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How To Avoid Hidden Renovation Costs

How To Avoid Hidden Home Renovation Costs | Homestead Custom Carpentry

Home renovation projects can quickly become overwhelming, stressful, and costly. Whether its a bathroom, basement, whole home remodel, or kitchen renovation, hidden renovation costs can add up. At Homestead Custom Carpentry Red Deer, we work on home renovation projects daily. We see homeowners troubled with picking materials, hiring professionals from different trades and finalizing design plans. With a project as significant and treasured as your home, it’s important to organize what you need and plan the process to avoid unnecessary costs and issues. He re are some tips on things to remember when renovating the different rooms in your home to avoid making costly mistakes and stay on budget.

Kitchenkitchen renovation before and after

  • Countertops & Flooring – Installation Costs Vary

When picking your countertops and flooring, keep in mind, installation costs vary from material to material.

  • Installing solid-surface and stone countertops costs exponentially more than laminate countertops.
  • Similarly, laminate flooring is less expensive to install than a ceramic tile.
  • The most cost-effective flooring materials are floating floor systems, like cork planks or tiles. These are significantly less expensive to install than glue-down or nail-down systems. Check out NuFloors Cork Flooring

  • Identify Load-Bearing Walls

If you are thinking of opening up your kitchen space and need to tear down a wall, identify load-bearing walls first! Look in your attic or basement to see where the pipes or ducts are running into the wall and look for registers and radiators. This will help you avoid ruining existing electrical wiring or plumbing when removing a wall.

  • Think Before Switching Between Gas & Electric

Nothing makes a kitchen feel luxurious and gourmet like new, state-of-the-art appliances. If your kitchen renovation includes buying a new stove or oven it can be really expensive to switch from gas to electric or vice versa. Before ordering the new appliance, remember, a gas line upgrade or extension or running a new circuit to the switchboard can quickly add costs.

Explore our kitchen renovation services.

Bathroom

A bathroom renovation white checkered linoleum toilet countertop, plant, and baby blue wall and window

A complete bathroom renovation

  • Remember Wiring When Making Changes

If you want to change the design of your bathroom layout, keep in mind that it could affect where you need lights, outlets and light switches. To be budget-friendly, consider the cost of hiring an electrician to upgrade the wiring when planning your layout.

  • Waterproofing!

Baths, showers, toilet malfunctions or even your kids splashing in the sink, make your bathroom the wettest place in your home. It’s important to be especially diligent with waterproofing your floors and walls and making sure they are warrantied and certified. This step might be more expensive immediately but long term you will save big on maintenance.

  • Think About Drainage With A New Tub Or Toilet

If your bathroom renovation or remodel involves buying new or relocating the bath or toilet in your bathroom, take special consideration of where the drain is (middle or end in the bath). With anything new, make sure the drain can be connected to the existing drainage point so you don’t have the additional expense of adding a new drainage line.

Explore our bathroom renovation services.

Basement

interior basement renovation basement red deer

an interior basement renovation basement red deer

  • The Rooms You Need

Consider the rooms you need in your basement space. Open spaces are a lot less expensive to renovate. Separating your basement into a bathroom, wet bar, office or bedroom means more materials, wiring and plumbing.

  • Carpet – Your Best Companion

When developing or renovating your basement consider carpet, rather than hardwood, laminate or tile. In the case of flooding or any serious water damage, carpet can be replaced multiple times and is significantly less expensive to install than any alternative. We work with Alberta Tile One in Red Deer

  • Prevent Water Damage

Basements tend to naturally be more humid and moisture prone than the rest of the home. Before renovating, look for signs of moisture problems (like mould or watermarks) and inspect your foundation for cracks that may be contributing to the issues. Fixing these may incur more initial costs but will help you save long term with future water damage repair costs.

interior basement renovations red deer

Explore our basement renovation services

Home renovation projects can be daunting but there is nothing more rewarding than the final project. Relaxing with your family in your newly remodelled dream home is the best feeling in the world. The only thing that can take away from that feeling is a price tag that went way over your initial budget. If you stay organized and consider the details of each room, you should be able to save on unforeseen expenses and stay under budget on your next home renovation project.

