You want your investment to be used wisely. Awesome. We do too!
Our daily job is to help homeowners solve their home’s livability and aesthetic issues within their investment range. While we understand what is involved in calculating each home remodel, we like to ensure homeowners know as well. A partnership works best when both are on the same page.
To help you make the most of your home remodeling budget, we have listed the top four areas to think about when planning.
#1 Layouts & Walls
Home remodeling can bring visions of sledgehammers and wall-demoing competitions from favorite reno shows. They can make it seem like knocking down a wall is no big deal, but that’s TV magic.
Walls are expensive.
Walls contain all your plumbing, electrical, and HVAC, some being load-bearing. Each element requires a licensed trade to submit permits and schedule inspections for their portion of the work.
Removing a load-bearing wall requires further permitting and inspections and sometimes engineered plans, which will increase the investment level of your remodeling plans.
If removing walls or rearranging your appliances for better functionality is the reason behind your home remodel, your investment will be well worth it. Open-concept floor plans and kitchen layouts that flow seamlessly provide a livability factor that closed-off or poorly laid-out spaces interrupt.
But because there is a significant price increase when dealing with walls, you want to make sure that it makes sense to your total investment.
Take a page from the HGTV show "No Demo Reno," and you'll see beautiful examples of how transformative a room can become while leaving walls alone.
So, if layout changes are not necessary or within your investment range, a significant amount of value can still come from a cosmetic home remodel.
#2 Age of the home
Antique newspapers are a neat discovery within a wall, but a knot of electrical wires stuffed into brittle insulation is not. [Download the resource guide below to read about the home where this occurred.]
Older homes have an unmatched charm that can be worth the effort of restoring. But there’s value in mentioning that the scope of work and the potential for unpermitted or “creative” solutions increase with the age of the home.
The EPA requires that homes built before 1978 receive lead paint testing, with possible remediation, conducted by an EPA Certified person or company. Spokane County additionally requires asbestos testing on all home remodels as a part of their Clean Air Act, but it’s wise to test older homes for asbestos.
Even when cosmetically remodeling an older home, you can still find yourself investing in wall issues like new plumbing or electrical. In bathrooms, it’s common to find water damage and corroded pipes when changing out a toilet. It’s also common to come across aged electrical when adding the standard microwave hood vent, which requires a dedicated outlet to be installed.
We always recommend having a healthy contingency for unforeseeable issues in every home remodel, but reserving a little extra for older homes is always a good plan.
#3 Material Choices
Each home has unique factors that affect your bottom line, but your material choices are an area where your budget depends on you.
Did you know that sometimes the least expensive item can cost more?
For example, a client of ours was insistent on a particular flooring. The one they were wanting had a store price tag that cost less than the price of the flooring we were recommending and was nearly identical in appearance.
But, in actuality, we were advising a flooring that was less expensive and of higher quality, and here is why.
Our pick already had a solid underlayment pad attached to the planks of the flooring that was of the highest durability and waterproof. Their choice did not have an underlayment and was not of the same quality.
Therefore, their flooring choice required an additional backing to be purchased, then laid separately from the planks, which increased the labor involved.
The final cost of their materials would be similar in price, but they had significantly increased the cost of laying the flooring and would end up with a lesser quality product.
But don’t worry that you need to know the details about materials in order to know what you would like to replace.
We recommend beginning by making a list of all the elements you will be remodeling in your room.
Next, spend a little time familiarizing yourself with prices for the items you are interested in including in your space. If you’re not sure about your budget, this is a great starting place to help form an understanding of what to expect.
Finally, it’s helpful to know the areas that matter most to you.
For example, if your dream is to have a specific free-standing soaking tub with matte black fixtures, make note of this for your contractor. We always want to know your absolutes so that when portioning out your budget, you aren’t compromising on your most important elements.
Families planning an ADA-compliant home remodel know that safe materials are of utmost importance and hold an equal value to the layout of the room. Still, there are the same decisions to be made about material pricing ranges, their finishes, style variations, and your most important elements within the ADA-compliant materials as well.
#4 The quality of your home remodeler
From verbal quotes and handshakes to large firms with in-house designers, the options for home remodeling partnerships vary widely.
Homeowners also vary in their expectations for their home remodel. Some request that their renovation be completed in the most inexpensive way possible, while others would rather take their time designing their space and making decisions on finishes.
No matter what your preference, always do your research.
Search the BBB, check contractor credentials, company reviews, photos of their work, and their process for working with homeowners. (I go into detail about how to research a company in the corresponding article in the green box above.)
Do not automatically assume that a large, expensive firm will give you the highest quality home remodel. While you might be getting a top-quality sales team, designers, and products, they are not the people completing the work in your home. Sometimes lower quality trades are hired to ensure the firm makes a profit.
Of course, this is not always the case, but it does exist quite often (we see it on the network shows all the time), and those of you who have a high standard for quality will want to do your research.
In contrast, if it seems too good to be true, it will almost always cost you exponentially more in the end. I strongly warn against the verbal estimate, as an estimate should be a likely price with an outline proving why the company could complete the work for the given number.
Typically, a company will hold a consultation call or meeting prior to extending the offer for a quote or estimate. This is a time for the company to listen to what the homeowner would like to accomplish, analyze if the homeowner’s investment level can accommodate their wishes, and overall decide if the partnership would be a good fit.
Your perspective about what makes a company the right one to choose is a personal decision. But understanding that research is the best way to decide among the wide variety of companies, quality levels, and price points will save you in the end.
These four considerations are a great starting point in planning your home remodel.
The more understanding you have, the better educated your decisions will be.
If you're not ready to contact a professional yet, we recommend downloading our free kitchen or bathroom cost guides, available on our website, to help you begin your planning.
It's also helpful to look through Home Depot or Lowe’s websites to view different material options and finishes to learn pricing points. (There are so many more options on their websites!) Then stop by the store to view the items or similar items to get an idea of their size, color, and finishes in person.
We utilize hardware stores but also work with a local company in Spokane, WA, called ProSource, which has a showroom of products for kitchens and bathrooms. (like flooring, countertops, tile, etc.) All you need to do is call and set up an appointment. (We work with Josh!)
If you live in the Coeur d'Alene-Spokane area and would like to set up a free Consultation Meeting, you can fill out our Contact Form.
Happy home remodeling!
Comments