Remodeling on a Budget
By Marie Hodge
With all the hullabaloo about declining home sales, you’d think that many people would put remodeling projects on temporary hold as well. Not so, according to Martin S. Pruitt, owner of Cornerstone Builders, Inc., on Peters Creek Road in Southwest Roanoke. He says this year has been his busiest ever.
Bo Bohon, owner of Bohon Construction Co., Inc., in Bedford County, agrees. “With a slowdown in new house sales, home additions and remodeling pick up,” he says.
“Homeowners do what they have to do to satisfy their needs, rather than buying a whole new house.” They begin looking at such options as adding a master bedroom or redoing kitchens and bathrooms in their current home instead of looking to move elsewhere, he says.
Pruitt says that with the run-up in real estate values during the last five to 10 years, this is an ideal time to remodel. “The interest rates are so low you can take the equity you’ve built up and borrow against it at a low cost,” he says. He’s been seeing many cases of people within five to eight years of retirement who want to get their property fixed up, so that they can be settled when it’s time to retire.
Nevertheless, reduced confidence in the economy is still putting a crimp in some buyers’ style, so remodeling in a cost-effective way – always a good idea – has become more important than ever. The contractors we spoke to offered these tips for maximizing your dollar as you update and beautify your home:
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1. Come up with a realistic budget.
2. Choose your contractor wisely.
3. Be specific in defining the job and have a fixed-price contract.
4. Don’t pay 100% of the bill until 100% of the work is complete.
5. Stick to your original plan.
6. Take the sting out of remodeling costs by making additions energy-efficient.
7. Scale back expectations.
8. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.
- Come up with a realistic budget.
Bohon says some homeowners often want top-of-the-line items such as hardwood floors for unrealistically low prices. He suggests you go to different suppliers – including home stores – and look not so much to pick out specific cabinets or flooring or carpet, as to get a realistic idea of what they cost.
- Choose your contractor wisely.
It goes without saying that you should ask for references from previous customers who have had experience with the contractor’s work and work habits.
“Checking contractors’ references keeps you from having to hire twice for the same job” – a costly mistake, says Neal Frank-Rempel, who with wife Robin owns Zia Construction & Remodeling, Inc., in Roanoke.
“Make sure you hire a competent professional,” Pruitt says. “Many people I talk to, if they had checked out the experience and reputation of the contractor, they would have been better off.” Pruitt recommends checking with the Better Business Bureau and the state board of contractors to make sure of your contractor’s track record before you sign on the dotted line.
Bohon goes further, pointing out that Virginia contractors’ licenses come at three levels – A, B and C. At the C level, he says, the contractor is only licensed to do jobs at the $7,500 level and below; at the A level, there are no limits. Check your contractor’s license with the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation(DPOR) at www.dpor.virginia.gov.
There are other issues to consider as well, says Bohon, such as whether the contractor has workmen’s compensation and general liability insurance, so that you don’t wind up with an unplanned liability yourself. All you have to do, he says, is to ask the contractor to call his or her insurance company and have that company send you proof of the insurance.
- Be specific in defining the job and have a fixed-price contract.
The DPOR says that licensed contractors are required by law to provide a contract for residential work, and your contract should include agreed-upon start and finish dates. Consumers can print a sample contract that includes minimum requirements by visiting.
Different contractors have different arrangements, but when Bohon gives customers an allowance, though he might recommend a supplier, he lets customers pick out materials from whatever source they want.
“Get a budget that gives you the freedom to buy where you want to buy,” Bohon says. You may get a better deal, and be able to choose suppliers you feel comfortable with.
- Don’t pay 100% of the bill until the work is 100% complete.
Try to limit your down payment – a reputable contractor should be able to front the costs of supplies without a large sum of money from you. The DPOR suggests that a deposit of 30% of the total cost is a good rule of thumb.
“I just did a $14,000 screened-in porch, and I broke it down into a couple of different payments,” Bohon says. “It was $5,000 when I started the framing, and the balance when I completed the whole thing. Don’t pay for something you don’t have yet.” Instead, tie payments to completion of certain tasks, so you’re not out huge sums of money if a project is delayed or unfinished.
- Stick to your original plan.
“Changing your mind midstream costs money,” says Neal Frank-Rempel. His wife, Robin, says sometimes people change their mind on the color paint they want after they see their first choice on the wall. Such a change adds time, labor and additional materials to the project, driving up cost.
A midstream change in design, a fancier appliance that exceeds the original budget allowance, a new tile pattern – all run up cost and blow a budget to smithereens. Think twice or even three times before you make such changes.
- Take the sting out of remodeling costs by making additions energy-efficient.
Acccording to the National Association of Home Builders, 33 percent of surveyed remodelers report that they are increasingly called on to improve the energy efficiency of clients’ homes. Not surprising, given that building energy efficiency into a remodeling project helps pay for it over time.
“This is a great time to make your house more energy efficient,” says Pruitt. “With energy costs going up so drastically, the payback time is greatly reduced.”
Pruitt estimates that if you update an older home that’s poorly insulated, you’ll see such a drastic change in your heating bill that you’ll make up the cost of the update in a year or two. He points to the many technological changes in appliances, lighting, insulation and windows in the last decade or so, some of which make it more likely than ever that you can seal up your home to prevent heat loss.
Some of the hot-ticket items for cost-saving remodeling: energy-efficient windows, insulation replacements or upgrades, high-efficiency HVAC systems, high-efficiency kitchen appliances, water-saving faucets and fixtures, and tankless water heaters – which save money by heating water on demand instead of continuously using energy.
Updating appliances, too, can offer dividends: Replacing a refrigerator that’s 10 years or older can save you more than $100 a year just because today’s refrigerators are much more efficient than those 10 years ago.
For more NAHB tips, go to www.nahb.org and look for consumer information under “Resources.”
- Scale back expectations.
“Everybody sees pictures in magazines and wants all the nice stuff, the granite countertops and the higher-end products,” says Pruitt. But of course, if sticking to your budget is a priority, you may have to explore alternatives for some of the pricier materials.
This is where a good contractor comes in handy, according to Pruitt. He says he spends a lot of time doing research and product evaluation so he can say to a client, “This product will do what you want for a lot less cost.” He keeps a full-time interior designer on staff to help point clients in the right direction.
It helps to do a little research on your own, too, so you can present the contractor with money-saving ideas yourself. One suggestion from Carol Davitt, author of the National Association of Home Builders book “Remodeling Your Home”: “If you’re adding windows, see if you can use snap-in window grilles instead of windows with true divided lights. This could save you up to $200 per window.”
Another idea from Davitt: Ask whether you can substitute seamless vinyl for ceramic or unglazed tile, or swap hardwood floors for carpeting.
- Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.
If stretching a budget is your goal, you might consider doing some of the remodeling work yourself – in tandem with a contractor’s efforts.
“Sometimes customers will tell me that they want to take care of the painting themselves to save money,” Bohon says. “I don’t have any problem with that, as long as they do it in a timely manner. For example, if I’m doing a master bedroom and the customer paints it himself, I can’t put the finished floor in and the electrician can’t put switches in until the walls are painted.”
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