Many of you are seasoned remodelers, and have had 3-5 projects completed on your home. You know roughly what to expect and have enough experience to understand what works and what does not. Then there are those of you who have never remodeled before and are overwhelmed with the complexity that is planning, designing, and building a project.

Unrealistic Budgets

A pitfall in the budgeting step begins almost from the very beginning when you first get the idea of what you budget number will be. What sources are influencing your budget? Perhaps you have watch many of the television shows that you are basing your budget. Basing your budget on a source like this can lead to disappointments when you find out your budget is not realistic and specific to your actual scope and conditions.

For example, a kitchen remodel may only cost $15,000 on an episode of Flipping Houses, but what you may not realize is that many times materials are donated or purchased at wholesale cost due to the marketing exposure for the supplier. Many of the shows self-perform the work as well, which does not give you a realistic idea of what labor adds to the project.

Many of you will have had friends and family who had done remodeling projects, so you may be getting an idea of cost from their project. Before you do that, make sure that you are comparing like conditions. For example, your friend’s kitchen remodel in Wyoming 10 years ago is not going to give you a very good picture of what yours will cost. Not only is their project and contractor in a different state economy, but material costs are most likely not the same that they were 10 years ago.

Of course having a realistic budget not only saves you from being letdown; it can also keep you from accruing unnecessary costs. The most successful projects come from the homeowner and contractor working together from the beginning to define priorities and then designing the project to the budget while adjusting the scope of work if needed.

We have been building custom kitchens for many years and truly understand that everyone has a unique space that has its own special potential. McHenry Remodeling will assist you with ideas and design in order to make your kitchen functional and useful for your needs. Whether it is a simple update of a sink, cabinetry, counter top, back splash, update lighting, and appliances to an entire tear out including reconfiguring the entire kitchen, we can assist every step of the planning process.

At McHenry Remodeling, our entire staff and crew are exceedingly perceptive to the disruption of the daily lives of homeowners, and go beyond to ease the temporary transition into your dream remodel project. Call us today for a free estimate at (541) 926-5903!