6 Tips for Renovating on a Budget

Smart home renovations aren’t as hard as they might seem.  Even though the concept of renovating an older home seems to have a bad reputation, it’s not as bad as all that. The key to renovating on a budget is knowing where to spend money and where to cut back. But getting that balance can be a little bit tricky.

Trust us when we say you can achieve your remodel without breaking the bank.  With years of experience in the game, the team at Combit Constructions, specialist house renovations London, is going to share some of our top tips on how to get the best return on your investment:

Get the Experts on Board

A beautiful and harmonious home renovation is no job for a novice!  That’s why we recommend enlisting the expertise and experience of a specialist renovation team such as Combit Constructions, North London, that can bring your dreams to life and help you every step of the way to a beautiful home remodel.

Employing a good architect with years of experience is guaranteed to be one of your secret weapons: he/she will be able to offer smart suggestions to help maximize the functionality of your home and the funds you have available.  An architect also understands what adds value to a house and can help ensure that your renovations will increase the resale value of your property.

Don’t skimp on Planning

We get it: there’s nothing particularly glam about the planning stage.  But if your home renovation is to be 100% successful, this is probably the most important part of the whole project! Understanding what you are working with and what you want to achieve is fundamental to achieving a satisfactory result.  Starting your project without a vision isn’t clever – you run the risk of blowing your budget and winding up with a remodel that doesn’t work as well as you’d hoped. Visit showrooms, research ideas online, talk to family and friends about ideas that have worked for them. Planning can help you buy when products are on special – keep an eye out for bargains and purchase ahead of time!

Allocate your Funds

Setting a budget for home renovations isn’t easy, but it’s super important.  Understanding each stage of your project and what will be involved will help to allocate your funds wisely. It’s important to remember that when you’re working with an existing building, there’s bound to be some ‘unexpected costs’ that come up during the renovation process (especially if you’re fixer-upper is an older, period style home).  Allowing a 10 – 20% buffer for these costs will help to avoid budget blow-outs and keep your project on track.

Re-use; Up-cycle

You could save yourself a pretty penny by re-using or up-cycling materials from your demolition.  Timber, bricks, roof tiles… many things can be cleaned down and reused to reduce your house renovation cost. A visit to your local second-hand shop or salvage yards could result in some quirky finds – recycled building materials and furniture is not only budget friendly, but they can also be used as striking aesthetic elements in your new design!

Consider a Loft Conversion

If you’re looking for a way to create extra space inside without changing the existing footprint of the home, a loft conversion might be your answer! Loft conversions, North London, continue to be a popular home renovation project in 2021 for a few simple reasons: they’re economical, they can transform the functionality of the home and they’re generally easy to achieve. Talk to your renovation team about whether a loft conversion is an achievable option for your home.

If Possible, Avoid Moving the Services

Re-hashing the existing electrical and plumbing plans is a sure-fire way to add extra cost to your renovation project, so where possible, avoid moving them too much. Putting in an extra bathroom or ensuite? Try and work your plan so that the new bathroom is positioned close to existing plumbing plans.