Most people do not like spending a lot of money renovating their homes. This is one of the reasons why most homeowners do not renovate their homes for years because they fear they may end up using more money than they had budgeted. It is possible to remodel your home at an affordable cost by thinking strategically about your house designs, materials to use and time the right period of time to renovate your home. You can use the following ways to save money when remodeling your home.
Make decisions early
One of the biggest problems with homeowners is indecisiveness even with simple choices. This ends up making it harder for them to remodel their home because they will have numerous decisions to make in a short period of time. If you want to save on your remodel, be observant and make up your mind what to buy at a particular time. Go to a hardware store or a home center and know the type of appliances and fixtures you want. You can even buy them yourselves because you will save money; your contractor’s estimate is always higher than the actual cost.
Do schlep yourself
If you are doing your own project, it is advisable to slash your materials-delivery fees by picking up the goods yourself from the stores. You don’t need to have a pick-up truck to do it! You just need a single axle utility trailer to tow behind your SUV. You will be able to buy the items you need in bits and delivering them yourself at no extra costs. If you don’t have a trailer, you can start by buying one because it will cost you a lot less than you will use to get your items delivered to your home.
Buy building supplies in an auction
If you decide early in advance, you will be able to plan on how to get building supplies at a cheaper cost. Building supply auctions are some of the best places to get building materials at a discounted price. If you want to remodel your home, you need to start planning in advance, know exactly what you need and then get it at an affordable cost to reduce the overall budget.
Partner with a contractor
Some contractors are known to offer consulting and mentoring services to skilled DIY mainly on an hourly basis. The main reason behind this is for homeowners to save some money because they will not hire the contractor permanently. This is recommended if your project is small, not very demanding or if you possess some skills in the construction industry. These consulting and mentoring services can be very helpful when buying building supplies, drafting a working plan and a budget.
Proper timing
You should not renovate your house during summer or between September and December because you will end up paying more than you could have. If you do your reno at around that time, suppliers tend to be slower, labor will be scarce and deliveries slower thus increasing your total cost. You should plan your remodel to a time when you will pay less labor and delivery cost. This should be around January right after the New Year. You may end up saving a lot of money because you will have a lot of options to choose from.
Make sweat equity count
Unless you have a lot of time and expertise to offer to your project, you can minimise the amount of money you use on remodelling your home by handling your own demolition. Alternatively, you can do some finish work yourself by painting, insulating or even sanding to save some money. You don’t need to hire a labourer to pick up saw dust off the floor. You can do it yourself and cut about 3-5% of the overall job cost.
