Home renovation costs can easily add up, but we have some tips for you!

Whether you like it or not, some things aren’t meant to last forever, and that includes the things in your house as well. Some items can deteriorate sooner or later, and they are not very affordable to be replaced.

As you can imagine, busting the budget is everyone’s biggest concern when it comes to home renovation, but it shouldn’t be. At least not when you have us walk you through the best home remodeling ideas available on the market.

With some key ideas about materials, design, and timing, you can easily cut down on costs without sacrificing quality or the look you want to achieve. We’ve put together a few strategic pieces of information to help you with all the decisions you have to make, from the big items to something as small as deciding between a new wall sconce or a recessed light.

Renovations don’t have to burn a whole in your pocket. Here are 7 tips on how to remodel your home without breaking the bank:

1. Don’t move the kitchen sink or the toilet

One of the best tips we’ve received from all the experts we’ve talked to is to avoid moving the toilet or sink while you’re remodeling your home. That’s because this is usually the most expensive part of the plumbing process.

If you absolutely need a new house layout and if that requires you to move the toilet or the sink, it’s better to use this as an opportunity to upgrade the pipes at the same time. That will save you a lot of money in the long run, and you’ll have the layout you want at one time.

…If you want to move the toilet more than 3 feet, it will cost you between $500 and $1,000!

2. Increase the efficiency 

Having a spacious kitchen is one of the most important things when it comes to living in the home of your dreams. A big space will give you the freedom that you want and it will allow you to get creative, inspired, and ready to experiment with all sorts of recipes.

But before you decide to blow out the walls to get a few additional square footage, you’d better think of another way to make it bigger. The simplest way to gain maximum utility is to equip your kitchen with some great and useful furniture. You can easily replace the tight shelves you might have with some cabinet-height pullout drawers that are 8 inches wide and that also contain plenty of storage space for canned goods or any other items you need there.

You might effortlessly spend a couple thousand dollars to update your cabinets with features like dividers, pull-out pot trays, and lazy Susans, but by forgoing that addition, you’ll save several times that amount. You don’t need fancy kitchen equipment that will leave you penniless when you can add a few useful pieces of furniture instead.

…If you want to expand your kitchen by 200 square feet, that can quickly cost you between $48,000 and $95,000. The smartest and most affordable thing to do is to get some custom-designed cabinets for roughly $35,000. 

3. Take care of your own demo

Rebuilding your home is surely more expensive than knocking it down, but you can still save some money if you do some of the demolition yourself. Of course, you can only do that if you properly know how to take care of it, so make sure you proceed with extra care!

It’s easier to demo a deck than to demolish an interior space. However, if you’ve done it before and you know what the correct form and technique are, then you’re good to go. An uninformed and imprudent wrecker might accidentally take out a load-bearing wall or plunge a retaliating saw into pressurized plumbing or live wiring.

…Even though we’ve already said it, take care of your own demo only if you know how to properly do it!

4. Talk to an architect

Depending on the kind of project you intend on getting done, you might not need a full-on architectural commission to help you out. This usually involves plenty of job-site visits, several long meetings, and a lot of construction drawings. The whole process can easily cost you roughly 8% of the project’s construction budget. But we have a tip for you: go to an architect and only have them commence a one-time design consultation.

Some professionals, for instance, will meet the clients, check out the problem, and sketch out a few solutions, and the whole thing will cost roughly $400-500. The solution can be as simple as creating a new partition wall or moving a door to make a space look bigger. After you have the sketch, you can go to a builder or take it to a drafting service, which will usually charge approximately $1.50 to $1.50 a square foot to crank out precise construction drawings.

If you do this, you’ll save a lot of money on your house renovation project. Usually, an architect will charge you more than $2,000 for redesigning a big home office, while the flat fee for design consultation only, plus plans, will cost you no more than $600.

5. Get some natural light without extra windows

Everyone wants to have plenty of natural sunlight in their homes, but if you don’t have enough windows, you can still achieve the look you’re going for. Before taking on a huge home renovation project where you talk to a few professionals to cut a huge hole in the side of your home and think of the best way to rearrange the framing, you’d better invest in a light tube. It’s less expensive but still an efficient way to capture a sufficient amount of light.

This small thing will help you easily brighten up a windowless hallway or bathroom. You can slip it between the roof rafters and it will transmit light into your living space. Instead of paying more than $1,000 to add a double-pane insulated window, you can purchase a light tube that costs roughly $500.

6. Donate the things you don’t need anymore

If you thought that you had to throw away the items you no longer need, you’ll have to think again. Several experts say that roughly 85% of the things you can find in a home are reusable, which means that you can also help other people tackle their own home renovation projects.

You can donate all the things you don’t need anymore, such as the tub, the sink, the kitchen cabinets, and so many other things. If you do that, you can save plenty of storage space in your landfill and receive a charitable tax credit for the donation at the same time.

7. Long-term costs vs short-term gains

If your renovation scheme also includes installing clapboard siding, for example, you can save some extra cash in the long run by investing now in the prepainted and pre-primed variation. It might cost you an additional 10 to 20 cents per foot, but later on, you’ll only have to pay for half as many paint jobs as many experts say.

Why is that, you might ask? People working in factories apply finishes on dry wood under restrained weather conditions, which means no harsh sun and no rain. Some people say that they’ve used prefinished clapboard on their houses, and they’ve noticed that the only flaw in the finish was the casual mildew spot, which can be quickly washed off. This means that the paint will look great for many years in a row.

If you plan on purchasing unfinished siding for a 10-by-40-foot addition and you also add two paint jobs, this tiny part of your renovation process will cost you up to $5,000. On the other hand, if you buy pre-finished claps and you pay for a coat of paint at installation, you’ll end up getting less than $4,000 out of your wallet.

…What are your thoughts about these 7 tips on how to tackle all your home renovation plans and still save money at the same time? Tell us in the comments, because we’re curious to know! If you have any of your own tips, don’t forget to share them with us!

…Do you want to know more about money, shopping, and quality products you should invest in? Check this article out: 8 Products That Are Better To Overpay For Once So We’re Not Disappointed Later!