Episode 1486
Is Angi or Angi's list being dishonest about kitchen remodeling costs?
This last week the Kitchen and Bath Industry was up in arms over a story that was published on Angi.com about the costs of kitchen remodeling. These numbers are so low they were not accurate even 20 years ago. Eric dives into where they are wrong and the possible motivation for publishing a story like this and what the potential financial benifit for them could be. After Eric gets off his soapbox he then explores the rebates that are slowly coming out for electrical and appliance upgrades that could help lower income people upgrade heating and cooling systems, electrical panel upgrades, and new kitchen appliances and so much more.
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Mentioned in this episode:
A new kind of decking and siding from Millboard
For more information about the latest in decking and cladding head to https://www.millboard.com/
Baldwin Hardware
Transcript
[00:00:34] Eric Goranson: Hope everybody's having a great week, man. This month is flying by Hope you got a chance to catch my TV show, first episode last Saturday, that uh, around the House Northwest. If you wanna see that, you can head over to, um, easy places. Just head over to Facebook around the House Show and you can see it over there.
[:[00:01:35] Eric Goranson: The title is, how Much Does A Kitchen Remodel Cost? 2023 Data. And it says Normal range, $14,545 to $40,463. And they say the average US homeowner spends $26,100 $181 in a kit remodel. [00:02:00] And I tell you what, it appears to me. And it is my opinion that this story is written to get people to go over to Angie's List, to hire their contractors to do a remodel and get a quote, and to spark that kind of business.
[:[00:02:55] Eric Goranson: They're saying a minor kit remodel can cost as little as 10,000. Well, yeah. If you go [00:03:00] through and maybe paint some things and throw some knobs on it and you do a little fluff and buff, yeah, you could spend 10 grand and they say a higher end remodel can go as high as $130,000. No. If you hire a kitchen designer and a kitchen remodeler to come out to your.
[:[00:03:50] Eric Goranson: And by the time you put in appliances and everything else, that's where it is. So, I mean, this is beyond [00:04:00] misleading, Angie, and it's something that they should be ashamed about. It is that off. So this is where we run into problems on the inter web, is you have people out there creating stories like Angie that completely misleads the public.
[:[00:04:47] Eric Goranson: Painting walls for a fresh look, refinishing or refacing cabinets, or replacing them with stock cabinets, keeping appliances replacing one or two for energy efficient options. Upgrading flooring, countertops, new [00:05:00] kitchen, sink and faucet. Average cost 10 to 20. No you're not close. Materials cost more than 20.
[:[00:05:26] Eric Goranson: They're saying 20 to 70. You are hard pressed to hire that done and be under 70.
[:[00:06:06] Eric Goranson: Countertop cuz you have to have power on the countertop, so you gotta run it all the way through there. New lighting fixtures, which means drywall, electrical, so yeah, no, again, way off. Large scale kits remodel. They're a little closer here, but again, they're off changing the kitchen footprint, moving plumbing, electrical, gas line, luxury countertops like marble, upgrading high-end flooring like stone tile.
[:[00:07:03] Eric Goranson: so this is where it gets interesting. They have their common Kittery model costs,
[:[00:07:42] Eric Goranson: And if you say that countertops are 14%, so you got $3,000. It's not stone, it's not quartz. So you're looking. Tile or laminate, that's your [00:08:00] choices. So again, be very careful guys out there. These guys are being really deceptive on this and um, it really is scary with the information these guys put out. And this is the article on the front page of Andy's list today.
[:[00:08:52] Eric Goranson: For that lead. And many contractors get into long-term annual contracts with these referral [00:09:00] services that pay five, six, $7,000 a month or more to Angies Marketing. And when you jump on their website and type it in, that is where they make their money that lead. So if you think about. There is a incentive for Angie a n g i.com to sit there and get people to go.
[:[00:10:01] Eric Goranson: So this story here is not information that is valuable to you, the consumer. It is valuable to them for generating leads for their contractors, so their contractors by this story kind of getting taken. And you're being fooled. So I'm gonna call Angie's List out on this one right now because this is, uh, inappropriate at best, and they have some severely flawed data that is bad for the consumer.
[:[00:10:57] Eric Goranson: I don't know if I can afford it. This [00:11:00] might be the year for you to take a look at heat pumps and here's why. That, uh, inflation reduction act, and let me use that in quotes and parentheses and whatever else, because that's a high debate on what that is that we're not gonna get into today. However, it can put some money back in your pocket as a homeowner.
[:[00:11:48] Eric Goranson: Heat pump, water heater. Now this goes state by state out there, so you need to make sure that you're following your local stuff to see what's going on. But on average heat pump water heater, you're looking 1,750 [00:12:00] bucks. You could get $8,000 back for a heat pump for space heating and cooling, you could get $840 for an electric stove cooktop range or oven, and about 840 bucks for a heat pump closed dryer.
[:[00:12:38] Eric Goranson: Insulation, air sealing ventilation, 1600 bucks, fixing electrical wiring, $2,500. So that can be pretty good. Now, not all households will qualify for this. So this has a little thing here that says energy efficiency [00:13:00] and electrification. Rebates for that are reserved for households making less than 150% of the area and median income as defined by hud.
[:[00:13:32] Eric Goranson: So there's a lot of, uh, home improvement credits as well that are out there. And I got this information, uh, from solar.com. They had a nice list of it here, but, uh, a lot of different things. He pump water heaters. They've got some other home energy efficient improvement credits too that you can get out there.
[:[00:14:08] Eric Goranson: Uh, the first hour is gonna be a lot of fun. We have got so much going on here this. We're gonna start out talking with all side about composite siding. No, this isn't vinyl siding. This isn't the stuff that gets all chalky nasty that we saw 20 years ago. This is a composite, so it fills that hole that's kind in between the vinyl siding and the more expensive concrete.
[:[00:14:42] Eric Goranson: This is gonna be something for that outside Lawn Garden and even Orchard and Forest. These spikes go down into the ground and they put water subterranean down into the roots so you don't have to worry about, worry about watering on. . This [00:15:00] actually puts it down at the roots so you don't lose so much water.
[:[00:15:21] Eric Goranson: So if you're in the Portland Metro, This is gonna be a lot of fun on Saturday and I want you to come out and say hi. If you're gonna be out there, come say hi to me. So I'm gonna be out there for my v i p launch party event and uh, it is sold out, but there is going to be, I think some more tickets released, at least get on the list.
[:[00:16:07] Eric Goranson: And then after that I'm gonna be over there at the uh, Portland General Electric PGE booth at one o'. Talking to people, so come by and say hi. If you're at the Portland Expo Center this weekend for the Portland Home and Garden Show, I will be out there and I'd love to say hi. Come say hi. Come shake my hand.
[:[00:16:43] Eric Goranson: All right, everybody have a great rest of the week and it's always, thanks for listening to Around the House. We appreciate you! [00:17:00]
