When undertaking a house renovation, there are certain areas that people initially think of as core tasks and the most expensive jobs. These sorts of works include:
- NEW ROOF
- FULL KITCHEN
- FULL BATHROOM
- NEW DRIVEWAY
- REPLACING ALL WINDOWS
- NEW CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEM
- PLASTERING + REDECORATING
There are also, unfortunately, many many mannnyyyy other smaller costs that you may not initially think of as a big part of the budget or perhaps haven’t considered at all. These are the key areas where the budget can slowly but surely get obliterated. That may sound dramatic but to be honest, it is justified! Running out of money is so stress inducing because at the end of the day, we are yet to discover magic money trees (if you have, please get in touch)
Ensuring that you understand the costs beforehand is so important because the way you fly through money during a renovation gets pretty tedious, pretty quickly. At first it can be fun and feel efficient, but when the bills just keep on coming and every day, new discoveries (problems) crop up and just mean even more money. There are so many issues that you cannot possibly predict but there are plenty that you can try and plan for. I have detailed some of them below but the main message of this blog is to please try and consider all costs and whether it is the right idea for you. Renovations can seem like a dream and social media seriously spurs that on but the stress and quality of life impact that they can have need to be taken very seriously before throwing yourself in at the deep end.
Here are some key areas that are easily overlooked:
RADIATOR VALVES
I briefly mentioned this on my Instagram and this is what set off the idea for writing this blog because so many people voted that they had never considered the cost of them.(If you don’t follow my instagram yet – I’ve linked it again here)
To summarise – Radiator valves costs vary – you can get a cheaper pair for £10 from Screwfix – LINKED HERE – but I’m not sure anyone could class them as particularly aesthetically pleasing. The likes of entrance hallways and a main rooms definitely deserve prettier radiator valves in my opinion and this is also the case for any nicer radiators. Column radiators are my absolute favourite, and upsettingly one of the most expensive. So here we have spending hundreds on a radiator and extra again on the valves to make sure there is a quality overall finish. I’m sure you can see how the costs add up quickly. I picked out a lovely £70 pair from Victorian Plumbing – LINKED HERE – So, say you have 16 radiators in your house – £70 x 16 = £1,1120 – its eye watering! The obvious solution to this is to mix and match between cheaper for rooms less used or in plain sight and nicer sets for areas on show more – try and find budget friendly options to suit your style and home.
LIGHT SWITCHES + PLUG SOCKETS
The main point of this is – are you having them all replaced? If so – you can safely assume you will need a lot. During renovations, it’s extremely likely that you will add more sockets and possibly more light switches. You can never have too many plug sockets, I have heard SO many times about people saying they haven’t put enough in (bear this in mind too during your planning stages) It is far easier and more cost efficient to have too many than trying to add them after all the decorating. Depending on the finish of these fittings, the costs vary WILDLY. However, you can safely assume that the prettier ones are indeed, often more expensive – how cruel? Anyway, do a quick add up now of your current house and how many you have of each, add a few more for good measure and assume a cost of say £7 per plug socket (more for USB etc) and say £5 for light switches (more for plural switches or A LOT more dimmable) The amount of rooms per house obviously vary a lot but you are very quickly running in to hundreds of pounds. It isn’t just the rooms, you have several in hallways/landings/ bigger rooms may have more than one area with switches. The prices I have given are not luxury items so for the likes of Dowsing & Reynolds, which is a gorgeous brand, they are £50 per 1 gang light switch – imagine that for even a few rooms if you wanted to treat yourself. I won’t bore you with all the maths – just don’t forget these costs on your budget!
DOOR HANDLES + LATCHES
Similar to the above, door handles can vary an incredible amount depending on where you are getting them from and how fancy you want to go. Basing it on a bare minimum, you are going in to the hundreds if you are replacing a whole house worth. This could be the case because you are getting new doors but even if you are keeping the existing, don’t forget that you may still need new handles – either because they are ugly as sin or don’t function properly. I love beehive doorknobs for period homes – these are often around £20 each (a low price to be honest, they go far higher) so say you need 12 doors worth you’re into £240 before buying the latches and more again if you require new hinges. Not going to cause devastation but it is the costs of a few hundred here and there (..and everywhere) that you haven’t accounted for, that end up with your budget running thousands over.
