Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

juan david

Apr 16, 2003, 5:22 AM

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home renovation

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We've been renting here and are about to buy. Our second choice is a walk in and drop your suitcases house. Pretty painless! Our first choice (are we nuts?) is a 25 year old solid house that needs new kitchen, bathrooms, and we want to blow out a wall and add a couple of rooms. We are talking with one contractor at the moment. Need to make the fateful decision by early May. Would like to hear from anyone who has been thru the build/reno process locally to advise us based on their experiences re quality of work, staying on schedule and staying within budget.

Reply on forum, privately, or I'll buy the coffee/margaritas if discussion is best. Thanks in advance!
" let sleeping dogs lie"

jennifer rose

Apr 16, 2003, 8:47 AM

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Re: [ian] home renovation

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Again, I'm not in Ajijic, but Morelia's a little more local than, say New York City. Ajijic does seem to have a pool of contractors who are accustomed to dealing with the gringo market.

While I hated remodeling and construction in the U.S., for me those activities have become a lifestyle in Mexico. There's no question that it's still a moneypit, but the huge variety of materials, the craftsmanship, the adventure of it all --- and, most of all, plumbers and electricians who clean up after themselves -- have made remodeling actually a pleasurable activity for me.

Budgets and deadlines.....well, that's another matter. There are contractors who will stay tightly within budget, even if it means cutting corners and using the "contractor's special" brand of cheap materials. And there are those who are open to the owner's changes of mind. There are those workmen who believe that a deadline is simply a suggestion, and there are those who've learned the trick of quoting a deadline that's two weeks later than the completion date.

Go for your first choice, Ian.

PeggyS

Apr 17, 2003, 12:41 AM

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Re: [ian] home renovation

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The picture on your posting is my very favorite among all that I have seen. Love it! To get to the subject.......it all depends. Our next door neighbor at Chula Vista moved at the same time we did. They chose a larger property to renovate, we moved into upper Ajijic where we could walk to everything. We needed a new kitchen among other things and we chose a kitchen specialist. We now have a to-die-for kitchen, with features I haven't even seen in the states. The corner cabinets turn, so that you can reach everything. The full length kitchen cupboard has pull-out drawers so that you can get to the very back, instead of shelves. The dreadful 7-year old gas stove went to charity, giving us some more storage space. The microwave and toaster ovens do just fine, and the rest of our cooking is done in the patio kitchen with its barbecue etc. Our neighbor used an "architect" to oversee his reconstruction and we could write a book about his experiences. Several hundred thousand dollars worth of experiences. So the lesson is to be very careful of who you are using (and it does take forever, no matter how good the guy is) and be on the premises ALL the time. And then it really is worth it. I think our total bill for all we had done was about $5,000 USD.

Rolly

Apr 17, 2003, 6:51 AM

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Re: [PeggyS] home renovation

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be on the premises ALL the time.

be on the premises ALL the time.

be on the premises ALL the time.

be on the premises ALL the time.

be on the premises ALL the time.

be on the premises ALL the time.

YES!

Rolly Pirate

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