Fliperati

Thanks to a very nice shout-out from Brownstoner, the comment section of this post about the conflict between profitable flipping and detail preservation has sprung to life.  Not surprisingly, most of the feedback emphasized the value of preserving the original character of the house and avoiding a low-quality, character-less renovation.  As someone who has lived in his share of shoddy new construction rentals built by money-hungry developers, I can assure you that I will not go down that path (think paper-thin walls, poor workmanship, every detail overlooked, bland apartment living).  I’m having a lot of fun with this project and taking pride in my work, so I will opt for the higher-quality, more original choices whenever I can.

That said, I must confess that I’ve decided to cover the majority of the plaster walls with drywall (at least I’ll be retaining the insulating qualities of the underlying plaster, right?).  This was a tough choice, but the wood paneling adhesive and years of leaky plumbing / roofing have really taken their toll on the plaster and a full restoration would take tremendous time and effort.  Even if I were to spend the time and money on fixing the plaster, I still don’t think I could ever achieve that fresh-out-of-the-renovation-oven feeling that spanking new sheetrock will give to prospective buyers.  I feel a little bad about what seems like the easier route, but at least I’m not doing a half-assed job of it (like leaving the door and window trim on during the new drywall installation so the moldings are “swallowed” by the additional layer of wallboard).  At this point I have to think about my schedule, my budget and my prospective buyers and all three seem to be pointing me toward new drywall.