Anonymous wrote:Since it was built post-1978, you shouldn't have to worry about lead paint, which is key. Lead dust kicked up by renovations can really do developmental damage to little kids if they ingest it over time.

Yes. We renovated a 1880 rowhouse in Georgetown and I did all pre-pregnancy and before kids. The stuff we did after---I made sure kids and I were living elsewhere. Lead is a serious concern.

Other than inconvenience--you could do it if it wasnt too extensive. In our current house we took down two walls to make an open floor plan on the main level and the amount of dust and mess was unbelievable. I moved into a hotel with the kids for a week down the street. This house was built in 1920 so I also had lead issues.

Most houses in our area older than 90s are tear downs but stick around because they are really expensive. People end up polishing these turds. No other civilized nation or area has such an ambulance of disgusting 50s to 70s cracker box tract homes

This sounds like your first house and you are fairly young. Almost everyone buys some kind of fixer-upper for their first house because that is what most people can afford. You will be in good company. We bought a house that was livable but extremely ugly and fixed it up slowly over a few years as money became available. In the end, we have a great house in a great neighborhood, much nicer (and bigger) than what we could have afforded already remodeled when we were originally looking.