A Salt Lake Avenues seller with a 1918 bungalow had unique constraints: lead-paint precautions required (pre-1978), preserved historic detail, and a tight 90-day listing window. Goal: refresh without erasing character.
The home at intake
- Address area: Salt Lake City Avenues (lower Avenues)
- Build year: 1918
- Size: 1,650 sq ft, 3 bed / 1.5 bath
- Estimated value range pre-prep: $625K-$685K
- Days to listing: 87
Special considerations
- Lead-paint safety: EPA RRP rules apply for any painting/scraping. We follow these on every pre-1978 home.
- Original wood trim: Avenues buyers pay a premium for preserved original detail. Refinish, don’t replace.
- Plaster walls (not drywall): Patches require plaster compound, not drywall mud.
- Knob-and-tube wiring remnants: Some attic runs still active. Required coordination with licensed E200 electrician.
Walkthrough findings
Tier 1 — preservation-first refresh
- Plaster crack patches (8 spots, mostly settling cracks over door frames)
- Wood trim re-stain (front entry + dining room original baseboards + window casings)
- Interior paint refresh (walls only, trim re-stained in step above)
- Door hardware refresh — kept the original brass hardware but polished to a brilliant shine
- Kitchen faucet replacement (only kitchen fixture changed — kept original glass-knob upper cabinets per seller’s preference)
Tier 2 — inspection risk
- 4 GFCI outlets (kitchen + bath + 2 exterior) installed by our coordinated E200 electrician
- 3 smoke + 2 CO detectors to current code
- Stair handrail re-secure (loose at top of basement stairs)
- Toilet wax ring reset (powder room)
Tier 2.5 — coordinated electrician
- Replace last 2 active knob-and-tube runs with modern Romex (small attic section)
- This was a real value-add — inspector would have flagged it as a major issue otherwise
Tier 3 — explicitly skipped
- Kitchen remodel (would have erased character + bad ROI in this neighborhood)
- Hardwood floor refinish (sanded floors lose patina, Avenues buyers want patina)
- Window replacement (original wood double-hungs are a feature, not a flaw)
Scope + execution
- Plaster patch + trim refresh: 3 days
- Paint (walls only, lead-safe): 4 days
- Hardware + faucet: 1 day
- Electrical (coordinated E200 sub): 1 day
- Misc inspection-risk items: 1 day
- Total execution: 10 working days, finished 60 days before listing (early target on purpose for staging)
The numbers
- Plaster patches (8 spots, including specialty compound): $895
- Wood trim re-stain (entryway + dining room): $1,485
- Interior wall paint (lead-safe, eggshell white): $3,250
- Hardware polish + reseat (no replacement): $245
- Kitchen faucet (Kohler brushed gold to match preserved brass): $385
- 4 GFCIs + 5 detectors (coordinated with electrician): $785
- Knob-and-tube replacement (small attic section, electrician’s bid): $1,200
- Stair handrail + toilet wax ring: $245
Total scope: $8,490
The result
- Listed at $695K
- 11 showings first weekend
- 4 offers by Monday
- Accepted offer: $735,000 ($40K over ask)
- Listing photos featured the preserved wood trim and original hardware as selling points
- Inspection: 1 minor item, no credit requested
- Buyer specifically called out “we love that the character was preserved”
The lesson
Older Wasatch Front homes (Avenues, Sugar House, Marmalade, parts of Holladay) need a different pre-listing strategy than newer homes. Preservation IS the value-add. A contractor who tries to “modernize” a 1918 bungalow erases what the buyer is actually paying for.
Vet your contractor specifically on pre-WW2 home experience if your home is in that category.
Have an older Wasatch Front home? Tell us when you call — we’ll send a tech with pre-1940 experience. (801) 895-2084.
Related: Handyman in the Avenues · Handyman in Sugar House · More case studies
Note: Customer details anonymized for privacy. Scope details, costs, and outcome data are representative of an actual Avenues walkthrough completed in 2026.