Home Renovations And Material Costs: Estimating Your Project And Budgeting Materials

Posted on: 14 August 2020

When you are planning a major home renovation project, estimating your material costs is an important step. You want to make sure to keep costs under control and not waste materials. From the start of renovations and doing demolition, you should be able to save. The following information will help you with your home renovation estimates and avoid going over budget:

Get professional drawings—The renovations that you have planned for your home may only be ideas now, but you want to have them on paper. Therefore, you will want to have drawings professionally made for the renovation projects you are planning for your home. Using the blueprints to estimate the building materials you need will make it easier to keep your project on budget and avoid over or under ordering the materials.

Consider reusing materials and repairs—When you plan on doing renovations to your home, there is going to be some demolition work to do. This will include the removal of old building materials, which are often still in good condition. Therefore, you will want to consider reusing materials that you can to help reduce the costs of your home renovations. Some of the materials that can often be reused in renovations include:

  • Woodwork
  • Flooring like hardwood floors
  • Mechanical materials like HVAC ductwork and wiring

These materials can be reused when doing major renovations. Reusing these materials will help to reduce the costs of building supplies to complete your project.

Calculating the square footage and wall areas—When doing estimates for building materials, you are going to need to calculate the square footage of floor and wall areas. Make sure to subtract for things like cabinets and appliances for flooring estimates, unless the flooring is going to be installed under these things. You are going need to calculate other materials like trim by linear feet. To calculate windows and doors, take a count of the different size openings and types of windows or doors.

Make sure to leave room for miscellaneous material costs—There are often miscellaneous materials that get overlooked when estimating to order building materials. You want to make sure to account for these extras, which can include things like hardware, fasteners, glues, and drywall mud.

Starting with a good estimate of the materials you need for your project will help you budget your home renovation costs.  If you need help estimating and ordering your materials, contact a construction materials supplier to get everything you need for your project.  

Share