Three Ways to Save On a Home Remodel

When Mr. Bejelly and I bought our house 8 years ago, it wasn’t pretty but it had good bones. Built in the 50s, it had hidden hardwoods underneath lime green carpeting and wood molding also hidden under lime green paint. I’m convinced the previous owner had some secret infatuation with Kermit the Frog.

Anyhow, we were looking at a mountain of remodeling projects and we knew that with our tiny budget we would be putting in sweat labor to make them happen. My penny-pinching ways lead me to finding the following ways to save money on our home remodel.

Save Money on Demo

We recently were looking to replace our backyard patio cover and build a deck. I told Mr. Bejelly I was not going to demo it. No. Not going to happen. If you demo a project yourself, yes you will save money but what about the garbage it creates.

I ended up listing the patio cover on craigslist for free with the explicit instructions that they would have to demo it and remove all the garbage. I got 30 replies within the hour. In my city there are organizations that will come and demo your remodeling project if they can take all the cabinets, tile, etc. Often they will do this for free or for a low fee. If you go the craigslist route, be safe and get something to protect yourself in writing in case something goes haywire during the demo.

Save Money on Granite Counter Tops and Yard Pavers

Scour the Stone Fabricater remnant yards and dumpsters. I used to work for a fabrication shop and one of the great things I discovered is that most shops will have remnants left over from projects. You can buy these at a cheap cost to make into a counter top.

There are also tons of scraps that end up in their stone bin that make awesome landscaping pavers. If you’re brave, careful and have the businesses permission, 99% of the time anything in the stone bin is free. With any scraps that you plan to use in your garden be sure to etch the surface or place it with the rough side facing up so that the surface is not slick.

Save Money on Appliances

My dream stove is an Aga range which is $6000 on sale. Yeah, I know. It wasn’t in the remodeling budget for this house but we did pick up an awesome deal from Best Buy when we bought the floor model of the stove we decided on. The timing wasn’t right for us to grab a deal during the time companies release their new models (September and October). If I had planned ahead and bought them during the best time to buy appliances, I would have done so. Don’t forget to check for scratch and dent models at the store, craigslist and freecycle. You’d be shocked to see what people give away for free.

Guest Author Bio: Kelly Bejelly blogs at her site A Girl Worth Saving. She shares a variety of topics including her Paleo lifestyle, parenting stories and frugal living tips. You can read her post and see how she saved money on her kitchen remodel. Also find her right here on JoeShopping under the username Bejelly.