Four ways to cut your renovation costs | WindowArt

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Even if you extensively research about how to cut home renovation costs before you dive into remodelling your house, you may still end up over-budget. Unfortunately, the best advice is to always allow for 20% extra to cover unaccounted-for surprises. However, there are ways in which you can cut your renovation costs during your budgeting period. We have selected five different ways to cut renovation costs before the contractors move in and begin their work.

Here are four ways to cut your renovation costs that will (hopefully) save you from breaking your budget:

1.    Don’t choose to increase the size of a room if you don’t have to.

There are very efficient ways of attending to your space issues. For instance, shelves can take up a lot of space without being able to house a lot of goods. If you remove your shelves and replace them with cabinets with pullout drawers that have racks to hold various items, you are using the space more effectively. This works particularly well in kitchens but can be used in bathrooms and even bedrooms. Furthermore, you can remove shelves completely and use removable hanging racks that fit onto the back of a door or inside of a cupboard door.

2.    Consider material sources closer to home.

If you are re-tiling, painting or need a ‘once-off’ item to fill an awkward space then have a chat to your contractor about any odds and ends he may have that are left over from another job. For example, if your guest toilet needs new tiles and it is a particularly small area your contractor may have a box of tiles leftover from a previous job that he can use for your guest toilet. He will most likely charge you but it won’t be near the cost that you would incur by running out to purchase new tiles. The leftovers were likely to land up in the trash and your contractor may even be open to negotiating the price.

3.    Be prepared to get your hands dirty.

Often once the renovations are complete the building crew will often come back and clean up the mess they have created. This is another day of work and labour that is at your expense. To cut renovation costs manage your own clean-up day. You can sweep the sawdust off the floor, clean the new windows and pack all the left over rubbish and materials into a trailer and take it to the local dump.

4.    Maximise your natural lighting.

Maximise the natural lighting in your home rather than installing new artificial lighting. For instance, if you are extending a room in your home then try to make room for a large bay window and don’t cover it, or the other windows in the room, with blinds or curtains. Keep your windows uncovered and treat them with vinyl decals to attend to your privacy needs. In this way you only need artificial lighting to be switched on when it’s dark outside. A lamp can attend to the need for additional lighting in the extended area. Electricians are an added expense so by maximising the natural lighting in the area and treating it with vinyl decals and a lamp in the evenings, you eliminate the need for an electrician for this particular renovation.

Renovation costs are always a deterrent to homeowners who have considered extending, expanding or remodelling their home. To find out more ways in which to cut renovation costs or for some inspiration about home renovating, please consider our Home Renovation Tips and Ideas Handbook.

Image credit: http://cdihomeinspections.com/