How best to prioritize remodeling on a limited budget

[Jim1912]

I'm preparing a full-home 2-bedroom, 2-bath with an estimated monthly rent of $5,000 or more in the Los Angeles area and would like to optimize improvements to help lead to good reviews from the start. So far, I had the hardwood floors resurfaced, installed mini-splits, updated the plumbing and will have new vinyl windows installed soon.

It would be great to get suggestions for prioritizing the remaining improvements, to accommodate a limited budget, involving the kitchen, bathroom and landscaping: 

To avoid the costs of a full remodel, is it an option to leave the kitchen and bathroom cabinets as they are for now? If not, would you recommend replacing the cabinet doors and drawers and possibly the countertops?   

With new lawn watering restrictions, the front yard is turning into dirt. I believe artificial turf is a good option to enhance the appearance of the property and is common in the neighborhood, but it's expensive. Also, since we're able to provide a semi-private backyard to guests, I thought it would be worthwhile to create an attractive backyard by installing artificial turf.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Kitchen sink sideCabinets opposite side of the sinkside of kitchen with one spice cabinetBathroom

[Huma0]

PS, even if the guests do not access the top shelves of the cabinets, those can be a useful space to store less commonly used items such as extra supplies of stuff.

[Ted307]

@Huma0  Xs 2 on the dust magnet area! I love our old cabinets that go all the way up.

[Huma0]

@Ted307 

I seriously envy your tall cabinets and now wish I had them. It's a learning curve I guess. When I do eventually refit my kitchen (not any time soon), I would definitely go for that.

If you already have the tall ones, like @Jim1912 has, and if they can be restored, I would definitely advocate keeping them. It just makes sense in so many ways not to have that useless gap at the top.

[Ted307]

@Huma0 

OH yeah, the old cabinets in the bunkhouse kitchen are keepers. I sanded them and painted them white again. The doors stick a little in places, when it is warm and humid like now. In California, that was never a problem! The old drawers, just like @Jim1912  said, needed a little work on the rail they slide on. Sanded, and some bar soap rubbed on, they still work. The old kitchens were made to work hard and last better than the new particle board cabinets would with the rough use of our renters when they do cook! They are easy for us to repair ourselves. In Seattle, we had a beautiful 1914 Craftsman that I still miss. And rentals in the same neighborhood that were even older with the same kitchens as this one. I taught myself to tile to replace the kitchen counters and the bathroom floor in our craftsman. I learned enough to hire the job out this time! 😉

[Ted307]

@Jim1912 

I have seen those cute Spanish style neighborhoods in LA. Very popular area.

@Huma0is a true decorator. For our place with an old kitchen, we just went with a vintage farmhouse style. Red frig, old vintage grey counter top with farm house sink. You have a better countertop. The cabinets are about like ours. We put some new latches, and another coat of white paint. Your kitchen floor looks ok in the photo -- is it tile? We put new vinyl flooring, the floor was shot in our place. We were just discussing how little guests actually use the kitchen.

We spent the money in the bathroom with a new shower and much needed hot water heater. Kept our vintage bucket sink, yours is much better. Our shower has paid for itself. Our guests love the bathroom. I do not think money spent there can go wrong. I have used some enamel white touch up paint on tile with good results.

We did the needed electrical work ourselves, Ted is an electrician. Especially with month long renters, you really need to have good electrical. We added a circuit in the kitchen, the old people just did not have all the microwaves and toasters sucking down the juice! We have still had one guest manage to trip a breaker, but I am home to help them almost all the time since we are retired and live on the property.

[Huma0]

@Ted307 

I think it's always worth saving what you can if it's in keeping with the property rather than some later, cheap and nasty addition. However, one does have to weigh up what is and what is not salvageable.

Most of my guests absolutely love the period styling of my house, which is almost as old as Buckingham Palace (not joking), but I have had a few that think old = dirty. I have no idea why the latter even book with me! 

[Jim1912]

@Ted307 

That's so interesting how you're seeing people value the bathroom over the kitchen. 

If we build a shower, it would be necessary to replace the bathtub/shower combination with a stall shower because the bathtub is a non-standard size that isn't made anymore and there's not enough space to fit a new larger tub. I read about this in a discussion here and it seems that that's an acceptable alternative. 

