Home renovation seems to be all about bleeding out your bank account. But there are techniques for slowing down the hemorrhaging.
These are techniques that homeowners have used for years. Some are so obvious, you wonder how you ever could have missed them. Some are painful. But don't kill the messenger. I'm just here to count down the...
Top 10 Methods of Saving Money on Remodeling
Let's start with the money and then work our way down to number one!
10. Reduce Need for Second Mortgages, Personal Loans, and Credit
When funding your remodel, it's nearly impossible to avoid a home equity line of credit or second mortgage if you're tackling an addition. But you can avoid it for the smaller projects. Keep in mind that by rolling those french doors into a 15 year loan, you'll be paying for those french doors for many years to come. Avoid personal loans and be careful of credit cards. Cash is always the cheapest choice.
9. Use Structural Elements as Finish Surfaces
Perhaps you have interior brick walls, ceiling beams, concrete floors, or wood floors that may be, um, decoratively aged. If so (and if this is your intended decorating style), refurbishing these surfaces will always be cheaper than building up new finish surfaces.
7. Avoid Moving the Plumbing
After you get the estimate from the plumber, you may have second thoughts about moving the kitchen sink five feet to the left. Plumbing work is expensive on its own; moving the plumbing can double the cost, or more. Admittedly, easier said than done, since half the reason for remodeling is often to redesign the kitchen floor plan.
6. Do Your Own Work
Weigh the values of doing it yourself versus hiring a professional. In many cases, the learning curve is so steep or the need for specialized tools so great that you end up hiring the professional. Siding and hardwood flooring installation often fall into this category. But since our only concern here is money, not time or misery--yes, it's almost always cheaper to do it yourself. So hurry up and learn to use that Bostich floor stapler!
5. Use Existing Electrical Work As Much as Possible
Like plumbing, electrical work is expensive. Instead of completely abandoning and redoing your current wiring, explore the possibility of supplementing it.
4. Live at Your Work-site
I considered phrasing this more delicately, but that's the truth; that's what it is. Paying a mortgage on the house you're renovating plus renting an apartment... Well, you can do the math. It does help to take certain measures. Contrary to the previous advice, building the addition outward does keep the building work outside of your living space. If you're doing your own work, you may want to maintain "clean zones." Dust barriers help.
3. Avoid the Big Remodeling Contractors...
...by seeking out the one- or two-person operations. The big companies have the unemployment taxes, worker's compensation, advertising, and sales commissions. The smaller operations will negotiate. Not to mention, you'll probably get a better level of service. Start by making sure the remodeling contractor is licensed. One perennial problem with smalltime contractors--indeed any small operation--is that there are a lot of shady characters out there. The smaller the operation, the more you should concentrate on seeking many local references for that contractor. Gain even more knowledge about that contractor's quality of work by visiting examples of the contractor's remodeling work. It should go without saying that if the contractor is stingy about showing examples, cross that contractor off the list in a hurry.
2. Use the "Free" Home Remodeling Consultants
You're seen them--the kitchen planners at The Home Depot, Lowe's, and local home improvement stores. Even if you don't plan on using them, you'll walk away with a nice printed kitchen design layout. Get product samples of siding from siding companies. Get hardwood and laminate flooring chips from flooring companies. For a short time commitment, flooring installers will come to your house and give you a dead-on floor measurement. Sure, these services come with a cost: the sales pitch. But you're not shelling out any bucks (though make certain that they're not charging you for the estimate, as some companies have begun to do recently).
1. Reduce Your Need for Contractors
Contractors add 18% and more--usually more--for their services. For big projects, this is a staggering amount of money.
No, I'm not proposing ridding the world of contractors. They provide immensely valuable services for complicated, multi-stage projects. But you should carefully examine what you're using the contractor for--and question whether it's worth adding another 25% for that service.
Are you paying them to perform easy work? Let's say the contractor is building your addition, and you want a brick patio outside the addition. Instead of having the contractor do it, consider waiting until the addition is done and then find someone yourself to do the work. You can get three estimates for the brick in one or two evenings after work. And it's very much a "turn-key" kind of project: pay the mason and set him loose, little or no supervision needed. Now, wasn't it worth saving $600 for that?
What about materials? Is the contractor supplying materials that you can easily get yourself? That $100 set of towel bars costs $125 in the hands of a contractor. Instead, swing by the store yourself and pick it up.
Is there simple, non-building work you can do yourself? Things like site cleanup when they're done. They have to pay someone to clean up the site, and they'll charge a commission on top of that. Is the contractor going to spend all day in the permitting office and charge you for it? Who knows, maybe you've always longed to spend a vacation day in the permitting office.