LIGHT FITTINGS
This one may seem fairly obvious but I think sometimes it is easy to forget the sheer quantity that you need for a full house. Additionally, sometimes you can think you’ll be happy with a cheap £5 lamp shade but when it comes round to it you think… ah well this one is nicer I may as well just spend the extra money now instead of buying twice. This notion generally does make sense BUT make sure you are not buying these fun things early doors and using up the key budget which is definitely more important for the likes of central heating/ windows/ plastering etc. Light fittings can totally transform a room and I am super particular about lighting as a whole so I also add wall fittings in a lot of rooms. The fact that the light fittings are doubled, means your cost is essentially double – do this in a few rooms and the costs can escalate quite quickly. Don’t forget other spaces such as porches, perhaps several fittings per landing/hallway, outdoor lighting etc. It can easily add up when you are adding the beautiful finishing touches that really make a room! I don’t think it is a good idea to skimp, but it is definitely a good idea to prepare yourself for these costs ahead of time.
CEILINGS
What condition are they in? Woodchip paper and Artex are the enemy.. random strips of plastic or wood stuck to them are also ‘not ideal’. People often pay more attention to the walls than ceilings during viewings as it is what initially meets the eye but don’t rule out how quickly the costs can escalate. Does it need stripping? (Either your time or paying for someone else) Does it need plastering? Are the light fittings in the wrong place? Will it leave damage if you switch the wiring around? This is not ground breaking stuff but easy to overlook.
REPLACING DOORS
As mentioned on my previous blog about getting the most out of your property viewings – visit blog here
One point was to pay extra attention to the condition of the doors. At a glance they may seem like nice original doors – upon inspection they may take serious hours to bring back to life. This may not be the end of the world but – do you have the time to do that yourself? On every single door of the whole house? Can you afford to pay someone else to do it? Will it be cheaper (yet still very costly) to replace the doors? You can get brand new or reclaimed doors that are in better condition. If you are getting new doors – who is hanging them? Are they exact size or will they need cutting down (most likely – particularly with older houses and dodgy door frames) Are you confident in hanging super heavy huge old doors? Or even new oak ones? This is a skilled task in my opinion and not one that is worth skimping on. Do you want wonky doors? Have you budgeted for new doors as well as the joiners labour costs? THE QUESTIONS ARE ENDLESS!
This also includes houses where the doors have been panelled over – this commonly happened in period homes in later decades as it was seen as more modern. Things have now of course gone the opposite way and people want the original features back. The doors have often had their beading/moulding stripped out and filled with nail holes. Can you tell from my tone that I have been in this situation before, done it all myself and hated it? This is a laugh or cry situation let me tell you!
LESS OBVIOUS PLASTERING
There will be rooms that very obviously require plastering. There will be other, more evil rooms, that look ok on the surface and, in fact, also require plastering. Worse still – perhaps they all need to go back to brick and require new boarding as well instead of just skimming over. These costs can seriously stack up because your plastering budget could be wiped out and double within a few days of stripping the wallpaper back and finding out what is really going on. Bear this in mind and always be extremely generous with the numbers here.
