Home Repair and Home Renovation - The Thin Line

I often wonder about the difference between home repair and home renovation. But can any line be drawn between the two?

• Home Repair - Fixing something that is already in place, in order to bring it back up to normal working order.
• Home Renovation - Performing additional work on a house to increase its value - intrinsic, aesthetic, monetary, etc.

For whatever that's worth, that's one way to look at it. Then there are stories, such as that of Jordan and Bob Fogal in Houston, who bought a new house in 2002. Then, one day...

Bob had pulled the plug in the Jacuzzi tub upstairs, and 100 gallons of water came crashing through the ceiling downstairs because the plumbing drains were not connected. "That was a preview of coming attractions," Fogal says. Later, the roof and windows leaked, the yard flooded, the shower walls started bowing out, the floor in the kitchen started sinking, and mold began to grow all over the house. The smell was terrible, she recalls, and eventually Fogal's doctor ordered her to leave the house because of the dangerous mold levels. A construction company hired by the Fogals estimated that it would take $150,000 to repair everything. "

Add into that the recent mortgage crisis and skyrocketing foreclosure rate, and sometimes the most well-intentioned home renovations take on the flavor of home repairs.