Local Programs: Which Jobs to Do and Which to Skip
A pre-sale list of repairs and refreshes gets long quickly. Most of what is on it is not equally urgent, and treating every item as urgent is how a seller ends up paying for the wrong things. This page sorts the list into three groups, fix, refresh and leave. It prints the reasoning beside each group, so that a reader can disagree with the result rather than simply accept it.
Who this page is for, and what it cannot do
We wrote this for a seller getting a New Hampshire house ready to list, and for a new owner with an inspection report in hand. Both are asking the same question: which of these jobs is worth doing, and which can be skipped? Three things decide the answer. The first is what an inspector or a buyer is likely to notice. The second is how soon the house goes on the market, and the third is how much work the owner will take on before then.
The sort does not value a house, and it does not price a job or print a return. Two houses can land the same kitchen in different groups, because the timeline and the owner's limits change the answer. That is deliberate, since a sort that ignored those limits would give every seller the same advice. A sort is only as good as its inputs, so answer each question from what you actually know about the house. Where you are unsure, the section on stalls below explains which way to lean.
Fix what will be flagged, refresh what will be seen, and leave the rest to the next owner's taste.
The Walkthrough Digest
Sort the jobs on your own house
Answer eight short questions about the house. The result sorts each job into fix, refresh or leave. Each group prints its reasoning, along with any note that applies to the trade involved. If the result does not match what you know, go back, change an answer and sort again.
Where each job lands
Fix: it will be flagged
Refresh: it will be seen
Leave: it is the next owner's taste
Where a sort stalls, and how to get past it
Three situations make a sort harder than it looks. A surface can be partly damaged, which splits it between two groups. A build year may not be known, and the lead-safe rule turns on that year. A timeline can fall between two ranges, which changes whether a visible job can be finished in time. Each has a straightforward way through, set out in the two columns below.
A partly damaged surface is sorted twice. The damaged part is a fix, and the sound part is judged on its own, so the same wall can sit in two groups at once. An unknown build year needs checking before anyone sands or scrapes paint, because the lead-safe rule turns on it. The property record is the place to start. Until the year is known, treat any paint work as if the rule applies.
A timeline between two ranges takes the shorter one, since a refresh has to be finished before buyers walk through. Before new solid hardwood goes down, the subfloor should read 12 percent moisture or less, averaged over at least 20 test locations per 1,000 square feet. The flooring should then sit within 4 percent of that reading for strip under 3 inches wide, or within 2 percent for wider boards (Weyerhaeuser's guide to hardwood moisture, citing the National Wood Flooring Association). A specific product's own instructions should be checked against these numbers. Ask the installer to show the readings before the floor is laid.
A renovation clip, watched for the work
This clip comes from a painting-focused channel, and we chose it from its title and channel alone. We have not reviewed its footage in full, so nothing in it has been checked against the sort. Treat it as something to look at rather than as advice. Use it to see the work itself, not to decide what to do about your own house. If the clip does not match your house, the sort above still holds.
Before you agree to any job, get the terms in writing
Once the sort says which jobs to pay for, the contract is the next thing to read. A written quote is where a sort turns into a commitment, and a gap on the page at the start is hard to close once work has begun. Our membership page sets out what a written quote should state and what to compare when two firms quote the same work. It is general guidance rather than a legal checklist. Read it before you sign anything.
Three figures the sort rests on
- 1978 Built before this year: paid work that disturbs paint falls under the federal lead-safe rule Source: EPA, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program
- 6 sq ft Interior paint per room that still counts as minor work; the exterior limit is 20 sq ft Source: 40 CFR § 745.83, Definitions
- 35°F The lowest temperature some Sherwin-Williams exterior lines are rated to apply and cure at Source: Sherwin-Williams, exterior product application FAQ
Putting the sort to work, in order
Start with the inspection report
Read the inspection report before you use the sort, because it records what an inspector actually saw. A finding that names damage goes in the fix group, whatever the timeline. A finding that only describes age belongs with the refreshes or the leave pile, depending on how soon the house goes on the market. Where the report and your own view disagree, start from the report and let your own view follow. Keep a copy of the marked-up findings alongside the sort.
Answer each surface on its own
Answer each surface on its own, and take a surface as damaged only when you can see the damage now. One room often holds a fix and a refresh side by side, so paint, floors, kitchen, bath and deck each get their own answer. Do not let one good surface mask a poor one in the same room. A fresh coat on a damp wall is still a damp wall. Work through the list in order, and note each answer as you go.
Ask every firm for the same list
When a job lands in the fix or refresh group, ask each firm to price the same items, with the same finishes named. Quotes for different work cannot be compared, however similar their totals look. A firm that prices a smaller scope is not necessarily cheaper, only different. Ask each firm what it has left out, so the gap is visible. The sort cannot tell you which firm to choose, and it does not try.
Trade bodies that publish standards and directories
- Painting Contractors Association, the national trade association for painting contractors, with industry standards and a member directory
- New Hampshire Home Builders Association, the state trade association for builders and remodelers, with a contractor directory