Check out our GALLERY of completed home renovation projects

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4 Fresh Layouts for your Fall Kitchen Remodel

4 Fresh Layouts for your Fall Kitchen Remodel | Homestead Custom Carpentry

4 Fresh Layouts for Your Fall Kitchen Remodel When planning a kitchen renovation or home project it can be hard to know where to start. The kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s a place where you drink a cup of coffee in the quiet of the morning. Where you make meals for your […]

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Improve Your Outdoor Look: 4 Ideas for Your Patio or Deck

Improve Your Outdoor Look | 4 Ideas for Your Patio or Deck

From BBQing and sharing laughs with friends to making smores and stargazing with family, your patio or deck is an integral part of your home. If designed and built thoughtfully, backyards, decks and patios can be places defined by fun, community and memories-made. Homeowners often overlook their outdoor space when renovating or building their home. Here are some tips to insure your patio or deck is not forgotten and serves as a backdrop for memories for years to come.

Consider Deck Construction Materials

deck-wood-girl-sitting outside-lines

When it comes to decking, all materials are not created equal. To make sure you’re choosing the material that best suits your budget and needs, multiple factors (including cost, maintenance and durability) should influence your decision.

o  Pressure-treated lumber– This is the most popular material, it gives the classic softwood look and only requires maintenance if you decide to stain it or paint it

o  Redwood or Cedar– These woods are slightly more durable than most others, but they are more expensive.

o  Composite– Plastic or composite material requires very little maintenance after installation and is weather resistant but can be limited in colour options.

Consider Your Deck’s Purpose 

Do you want different areas of your deck or patio to be designed with different purposes in mind? Eating, relaxing, playing or entertaining – there are many ways to create functional areas for these activities in the design of your space.

  •     Add levels– By added levels to your deck you are able to clearly give different areas unique functions as well as make the space more dynamic and aesthetically pleasing. [link to Curved Stairs blog post as example of added levels https://homesteadcustomcarpentry.com/curvedstairs/]
  •     Add furniture – By adding furniture to a space you make the purpose of the area crystal-clear. By adding outdoor couches and cushions, you create an extension of your living room, a place for conversation and relaxation. By adding a table and chairs you create an outdoor dining area.

Plan Around Outdoor Entertainment 

patio and chairs outdoors with green grass

If you envision yourself hosting outdoor dinner parties, BBQs, campfires or family nights – there are many ways to plan for that in the design and build of your deck or patio.

o  Speakers– From fun summer songs for the kids while they play outside to soft dinner tunes, nothing adds ambience like music in the background from outdoor speakers.

o  Outdoor kitchen– If you love to BBQ and eat outside, consider creating space for an outdoor kitchen.

o  Firepit – Outdoor gas firepits add style to the space and come in many different shapes and sizes.

o  Deck furniture– Lay out tables and chairs like you would a living room to promote conversation.

o  Outdoor lighting– Lighting can serve multiple functions for your patio or deck. By adding lights to walkways or stairs you provide greater safety for your family and friends. Garden lights, lanterns, and string lights make your outdoor space more inviting, charming and magical.

Create Shade and Shelter 

outdoor pergola deck

Really create an inviting outdoor living space by providing areas of shade for those hot afternoons or cozy covered corners for chilly Alberta evenings.

o  Pergola – For something permanent, consider building pergola into your deck. Not only does it shade you from the sun but it’s a place to hang lights, speakers or plants. 

o  Umbrellas –If you want something less permanent, consider getting a standing umbrella you can open when needed or an outdoor table with an umbrella.

o  Patio Heaters – Winter, spring, summer fall — any season is patio season when you have heaters as an added feature in your outdoor space.

We hope these ideas have given you a new vision for your deck or patio. Any space can be improved and elevated with a few simple changes or additions

Here’s to many more years of memories-made in your outdoor spaces!

P.S.

You Might also like: ‘5 Simple Ways to Increase Your Home’s Value’

[VIEW DECK RENOVATIONS]

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