Top Money Saving Tips for Planning a Home Remodel

Top Money Saving Tips for Planning a Home Remodel 

We’ve all heard horror stories of a manageable home remodel growing into a monster that feasts on money, time, and patience between family members. But proper planning and saving techniques can prepare you for unexpected issues, ease stress, and leave you content with the decisions you’ve made. Here are some of our favorite tips, here at Home Improvement Leads, for keeping things reasonable and slashing costs on your home remodel.

Give Yourself a Cushion

Unforeseen circumstances can cause unnecessary anxiety over the budget and the schedule. They’re “unnecessary” because even though you may not be able to specifically anticipate corroded pipes or a bad foundation, you should anticipate some type of issue, especially when remodeling an older home. Building a 15 to 20 percent cushion for unforeseen circumstances helps you keep the rest of the remodel realistic.

The issues may not even be structural. In fact, you may change your mind about a choice you made in the conceptual stage that just isn’t panning out the way you wanted. Either way, put that cushion in the budget. If you don’t use it, no harm done!

Use Reclaimed Materials

Finding quality salvaged materials is the perfect solution for homeowners concerned about the environment and/or their wallet. It’s an even better solution for the DIYers out there since some contractors prefer to only work with new materials. Our passion for eco-friendly living gets stronger every day, so it’s likely that future prospective home buyers will appreciate the wise use of resources and the character that reclaimed materials add. But if you’re thinking of selling your home at some point, make sure not to do anything too outlandish—you don’t want homeowners to walk in and see their own renovation list.

Handle Your Own Demo

Maybe you’re not enough of a DIY pro to handle the reno yourself. But you can still get your hands dirty by doing your own demo—and saving money in the process. All you need are a few handheld tools and some willpower. But before you go knocking down walls, make sure you know what you’re doing; you need to look out for electrical wiring, plumbing, and load-bearing walls. It’s better to pay for professional demo than to cause damage by hacking aimlessly at the walls.

Avoid Rearranging Plumbing Fixtures

Bathrooms and kitchens get a ton of daily use, so the layout of these rooms has to be functional. But if you’re simply tired of the aesthetic and want to move things around, consider leaving fixtures like the toilet and sink where they are. There’s a lot going on behind the walls of your home, and moving a toilet just a couple feet can costs thousands in plumbing costs. If you can give your bathroom or kitchen a facelift without contending with the plumbing, you could save thousands.

Think Long-Term

It doesn’t do much good to settle for a more affordable option only to find it needs to be replaced sooner than the premium option you actually wanted. For example, asphalt roofing can be half the price of premium metal, but it can also have less than half the life expectancy. Cast your vision into the future and think about home value, durability, and what you want to come home to everyday.

Pay Attention to the Details

You may think big savings only come from compromising on big wish list items like countertops, flooring, cabinets, etc. But a home remodel involves countless small details, many of which involve just a little extra labor that all adds up. For example, if your new design arbitrarily requires custom measurements as opposed to off-the-shelf dimension, that means you’re paying someone to trim and adjust when the material could be directly installed instead. Planning a home renovation wisely is about more than finding a compromise here and there. Do everything with intention and you will find yourself saving money left and right.