The Real Cost of Home Improvements
The Real Cost of Home Improvements
& who you should hire! Prices vary but what’s the #1 thing in the home improvement industry that breaks the bank? Home improvement costs depend on many different factors, such as; what type of work you are having done, who is doing the work (a contractor, an individual, a handyman, ect...) the quality of materials, the quality of craftmanship, the location of your home, what you are having done & many other factors.
Bathrooms & Kitchens are generally the most expensive rooms to improve. The average cost to remodel a bathroom is right around $11,000.oo. The typical range for a complete bathroom remodel is $8,000.oo on the low end to $17,500.oo. Kitchens vary even more than bathrooms. An average Kitchen remodel can range from $12,000.oo to $35,000.ooo. Limited upgrades on a small kitchen can come in around $4000.oo & lavish kitchen remodels can be upwards of $50,000.oo +.
Your living/entertainment room remodel is next in line, lower in expense than your kitchen or bath. The average cost for a total remodel of a living/entertainment room comes in at $7,500.oo to $8,200.oo. Elaborate remodels of living/entertainment rooms can go as high as $30,000.oo+.
Your dining room comes in second to last as far as expense. On average a complete dining room remodel would be $6200.oo.
Finally your bedrooms come in last on the list of expense. A total remodel of a bedroom comes in at an average right around $5,900.oo.
As you can see, the cost to remodel a home does vary greatly. However, the most costly home improvement projects are caused by hiring the wrong people to do the job. Too many times I have gotten calls from customers telling me they hired the guy with the best price, that seemed to be the best deal. Usually they tell me the guy showed up, collected the deposit, messed things up horribly & then just never showed back up one day. Other customers say we hired this company, it was a really good price & they did a real good job until the last few days of work when everything went to crap. This happens way to often & is usually caused by the customer selecting the lowest price & the home improvement company under bidding. The home improvement company was needing to find work in order to stay busy & severely undercut themselves & couldn't finish the job. So they ended up having to rush things at the end of the job when quality craftsmanship was at it's most important stage. They found every shortcut possible because their wallet was running severely low. Money would have to come out of their own pockets to stay up to the quality standards outlined in the contract, if they had a contract at all. Sadly the customer ends up paying more for the work to be redone than if they hired a quality company right from the start. Not to mention the thousands of dollars wasted by the previous contractor who took off with the customers hard earned money. The best way to avoid a situation like this is, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably isn't true at all.
Check out the reviews, make sure they are a legit business, review all their material- websites, blogs, forums, ect. You should have a pretty good feel of the company before you make that first contact. Maybe you notice their trucks & yard signs all around town. Do they have the various types of insurances legally necessary for a home improvement company? Are they incorporated or an LLC. They should at the very minimum be structured as an LLC, which holds companies accountable to certain standards. Do some simple research & make sure you feel comfortable with whoever you choose. Not every home improvement company will be a good fit for you & you won't always be a good fit for every home improvement company.
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