Introduction
Have you been pining for a remodeled kitchen with stunning cabinetry, hardware, and other modern fixtures? You’re not alone. Remodeling can be a rewarding experience when you see the final product, which makes your dreams a reality. But remodeling can also come with a variety of hidden costs – ones which may not be obvious at first glance. The solution? Refacing your kitchen cabinets. It saves money, increases the value of your home, and eliminates hidden costs and inconveniences of remodeling.
The Allure of Remodeling
Walking into a remodeled kitchen is a dream for many homeowners – especially those with outdated or older homes. Who doesn’t want to feel like they have something new to show off? Remodeling creates a beautiful space, but it also means ripping out your cabinet boxes. This causes the need to replace your countertops, flooring, and backsplash too. The result is nice, but it can often feel like more of a nightmare than a dream getting there. It frequently requires more time and financial investment than expected.
Hidden Costs of Full Kitchen Remodels
Unexpected structural issues are a large part of unexpected and increased costs. When tearing out cabinet boxes, you may find additional structural or safety issues. For example, you may find faulty wiring which can cost, on average, $7000 to repair. Another example would be if you find a leak or plumbing issue which could cost an average of $4000 to repair. These challenges alone increase the overall renovation costs and timeline. Addressing these challenges during your remodel adds extra frustration and expenses.
Permits may also be required depending on the details of remodel you are doing. For example, if you are changing the layout of your space, you may need to receive building permits from the city/state where you live. Inspections and regulations can cause permits to be more expensive and take longer to process too.
Living Adjustments
During a typical home remodel your kitchen or bathroom may be “out of commission”. At first, this seems like a minor inconvenience. However, when you look at eating out every day for every meal because your kitchen is unusable, it becomes a “money pit”. A meal at a restaurant usually costs about $20 per person, so for a family of 4, that’s around $80 per meal. At three meals per day for 7 days, this incurs an average cost of $1680 per week just in food costs. Depending on the length of your home renovation (sometimes months) this can be an extreme financial burden. Besides the cost, you no longer have access to your kitchen, so you may wash dishes or produce in your bathtub and prepare coffee in your bedroom!
If you’re unable to stay in your home during a remodel, you also incur the costs of a hotel stay for your family. For a solitary basic hotel room, it would cost, on average, $171 per night. This amounts to about $1100 a week. If you need more rooms for the size of your family or live in an area with a higher cost of living, you could expect to pay even more. Between these two expenses, you may look at over $5000 a week in additional living expenses!
Time and Stress:
We’ve talked a lot about monetary cost, but what about the cost of your time and mental wellbeing? To add to the stress of losing access to certain areas of your home, you may constantly have strangers in your home disrupting your space and peace. If you have young children, this could be especially challenging as it disrupts the usual routine. The constant bombardment of phone calls, questions, problems, and delays can take a toll on your mental wellbeing, too. Overall, this could cause additional strain to you, your family, and your budget.
The Alternative – Cabinet Refacing
If this all sounds too daunting and you are rethinking your “dreams” of remodeling, we have a cost-effective and time saving solution for you! Refacing your cabinets means leaving your cabinet boxes in-tact which saves time, money, and resources. You remove the cabinet doors, paint the cabinet boxes to match your new doors and put on new cabinet fronts with updated hinges and hardware. At the end, you will have a stunning new look for your space, and you can complete the entire process in a weekend.
The average cost of full kitchen remodel can be anywhere from $25,000 to $77,000. But the cost of refacing (while dependent upon how many doors and drawer fronts you need) could cost as little as $3,000. On the low end, this brings savings around $21,000. On the higher end, it could be over $50,000 in savings. Plus, you will still have access to all the spaces in your home. This means you save even more because you won’t be spending $5000 or more a week on living accommodations and food expenses.
Benefits of Refacing Beyond Cost Savings
Beyond saving money and time, refacing is the perfect solution for a stunning new look that matches your aesthetics. By choosing colors, textures, or woodgrains which suit your style, your space will look like a magazine cover. Plus, refacing still qualifies as a renovation which can improve the value of your home. Typically, a major remodel to your kitchen would see a 41% return on your investment. Refacing, however, falls into the minor remodel category, which on average sees an 85% return on your investment. With time and money saved and a better ROI, refacing seems like the obvious choice!
Conclusion
You can have the kitchen of your dreams and save money and time, too. Renovating has advantages, but it also comes with challenges like unexpected issues, delays, and increased costs. Refacing is quicker, cost-effective and boosts your home value- a great option to see the stunning cabinetry, upgraded hinges and delightful hardware you always dreamed of within your budget. Save yourself the headache and start your renovation with refacing instead.