The bathtub and tile areas were reglazed and I'm concerned it's not a durable solution so this adds another reason for looking at building a new shower. 

Yes, the kitchen floor is tile. It has tiny cracks and I wonder if that's something that could be improved with the enamel touch up paint you mentioned.

Thanks.

[Huma0]

@Jim1912 

If I had the choice between a bath tub and a shower cubicle, I would always go for the shower as it is much more practical and gets used 100 times more.

However, what I have noticed hosting guests from pretty much all over the world is that the Americans just love the bath tub. There are very few guests of other nationalities that ever use it, but to US guests, it's a really selling point (so they tell me) even if they don't end up using it.

Just something to consider.

[Ted307]

@Jim1912 

That touch up paint is probably not durable enough for a floor. Can't hurt to try, then wax it good to try to keep it on, maybe. I was thinking of touching up your bathroom sink tile with it. In your photo it looks chipped. Renters will equate that with being old & dirty, especially when they are looking for that kind of money's worth that you would like. There is a grout paint that works wonders on the old, wide grout. But, I have never used that on a floor, just kitchen counter top areas.

I had a sink in a rental done by one of those "re-glaze" guys, it did not last, you are right. That old sink needed to be replaced.

We had an old cast iron tub that had the drain through the slab -- old galvanized pipe completely rusted out & not draining. We took it out, it's still out in the yard, it was so heavy! It is a great planter, so you will not loose your cool original fixture. Just re-purpose it as art!

We got a plastic shower pan from Costco, and the tile came from HD @ .89/sq ft. It looked so good we put it on the walls and made a counter out of it.A lot of our vacationers do not use the kitchen at all. From the number of towels I wash, this room gets the most use in the house! We have easy to clean vinyl flooring, though. I love tile but it will crack on the slab we have, no way around it without a ton more work and expense. Cracked slab, will transmit to and through the tile.

[Huma0]

@Ted307 

I was thinking when I looked at @Jim1912 's photos that the tiles on the kitchen counters and in the bathroom are pretty cool (except that I do not love red in a bathroom for a couple of reasons). However, some of the tiles in the bathroom look like they might be beyond saving, which is a shame...

[Ted307]

@Huma0 

Those bathroom tiles look like a homeowner did them and have some damage. Not the tile of the 20's, but maybe one of us '80s DIYer trying to get that 20's look! As A DIY tiler, I see the problems with them. Those wide grout lines were in style in the 80's in CA. I paint them with the special grout paint. They will always be difficult to clean. And to have them LOOK clean. The narrow thin grout from the 20's would be much better and maybe worth saving, but I bet it was worn out by the 80's! Renters would like a new smooth countertop & sink from Home Depot better, and as a cleaner I would, too.

[Huma0]

@Ted307 

Ah well, I don't know that much about grout lines, but I suspect you may be right.

What I do know is that grout does not last that long. I mean it does not stay fresh looking for more than a few years, so thick grout lines don't make sense.

[Ted307]

@Huma0 

Yes, those thick grout lines went out of fashion pretty quick. Like an avocado green frig with the matching kitchen sink, they date a place pretty accurately! Not an antique worth saving, IMHO.

I do agree that us Americans are bathroom plumbing freaks. Lots of hot water, clean and fresh fixtures & you get happy guests! But, I bet our friend @Jim1912 could get that effect if he were willing to invest in a hot tub on the back patio. An expensive place in So. Cal. calls out for some outdoor water! I would rather clean a hot tub than that bathroom sink.

[Huma0]

@Ted307 

Mmm. Well I have no experience of hot tubs as we don't normally get the weather here to make that a worthwhile investment (but with climate change and the recent hot and dry summer, who knows?) but I never imagined it would be easier to clean than a bathroom sink!

[Ted307]

@Huma0 

The chemistry, and the filter, need once a week attention. We kept ours covered with an insulated cover when we lived in Palm Desert and had one. No scrubbing it with a tooth brush or a dremel tool like that grout in the picture. Costs to heat it, it was about $30/month more on our bill at the time, ~2010. As a host, I would clean the filter before and after each guest using it, test the chemicals. 30 minutes at the most. The chemicals can run another $20/month using it a lot. Most guys hire a service to come once a week for their pools and hot tubs, I am just a DIY type.