The first house my wife and I owned was brand spanking new – right out of the box. We walked in to fresh paint, clean carpets, new appliances and a cute little covered porch right off the back door. Everything was so perfect. We had no home Remodeling Costs to speak of.

A few years and two kids later we decided it was time for some more space. So we moved into our second home for our expanding family.

This house was nice and definitely an upgrade when it came to space. But it was not new. It had issues.

The carpet was old. EVERYTHING in the Kitchen was dated. The deck was falling apart. And there is no way I will ever forget the rust-toned, orange paint in the upstairs hall bathroom.

Of course we were thankful for finding a home to fit our needs. But we knew changes and upgrades to the home were in order.

The To-Do List

In order tackle all the projects, we made a renovation to-do list. Needless to say it became quite long. In fact, even after a decade of living at the home, several of the projects, like finishing the basement, were not completed.

But in those first ten years, we incurred some major home Remodeling costs for our various projects including:

• painting all the rooms in the house (some more than once)
• remodeling our kitchen with new tile, appliances and countertops
• updating our master bathroom with new tile, tub, shower and vanities
• installing hardwood floors on the main level and new carpet for the upstairs
• rebuilding the two-story deck
• installing more energy efficient windows
• replacing our roof
• painting the exterior of the house
• finishing our garage and installing two new garage doors

All that work transformed this house into “our home.” It took some time and a good amount of money but it was worth it to us.

Where to Start Remodeling

If you are new to home ownership and have a remodeling to-do list a mile long, you may be confused on where to start. Many would suggest starting with those projects that will bring the best return or create the most value for the money you spend on it.

We took a different approach. Our focus was on:

a) what we could afford and

b) what contributed most to the home environment

That’s why we repainted that orange bathroom within a month of moving in. It was a cheap fix. Plus, it burned my eyes every morning when I walked by and there was no way we were having visitors over and force them to experience that room.

Almost all of the other projects were more expensive. They required us to be patient and save money to fund their completion. We didn’t go into debt to fund any of our projects.

Related Content: The Un-American Way: Saving for Purchases

That’s going to be a big trap for you as a homeowner. You will want to get projects done right away. Instead of being patient and saving for all your home remodeling costs, you’ll choose to put it on your credit card or take out a home equity line of credit. Many people choose that route and have gone deeper into debt because they want it done now.

My advice is to be patient and save for your renovations. Home remodeling costs can be extreme, especially once your emotions get involved. Envisioning how that brand new kitchen may look in your home may cause you to make a bad financial decision.

Various Home Remodeling Costs

As I said, home remodeling costs can get out of hand. You have to be knowledgeable about what you are getting into for any particular project. To that end, Choice Home Warranty has put together an infographic that shows what you might expect to spend for that home remodeling project. (Editor’s note: As the years go by and inflation continues, these prices will rise.)

Of course, these home remodeling costs are just estimates. Your project cost will vary based on many factors including in which region of the country your home resides.

But what should immediately stand out to you is the wide margin in price involved with some of these projects. Before you know it, what planned to be a $20,000 kitchen remodel could quickly balloon to $54,000. If you weren’t planning ahead and chose to take out debt to finance it, you could be left paying off that kitchen remodel bill for years.

Take your time with home remodeling projects and weigh the cost. Always make sure to get multiple estimates. According to the pros at Art Construction, as many as “three or four contractors should be called to the property to inspect and estimate.” Not everything has to be done at once. We all want our houses to look good but we don’t need to go overboard and break the bank to do it.

Questions for Discussion Below: We had an orange bathroom – What one thing just “had to go” when you moved into your home? How have you financed your projects? Did one project turn out to be more than you expected? Would you ever spend $54,000+ to completely remodel a kitchen?

Image by Brock Builders at Flickr Creative Commons

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