Keith@Lakeside: Kitchen Renovation Estimate

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Kitchen Renovations That Add Value to Your Home

The average Canadian moves several times in his or life. If you are renovating a home that you know you will not live in for the rest of your life, every decision you make regarding the renovation can make or lose you money. The room that sells a home more than any other room in the house is the kitchen, so this is the place to renovate if you‘re going to renovate anything. In this article you’ll learn how to choose the materials to renovate your home with the most profit in mind.

You can’t go wrong by improving an outdated or nonfunctional set of appliances, but you can go wrong by over improving your home compared to others in your neighborhood. You lose money improving your home when you add expensive features that may make you happy, but are not what the average homeowner in your neighbourhood is looking for. For example, if you live in an average home in an average neighborhood with homes priced around $200,000, and you choose to add a $60,000 gourmet cook's addition, you will certainly lose money on the renovation. On the other hand, if you choose to spend just $5,000 improving what you have, you will almost certainly make money on the renovation.

When renovating your home choose materials that are typical of homes in your price range. For example, when you bought your home, did most of the homes have expensive custom built cabinets and granite countertops? Or did they have standard cabinets and Formica countertops? If you are not sure, visit your neighbors or neighborhood open houses to see what most kitchens in the area look like. By using materials that are too expensive for your neighbourhood, thinking it will “add value”, you lose money because the added value does not make up for price of the renovation or improvement. On the flip side, by adding in materials that are too cheap for an area, you hurt yourself twice again. You end up not adding value, and you can even end up detracting value because the new homeowner feels like that have to pull out a renovated kitchen to make it of the same quality as others in the neighborhood. The bottom line is, if you are planning on moving in the next few years, do your homework before you renovate to make sure you’re not over or under spending.

Another tip when planning on renovating your home to sell is to work with what you have. For instance, if you have nice solid wood cabinets, finished with an outdated color and hardware, consider refinishing the cabinets, changing the hardware and improving the countertops. You will end up saving thousands of dollars that stay in your pocket, plus if the cabinets are in good shape, you might even make the same amount as if you completely replaced them. If you have a neutral color ceramic tile that isn’t your favorite color but looks good with your new refinished cabinets, consider keeping it. You’ll never recoup the expense of pulling up the tile and laying a new floor. Its always better to improve what you have in a kitchen to make it up to par for the neighborhood than to completely replace something.

Its good practice to consider resale value when improving your home, especially in the kitchen where the stakes are higher because renovations cost more and can add a ton of value or very little value. With a little research and proper planning, your newly renovated room can add value to your life while you live in it, and value to your home when you move.

This article was published by:

Keith McGorlick,

Author, Blogger,

Home Improvement Expert &

President of, Lakeside Interiors

Windsor & Barrie Ontario

705-881-4456 in Barrie or,

lakesidebarrie@gmail.com

226-946-9651 in Windsor or,

lakesidewindsor@gmail.com

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Sunday, 1 July 2012

How Much Will My Kitchen Renovation Cost Here in Windsor?

When setting a budget for any improvement project around the home, it can be difficult to know where to start. When setting out to renovate, there are often hidden costs that can creep in and sink your budget, especially in an older home. When renovating a kitchen, a good place to start is at at 15% of your home value. Adding a 20% cushion to your kitchen renovation cost estimate will cover you if anything unforeseen arises.

It can be difficult to stick to your budget and keep it under your target, but research, planning and a solid estimate can help you to keep costs down. A good place to start is with a middle of the road estimate at about $45,000 for a $250,000 home. Things like kitchen cabinets, appliances and countertops are the highest priced items in a kitchen renovation along with flooring, lighting, fixtures and hardware. Electrical, plumbing and gas add to the costs, making a kitchen renovation a much pricier change than any other room in the house.

Your kitchen renovation estimate should be your guide. Everything else should be documented and added as things come up. Begin with your absolute necessities and things you cannot live without. Then move to your most desired items such as increasing workspace in your kitchen for preparing meals or the type of materials used for your countertops, cabinets and flooring. After that you can add in your “wish list” such as a television, computer, kitchen nook, bay window, etc. A kitchen renovation cost estimate can and should include everything, including your cushion. Keep a separate spreadsheet of items you would like to add and add them later if you can.

If you choose to and have the ability to do the actual work yourself, this will be where the estimating process will end, however if you choose to have a contractor such as Lakeside do the work for you, you will need to estimate the labour cost as well. Over the years, I’ve noticed a pattern in all the projects that Lakeside has done for our clients. By the time you add in labour, permitting, overhead, profit and taxes, when all is said and done, the original material estimate accounts for approximately 40% of the finished project. This being the case, if you take your original estimate and multiply by 2.5, you will be very close to the cost of having a contractor handle the project for you.

A few things to take into consideration when planning your kitchen renovation is your family size, your entertainment style, your frequent guests and how much counter space you will require. If you have a large family you will want to have enough seating in the kitchen. If you entertain a lot, a big table and lots of counter space is nice. If you love to cook and cook a lot, design your kitchen with appliances that are strategically placed for optimum production.

A refrigerator all the way across the room from the sink or counter top makes for repeated trips and unnecessary steps. Moving appliances can drive up costs for plumbing , gas and electrical, but it can be well worth it to you if you end up with the kitchen of your dreams.

This article was published by: