Home Project Summary

Renovate Small Home

Ideas, costs, tips and plans - the information you need for a successful Small Home Renovation project

February 2011

Homeowners have many important questions about their Small Home Renovation Project. How much will it cost? How long will it take? What problem areas do I need to watch out for? Can I recover my Small Home Renovation investment when I sell? Can I do some of the work myself? What can I do to make sure that the work is done right?

Costs, materials and best practices for the example Small Home Renovation project will help you answer these questions. Use this information to develop a budget, bid requirements, hiring contracts and a project plan.

Use the following information to understand your options, make good decisions and get quality work at a fair price.

Small Home Renovation - Project Overview

The approximate costs and value of a typical Small Home Renovation project are summarized below. Use higher estimates for larger metropolitan areas and the lower estimates where home prices are below the national average. Adjust costs for substitutions or refinements in the last section. For size differences of up to 25%, scale total costs in direct proportion to the size of your project. Use the adjusted costs as a basis for setting a material budget and for comparing contractor bids (if you choose to have a professional perform the work).

Project description	Renovate all rooms other than kitchen and bathrooms in a small home. Update molding, flooring, doors, switchplates and decorative hardware. Add built-in speakers and modern recessed lighting. Install new window treatments. Use above average grade of materials, fabrication and installation quality.
Project size	880 square feet of renovation
Material and labor cost	$16,407 - $19,142
Material cost	$10,089 - $11,771
Do-it-yourself assessment	The typical Small Home Renovation project can be completed by a moderately skilled do-it-yourselfer; as with any project, high quality Small Home Renovation requires attention to detail and careful planning.
First year Return on Investment - ROI	Results vary widely and can be affected by the range of home prices in your neighborhood, the overall condition of your home and sensible design choices. A high quality Small Home Renovation project in an appropriate neighborhood can return 93% or more of its initial cost.
Long term Return on Investment - ROI	Returns will be impacted by the range of home prices in your neighborhood, the overall condition of your home and sensible design choices. A high quality Small Home Renovation project can return as much as 67% - 78% of its initial cost
Green rating	Small Home Renovation projects can incorporate renewable or sustainable resources and environmentally friendly materials.

Small Home Renovation - Proven Ideas and Project Tips

Review these tips, design suggestions, options and lessons learned before finalizing your Small Home Renovation project plan.

To maximize return on the Small Home Renovation project, limit cost to no more than 6.5% of home's total, post project value
For best home resale value, follow a consistent design and decorating theme throughout the home
To keep Small Home Renovation costs low, do not move walls or relocate plumbing fixtures or electrical boxes
For best resale value, select a taste neutral design for your Small Home Renovation
For best resale value, select components, appliances, finishes and fixtures of comparable quality
Recess speakers into walls or ceiling to share media system access and create room ambiance
Use separate, individually controllable lighting circuits for ambient and task lighting
Use furniture, fixtures and accessories scaled appropriately to the room size

Small Home Renovation - Project Plan and Details

The following list includes major work tasks commonly performed during Small Home Renovation. Use this list to understand the timing and sequence of different steps in the Small Home Renovation project. Click any Task name for a complete written specifications, FAQs and quality checklist for the task - this essential information will help you control Small Home Renovation project cost and quality.

Task

Service Provider

Duration

Do-it-yourself difficulty

Target cost

Prepare Home Remodeling Ideas

Architect

5 to 15 d

Level 3 - Complex, Difficult

$600 - $1,002

Create Decorating Ideas

Home Decorator