Kitchen and bathroom renovations top the list of improvements for increasing the value of a home. But this labor-intensive remodeling can get expensive. Even without changing room layouts, the simple job of replacing finishes and fixtures can cost more than the price of a new car.
What builders call “pull and replace” remodeling can run about $12,000 to $22,000 for the average 5-by-7-foot bathroom and $29,000 to $52,000 for a 12-by-12-foot kitchen, estimates Rick Matus of Bethesda-based Case Design/Remodeling Inc. “As soon as you start moving plumbing, electrical wiring and walls, the costs go up substantially from there,” he says.
Budget-minded homeowners are finding cheaper solutions in the $10,000 to $20,000 range by making do with existing appliances and fixtures, refinishing kitchen cabinets and shopping for bargains. Suppliers and builders, in turn, are responding to the recession-driven demand for cost-conscious kitchen and bath remodeling with package deals aimed at guaranteeing the costs of materials and labor.
Laufe and husband Richard Miller, a teacher, decided to renovate the outdated and worn master bathroom in their 1960s rambler. “Everything was pink, the medicine cabinet was rusty and the faucets didn’t work as well as they should,” Laufe says.
The couple tapped Case to remodel the space based on the firm’s new renovation program, called the 2012 Bath Collection, launched in January. For $13,000 to $25,000, the company will demolish an existing space, remove lead paint if necessary, and install backer board and tile. New plumbing fixtures, vanity, towel bars, lighting and painting are included in the price. “It saves the headache of shopping different sources,” Matus says. He says Case is now considering similar package deals for kitchens.
Laufe and Miller had a choice of designs in contemporary, traditional and transitional styles, but within a narrow range of products. They chose a stained maple vanity with a granite countertop, a glass door for the shower, and marble-look-alike porcelain tile on the floor and shower stall, spending about $20,000 on the project. “It took less than two weeks to complete,” Laufe says.
Management consultant Cope Willis and wife Sophie, who works for an educational software company, spent about $9,000 to partially remodel their pink bathroom. They kept the existing toilet and pedestal sink, and hired a local handyman to install a new bathtub and finishes. “We worked within the existing constraints of the bathroom to keep costs down,” Cope Willis says.
New subway-style tile around the tub, marble tiles on the floor and beadboard wainscoting create what Willis calls “a clean, traditional look” in keeping with the architectural character of the couple’s 1938 Colonial in upper Northwest Washington.
Most of the renovation dollars were spent on the installation — about $6,000. Budgeting that amount is realistic, according to several experts who say labor accounts for about 60 to 70 percent of bathroom remodeling costs.
“To save money, do as much as you can, like installing the toilet and doing the painting,” says Dominic Piccininni, senior director in merchandising for Home Depot, which offers free DIY workshops on bathroom repairs.
Matus recommends using leftover remnants of granite for vanity tops instead of ordering an entire slab.
Instead of replacing a tub or a shower stall, Piccininni recommends installing glass doors to create a fresh look and reduce costs. “If your plumbing is all good, you could do your whole bathroom yourself with a new shower head, toilet, vanity, sink and light fixture for under $1,000,” he says.
Kitchen remodeling costs less when major fixtures are swapped out rather than moved to new locations. For a typical kitchen, about 12-by-12 feet, a budget of about $13,000 will allow a builder to install new countertops, backsplash, sink and faucet, decorative hardware and lighting, according to Matus.
Replacing the cabinets, countertop, sink and flooring — but not the appliances — in the kitchen of their Alexandria condominium totaled $8,350 for Barbara Bosworth, a teacher’s assistant, and husband Ron, who works for a rental car company. The couple hired United Floors, Kitchen and Bath, a Rockville-based company that specializes in affordable renovations.
According to United’s owner, Koksal Keskin, the $7,900 kitchen package advertised on the company’s Web site includes 10 wood-finished cabinets, granite countertops and backsplash and installation. Increasing the budget to $16,900 adds more cabinets and granite countertops and a glass-tile backsplash and ceramic or wood flooring. Both packages include appliance hook-up and plumbing, but not the appliances themselves.
Few kitchen designers will consider a makeover for less than $20,000. But Savena Doychinov, of Design Studio International in Falls Church, is trying to make that budget work in a D.C. condo kitchen by leaving the refrigerator and flooring in place and using stock rather than custom cabinets. Even in small kitchens, costs can escalate when specialized appliances are needed to fit a confined space. “A narrow range or a shallow refrigerator can cost more than standard sizes,” Doychinov says.
To reduce costs, Gaithersburg homeowners Sherry and Joe Warsaw hired carpenter Mike Van Meer of Van-Walker Woodworking to replace the doors of their 1990s-era kitchen cabinets with more contemporary designs in a white oak veneer.
The retired couple spent about $11,000 for the woodworking.
Van Meer points out that replacing or refacing doors is easiest and most cost-effective for frameless cabinets, commonly called European-style, as those in the Warsaws’ kitchen. The doors are sized so they fit over and conceal the edges of the cabinet box. “You can just replace the door and the hardware,” says Van Meer.
More standard American cabinets feature a frame around the opening of the box that is used to secure the door to the cabinet. Because this frame is visible, it has to be refaced along with the door.