Cooking up a major kitchen remodeling, but hoping to get it for a price far below the project’s national average of $56,768? Or maybe a wood deck would do you, but its $10,048 average price doesn’t square with your budget.Almost six in 10 homeowners plan to spend money on home improvement projects this year, according to a Harris poll conducted for SunTrust Bank, but fewer than one in five plan to spend more than $10,000.
1. Pause for a Moment
Remodel magazine says the 2015 average home project will cost $43,800 but return only 62.2 percent of your investment if you sell your home. You might want to consider whether going forward with a project is even worth it. (Here are some we think are probably not.) If you do move ahead, use these creative tips to bring that price down to earth.
2. Save on Materials
Recycle and reuse building materials. Habitat for Humanity’s 850 ReStoressell new and gently used furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances at fractions of retail prices. Donations to locally operated ReStores are sold to the public, and proceeds go toward building homes, rather than trying to fit donated items into homes that volunteers build. You can find anything from prehung doors to acrylic skylights to partial insulation bundles.
Find free or cheap materials online through sites like eBay, Craigslist andFreecycle or in person at flea markets or building-supply auctions operated by state and federal governments.
Look for ways to repurpose materials. Actress Amanda Pays (“The Flash”) recently told Remodelista she loves the look of old wood, but reclaimed timber has gotten expensive and overused. Her builder, though, was happy to sell her and actor-husband Corbin Bernsen scaffolding boards for $10 a plank, she said. “They’re all over our house,” Pays said. “We even used them as stair treads.”
Ask your contractor for odds-and-ends left over from other jobs. “What we do is take 50 percent off the materials from the previous client, and we offer them to the next client,” says contractor Butch McKeon. “We always have extra materials left over.”
3. Look for Deals on Pivotal Pieces
Keep an eye out for specials on big-ticket items that you need, things like countertops, kitchen island installation, or new windows. Once you buy the deal, plan the rest of your remodel around it.
4. Stick With Standard Sizes
Semicustom pieces can cost twice the price of stock pieces, which already run $8,000 to $10,000 for a typically sized kitchen, says Houselogic.com. Custom is even more. You’ll sacrifice some options in size, color, finish and accents, such as crown molding, to get the less expensive stock cabinets.
5. Consider Good Imitations
Lowe’s recently advertised laminate wood planks strongly resembling hardwood floors at $1.89 per square foot, about half the price of real deal, prefinished oak, at $3.59.
6. Maximize Space Before You Enlarge It
For example, in the kitchen, replacing cabinet shelves with pullout draws and racks would cost $35,000, but that’s less than a $48,000 to $95,000 kitchen blowout, says This Old House.
7. Don’t Move Plumbing
Relocating a toilet just three feet, for example, can cost you up to $1,000, says This Old House; relocating the kitchen sink, up to $2,000.
8. Plan What You’ll Spend — and Then Some
Make a budget, but build in 10 to 20 percent margin of error for whatever may go wrong.
9. Use Elbow Grease to Save on Labor Costs
What can you do yourself? Sometimes projects are best left to professionals. But interior painting and trim work can cost a small fortune, warns HomeAdditionPlus.com. If you can handle basic tools such as a paint brush, ladder, miter saw and a coping saw, you can save a bundle on labor. If you can’t, consider volunteering at Habitat for Humanity or other groups that would give you free lessons while you help a good cause.
If you do hire a contractor, ask about doing your own demolition or cleanup. Also ask if you can order supplies yourself. Contractors who order on their own often add markups for themselves on the materials they order for your job. You can also save if you can pick up materials and haul away job waste yourself.
10. Time Your Project
You’ll often pay a contractor more in summer, their busy season, than in winter months, when work usually slows and they may discount their services.
11. Save on Stress and Cost With a Schedule
However, as you craft your spending plan, build in up to a 20 percent cushion to cover nasty surprises. Sticking to a timetable may also help avoid cost overruns by eliminating inefficient use of any labor you may hire or having subcontractors show up to perform work that’s not ready for them to tackle.
For additional tips for stretch your remodeling dollars, such as remodeling slowly, using solar tubes instead of skylights and more, read on here.
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