Home Improvement Tips

Improving your home can run the gamut from undertaking a major renovation to applying a tweak like adding a new window box. For most homeowners, home improvement begins with moving-in day and ends only when the house is sold.

To qualify as a true home improvement, changes made in your home should make your home better in some way. But who is to say that your improvement is actually what it is purported to be? If one person’s trash is another’s man’s treasure, the reverse is also true. That hot tub that you consider a personal luxury may be nothing more than a mold collector to someone else. Your pool that provides hours of endless fun for your children may be dismantled by the next owner and the garage that you converted to a recreation room at great expense may be returned to its original use by the family who lives there after you. The point here is: Before you raise a hammer or spend a penny on a home improvement project, understand what you want to accomplish and why you want to make the change.

Sorting Priorities

Outline the project that you are considering on paper. Examine your reasons for wanting this particular home improvement and your expectations for the finished product.

Motivations

There are many different reasons for home improvement projects and only you can decide the value of each. For example, are you updating your kitchen because you want to market your home and obtain the highest price possible or because you are tired of the kitchen’s inefficiency, appearance and appliances? Have you decided to add a deck because you need more space to entertain or just because you want a place to sit and relax? Will you be living with your new improvement for years or are you just looking for a quick fix or a temporary solution? Maybe your planned home improvement is simply a luxury like a wine cellar or an uplifting paint job? Your motivation is important because it colors your expectations.

Expectations

How will you benefit from this home improvement? Or to put it another way, what are your expectations of the finished product? Do you expect to add value to your home by converting a fourth bedroom to a bathroom? Are you looking for emotional satisfaction when you paint a drab room a bright color? Will the landscaping project that you envision be so grandiose that it will eat up all of your spare time or require hired help to maintain?

It is important to have realistic expectations at the onset of a project so be brutally honest with yourself. If your expectation is to add value to your home or to make it more saleable when you put it on the market, do your homework first. Find out what buyers want. For example, don’t replace all your dull kitchen hardware, light-switch plates, and doorknobs with brass substitutes only to find out that brass is out and brushed nickel is in. Or if your goal is to improve the value of your home in the most economical way, gather information about which home improvement projects result in the best return for your investment before beginning. Don’t rationalize that the new in-ground swimming pool that you have wanted for years will double the value of your home to justify the expense of the project to yourself. Otherwise, you may be disappointed when you don’t get what you want from the buyers of your home.

And while we are on the subject of motivations and expectations, what makes you happy matters. A home improvement project does not necessarily have to add value to your home. Sometimes, the most important value of a home improvement project is not measured in money, but in personal satisfaction. Your home is more than walls and building materials. It is a repository for your memories, a sanctuary from the world, a place that is uniquely yours. Never underestimate the value of making yourself happy.

Getting Started

Now that you have considered your motivation and expectations and are ready to begin your home improvement project, the next step is to estimate the cost and decide whether you will do the work yourself, hire a contractor or act as your own contractor. The project itself, the time you have available, your ability, knowledge of the project and personal inclinations, your economic circumstances and your time line are all factors that will influence your choices.

Who Will Do the Work?

Before you can begin to estimate the cost of your home improvement project, you must decide who will be doing the actual work. Labor is costly and it will be a major part of your home improvement expense if you are not planning to do the work yourself. If do you plan to do the work yourself, estimate the cost of materials since that will be your primary expense.

If you think you can act as your own contractor either wholly or partially or do some of the work yourself, examine the areas of the project for which you will take responsibility, eliminating the cost of labor in those areas in your overall assessment.

If you are like many homeowners, you may be uncertain as to where your contribution of time and effort may result in a savings on the cost of labor or sometimes even materials. In this case, the best way to proceed is to interview at least three contractors. After receiving the estimates, but before making your final decision, ask each contractor if there is something you could do personally to reduce some of the expense of labor and/or materials. Honest contractors will usually be forthcoming with you and you might be surprised at how your willingness to contribute time and energy can reduce the cost of labor.

