Hi Mike, yes, the cabinet would have to have some kind of grill on the front or I'd be heating the inside of cabinets only. I also am concerned about the cabinet finishes getting affected by the heat. So, I'm not too keen on this idea. There is a basement under the kitchen and the plumber said radiant floor heat with steam is " very expensive" and since we are doing oak flooring ( to match the rest of the house) we would have to be careful about the temp since the steam could warp the wood flooring... My husband already nixed this because it would blow our budget out of the water. Are there any other cons to doing the electric toe kick heaters besides the cost to run them? Thanks again, Mike:)

I think a lot of these next questions come down to who is using the space and what stage of life you are in. There may not be a right or wrong answer, just preference. For example, if kids are using the jack and jill-- then its a great way to get each kid their own vanity area! Score! If it's primarily for your grown children visiting at the same time-- then it's remembering to knock bc you don't have your own bath. Far less enticing. For me, mudroom to manage kid sports gear is a very big deal! We put lockers down one wall and a countertop down the other. For you, maybe its not. I use the office to pay bills, play on the computer and store /use craft supplies. Our "office" is where kids do projects, I drop the mail and we leave "in progress" legos and multiday projects etc. We like being connected and in easy yelling distance to someone watching TV. That would be really different from ones needs who actually work from home. I'm assuming they would prefer to be closed off. Everything to the master bedroom side of the kitchen feels like "private space". Maybe you like it that way-- but to me it feels like a lot of space that isnt' communal. I would want people to feel more ok about using that bathroom and the "office", maybe having more kitchen pantry there, or a better connection to the back yard. I think the hardest part in a remodel is overcoming how you've always lived . I would encourage you to really try to start fresh with a drawing instead of just thinking of moving the walls that are existing. Play with the drawing, rename the spaces--think big!

There is no way anyone could give you an estimate of pricing as we really can’t tell what the scope of this project is. Electrical? Plumbing? Heating/cooling system? Insulation? You have what appears to be three 6 bedroom, 3 bath apartments. (Which in my opinion is just asking for trouble.) that do clearly need some renovation. Have they all been occupied recently? It doesn’t look it. Is this your first foray into landlording? My best suggestion is to go MrLandlord.com and ask your questions there. They’ve got some amazing landlords on there with tons of varied experiences. They can guide you on all sorts of ins and outs of finding and getting tenants along with rehabbing/renovating your buildings and how to tenant proof the building. If you are doing college rentals tenant proofing is extremely important. As are your processes for screening tenants and getting the money.

Plaster is wonderful for a number of reasons. When I lived in old REAL plaster over lath apartments and houses they were WAY quieter than those with drywall. Plaster was a skilled trade back in the day, unfortunately hanging drywall these days often is not. Gutting plaster walls that are in reasonable shape to do wiring is stupid and unnecessary. If you do need to cut holes in the plaster to accommodate new wiring, get someone who knows how to do it to fix it. If a guy doesn't know what brown coat is, move along.