Full Cost Breakdown of a Home Renovation Shows It Took Longer and Cost More Than He Ever Imagined

Eleven months. More than $100,000. And a final bill that landed $80,000 over what he planned. That is the short version of what @drewfromladue says it took to turn a tired house into the home he calls his dream.

Home renovation cost breakdown: creator cover beside a renovation photo

He laid out every project he finished, one by one, with a full cost breakdown. His verdict, even after the stress and the overrun: “this was definitely worth it.”

@drewfromladue

Starting with a sledgehammer

To save money, he demoed most of the house himself. That is a classic way to trim a renovation budget, because demolition is mostly labor. Then came the part you should not do on your own: he hired a structural engineer and a framer to open up the floor plan between the living room and the primary bedroom.

From there, the list grows quickly. Most of the electrical was reworked. New insulation and drywall went in throughout. The air conditioning was almost 30 years old, so he replaced it with a Mitsubishi Hyperheat system with two condensers and three indoor heads.

The dream closet, the doors, and the windows

He gutted the secondary attached bathroom to build a walk-in closet using an IKEA system, which he painted a burgundy color. He swapped out six interior doors for solid oak slabs and replaced three exterior doors, including the front door and the sliding patio doors.

Then there are the windows. He loves all the windows in the house, but he ended up replacing almost 20 of them, and he says that turned out to be one of the biggest costs of the entire project. If you have ever priced a single replacement window, you can picture how fast twenty of them add up.

The living room showpiece

For the living room he wanted something dramatic. He designed a corner fireplace with a wall-to-wall tile bench and paired it with lime wash paint. It is his favorite room in the house.

The staircase up to the third floor used to be carpeted, and he replaced the carpet with hardwood. All the oak floors throughout the house were refinished, and he worked with his contractors to repaint almost the entire home. His next project is replacing the rooftop deck, so he says to stay tuned.

Why renovations run over budget

An $80,000 overrun sounds shocking, but it is not unusual in a whole-house renovation. We do not have the line-by-line numbers from his post, so we cannot say which items pushed him over. But here are the usual culprits that catch homeowners off guard.

What is behind the walls. Old wiring, hidden water damage, and outdated plumbing tend to show up only after demolition starts.
Scope creep. Once the walls are open, it is tempting to add one more thing. Then another.
Material price changes. Costs can rise between the day you budget and the day you buy.
Delays. Every extra month means more time paying for the place you are living in, plus any storage or temporary housing.
Permits and engineering. Moving walls often requires an engineer and permits, and those fees are easy to forget when you are dreaming about the fireplace.

How to protect your own budget

If a renovation is on your horizon, a few habits can save you real heartache.

Add a cushion. Many contractors suggest setting aside an extra 10 to 20 percent for surprises. On an older house, more is wise.
Do the big structural and system work first. Walls, wiring, plumbing, and heating and cooling come before the pretty finishes.
Hire out what could hurt you. Doing your own demolition can save money, but taking out or opening up load-bearing walls without an engineer is not the place to cut corners.
Get several quotes in writing and ask what is and is not included.
Keep a running spreadsheet. Record every receipt as you go. It is the only way to see an overrun coming before it arrives.
Rank your wants. Decide in advance which items you would cut first if the money runs short.

Where the money tends to go

A pattern shows up in his list that is worth noticing. The costs that hurt most were the ones that are hard to see once the job is done: the engineering, the electrical, the cooling system, and the windows. The things that make a house photograph well, like the lime wash and the burgundy closet, are often the cheaper parts of the bill.

That is good news if you are planning your own project. Spend where it counts, like the bones of the house, comfort, and efficiency. Then give yourself one or two showpieces, as he did with his corner fireplace, and keep the rest simple. A single bold room can make the whole house feel special without a six-figure price tag on every wall.

Almost a year and far more than he planned is a lot to ask of anyone. But the fact that he would do it again, and is already eyeing the rooftop deck, says plenty about how he feels coming home.

Willow and Hearth