For example, suppose you want to redo a small bathroom. Your plan is to replace the floor, the sink, the toilet, the light fixtures, faucets and the vanity which will also have a granite top. In addition, you want to install a tile backsplash behind the sink and you would like molding added where the wall meets both the ceiling and the floor. You have no clue as to how to lay a floor or plumb a sink or toilet or add molding, but you discover that you can still save a considerable amount of money by doing much of the contractor’s legwork. It is decided that you will be responsible for obtaining and transporting everything the contractor will need to install from point of purchase to your home. After comparison shopping, you select, purchase and deliver the flooring material, the tile, the toilet, vanity, granite counter top, sink, faucets, mirror, light fixtures, even the lumber required for the molding which you paint before it is installed. Now, you have saved yourself a pile of money without having any expertise other than the ability to comparison shop. Good job!

Estimating Cost

If you are doing the work yourself and your home improvement project is primarily a cosmetic renovation, most of the time you will only need to estimate the cost of materials. However, some cities and towns require permits for particular types of renovation or the addition of special structures or amenities like ponds and fences.

To avoid running afoul of the law, familiarize yourself with your town’s building codes and permit requirements and include the cost of permits, if applicable, in your cost projection.

If you have hired a contractor, the cost of materials, labor and permits should be spelled out in a written contract.

Larger projects such as an addition to an existing home or the building of an associated structure like a garage are a bit more complicated to estimate, but the procedure is roughly the same.

Contractors should provide you with a bid (estimate) on your project which should include the following:

• The cost of labor (including payroll taxes and worker’s compensation insurance) as well as the total number of hours of labor.
• The cost of materials to be used in the project. This includes everything from flooring, cabinets, and lumber to things like heating and ventilating units, hardware and floor vents.
• The cost of permits as needed.
• The cost of specialized tools, rented construction equipment, and safety gear like goggles or hard hats.
• Subcontractor fees if your contractor requires a specialist like an electrician or a plumber.
• The cost of repairs and/or incidental expenses that may be needed in the case of a large renovation as when a room is added or walls taken down.
• Cleanup expenses like rented dumpsters and/or the cost of hauling away debris such as roofing material and dumping or recycling fees.
• The cost of any interior decorating items such as blinds, light fixtures, mantels, etc.
• A section for unexpected expenses such as upgraded materials or last minute additions like an expanded walkway. Obviously this section may not reflect a final figure until the project is completed.

All contractors’ bids should be in writing and you should read every word carefully before signing anything. You might want to ask your contractor what his procedure is should the price of materials escalate during the project as has been the case recently with sheetrock, plywood and copper. Will he/she want to tack on additional costs? It is to your advantage to have the cost of materials written in stone since it is unlikely that the reverse would apply-that the contractor would lower his charges to you if the price of materials declined during the project.

You want to discuss a time line for completion or include a clause that allows you to withhold final payment until the entire job is completed (some contractors request advance payments for each step of the process to offset their own expenses). At the very least, you want a guarantee that the contractor will return (over a specified period of time following completion of the project—usually a year) to correct or repair, free of charge, any of the work he has done should a problem arise.

Surf the Web for information on contracts to determine for yourself the intricacies of contracts and the various commonplace components. Be prepared and do not hesitate to ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

Financing Your Project

If your project is small and relatively inexpensive, you may not require any special financing. But if you are adding an addition or planning a renovation larger than one room, you may want to consider a home equity line of credit.

A home equity loan is secured by the equity you have in your home and works this way: (1) Your bank agrees to lend you a certain sum of money over a period of time, usually 5 to 10 years. (2) When you need to pay contractors or buy materials for your project, you simply “draw down” the amount you need when you need it. (3) You pay interest only on what you have “drawn down” or the amount you borrow, not on the total amount of your credit line. (4) The interest that you do pay is sometimes tax deductible if you qualify. (5) Use as much or as little of the total sum or credit line that the bank offers you to finance your project.

Another useful item is a rebate award credit card which can be used in conjunction with the money that you draw down to purchase building materials and supplies. Designed exclusively for home remodeling and home improvement projects, purchases made at well-known stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s (and many other retailers) with your card entitles you to rebates and awards—an additional savings on your project. You can find some of these cards at www.SayCards.com.

Having decided what your home improvement project is, examined your motives and expectations, hired a contractor, signed a contract and arranged for financing, the hard part of your home improvement project is done. Now the fun begins—turning your dream into a reality and enjoying the fruits of your labor.