There are many avenues to saving money with contractors. But first get their estimate and then start knocking off items. Wallender
Home renovation seems to be all about bleeding out your bank account. But there are techniques for slowing down the hemorrhaging.
These are techniques that homeowners have used for years. Some are so obvious, you wonder how you ever could have missed them. Some are painful. But don't kill the messenger. I'm just here to count down the...
Top 10 Methods of Saving Money on Remodeling
Let's start with the money and then work our way down to number one!
10. Reduce Need for Second Mortgages, Personal Loans, and Credit
When funding your remodel, it's nearly impossible to avoid a home equity line of credit or second mortgage if you're tackling an addition. But you can avoid it for the smaller projects. Keep in mind that by rolling those french doors into a 15 year loan, you'll be paying for those french doors for many years to come. Avoid personal loans and be careful of credit cards. Cash is always the cheapest choice.
9. Use Structural Elements as Finish Surfaces
Perhaps you have interior brick walls, ceiling beams, concrete floors, or wood floors that may be, um, decoratively aged. If so (and if this is your intended decorating style), refurbishing these surfaces will always be cheaper than building up new finish surfaces.
7. Avoid Moving the Plumbing
After you get the estimate from the plumber, you may have second thoughts about moving the kitchen sink five feet to the left. Plumbing work is expensive on its own; moving the plumbing can double the cost, or more. Admittedly, easier said than done, since half the reason for remodeling is often to redesign the kitchen floor plan.
6. Do Your Own Work
Weigh the values of doing it yourself versus hiring a professional. In many cases, the learning curve is so steep or the need for specialized tools so great that you end up hiring the professional. Siding and hardwood flooring installation often fall into this category. But since our only concern here is money, not time or misery--yes, it's almost always cheaper to do it yourself. So hurry up and learn to use that Bostich floor stapler!
5. Use Existing Electrical Work As Much as Possible
Like plumbing, electrical work is expensive. Instead of completely abandoning and redoing your current wiring, explore the possibility of supplementing it.
4. Live at Your Work-site
I considered phrasing this more delicately, but that's the truth; that's what it is. Paying a mortgage on the house you're renovating plus renting an apartment... Well, you can do the math. It does help to take certain measures. Contrary to the previous advice, building the addition outward does keep the building work outside of your living space. If you're doing your own work, you may want to maintain "clean zones." Dust barriers help.
3. Avoid the Big Remodeling Contractors...
...by seeking out the one- or two-person operations. The big companies have the unemployment taxes, worker's compensation, advertising, and sales commissions. The smaller operations will negotiate. Not to mention, you'll probably get a better level of service. Start by making sure the remodeling contractor is licensed. One perennial problem with smalltime contractors--indeed any small operation--is that there are a lot of shady characters out there. The smaller the operation, the more you should concentrate on seeking many local references for that contractor. Gain even more knowledge about that contractor's quality of work by visiting examples of the contractor's remodeling work. It should go without saying that if the contractor is stingy about showing examples, cross that contractor off the list in a hurry.
2. Use the "Free" Home Remodeling Consultants
You're seen them--the kitchen planners at The Home Depot, Lowe's, and local home improvement stores. Even if you don't plan on using them, you'll walk away with a nice printed kitchen design layout. Get product samples of siding from siding companies. Get hardwood and laminate flooring chips from flooring companies. For a short time commitment, flooring installers will come to your house and give you a dead-on floor measurement. Sure, these services come with a cost: the sales pitch. But you're not shelling out any bucks (though make certain that they're not charging you for the estimate, as some companies have begun to do recently).
1. Reduce Your Need for Contractors
Contractors add 18% and more--usually more--for their services. For big projects, this is a staggering amount of money.
No, I'm not proposing ridding the world of contractors. They provide immensely valuable services for complicated, multi-stage projects. But you should carefully examine what you're using the contractor for--and question whether it's worth adding another 25% for that service.
Are you paying them to perform easy work? Let's say the contractor is building your addition, and you want a brick patio outside the addition. Instead of having the contractor do it, consider waiting until the addition is done and then find someone yourself to do the work. You can get three estimates for the brick in one or two evenings after work. And it's very much a "turn-key" kind of project: pay the mason and set him loose, little or no supervision needed. Now, wasn't it worth saving $600 for that?
What about materials? Is the contractor supplying materials that you can easily get yourself? That $100 set of towel bars costs $125 in the hands of a contractor. Instead, swing by the store yourself and pick it up.
Is there simple, non-building work you can do yourself? Things like site cleanup when they're done. They have to pay someone to clean up the site, and they'll charge a commission on top of that. Is the contractor going to spend all day in the permitting office and charge you for it? Who knows, maybe you've always longed to spend a vacation day in the permitting office.
There are many avenues to saving money with contractors. But first get their estimate and then start knocking off items. Wallender