Gil, we just put our 47-year old home on the market today. DH and I worked for two solid months fixing it up--nothing major. Nothing looks better than a clean, decluttered house. We did all of the work ourselves, with the help of a few friends. Mostly decluttering, cleaning, painting, etc. I didn't keep track of costs but I'd estimate I didn't spend over $3,000. My house is 2,200 sq. ft. We painted the main level with neutral (mostly tan/toupe/antique white) paint, put crown molding in living/dining room, new flooring in kitchen, put in tan laminate countertops, a cream porcelain kitchen sink, I painted the inside of the old laminate cabinets, and put on new knobs. I pulled carpeting out of main bedroom to show wood floors. We painted laundry room and put down new tile. Hubby painted gutters and downspouts. The only major purchase was a new stove. We also bought a new cabinet/sink for main bath. The real estate agent told me not to replace the 25-year old carpet in the living/dining room so I just cleaned it. She said it showed well. Overall the house has looked better than it has in 25 years. Take one room at a time so it doesn't seem so overwhelming. Make a list of what you want to do in that room, what you need to buy and shop for bargains. Oh, that $3,000 included new bedding for 3 rooms, new drapes in living/dining room, tablecloths and some miscellaneous "look pretty" things.

Based on your description of your neighborhood, I'd go with laminate. DH and I put a nice WilsonArt laminate ("green legacy") in our townhouse and it looks great.

Solid surface might be in BUT I wonder if in the long run people are going to get bored with it and want to change the look of their kitchens and are going to hate themselves for all that wasted money. I'd go with the laminate.
I think if your bathroom sinks are showing rust you might as well replace them...they are past their prime and probably should have be done long ago. They will help update you bathrooms and might even bring you a quicker sale as well as replacing the counter tops.

solid surfacing is actuallynot that cheap. Sometimes granite can be cheaper, depending.

My vote would be a laminate. As you said, there are many nice ones out there. My vote woudl be to choose one that doesn't have too definite a color of its own (not navy blue w/ speckles, nice as it is; not greenish). Something tan or gray, so they can put whether color they want with it. (if you paint the cabinets white, tan looks great with them)

You just want a kitchen that doesn't scream out "you need to fix me right away!" That's all, esp. at the price point you describe.

And I would replace the dinged bathroom sinks--counters too if they look worn, and "while you're at it" if you can do it without spending too terribly much.

you don't want to over improve for your neighborhood or price point. I'd do laminate.

What does your "competitiion" have? Ask a realtor or three.

I'd replace the bathroom vanity tops with cultured marble one piece top-and-sink. Or drop-in sinks on the cultured product. Are the cabinets below in good shape? If not, and if there is other storage, could you use pedestal sinks? They make the room look much larger. Would the tub area benefit from a cultured marble surround? How are the bathroom floors? New light fixtures can appeal.

Sinks and toilets are cheap -- installing them may not be. Easy to change out an electrical fixture.

Go to some open houses and see what the competition has, or ask your RE person.

rosie - how are you liking the cream coloured porcelain sink? I'm asking because we have on in this house. I loved it when I saw it, but I absolutely hate it now. It shows every little drip or crumb. At least stainless is a bit forgiving.

A sink certainly isn't a made or break part of the deal, but I would never go with anything but stainless again after having to scrub this sink constantly so it stays clean.

Ditto on the laminate recommendation. We're going on the market in about 6 weeks and are hip deep in this stuff! Our house is a 1993 tract-type Cape, although it screamed "80s" from top to bottom when we bought it in 2004 so we have to update at high speed without spending ourselves broke. Putting upscale elements like granite counters in it would be like putting an evening gown on a bulldog. :-) In the kitchen we're installing laminate counters (Wilsonart Milano Brown, a granitey mix of black, dark and light browns, gold, beige, and white, very versatile) with a white porcelain sink (looks nicer than stainless with the counters, and all the appliances are white too) and bronze faucet on the generic builder oak cabinets, fresh vinyl tile flooring in kitchen, laundry room, and bath, new lighting, cabinet and door knobs, and in the bath, cultured marble vanity top with integrated sinks and new faucets, new towel bars, knobs, etc. The vanity top is still sitting in the middle of the floor but it is pretty nice looking for a big hunk of plastic. I was going to go with solid surface in there - I had found an off-price dealer on eBay - but it was just going to get too expensive.

I know MY reaction to a tiled bathroom counter would be "ugh! grout cleaning!" However, if pulling them out would trash the walls (some of those counters are tiled right up the wall and pulling them out is a PITA) and they're drop-in sinks rather than tile-in, it shouldn't be too awfully hard to remove the existing chipped sinks and drop in inexpensive new sinks. HD and Lowes both have simple drop-in sinks for under $50. If you have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore around, or any other kind of building materials recycling place, that would be a good place to look for sinks (and everything else) too. New sinks and faucets, perhaps new accessories like towel bars/rings and TP holder, shower curtain if needed, would do a good job of helping wake up a stale bath.

