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Managing Expenses During a Home Remodeling Project

January 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Home remodeling projects can be fun, exciting, and expensive! While the end product of a home renovation project can be quite beautiful, the process is very straining on the pocket book. But it doesn’t have to be. If you follow a few simple tips, it’s entirely possible to complete your home remodel on time – and on budget.

  1. If you are going to stay on budget, you need to set a budget. Determine your budget from day one and don’t stray from it. If you budget $5,000 for a kitchen remodel, then don’t go even one penny over that number. No matter how tempting it is to upgrade to a fancier stove top or bigger refrigerator, it’s imperative that you stick strictly to your budget.
  2. To set a realistic budget, do some research. Setting your budget shouldn’t be a matter of pulling a few numbers out of the air and writing them down. Do some research on the actual costs associated with your remodel. You may think that the new flooring will only cost $500, but in actuality it could be closer to $1,000. Be realistic with your budget.
  3. Don’t be afraid to ask for professional help. Part of saving money is doing a lot of the home improvement projects yourself. It’s true that there are many projects you can easily do by yourself, but when it comes to an area where you are clueless, don’t be afraid to talk to a professional. If you are going to re-wire your front room and you know nothing about electricity, don’t mess around. Hire an electrician to get the job done. You’ll stay safe and save money in the long run.

Remodeling can be a really fun project. Stay on time and on budget with these tips. You’ll be thankful you followed this advice when you are sitting in your beautifully remodeled home.

Filed Under: Repairs, Restoration Tagged With: ,

A Renovation Budget You Can Live With

January 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The excitement and feeling of adventure that comes with the decision to start renovating your home is best set aside until after you have done the important work first of planning your budget and what it will cost to start.  Keeping a project within a firmly established budget will be far less painful if you know first how much you are willing to invest. Create a project binder for estimates from contractors, cost of materials, permits, and plans. Organizing in the beginning will save you from a lot of headaches in the end.

If you are adding onto or will be doing any kind of demolition that would require wiring, plumbing or structural changes you would do well to contact the right professional. Have them come out and give estimates on incorporating the changes in your renovations.

Take into consideration whether you will be staying in the home and if this renovation is for your personal enjoyment or to increase the value of your home for a future sell. If the answer is the second one for a future sell, then you will want to consider the market where you live. What are the homes in your area selling for? You don’t want to invest in a renovation project that you will not be able to get a return on. A major renovation and investment in expensive products could result in a financial loss if you price it too high for the area the home for sell in.

Keep the renovation simple and contact professionals for any project you would consider your knowledge would be on the level of an amateur.

A renovation mistake will be money out of your pocket and will crush any budget if not plans are not well established before you begin your project.

Filed Under: Budgeting, Repairs Tagged With: ,

What to Think About Before Beginning Renovation Projects

January 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There’s something fun and almost magical about home renovations. Taking something that is unattractive and unwanted and turning it into something beautiful and useful brings such joy into life. That’s why home renovations are so popular. However, many people begin to make improvements to their home without thinking the process through. Then, they are left with unfinished projects, no money to continue, and a very unpleasant living situation. If you are getting ready to do some remodeling to your home, take a look at these tips before you get started.

  1. Set a budget. The number one thing that holds people up in a home renovation projects is money. Set a budget before hand and stick to it. Don’t go over your budget and you’ll have enough money to finish all of your home improvements.
  2. Hire professionals. If you want to do most of the work yourself, that’s fine. But when it comes to doing work that you know absolutely nothing about, it pays to hire a professional. For example, if you are remodeling a bathroom and you know absolutely nothing about plumbing, don’t try to install a toilet or bathtub. The truth is you’ll end up spending much more money for your mistakes then you would to hire someone to get the job done right.
  3. Be realistic. Another big hold up with home renovations is unrealistic expectations. If you are gutting a kitchen, plan on 2-3 months to get it completely back in working order, not 2-3 weeks. For smaller projects you can set smaller deadlines, but keep your overall goal and the amount of work in mind when determining deadlines.

Keep these three ideas in mind as you begin your home improvement projects and you’ll have a much easier time. It won’t be long until you are living in a gorgeous and completely renovated home.

