alone. I disagree with the majority opinion on doors, however, I suspect you are at the point of diminishing returns. I certainly believe that $9.5k is not going to help, but I can't tell you whether $2.5k will or not.

I am not a decorator (obvi), but I am not a fan of the floor. I would either paint or replace the doors to pull pull buyers' eyes up off the floor. Then again, I also suspect that the kitchen will set most of the price.

The red in the kitchen and bath will be a far bigger impediment to sale than the slab doors. It would be worth the investment to change that. Not the doors. If you‘ve got similarly personal bright colors elsewhere, get rid of them too.

Thank you for all your great input. I think we will skip replacing the door, maybe we will replace the hardware for something more modern and we will make sure it is all nice and clean. Keeping the door open during showings is also a good suggestion.

Replacing anything that isn't defective or damaged is going to be a net loss...not just the new doors that you've chosen to not do, but almost anything else as well. Putting in something that may look attractive to you may not make a difference to a potential buyer, or they may not even like it. Several years ago my neighbor spent about $6000 to replace decent carpeting in three bedrooms with higher quality carpeting before she put it up for sale. Guess what the buyer tore out in the first month of ownership....

I can’t even begin to tell you how many houses I walked away from because I didn’t like the knobs on the closet doors! Okay, I’ll tell you...none, zero, zilch.

No, never. It may increase the offers on your home as your exact home up against a home of the same price point would have more appeal but real dollars never. All homes have doors and mill work. They are expected. One does not recoup money spent re-trimming a home. Do it ASAP so you enjoy the money you spent or don't do it at all.

Unless there is an obvious flaw as in it doesn't work, I wouldn't spend money on new door hardware, either. You want to sell the house for the maximum amount possible. You have already sunk a lot of money in the kitchens and baths.

As far as preparing the home for sale, concentrate on cleanliness, clutter removal and curb appeal. Those items require effort and elbow grease with very little cost. They will pay off in much bigger amounts than changing door hardware.

You need to take off the homeowner's hat and put on the home seller's hat. Think twice before you make any further expenditures. If in doubt, come back here and we will give you honest, experienced and in some cases professional advice.

Love the door & trim you posted but it is the kind of upgrade to do for yourself, not resale. You won't recoup the investment.

And to add to Homechef, also get rid of excess stuff in closets. Make sure they look roomy.

Kitchen and bath look roomy. I love red but it is a more difficult color to sell. Now having said that, my last condo had a red bathroom and so does my new house. My first coop had red fixtures and a white wallpaper with red splotches on it. Had no problem selling the coop or the condo.

kudzu9 Putting in something that may look attractive to you may not make a difference to a potential buyer, or they may not even like it.

seriously! when we bought our house, it had a newly renovated bathroom, complete with a jetted tub (the ugly acrylic kind) and heated floor. I want to seriously gut everything. I'll recycle what I can, but I'm so angry that so much material will wind up being in a landfill. horrendous waste.

I do look at doors, but more as to what it says about the quality of the house, if that makes sense? The house we live in now was outdated - classic "grandma special" - but has solid wood doors throughout. We looked at another home in the neighborhood with a similar layout that had been "updated", including with cheap big box doors and you can just tell the difference. To me, it spoke to the quality of the build/improvements/home in general, etc.

That being said, OP: I would say don't bother with the doors, unless, as stated, there are obvious issues with your current doors. The investment won't be worth it in return on price, but you might get a return by way of a quick sale - so it may depend on your situation.

Many people don't care much one way or the other or notice these things - many are more concerned with aesthetics, which is why "Menards flips" persist. (And, no, Bry911, I know you do good work, not talking about your flips :)

If you search updating plain interior doors on Pinterest, there are all kinds of DIY moldIng options. Then add black hardware and we replaced a dozen of our door handles for around $250, which had a big impact. You could get the handles first and see if they make enough of an update.

I’d spend the money instead on a new light fixture and a runner; they will have more impact.

Maureen- And the runner is a “no cost” improvement as it wouldn’t stay with the house. ;-)

Doesn't look like you have the room for that kind of trim. The only way it would make a different in a sale is if the doors had holes in them.