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Remodelling the Bathroom? Here’s How to Save Money

4 July 2023

Remodeling the bathroom is one of the most popular home improvement projects, since it can improve your quality of life and boost home value at the same time. Unfortunately, it can also be expensive. Nationwide, the average bathroom remodeling cost is $11,398, but you can pay as little as a few thousand dollars or as much as $20,000 if you’re willing to splurge.

What are the best strategies for saving money on remodeling a bathroom?

Set a Budget and Plan Ahead

First, it’s important to set a budget and plan ahead for your bathroom remodeling project. If you have a strict budget to work with, you’ll be forced to scrutinize every expense to make sure you don’t go over budget. This is automatically going to make you a more prudent and better-researched bathroom remodeler.

Also, thinking ahead and planning ahead gives you more flexibility and more time to consider your most important decisions. You can decide what your priorities are, so you can make the most cost-effective decisions for your needs; for example, if you’re more interested in a cosmetic update than a functional one, you can plan to make purely aesthetic choices when you start working with a contractor or shopping at a home improvement store.

If you have plenty of time to work with, you’ll also be empowered to take advantage of time-sensitive sales and deals.

Do What You Can by Yourself

Depending on your DIY skills, there are some bathroom remodeling jobs you can handle totally by yourself. For example, you might be able to take part in the demolition work or install a bidet entirely on your own. As you might expect, doing the work yourself is much cheaper than hiring a professional to do it. You’ll still be responsible for the costs of materials, and you might have to purchase (or rent) new tools to tackle the job, but the bottom-line cost may be half or less of what you’d pay otherwise.

The big caveat here is that you shouldn’t attempt to tackle dangerous jobs or tasks where you’re out of your depth. If you hurt yourself during the bathroom remodel, you’ll have far bigger problems than just worrying about the cost of the project. And if you do something wrong during the DIY approach, you might end up needing to hire a contractor anyway.

Know When to Splurge and When to Save

Some upgrades are simply more important than others. You should know when to splurge and when to save. For example, the lighting fixtures are some of the most important elements of a bathroom, and you should make sure you have exactly what you want there. Smaller details, like cabinet handles, are less noticeable, and you might be able to save a lot of money by choosing a more economic option.

Always Comparison Shop

Whether you’re shopping for a contractor or materials, it’s always important to comparison shop. The type of tile you want might be $20 at a major hardware store, but it might be only $16 at a local shop. Even if you’re only saving 10 percent on some of the items you need, that can add up to hundreds, or even thousands of dollars of savings over the course of your bathroom remodeling project.

Work With What You Have

Whenever possible, work with what you have. There’s no need to demolish or replace something that’s perfectly functional the way it is. If you can keep your plumbing lines and electricity lines intact, your bathroom remodel is going to be much cheaper. Similarly, swapping out the hardware on a vanity is usually much more cost-effective than replacing the vanity.

Take Advantage of Promotional Deals

Pay attention to promotional deals, such as sales, discounts, and other special offers. If you wait until a major holiday or an advertised special to buy the materials you need, you can get them much more affordably. If you’re flexible with the materials you purchase for the bathroom, you’ll have even more inexpensive options.

Find a Reliable Contractor

Next, make sure you find a contractor who’s genuinely reliable. Typical bathroom remodels can be expensive, but they’re even more expensive if you have to completely redo them because your original contractor messed something up and refused to come back to the jobsite. Get a referral if you can, and always read reviews and ratings before hiring.

Sell Your Old Materials

It may not save you money on the project proactively, but you can make some of your money back by selling old, unused materials from your bathroom.

Remodeling a bathroom is never going to be cheap, per se, but it doesn’t have to be as expensive as it is for most homeowners. With these strategies, you can save money without compromising your wants.

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