Filed Under: Restoration Tagged With: ,

Creating New Space

January 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Utilizing available unused space to create a new living area can increase the value of your home.

Refinish the basement into a family area, bedroom and adding a bathroom will utilize otherwise wasted space. You can renovate attic space into a children’s play room, study, or craft room.

Renovating might seem like a major project but chunking and budgeting will take the pain out of the planning and initiation of the job. And the end results will give you a great place to enjoy with your family or to just escape from it all, with the added benefit of increasing the value of your home.

Keep it simple, are a few helpful words you should remember during any project.

Creating a budget sheet you can print off or developing a workbook from a simple binder, filler paper and dividers sheets can help you stay organized and on budget. Label your dividers into budget, actual cost, ideas for color, paint, carpet, types of furnishings and any major issues you need to address such as permits, electrical, and plumbing. Having the project binder will help to keep everything organized and right at your fingertips.

Creating new useable space from once unused and empty will also bring a feeling of order and completion to your home for you and any prospective buyers.

Chunking your project will help to keep you from becoming overwhelmed if it is a large endeavor. Chunk your work into sections such as floor, walls, furnishings etc, and keep it doable and within the time frames you are available to do the work. This will keep money in your pocket before, during and after the project.

A couple of areas you never want to skimp on or try to do it yourself unless you are already a professional, are electrical work, plumbing and any major structural issues.

Filed Under: Restoration Tagged With: ,

Home Improvement Doesn’t Have to be Difficult or Expensive

December 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

We all love the feeling we get from owning our own home. The pride of ownership. It’s great to be away from those rules and regulations that we lived with for so long that told us how we could remodel or decorate – and those rules were usually very restrictive. With your own home you can truly let your imagination run and do all those projects you’ve always wanted to do. In addition, regular maintenance and updates to your home will help keep it looking fresh and keep its market value.

Do-it-yourself projects or renovations do not always mean a huge expense or a lot of time. There are plenty of smaller projects that can spruce up the look and feel of your home. For instance you can take an afternoon and change all the handles on your kitchen cabinets and drawers. If you want to go even further, you could actually paint those cabinets. How about getting creative and doing a stencil project right on to those freshly painted cabinets? You can also consider a new stain instead of paint. It’s just all about making your cabinets look fresh!

Another great home improvement project is to update the flooring. You may be thinking of replacing that tired, worn carpet with some fresh, new hardwood. With some of the newer laminate floorings, this can be an easy, do-it-yourself project. Some floor has pre-glued pieces that easily fit together for an easy-to-do project. Another flooring update you can do easily is to replace or place trim around your existing floor. It’s an easy, quick and inexpensive way to update your floor and the whole room.

If you just take a little time and effort to explore your home improvement options, you’ll probably find that you will have new renovations in a jiffy without spending a lot.

Filed Under: Landscaping Tagged With: , ,

Considerations For Home Improvements

December 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Are you wondering whether the time is right to do some home renovations or improvements? Or are you just ready to take on the next project in a long list of improvements you have scheduled for your home. As you know there are a lot of reasons for doing renovations on your home; but here’s some things you might want to consider when deciding “which” improvement to do and perhaps putting that project list in a manageable order.

Your first thought should be about safety. Any project that will improve the safety of your home should top the list. This includes replacing old or faulty wiring or plumbing; or perhaps your ceiling needs replacing from an old leak.

What kind of satisfaction and enjoyment are you going to get from the project? We know there’s almost no better feeling that standing back after completing a project and getting that huge feeling of satisfaction of a job well done. And since you spend so much time in your home, improving the comfort and feeling should be a priority. However, you don’t want to overspend your renovation budget. What good is it if you have a lovely house, but you can’t enjoy it because you are worrying about how to pay for those renovations?

Improvements and renovations can be very important if you are considering selling your house. Do your homework, because some projects may cost money that you will not recoup in the end. While you may not get your entire investment back, some improvements will improve your home’s selling points.

Finally, some renovations may be need if a family member needs to have the home adapted for a changing lifestyle. These changes can include a disability, ease of mobility for an aging senior or even a new job that requires a new, larger office space.

