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What the heck is a main floor scramble? Maybe the term out of context reminds you of golf or puts you in the mood for eggs. Succinctly, it’s an extensive first-floor remodel that updates your home’s layout. Compelling Homes does these projects in our Des Moines service area so well and often, that we have a pet term. We’re suckers for a good main floor scramble. It keeps families in their forever homes and provides solutions to so many of their current home’s shortcomings at once.
A New Floor Plan for an Old Home Remodeling 101
You love your school district, commute, nearby coffee shops and restaurants, neighbors, backyard, and cherished memories. When you’re already in your forever home but the space isn’t living as well as it could, a complete overhaul could be the right move to prevent a move. A whole-home remodel can give you the features you’re missing and the layout you need to live your best life right where you’ve always done it.
When is Your Whole Home Remodel a Main Floor Scramble?
A main floor scramble is a first-floor remodel that significantly changes the home’s layout. You might add a room or space to a room with an addition, relocate existing rooms, and change the layout within spaces such as bathrooms and kitchens. Main floor scrambles can be complete gut jobs where we change just about everything inside. They don’t have to be quite that drastic; you can usually keep the things you love. If we significantly change how you move through the home during our remodel, we’ll probably call it a main floor scramble.
How Much Does it Cost to Reconfigure House Floor Plans?
Changing your home’s floor plan requires about as much planning as it does building a home. Sometimes, it requires even more expertise as we work to preserve treasured elements, contend with dated electrical, plumbing, and building methods, and create continuity between new and existing spaces. You could spend $180,000 to more than $500,000 to change the layout of your house. That’s a big range because it depends on what you’ve got in mind. Your custom home builder is your best resource for the cost of the main floor remodel and will be able to break down your price much further after they see your space and understand your vision.
Why Do I Need a Main Floor Scramble?
What can you get from a main floor scramble that you can’t get from a traditional remodel? Everything. Options. Possibilities. Freedom. Here are some of the primary objectives many folks who undergo a main floor scramble articulate.
Open-Concept Living
A main floor scramble is the perfect way to create an open-concept first floor. Eliminating the walls between the kitchen, living room, and dining room creates multi-functional and airy spaces that better reflect habits for relaxing as a family.
New Spaces
Have you always wanted a sunroom? Want twice the kitchen and half the dining room? Need another powder room for guests? What about a first-floor primary suite? Ready for a mudroom that works? A main floor scramble is your chance to completely redesign your first floor with every item on your wish list.
Continuity on the Main Floor
Remodeling all of the spaces on your main floor at once allows you to add new materials and elements to multiple spaces at once to create a cohesive first-floor living experience. Carrying trim, tile, wallpaper, color palettes, flooring, and other elements from one room to another alleviates the feeling that you’re stepping into a brand-new space in an old house.
How Long Does it Take to Complete a Main Floor Remodel?
Ready for an unsatisfying answer? It depends. It could take 4 months or more to remediate your entire main floor. You should have a much better idea of your project’s timeline once it’s designed, but understanding how long you could be displaced from your home during your remodel requires a game plan first. Some clients may want to budget for a short-term rental or make other accommodations while their house is undergoing a main floor scramble, but many opt to stay in the home.
What Remodel Adds the Most Value to a Home?
When you’re designing a brand-new layout for your current home, you have the opportunity to select new features and spaces that don’t currently exist. Some features add more value to a home, such as creating a new bedroom or bathroom. Adding square footage also increases your home’s value. Expect an ROI of up to 90% if you stay for more than 7 years. Of course, every market is a little different, and so is every home and renovation, so it’s difficult to say what the ROI would be for the main floor scramble you’ve got planned.
Compelling Homes Perfected the Main Floor Scramble
Main floor remodels are some of our absolute favorite projects to undertake. We love dreaming big with homeowners and completely changing their lives with our work with results that exceed every expectation.
At Compelling Homes, we never stop at good enough; we make it compelling. We’d love to hear more about your main floor scramble project in Des Moines. Let’s connect today.
