Establishing Remodel Cost – Home Remodeling Critical First Step

Nothing ruins a fantastic remodel more quickly than exceeding the project budget. Why is this phenomenon so common in residential remodeling? Simple: Many homeowners struggle to establish a detailed budget at the appropriate time in the course of the project.

Why is establishing remodel cost one of your most important remodeling tools? Determining your budget at the beginning of your project helps in the following ways:

-Prevents wasting time and money on a project that turns out too expensive for your current budget.
-Allows you to more carefully analyze bids from general contractors.
-Forces you to decide emphatically on what you want and what you can afford.
-Puts you in charge of the project costs, not the general contractor or subcontractors.
-Provide your designer (if needed) with cost parameters that help keep costs reasonable.

Establishing remodel cost is a four step process. Follow these guidelines, and you will save yourself time, money and a heart attack when the final bills arrive!

1. Establish Project Scope – Your first step is taking an educated guess on the “scope,” or definition, of the project. Are you looking for a complete kitchen remodel, or just some new paint and cabinet hardware? Are you going to replace a few shrubs in the yard or install a complete outdoor wildlife conservatory? Use a bunch of different sources (books, magazines, websites, design professionals, etc.) to write out a few bullet points of each component of your remodel, its current condition, and what you want the end product to be. For example: Kitchen Cabinets: Existing – Natural wood, yellowing finish, no door hardware. After Remodel – Paint-grade cabinets, white, all new hinges and door pulls. Follow this formula for each piece of the project.

2. Quantify Units – Now that you have a general idea of the project scope, assess quantities of materials you will need. Pull out your tape measure and go to town, identifying critical measurements like square footage, lineal footage, etc. Back to our cabinet example: Kitchen Cabinets – 20 standard cabinet doors and 6 drawers, 38 lineal foot of uppers and lower cabinet faces and frames, 26 door pulls, 20 pairs of hinges, etc. Do this quantity analysis for each piece of your remodel. Take it one at a time. Trust me, it is not too much. Carefully analyzing your measurements and units forces you to think logically through the remodel process piece by piece.

3. Research Prices – This is my favorite part of any remodel project. It gives me an excuse to visit every hardware store and material supplier that relates to my scope of work. Take your list established in step one combined with the quantities establishes in step two, and tour the vendors in your area one-by-one. Carefully research different options, what you like and don’t like, and most importantly, unit cost. You will quickly discover whether or not your remodel dreams are feasible and within your budget. And believe me, it is better to confirm this sooner rather than later. You will also quickly gauge which suppliers and employees know their business, and which are just there to fill space and look helpful. This information is critical once you begin purchasing material. (I will cover effective purchasing in a subsequent posting).

4. Create Spreadsheet – Now you are ready to “estimate” you remodel. I suggest creating a spreadsheet on the computer, as it reduces the chances of a calculation error. Begin by listing each piece of your project. You can either use some industry standard construction cost codes (Google “Construction Cost Codes”) or just think through your project from floor to ceiling or ceiling to floor. Once you formulate a list, put your units from step two in a column next to each item. Then use the third column to input your cost per unit for each item. Lastly, multiply the unit column by the cost column and discover your material cost for each item. Labor is a bit more complex to estimate, but a few quick calls to knowledgeable subcontractors in your area will give you a general idea of labor costs. Once the material and labor costs are totaled, I suggest adding a mark-up if you are going to use a general contractor (10-20%), and an owner contingency cost (5-10%) to the project for those items that inevitable come up in the course of construction.

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A Few Simple Tips To Help Your Kitchen Remodel Go Smoother

Does your kitchen floor look like it’s been there for decades? Do the counter tops look like they have been trampled on by elephants and ate on by many little kids? Does your floor plan look like it was built back in time with a different decorating pattern? If this is your kitchen I would look in to updating or remodeling your kitchen. If you update your kitchen with newer appliances and cabinets you could raise the value of your house, and if you remodel your kitchen that can also raise the value of your house but it also you’re your ideas and creativity you have in your head come to reality in real life. The starting of the kitchen remodeling you might need some and maybe a lot of patience and time as your kitchen is mess, but at the end of the whole project will be kitchen you can be proud of and one your can share with all your friend and family.

