Not all home upgrades and renovations are treated alike. Where some span out precisely as imagined, others run into major pitfalls and disasters. Planning a home renovation demands extensive research, due diligence, and collaboration with seasoned constructors.
Suppose you embark on a DIY home renovation, planning significant upgrades for your kitchen or outdoor area. In that case, it’s wise to manage expectations and approach each task with cautious diligence. A home renovation is a complicated process that demands extensive planning, market research and acute knowledge of architectural structures.
Homeowners who attempt to infuse foreign architectural elements into their homes often end up compromising their property’s structural integrity. Consulting an architecture, interior designer, or contractor will give you insight into upgrades you can and cannot execute. The existing architecture of your property will allow specific enhancements and crumble if certain upgrades are added.
If you’re vying for a major transformation with quality home upgrades, let us walk you through some upgrades to avoid.
1. The Dream Kitchen Money Trap
Are you walking into the quintessential dream kitchen money trap? Millions of homeowners dream of setting up the perfect kitchen, wasting thousands of dollars without increasing their property value. It’s crucial to note that design elements that look spectacular in magazines won’t have much functional appeal.
For instance, adding a Victorian trim to your kitchen’s modern roofline will spoil the floor plan and roofing structure. Likewise, suppose your kitchen has a southwestern interior. In that case, you cannot give it a Moroccan spin without dismantling the existing structure. And is all that trouble worth the money and life quality it will cost your family?
We advise enlisting Google’s help to find a reputable contractor specializing in kitchen renovations. Suppose you’re planning a kitchen renovation in Concord, California. In that case, make a location-based search query using the keywords “kitchen renovation Concord CA” to connect with the nearest businesses. It’s crucial to study every contractor’s Google My Business (GMB) profiles and explore client reviews.
Most renovation specialists display their portfolios on their GMB profiles, websites and social media profiles. You can streamline your options and book consultation sessions with multiple renovation specialists to obtain several quotes. A contractor specializing in kitchen renovations can give practical insight into the design elements that will complement the architectural integrity of your property.
Most importantly, a contractor will help you avoid the money trap of designing the dream kitchen. It’s crucial to note that a kitchen renovation can elevate your property’s value by around 5-10%. However, the value depends on the improvements you add. For instance, potential buyers prefer state-of-the-art appliances, built-in fixtures, cabinets, and ample storage space.
Building a sunroof or a spacious breakfast nook may please your aesthetic sensibilities. Still, it offers little or no monetary return. So, consult your contractor to run some numbers and calculate the ROIs of the kitchen upgrades you’re planning.
2. A Luxurious Swimming Pool
Are you planning to transform your backyard with a luxurious swimming pool and adjacent BBQ pit? Or perhaps, you want to construct a hot tub to soak up in bubbles while gazing at starry skies? Either way, these luxury-focused upgrades can run up some significant complications. Everyone loves cooling off in a big swimming pool once the summer sun starts guzzling heat into the sky. But is this strategy financially viable and executable?
Most homeowners dive into swimming pool projects after grossly underestimating the cost behind this major home improvement. Swimming pools and hot tubs are big-money projects. Constructing an above-ground swimming pool demands ground strength, water source installation, and footprint leveling. The costs will run up to $30,000 or beyond $50,000 if you don’t plan this project pragmatically.
Suppose you want to install a gated fence and equip the pool with fancy water features and treatment amenities. In that case, the expenses can exceed $100,000 in the blink of an eye. Are you willing to invest such a staggering amount of money? Will you take a hefty home improvement loan?
The real complications will ensue when you decide to sell and fail to land a buyer willing to pay your asking price. Most homes valued under $400,000 cannot recover the cost of constructing a swimming pool.
3. Lavish Bathroom Upgrades
Dreams of en-suite bathrooms and enormous walk-in wardrobes often result in the loss of precious square footage. Did you know that bathroom remodels are among the most popular home improvement projects across American homeowners? That’s right. A bathroom is an intimate space that defines our privacy, comfort, and life quality. More importantly, bathroom remodels have an enormous potential to increase property value, provided they add value and functionality to the space.
So, how can you plan the perfect bathroom remodel? It’s effortless: give the bathroom a fresh coat of paint with a new color palette, shiny new fixtures, and upgraded lighting. If you want to go beyond that, invest in new tiling, install new faucets, and pick a new color scheme. It’s ideal to avoid messing with major electric and plumbing systems and maintain an under $5000 budget.
Now, how can you go wrong with a bathroom to remodel? The first mistake is to exceed the $5000 budget because an expensive bathroom remodel won’t guarantee higher ROIs. Homeowners make mistakes while replacing old floors, altering the floor plan, upgrading to new fixtures, and exceeding their budgets multiple times.
Most experts advise against bathroom remodels that don’t focus on existing plumbing repairs and damages. We suggest reflecting on your lifestyle needs and aligning bathroom upgrades with your budget. Does a rotating faucet add more quality to your life or an environmentally-friendly bathtub that costs a fortune?
Remember, design elements that look desirable in glossy magazines don’t always fit well within our homes!
Final Thoughts
A home renovation project can go wrong in a million different ways if you don’t take the time to plan it right. Suppose you are erecting a large structure or dismantling an existing living space to replace it with something new. In that case, we strongly advise against taking the DIY route unless you’re a seasoned contractor.
House upgrades that affect your home’s foundational structure and cosmetic integrity demand due diligence and utmost scrutiny. To prepare a detailed plan, you need to bring in several experts, such as designers, architects, and interior specialists. Any renovation you undertake should ultimately add to your property’s overall market value. The expenses of home upgrades are investments homeowners can recoup when they sell. If it doesn’t offer any ROIs, it’s simply not worth the trouble.
