We all know that before starting a home renovation project, you should have a plan and a budget worked out. The reality is that even with things well worked out ahead of time the projected costs can go haywire. Here I would like to share with you the various causes of that budget going astray and make some suggestions as to how to keep them in control.
Proper Planning Can Avoid Runaway Costs
Unforeseen Costs
This simple example may help to illustrate the point. Part of your home renovation project might be the replacement of a window. Of course included in your budget is the price of the window and the labor costs for installing it. However, what if when the actual work takes place, the workers find the framing around the window is in bad shape and that you’ll need to make a large number of alterations in order to bring it back to a good condition before the window can be installed. On top of that there are trims that now need to be replaced and painted both on the exterior and interior of your house. The effects of this not so good news could go further as now the new trim can’t be matched with the rest of the existing trim in the room color wise. So now all the trim in the room needs to be painted as well. You can see how the costs can be affected with all this extra work. What started as only replacing one window can all of a sudden become something quite different making the costs go through the roof.
One solution to this problem would have been to anticipate that when you take things apart unseen things can be true and cause extra costs to be incurred. You could account for this by having some money in the budget for these unforeseen costs.
Unforeseen impact on other areas of the house
You might not anticipate that the renovation work you have planned might necessitate alterations to an area of the house not being renovated. When making changes to the plumbing, wiring and ductwork of the house it is not always easy to anticipate how the renovation will affect the rest of the house. These unforeseen problems are often not evident until things start coming apart. Though a good contractor should be able to anticipate and account for some of these occurrences.
Sometimes people wonder why one contractor’s price is more than another’s and this may be one reason. One contractor sees and prices for the unforeseen and the other expects to charge you when he runs into it. The first you may be paying for something that never happens, the other is a surprise and none of us like those kinds of surprises. The solution here is basically the same as the last, try to estimate the impact of the project on other areas of the home as best you can and then have some extra funds ready for the unexpected.
Wayward Desires
Though you might be tempted to add some things from your wish list during the renovation this is often a formula for runaway costs. You’re often not thinking about the impact on the overall project. You can certainly do what you want but that $100 extra cost here and over there can soon add up. You may be able to afford the first one or the second one but then it can just get away from you. Yes it can cost you less than if you did it later but if you didn’t plan for it financially then you need to make sure you can afford it before you give the go ahead. Moreover, you need to try and keep your desires under control.
Renovations are never easy but they are often both important and necessary. To keep the costs under control you will need to plan well, prepare for the unexpected and keep your personal desires under control.