PLANTS
Deary me – I only recently realised this but wow is it expensive to add a bit of colour to your garden! Turf is an obvious one but then you go a step further in to trees and plants and wow – again, you are very quickly in to the thousands. In our current home, the rear garden was an absolute shambles when we bought the property. It didn’t have any proper trees or plants, the grass had turned in to a mountain of weeds – there wasn’t a single thing that was salvageable. Therefore – ££££ ding ding ding ding you got it – we had to buy absolutely everything new. I also realise now when estate agents focus on mentioning the ‘mature’ gardens on listings – those babies have cost them thousands! We had to buy trees to plant across the walls 1. For privacy and 2. To try and pretty it all up a bit. The thing with trees is unless you’re happy to buy them about 1 foot tall then they’re going to cost you. We also had the same with the front wall as there were no existing bushes or shrubbery to work with. Additionally, without inheriting any pretty flowers or plants, we have had to buy all new pots (also expensive) and wildlife to plant ourselves. I was never initially that fussed on a garden so that is why I have only recently discovered it all more in depth but it is now actually a super important aspect to me. The front of our house looked so bare so we bought lots of trees, plants and flowers (how many times can I say those words in 1 paragraph) to try and bring some life to the front. Many hundreds later and it still doesn’t even look that impressive! I believe patience is what you are meant to have for garden
DECORATING
This obviously depends how much work there is to do but its quite easy to underestimate how much you can fly through when buying ‘decorating stuff’ – the broader spectrum. This includes scrapers, wallpaper strippers, bin bags, filler, caulk, silicone, sandpaper, undercoat, paint brushes and rollers etc all the prep work itself and tools to do so. The paint and wallpaper can also run in to the thousands depending on what brands you go for but that is a little bit less of a surprise. I wouldn’t strictly class this as decorating but if you decide to add all new skirting/architrave etc during the decorating process then that too can add up considerably in terms of the actual wood and possible joiner’s labour costs. Don’t miss out all the extras when accounting for the decorating budget overall as I feel hundreds of pounds can easily be overlooked.
FURNISHINGS
I think this could seem quite obvious – furniture costs lots of money – wow how surprising. Stay with me.. if you are moving to a bigger house, like I believe a lot of people that follow my instagram page are upsizing rather than downsizing – you are going to need more furniture than you had in your smaller house. The big things could be beds or sofas – which by the way are NOT cheap so 1 or 2 of them alone can run you in to the thousands. My point here is actually more the likes of things that seem small but are actually very costly. Cushions – I see so many memes as jokes about turning in to an adult and realising how expensive cushions are but my god – it is no joke! Cushions/covers, throws, art work, frames, rugs, vases, room sprays, artificial flowers/plants, candles, ornaments, mirrors.. little ‘things’ to put on shelves and surfaces to make the place seem like a home rather than a bare shell – this seriously adds up! Furthermore, actual furniture such as small side tables, chairs, dining table sets (very costly), desks and chairs if you want a home office, extra sofas, benches or stools as space fillers, more TV’s as you now have more lounge spaces. WAIT THERE IS STILL MORE! – Bedding – this can be very expensive as well as the duvets and pillows themselves if you want good quality ones. Don’t even get me started on a whole new kitchen set up or even semi-revamp of dishes, cutlery and kettle/toaster etc . I feel myself getting more and more manic as I type because I cannot believe how much living in a house costs!! Are you with me?! *silently rocking in hysteria*
In terms of buying ‘house stuff’ I have added a shopping guide to many items in our home! Have a little browse if you fancy – visit here
So, I hope you enjoyed my CasTalk (see what I did there?) about the insane costs of a house renovation. I talk in such a negative tone because we already know the positives – you create your dream home, exactly how you want it and do it yourself – it is SO rewarding and just such a true love of mine that (I fear) I will never tire of!
BUT I think people need to be more honest about how difficult it can be because I receive so many messages from people about considering it and all I ever say is just make sure you have even more money than you think you will need. This isn’t to say you can’t do it if you don’t have all the money sat there ready – that isn’t the case at all and I see so many admirable people that do so much themselves and chip away at it slowly and much more cost efficiently.
My main concern is people getting themselves into something without realising how mentally and physically tough it can be. I hope that doesn’t sound patronising because I honestly mean it with the best of intentions! I love renovating our home so much and it is truly a dream life for me, I have such passion for it and I couldn’t feel any luckier to have been able to do it – I hope that comes across because my aim is to make people aware of the realities rather than putting them off. You are strong enough to be able to do anything you put your mind to. Always believe that!
Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts – I love hearing from you! Do you enjoy these types of blogs? Is there anything you’d like to see more of? Comment or email me!
Remember to seek professional advice at all key stages – this is just my opinion!