Parents are buying a house built in the 60s, and the kitchen looks it. It has an in-wall toaster and can opener. Sink is leaking, microwave is from 1984, range is gas (they want electric) and the oven isn't working, the fridge doesn't seem to be getting cold plus it's so filthy that I think it's past the point of recovering, and the dishwasher seems to work but the door is deadweight and will cause injuries in my older parents.
The kitchen needs to be gutted. That is not in doubt. What I'm trying to figure out is does it make sense for them to patch it up and live with it for a year while the building supply issues get semi-sorted out? Or should they gut it now?
If they patch it up:
-- new fridge, including likely removing the cabinets over the current fridge to fit a new one
-- new range, including adding the electrical outlet for an electric one. This will happen eventually.
-- new microwave.
-- whine and groan about having to handwash dishes for a year, or risk injury from the door.
-- fix the sink.
-- scrub the heck out of the cupboards, walls, ceilings, floor, everything.
-- live with it for a year, then have to deal with the disruption of pulling the appliances out, gutting and redoing.
Parents are not good at dealing with disruption. They will shut down. I'll have to step in to manage most things, and it'll be 10x harder to do while they're living there.
If they gut it now:
-- they live at my house until it's done, minimizing daily life disruption. They will likely be able to manage most of the project with some double checking by me.
-- pay more for materials, possible scheduling issues, etc
-- have to buy appliances, cabinets, sink, counter, flooring, etc.
I can see pros and cons both ways. I selfishly would very much like them to move out of my house. I also suspect that my parents, faced with the prospect of handwashing dishes, will opt out of cooking and will go out to eat. They don't have the income to support that.
I'm estimating they have around 25-30k available for fixing up the house without tapping retirement savings. The kitchen is the biggest ticket, but they also have to replace the driveway and the house is overall a mix of the 60s and the 80s, so there will be other costs. I will be DIYing a lot of cosmetic things to conserve funds.
Not sure which direction I should be trying to steer them towards, if either. Opinions?