How To Save On Your Home Renovation

In the midst of the falls in house prices in Australia, many homeowners are deciding to delay selling and opt for home renovation instead. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the average Australian spends around $25,000 on renovating their house, where the average cost per square metre is between $2,000 and $4,000.

Real estate agents have estimated that improvement in your property adds around 2.5% to the property value. You can consider this as a good time to invest and make small improvements in your home if you’re planning to sell in the future.

Home renovation will have an impact on your savings. While there are jobs that should be left up to professionals such as electrical work, waterproofing or plumbing, there are some jobs that don’t require expertise such as painting and ripping up carpet.

If you want to save money on your home renovation, you can try these cost-cutting tips.

Refurbish and reuse

Avoid going beyond your budget by maximising what you already have, like upcycling old furniture to save a significant amount of money.

Another example is deciding whether to replace old tiles. While your tiles are still in good condition, they will date eventually and it can be expensive to replace them with brand new ones. An cheap and easy do-it-yourself solution is to paint over the tiles to be able to achieve a more modern look.

The kitchen is another section of the house that is quite expensive to renovate. If your carcasses and doors are contemporary, just update the knobs or handles. You can also pick a modern tint and do the door fronts.

Sand and then varnish a table for it to come up like new. Side cabinets and bookshelves can have a new personality with a fresh coat of paint.

Simple fixes

There are simple aesthetic changes that can make your home feel new. Some of which are to install new lighting and to change the window furnishings. LED down lights and track lighting are a practical and neat replacement, where a mix of ambien, task, and feature lights are ideal especially in the kitchen.

Use cost-effective materials for your home renovation

Consider using cheaper materials that won’t affect the overall aesthetic of your home renovation. For example, laminate or engineered stone can look as good as a marble or granite benchtop for a percentage of the price.

Products such as water-resistant laminate floorboards or vinyl floor planks can disguise linoleum and old tiles. These cost-effective materials are easier and less expensive to work with while they look like real timber floorboards.

Don’t move your plumbing

To save big on bathroom renovation, do not move your plumbing and stick with the original plumbing points. It will cost you more to move anything that deals with plumbing or electrical fixtures, blowing a large amount of money.

So, keep all facilities in the same spot while upgrading everything. The same applies to kitchen and laundry facilities.

Prepare your budget

Extra work and costs such as asbestos or mould removal could be unavoidable during a home renovation. Even emergencies like poor weather can cause delays. Holdup in arrival of materials can also happen and cost more money.

You never know what can occur during a project. Preparing an effective budget would cover any surprises and serve as insurance against other costs along the way.

If you liked our “How To Save On Your Home Renovation” and find it useful, check our blogs regularly for more information on how to get out of debt and updates on the best budgeting apps in Australia.