Sparks, I like the look of my porcelain sink. I tend to be more careful when dropping dishes/pans in it though for fear of dinging it. I put one of the rubbermaid things in the bottom when doing dishes. I don't have a problem keeping it clean, I keep a spray bottle mixture of bleach/water in the cabinet and after doing dishes I spray it. I like the look better than stainless steel, which I had for 20 years.

Johnmari, how do you like your Wilsonart? I see it advertised on TV alot and it looks nice. Is it a laminate?

Thanks for all of the suggestions - they are very helpful. Sometimes I get overwhelmed trying to think through everything that needs to be done....

I'm glad that the concensus seems to be laminate countertops. That was what I had originally been leaning toward, and it is obviously the most economical. I think that if we paint the kitchen cabinets, replace hardware, and put on a nice (neutral) laminate, it will be a huge improvement. Would love to replace the flooring, too, but it is brick and would have to be jack-hammered out... so the next owners will have to deal with that. I forgot to mention that we also plan to replace the oven and cooktop, and the dishwasher is new, so that should help. (Also forgot to mention that we plan to replace outdated light fixtures and blinds.)

I am a little concerned about your suggestions for the bathrooms. The sinks are tiled in, not drop in. The tiled countertops have a little 'backsplash' (probably not the right term) that goes up the wall about 5". So it could be a real pain to replace. Had not really considered doing that, so I don't have any idea of how expensive it would be, either (We are not DIY'ers, so we would have to pay someone to do it.) Floors are also tiled - they match countertops. So if we replace them as well, I wonder if we would be over-improving....

My parents had the same white porcelein sink for over 25 years until they redid the kitchen (and replaced it with almost the same thing). It had no dings or anything. Same for my at least 20 year old brown porcelien sink (wonder if I should have it painted when I get ready to sell). I do not like stainless. I find that my stainless appliances scratch easily. MIL loves stainless so that is what she has always had

I recently saw a local ad for a company that will cover your laminate counter tops with a layer of granite, sort of like refacing. I wonder if that is an idea

Chipped porcelein can be touched up. I think I saw some at my local Ace. They have different colors so you can match it

I like the idea of tile, especially if it has a vintage look and matches the floor. My fear with redoing the vanity is it will make the rest of the bathroom look older

Gilmoregal, are your brick floors in the kitchen in good shape? If so, if I were a buyer I would see them as a major plus. I have three boys, a husband and a bassett hound, and I would look at those floors and think "YAY!! No more mopping twice a day!"

The brick floors are in good shape for being over 40yo (sorry, typo in initial post said 50yo, but the house was built around 1964). And having raised 3 kids (two are still teenage boys)and multiple dogs in this house, I have definitely appreciated the fact that dark brick hides a multitude of sins. You don't even realize how much it hides until you mop and see the dirty water and mophead! But after 21 years of brick, I am ready for something a little lighter - not white ceramic tile like my Mom's, but something in between.... And hopefully potential buyers will see the floors like you would!

Generally when preparing your home for sale it is best to limit your budget to about 1% to 2% of the value of the home.

Gilmoregal, just as one can have carpets professionally cleaned, similar companies also professionally clean hard surface floors like tile and brick. I was amazed how new my patio looked after been power washed. You might find that you are amazed how great your brick floors look after being professionally cleaned.

I will have to look into that. Our brick floors have been "sealed" and would probably benefit from being stripped and resealed. I checked with some local brick dealers a few years ago, but they were not able to recommend anyone who did that kind of work, and they did not recommend doing it ourselves because of the chemicals involved.

Something to think about with laminate - you can dress it up a bit if you don't buy the prefab stuff but put on a flat sheet and do a decorative tile backsplash. Mine has routered or molded? wood trim around the edges of the counter.

marys1000 -
I agree - a tile backsplash gives laminate a much 'richer' look. I am hoping that it won't cost too much to put one in. We currently have laminate countertops with a tile backsplash - it is outdated (80's colors), but I still love it. Cleaning up faucet spray and stove splatters off of tile is so simple - much better than when I used to have wallpaper....

Rosie, the laminate is on order and hasn't been installed yet. Because of the shape of our counters (darn corner cabinets) we couldn't get the inexpensive standard postformed counter I would rather have used, we had to go with the more expensive custom square edge which is taking a little longer. The beveled edge is very popular these days but it's quite the upcharge.

