COST & TIMING OF HOME REMODELING.
As with many large purchases, timing matters when remodeling a home. Each season holds advantages for different types of projects based on price and availability. Consider these tips to take advantage of potential savings:
Fall: Pools, kitchens, and appliances
Though pools and summer are tightly linked, waiting until fall for installation can bring worthwhile savings. With the average cost of installing an in-ground pool at $49,224, those savings may be worth the wait.
Kitchen remodeling is among the most popular renovation projects and can be done at any time of the year. Scheduling this project for the fall capitalizes on a slower season for contractors, which can result in lower labor prices. Also, in terms of convenience, tearing apart the kitchen might be easier once children are back in school. While some kitchen renovations can fall in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, expect closer to the average of $22,530.
Fall can also be an ideal time for purchasing new appliances. In preparation for the holiday shopping season, most manufacturers will introduce their new models in the fall, resulting in sales on previous models.
Winter: Decks, bathrooms, and air conditioning
Ideally, you’ll want a new deck ready to go once the weather warms up but winter is actually the best time to schedule the preliminary planning and design process. This is a dead season for deck contractors and allows your project to be their top priority once the ground softens in the spring. While the cost of building a new deck varies with size, expect anywhere from $2,000 to $7,000.
Competing with the kitchen for the most popular home renovation is the bathroom. Again, indoor work such as this can be completed at any time of the year, but lower rates are more likely during contractors’ slow winters. This should make it easier to schedule the contractor and may lead to a quicker completion. Homeowners tend to spend an average of $10,167 on a new-look bathroom.
While air conditioning is likely the last thought on most consumers’ minds during the winter, this is the time for big savings on both repairs and replacements. Once spring and summer heatwaves kick in, rates will jump back up. The average cost for an A/C repair is $342, while a replacement is $5,465.
Spring: Windows and flooring
Window replacements become common in summer once homeowners start running the A/C, but getting ahead of the curve will help score a deal on installation. Be on the lookout for window companies offering sales to kick off the season and ideally schedule installation once it warms up to over 50 degrees. Prices vary widely based on home size, amount of windows, and type of windows. The average cost for a single-story home with 10 windows is between $3,000 and $7,000.
Late spring is also a great time to pull the trigger on flooring. Early spring can be busy for flooring companies as homeowners begin spending their tax returns, causing tighter scheduling. May is the sweet spot, being right in between this tax-return season and summer’s peak home buying season. Hardwood flooring averages between eight and $10 per square foot with installation while carpeting averages around $3.50 per square foot with installation.
Summer: Paint, landscaping, and furnaces
Demand for almost every renovation project increases during the summer, but there are still deals to be scored. As high school and college students take a break from the classroom, many of them will look towards the popular student painting services for employment. Student-operated painting crews boast substantial savings compared to the labor of professional crews, which should help trim down the $4,000 average cost of an exterior paint job.
Additionally, landscaping and yard work make the most sense to be completed during the summer when the work will be most visible. Though it may be tough to find any deals with the high demand, long summer days allow for more DIY opportunities to cut costs.
Lastly, like air conditioning in the winter, savings can be found on furnace repair and replacement in the summer. Average furnace repair costs are a little less than A/C, coming in at $287, while replacement costs an average of $4,237.