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Tips For An Inexpensive, Easy Bathroom Remodel

December 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Many of us need or want to remodel our bathrooms, but we also understand that this is just not a fun project. In fact, a lot of professionals consider a bathroom remodel as difficult as a kitchen remodel. However, there are a lot of ideas you can take into consideration for the planning of your bathroom remodel; and these ideas can probably keep your budget it check as well.

- Consider a pre-fab shower installation instead of a full custom-tiled shower. If you truly have your heart set on that tiled shower, consider a shower pan that is not tiled and this will save you money in the end.

-You can also consider shower and tub liners. You’ve seen the commercials for these and they are a great, non-permanent fix. You can also consider having your bathtub or shower refinished.

- If your tub or shower only has a few nicks, simply repair it – no need to do a complete replacement.

- Determine if you really want the expense of granite flooring. There are a lot of much less expensive options, such as vinyl and tile that you can be satisfied with.

- You don’t need a plumber to replace your toilet. This is a fairly straightforward job and one that can be done quite easily and will save you a good bit of money.

- The same goes for hiring a professional painter. Because you are not painting your whole house, just the bathroom, you can mostly likely tackle this job yourself. When you consider how much actual wall space is really there ” most of the wall space is taken up by mirrors, tubs and so on “the painting task should be a snap.

- Don’t even think about rearranging the plumbing. Is there really any need to move the bathtub to the other side of room? This is costly and unnecessary.

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Remodel Your Kitchen In A Day

December 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A kitchen remodel does not need to take an extended period of time out of your life. It may not even take an entire weekend. A kitchen remodel in a day may not allow you to remodel everything you want to. You may be making choices between new flooring and new paint, but it can be done and you can do it yourself. And here are the easy steps to a new kitchen in a day.

Remove all the appliances from the area. This includes moving the refrigerator. Make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for removal of the stove as removal differs whether you have an electric or a gas stove.

Paint the walls of your kitchen with the new color you have selected. If you can, try choosing an entirely different color from the old paint. This will create a dramatic new look and feel. Consider a new trim color as well. Allow the paint adequate drying time.

Move and install your new appliances. Again use the manufacturers instructions for install your stove and oven. Also make sure the water line to the automatic icemaker and water dispenser is installed properly if your refrigerator has those options.

Install a new pot rack. These are generally installed on the ceiling. Hang your pots and pans. It is a great idea to purchase new pots and pans if yours are looking a little worn and aged.

Change your window treatments if you have windows or doors in your kitchen.

Use new area rugs on your kitchen floor to create a new, updated look. This is a simple solution to actually having to change the whole floor.

Use new shelves as a method to display some decorative items.

Install new lighting according to manufacturer’s instruction.

These simple tasks will give you a new kitchen in a day.

Filed Under: Landscaping, Repairs Tagged With: , ,

Estimating the Cost of a Bedroom Remodel

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Home remodeling projects are not to be taken lightly. They require a lot of planning and preparation. However remodeling a bedroom is generally the easiest room to remodel. Let’s look at how to calculate what a bedroom remodel will costs.

-Make a complete list of all the changes you want to make. Try to include all the details.

-Make accurate measurements of the entire room. This will let you have an accurate and complete square footage on which to make calculations for the proposed changes. This is especially important if you want to add a closet because you’ll need to add in costs for materials.

- Contact local, licensed contracts and request quotes. You may be planning on this being a do-it-yourself project, but getting professional quotes will give you a rough idea of cost and may even let you know of items and costs you didn’t think of. If you are going to go with a professional, make sure you receive a complete list of material and labor costs.

- If you are going to do this project yourself, use the contractor’s estimates to create a list of supplies you’ll need. Then visit your neighborhood home improvement retailer, such as Home Depot, and getting pricing on all these materials. If you are painting, speak to the people in the paint department to estimate how much paint you’ll need for your room’s square footage.

- Be sure to include all additional supplies and tools. These could be things you haven’t considered such as drywall tape, or drop cloths or even the under padding for the new flooring. Also include the costs for any new fixtures such as light switches and general new lighting. Don’t forget about new curtains or drapes, as well as area rugs and new bedding accessories.

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