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Home Remodeling: How Much Will It Cost You?

4 minute read

By Andrew Silver

Home remodeling can be an exciting and rewarding experience, but it can also be a costly one. If you want to turn your home into something more beautiful or functional, the costs can really add up quickly. Remodeling your kitchen will likely set you back several thousand dollars, while adding an extra bathroom could cost almost as much as building an entirely new house.

However, the right preparation and thorough research can make remodeling much more affordable. And the best way to do just that is by searching online. If you need a kickstart to the process, here are all the costs involved with a home renovation and some ways to cut down on the costs. With all this at your disposal, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor without having to worry.

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How Much Does It Cost to Renovate a House?

Americans love to renovate their homes. Whether it’s a small project like painting the kitchen or a large project like adding an addition, home renovations can add up quickly. According to Rocket Mortgage, the average American spends $15,000 on a single home renovation project. Of course, this number can vary greatly depending on the size and scope of the project.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recommends that homeowners should base what they spend on a renovation on a percentage of your home’s total value. For instance, homeowners should spend only five to seven percent of their house’s total value on bathroom renovations. For more important rooms, such as the kitchen, the NAHB suggests spending a greater percentage of the house’s value. However, the NAHB doesn’t recommend you spend more than 16 percent of your house’s value on renovations.1

Cost to Completely Renovate a House

The cost to completely renovate a house can range from $15,000 to $200,000. However, this number can vary greatly depending on several factors. These include:

For example, if you’re only planning on painting your walls and replacing your flooring, the cost will be on the lower end. On the other hand, if you’re planning on gutting your kitchen and starting from scratch, the cost will be on the higher end.

Gut Renovation

A gut renovation is a complete overhaul of your home. It involves stripping the interior of your home, in order to leave the skeletal foundation. Depending on their condition and the homeowner’s budget, some elements of your home, like the stairs and windows, may be left as is. Most gut renovations include new plumbing, appliances, roof, and HVAC system.2

Considering how much goes into a gut renovation, it can be a costly endeavor. In fact, the average cost of a gut renovation can greatly vary between $100,000 and $250,000.

Due to how expensive it can be, make sure to do your research and plan ahead if you’re thinking about a gut renovation. In particular, it’s important to factor in the cost of permits, materials, labor, and other associated expenses.

How to Save Money on Your Home Remodel?

A home remodel can be a great way to improve your living space and increase the value of your home. As evidenced above, it can be a costly endeavor. Fortunately, there a couple of money-saving tactics you can employ when pursuing a remodel.

Increase Efficiency, Not Size

Most people think they need to increase the size of their rooms when they remodel, but that’s not always the case. You can actually increase the efficiency of your home without making any changes to the square footage. You can do this by upgrading your home with space-saving furniture and adding storage solutions to current household features like cabinets.

By maximizing the efficiency of your rooms through smart renovations, you can be walking away from your home renovation with more money in your pocket. For instance, This Old House estimates that adding custom cabinets with dividers, pull-out pot trays, and Lazy Susans to one’s kitchen can save up to $60,000 when compared to a renovation that expands the size of the kitchen.3

Tap Your Contractor’s Sources

A contractor is likely to have good relationships with suppliers, which can come in handy when you’re trying to save money on a home renovation. Your contractor may also be able to get you discounts on labor costs. They’ll often use these connections to help their other clients too, so they might not charge you more for this service. Plus, they should already know the supplies and products that are best for your project, so they won’t steer you wrong as far as quality goes.

This Old House spoke with Bill Asdal, a contractor from New Jersey. For a job, Bill used his sources to get ahold of discarded hardwood from other job sites. Bill’s efforts ended up saving his client $8,700 on flooring.

Andrew Silver

Contributor