Budget busters: Counting the cost of a remodel

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, a 1946 bestselling book and classic movie, made great fun of a truism of construction: It's going to cost more than you thought. Blandings stretched the budget to buy an $11,000 farmhouse in such bad shape it became a tear-down, replaced by a new house that cost five times as much. There were a slew of unexpected charges — just the way there are in budget-busting projects today.

By Mike McClintock

July 14, 2012