Ditto saphire's suggestion to the OP of getting a porcelain touch-up kit for those sink dings, since they're tiled-in and the vanity top is tiled onto the wall. Any hardware store will have the kits. Just make sure the sink is bone dry when it's touched up, and follow the instructions for curing time before use.

Make sure to check eBay for your cabinet hardware, lighting, etc. too. I saw the cabinet knobs I am using at either HD or Lowes for $4 each - I paid 99 cents each on eBay, with flat $5.95 shipping for approximately 45 knobs and a handful of cup pulls. My lighting almost all came off Bellacor's clearance section for 50-66% off, and new pleated blinds (which will convey with the house, as is standard practice here) from JCPenney on 50% off.

johnmari -
Do you remember the ebay seller id (or ebay store) where you purchased your cabinet hardware?

gilmoregal, I linked the ebay store below. We installed a bunch of the knobs today and I'm really pleased with the quality.

Here is a link that might be useful: Your Home Supply

gilmoregal-

Why don't you try to resurface what you have? Find info on STONE-LOOK Countertop.
I would attempt it if I were selling.

HGTV had an epsiode on "Design On a Dime" re-do of a kitchen- Tuscan Kitchen (DOD-2202) where they resurfaced an OLD laminate. Looked like something anybody can DIY.
It was called Skimstone refinishing product.
The guy just ran this thin, grout-like material over the counter with a trowel & sealed it. It looked like a concrete top. I think they gave it a green color. They said that it was solid like a rock ;)
I may attempt to do an island with that. I need to do some more research on it. It cost them $195 to do the kitchen counters.

dabunch -
Sounds like an interesting idea, but we are not DIYers. Since our goal is to IMPROVE resale, this is probably not the time to start practicing those skills.... :) Best to leave this to someone who actually knows what they are doing!

I saw ads for something locally and it was not DIY

Concrete counters (or pseudoconcrete) are kind of a trendy niche thing and might well be as much of a turnoff as a turn-on, especially if the property is not in a, shall we say, stylistically progressive area. I think laminate has a much broader, more generic appeal, and isn't the point here to "generic-ize" the house?

A store near me sells the Skimstone product. As usual, Design on a Dime cut some major corners - it's a fairly time-consuming project that like all faux finishes takes skill to apply properly and attractively. The bonding primer dries 8 hours (and two coats may be required), 3-4 coats of the stone stuff with 3 hours' wait after each, then 8 hours minimum dry time, then 4-6 coats of the sealer with 3-6 hours dry time after each, and 7-10 days to cure.

This was for a granite overlay

Until this past Saturday when I talked to a general contractor doing a neighbor's kitchen, I was all set to have laminate installed. I had already did the preliminary work of getting my space measured and all I needed to do was 'make he call'. When the GC told me the cabinets would literally fall apart when demolition started(I have tile)I thought I would have to leave the gross '80's tile. While going over the whole scenario with my daughter, she told me about a product she saw advertised at the mall that goes right over the existing tops.

The company is called Granite Transformations(http://www.granitetransformations.com/home.html)and is a granite/resin combination. I had a rep out today and here's the scoop: A layer of luan is used on existing tops, some of the tile is 'knocked down' to accommodate the stove and sink, and then the product is installed over the top. Let me tell you, this stuff really looks like granite, but less upkeep, with no sealing involved, and can withstand temps up to 600+(??) degrees. It's an Italian product, and was first used for floors. Yes, it costs more than laminate, but I would need someone to come in and demo, repair walls, disconnect drains, dishwasher, disposal, put in new sink, and then re-install the whole shebang, but I won't need all of that, and they'll disconnect. The laminate plus the 'extras' would have been almost 3 grand. It will cost a little over $4 grand for the granite-like surface.

Tomorrow will be decision day. ;o)

patty_cakes

That is a lot Patty for either one. I would have expected to pay less than that for granite in my kitchen. I expect laminate to be under 1000 and granite I see ads for 45 per sq ft. Not sure if that is just a come on

Is your kitchen huge? If the tile is decent looking I am not sure I would bother, especially if it risks your cabinets

Saphire, the laminate itself was only $1,040, the remaiming was tear out/repair, detaching/re-attaching plumbing, which costs MORE that the dang laminate. That's why I decided ot go with this surface.

Yes, it is more, but I feel it's worth it, and I WILL get my $$$ back. My kitchen is quite small~only 44 sq ft of counter space, part of this is the 6" backsplash, and an opening between the kitchen/dr. The $45 per sq ft granite is for the granite itself, not installed.

The tile is not horrendous, but has small chips and the grout needs to be re-done, again. Tearing out the tile really is a risk as it's what is holding the cabs together, i've been told. Guess that was 'the way' back in the 80's, quick and cheap~it's so sad. ;o)

patty_cakes