When remodeling your Kitchen you can just do small up grades or you can do a full out remodel with brand new everything in your kitchen. When thinking of doing a small upgrade you can replace appliances, get new handles for cabinets, or refinish the cabinets. Or you can replace your floor cause it looks like its been walked on for a hundred years or replace your counter tops. These changes will have a new effect on your kitchen and also raise the value of your house. But if you decide to do a full scale remodel of your kitchen this can have the most effect on your house and will want you to showoff your new kitchen.

To start your remodeling process of you kitchen you should make notes on what you want to do, what you are going to replace and about how much money you will or are willing to spend to remodel your kitchen. Walk through your kitchen and take notes on what works and what doesn’t work and what you want to replace or keep in your current kitchen. Start by picking up magazines on kitchens and looking through them and taking notes on what you want to do and do some research on the internet also and what down notes you find on the internet.

Another thing you might want to do is make some kind of folder with all your notes and designs your wrote and picked out of what you want and like. Do not hold back this far into your early stages of your kitchen remodeling. The next thing you should do is decide on a budget or decide on how much you are willing to spend to remodel your kitchen but if I was you I would decide on a budget so you don’t go over and have unexpected bills you have to pay that you cant afford. The next stage of your remodeling process is to match you creative ideas to your budget and what you can afford. By doing this you might be real surprise on how much you can get for you money and how much your creative design will cost you. By this point it would be a good idea to find and contact a designer and maybe even a space planner for your project. They will be very helpful with your design and some advice, tips and some unexpected money issues that might have came to your mind.

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How To Decide How Far To Go When You Update Your Kitchen

In many families the kitchen is where they hang out and spend a lot of time together. In my home growing up that was a requirement. No matter what we had going on even when I was a teenager we had to be home to have dinner together. Many families will help each other cook and clean and talk about their day in the kitchen. In a lot of homes kids do their homework at the kitchen table so it is a very well used room. With all this in mind it just makes sense that it should be given priority in updating to make it the best it can be.

When it comes to updating or remodeling the kitchen you can spend a little or spend a lot. There are remodeling plans for the budget minded as well as those who seek a full kitchen remodel. The kitchen can be a place in the home where you can spend a lot of money on a remodel, in fact only the bathroom can rival it.

You can give your kitchen a new look with just a few items if you are creative. You don’t necessarily have to invest in a total kitchen remodel to make it look like a totally new place. For example, instead of buying totally new cabinets you can resurface the fronts of the cabinets instead and install new hardware. Another update that can make a kitchen look completely new is installing new counter tops which is really a job that one can do themselves with a little instruction. Another popular upgrade many people choose is to install new floors. If you have old linoleum floors you will not believe the difference it can make to put down tile and then create a matching backsplash behind the sink.

Almost any kitchen can be given a great new look as well as increased function by investing in new appliances. Buy matching appliances such as a new refrigerator, range, and dishwasher and you will instantly improve the appearance of the kitchen. Just the simple act of changing out the hardware on the drawers and cabinets can sometimes have a dramatic effect.

If you have chosen to go the route of the full remodel job for your kitchen you will also have some choices to make. You can hire a qualified contractor to handle the entire job or you can do it yourself and hire out the craftsmen you will need to complete certain jobs. You need to evaluate how much money have put aside to spend and then add at least 10% of it for unexpected things that always happen on any remodel job. If you intend to own your home for a long period of time you may go for a complete new kitchen. One thing is for sure, regardless of which way you decide to go you will be sure to get a lot of enjoyment from your updated kitchen.

www.LKNcabinets.com