7 Ways to Trim Home Improvement Costs

Doing home improvements yourself can save you a ton of cash, but it’s easy for your budget to get away from you and soon enough your money-saving DIY approach has ended up costing you more than a contractor. Use this checklist to keep your project down to a nice price.

Rethink the scale of your improvements. Perhaps you think you need to entirely renovate a bedroom. Consider whether cosmetic changes such as replacing the room’s flooring or repainting might suffice. These projects generally can be done for $1,500 to $3,000, or in the case of panting, a few hundred dollars.

Plan bathrooms and kitchens to share major drains, vents, and supply pipes. Doing so can dramatically reduce the cost of plumbing labor and materials, often saving you $3,000 or more. Similarly, you can save by arranging plumbing fixtures against one or two walls.

Choose projects with a high return on investment, particularly if you intend to sell your home within the next few years. Minor kitchen and bath remodels are almost always winners. In general, projects that lighten and brighten your home are excellent investments.

Consider using cheaper materials. Sometimes, less-expensive materials do an excellent job of mimicking their higher-priced counterparts. Oak strip flooring may cost $13 per square foot installed, but a laminate floor that looks almost identical can be installed for approximately $7 to $10 per square foot.

Don’t cut corners on highly visible work, especially details and surfaces. For example, don’t skimp on drywall. Quality drywall installation for a 12-foot-by-12-foot room can cost about $1,300. A cheaper job for the same room may run about $1,050. But bumpy wall surfaces, hammerhead dimples and nail heads popping up from the surface aren’t worth the $250 difference. Similarly, it pays to spend a few hundred dollars more for premium finishes on cabinetry and woodwork.

Know what can be put off. If you’re running tight on money, hold off on things that are easiest to add later. You might install wiring for in-the-wall speakers now, but add the audio and visual components later. Hardware, lighting controls and fixtures, appliances -- even a furnace -- are all relatively easy to upgrade later as long as you plan for the change.