From expanding a kitchen to building a luxury bathroom, home remodeling can be an exciting prospect. But the money starts to add on continuously with each new fixture or coat of paint. When thinking about how to save money on home renovation, careful planning and some cost-saving strategies for home remodeling can come in handy. From going the DIY way to taking advantage of contractor discounts, there are many cheap ways to renovate a home.
DIY contracting
When thinking about how to renovate a house on a tight budget, DIY contracting can be useful. This way, a significant amount of money can be saved when there are no contractor fees to be paid. Almost 10% of the overall expenses can be saved with DIY contracting. But this method works only if a homeowner is willing to take on a major chunk of the renovation work. This means dedicating a lot of time and energy to several projects that are going on together during the remodeling. If this is something that seems too much, it is always better to go with a professional general contractor.
Ask around for contractor discounts
A top budget-friendly home renovation tip is to take advantage of as many contractor discounts as possible. Start by asking for a discount from everyone and everywhere. Even asking for “to trade” pricing can help slash down the cost of contractors. This is especially useful if one works or has a side gig in the realtor or interior design or construction sector. Also, try to tap into connections that friends or family might have in the sub-contractor network. This can easily help score significant discounts.
Stalk big online warehouses and track prices
Purchasing fixtures for the bathroom and kitchen that have been refurbished or repackaged by big online warehouses is a useful cost-saving strategy for home remodeling. Buying these items from third-party sellers can also help in gaining bigger savings on the overall cost of renovations. Along with this, significant savings can be obtained by using price trackers to check whenever prices drop on items that are needed for remodeling. For instance, one can easily save over $500 on faucets of high-end finishes when buying through refurbished inventory of big warehouses.
Consider price matching
A useful home renovation cost-cutting tip is to do price matching. While buying online can bring down the cost of remodeling, some items such as lighting should be generally purchased offline. It is essential to check them in person to have first-hand understanding of how the lighting will actually look in the house. This is because online photos often do not represent the actual effects of the lights. But purchasing from an offline shop usually means paying higher prices than the online counterparts. To solve this problem, simply do price matching by finding the similar item on an online store with a lower price tag. Many stores are often willing to match the lowest price, helping to save a couple of hundred dollars easily.
Use low-cost materials for bigger impact
Creating an aesthetic design for the kitchen or bathroom or any part of the house that is being remodeled does not mean paying higher prices for expensive materials. It is highly possible to create bigger impacts even with affordable home renovation materials. For instance, a homeowner can easily opt for tile sizes that are different from the conventional ones for the shower. Then pick a pattern that is unique and create a look that gives a little bit of a dramatic effect. This will cost quite less than conventional shower tiling. Also, one can pick cheaper but good-looking options like butcher block tops for the kitchen to create a balance with an expensive quartz countertop.
Shop around
When looking for affordable materials and fixtures for the renovation project, it is a mistake to buy it instantly from the first store one encounters. A good strategy is to shop around as much as possible. Make sure to browse through online stores and warehouses that deliver to the location. Along with this, visit or call up every local shop to find out the prices. It will be surprising to know how prices easily differ vastly among different stores. While cheapest does not always mean the best, one can be sure they are getting the right deal for the buck when there are many pricing options available.
Understand when to customize and when not to customize
A useful money-saving hack for home improvement is to know when to go for customized options and when to skip out of it. Things like custom shutter can get quite pricey. Expenses like these can impact the renovation budget. Instead, made-to-fit options or the ones directly bought from the store can cost half the price. So, it is always advisable to compare and contrast the prices for custom-built products against their ready-to-order alternatives. Sometimes, even repurposing vintage furniture can be too expensive. In such cases, working with a woodworker to build something completely new and customized can be cheaper.
Thrift as much as possible
One of the best ways to reduce home remodeling expenses is to thrift as many things as possible. Items like knobs for cabinets, vintage lights, and so on can be bought from second-hand stores, salvage warehouses, and even thrift shops. For less than a fraction of the price, one can get interesting and aesthetic pieces to brighten up the decor of the room being remodeled.
