Five Specific Ways to Reduce the Cost of Home Renovations
Renovating your home is an opportunity to personalize your space, improve its usability, and simply make your home more beautiful. But these benefits come at a cost, both in terms of stress and disruption, and in terms of money. The average whole home remodel costs between $20,000 and $100,000 , which is a lot of money for most people. Even if you set aside reliable project funding and focus on projects that will also pay emotional dividends by making you happier , splashing out that kind of money on someone will raise their heart rate.
You probably won’t be able to just do all the work yourself to save some money, but you can take some steps to keep those costs to a minimum.
DIY demo version
If you go beyond redecorating your home, chances are you’ll need to demolish it. This typically costs several thousand dollars, depending on the size of the project and the conditions of the home. The good news is that demolition is a part of home renovation that you can almost certainly do yourself, as long as you are very careful and wear protective equipment such as safety glasses, heavy-duty work gloves, and a mask or respirator. Knocking cabinets off a kitchen wall or tearing floorboards usually requires very little skill and a lot of labor, and can save you real money.
Be your own general contractor
Many people hire general contractors to renovate their homes for good reason: home renovations are complex and require not only management and logistical skills, but also a good knowledge of building codes and every single discipline, from plumbing to masonry.
But general contractors don’t do it for love—they typically charge a markup of 15-20% on top of the cost of the renovation. This means you can save a lot of money by acting as your own GC, which is completely legal and possible. For example, on a large project with a budget of $50,000, acting as your own CEO could save you $10,000.
Or: if you screw it up, it could cost you twice as much. Take a moment to ask yourself if you have the time and experience to become an effective general contractor, which at the most basic level involves hiring and coordinating multiple subcontractors, scheduling so everyone can do their part of the job properly, organizing for obtaining permits and inspections, and managing procurement, delivery and inspection of materials. It’s a lot of work and often costs extra, but if you have some construction experience and a flair for logistics, it’s a great opportunity to save some money.
Buy your materials
When you hire contractors, they often make purchasing the necessary materials part of their services. And that’s great, but it also means you’ll lose control of costs if you don’t put it in the contract. Buying your own materials makes planning more difficult, but can save you some money since you’ll likely spend more energy searching for sales, specials, and alternative materials than a contractor would.
Keep in mind that your contractors may have very good reasons for using a particular brand or level of product, and you may encounter resistance if you insist on using an alternative. It is worth listening to the opinions of experts. But if there’s no noticeable difference other than price, you can save some money by acting as your own purchasing specialist.
Phasing out household appliances
If you’re remodeling your kitchen or laundry room, you can save yourself from sticker shock by using one simple trick: patience. If the appliances still work (and you don’t plan on radically resizing them), you can save several thousand dollars in initial repair costs by keeping them and replacing them over time as things go on sale.
The average kitchen package (refrigerator, microwave, oven and dishwasher) costs between $2,100 and $5,400 , while a washer/dryer package can cost up to $2,300 . If you can live with the older and dead versions for a while, you can save nearly nine grand on the upfront cost of a Reno, with the option of upgrading later when it makes sense.
Ask for discounts
Many renovation supply companies offer trade discounts, so if you have anything to do with the world of construction or real estate, you may be able to convince them to offer you a price reduction. For example, if you operate Airbnb, you can reasonably claim that you are in the hospitality business, which may qualify you for a discount. Contractors often have access to discounts that most people don’t get, and they may be willing to give them to you if you just ask politely, which could be as simple as letting you use their license information to get a price discount. a large hardware store or by specifying the name of the contractor from the seller.
Contractors aren’t required to do this, of course, but it can’t hurt to ask—and dropping the price a few percentage points here and there can add up to significant savings.