As the massive U.S. DIY market is now ballooning well past the $13 billion mark, it’s clear that homeowners have never felt more empowered. Homeowners, equipped with the internet and dozens of home improvement TV shows are seeing new ways to fix their homes up. If you’re looking to make house repairs without breaking the bank, you need to look for ways to save.
Here are four ways to ensure that you save on your next big project.
1. Make a Budget That Makes Sense
When you’re looking to take care of repairs around your house, you need to start with a little bit of triage. You should put together a list that includes the repairs that you need to have done and what materials each repair with include.
If you can’t figure out what you need, that’s a pretty good sign that you can’t do that one on your own and will have to budget a professional. If you know what you need, you can get really detailed and figure out how much it’s going to cost you to from top to bottom. For repairs that are out of your current budget, you can start putting aside money for that.
Get in touch with contractors or look at a local message board where people offer repair services. This will help you calculate how much it’ll cost to have someone do the work instead of you. When you have a quote as to how much it’ll cost, you can also see whether it’s more advantageous to hire someone or to spend that time at work.
You should also take note that the more that you spend now, the more you could save later on. When you neglect the cost of getting smaller repairs done, you may face a serious issue with a massive problem later on.
2. Watch For Sales
For anyone who doesn’t spend all of their times walking up and down the aisles of their local home improvement store, it’s hard to know the cost of materials. Looking at circulars or weekly sales announcements can help give a clue as to how much things cost. It can also clue you into when things go on sale.
When you get your supplies or materials at a bargain, you can ensure that you pinch every penny along the way. When you go to the store on that first trip for materials, you might get overwhelmed and feel like you have to get everything at once. However, if you give yourself time to gather your materials, you can buy at the right time and save money.
When buying items in bulk, big box stores or warehouse sellers can offer you a lower cost than you’d think. If you’re replacing lighting all around the exterior of your home, you could get a deal on bulbs from one of these stores.
3. Go Second Hand
If you’re looking to replace fixtures, doors, or windows in your home, there are a lot of options that don’t require you to buy brand new items. There are lots of gorgeous vintage items that you could get to replace what you currently have. Many of these vintage or second-hand items might end up fitting your aesthetic better than something brand new would.
Going to the salvage yard or a home rebuilding center could reveal a lot of hidden gems. If you live in a house built in a style popular in your region for several decades, there might be a lot of matching items to help replace something special. Those elements that seemed “irreplaceable” might be easy to find via salvage.
Whether you’re looking to repair home furnishings or create your own DIY projects, you can use salvaged materials. You’ll save a lot of money by taking the time to dig through a container of old fixtures, door knobs, or drawer handles than you would buying a new one.
Allow these materials to inspire new ideas and new projects for your home. You might even find that you decide to keep an older piece of furniture if you can ensure that you’re able to bring it back to its former glory.
4. Negotiation Is Possible
Everything in life is negotiable. While you might hear a quote from a contractor about a project you need help with and want to hang up, why not throw another figure at them. While they might bristle at being low-balled, if they need the work, they’ll take it.
However, price isn’t everything. You could always get a quote from a contractor that’s so low they might not even get the job done right. Paying for the job to get done twice isn’t worth the cost, so beware of any contractor who goes too low.
Get quotes from a few different contractors in your region. That’ll help you determine what the average price is. If you prefer one contractor to another but don’t like their price, see if they’ll do it for the price the other contractors are offering.
See if they can spec out the cost of materials and if you have them on hand already, you could end up bringing the price down even more. If you’re looking for help with your roof, check out our handy guide for more money-saving tips.
House Repairs Can Be Cheap
If you’re looking to take some of your own house repairs by yourself, you’ll find that there are a lot of resources to help. Even the average employee at a home improvement store can offer advice and tips to save you time and effort.
If you’re doing repairs to anticipate selling your home, check out our guide on what to look for in your next home.