Whether you are trying to sell your home before moving to a new city, or simply making changes that will improve your life, renovating your home can quickly get expensive. 

While the amount you spend will vary on a case-by-case basis, experts suggest that you should estimate to spend 1-3% of your property’s value on maintenance each year. As a result, if a property is $540,000, “the owner should estimate somewhere in the region of $5,400 to $16,200” annually. 

There are, of course, various ways in which you can reduce this expenditure. For example, you could develop some DIY skills that allow you to carry out basic home maintenance yourself. However, one of the most effective ways to save money in this area is to have an understanding of what you actually need to pay for ahead of time. This will help you when it comes to setting a budget.

Of course, some costs (such as contractor fees, and building materials) are more obvious than others. There are many that come as a surprise – which could land you in trouble if they aren’t factored into your budget. 

With that in mind, here are some of the hidden costs of renovating your home.

Waste disposal

Whether you’re renovating a single room in your home or several, you’re going to be producing large volumes of waste. This could come in the form of old furniture or surplus supplies and building materials. This means that you must pay for this waste to be stored on-site before being collected by a licensed carrier (this is a legal requirement). In most cases, this simply means looking to skip bin hire in your local area, since skips can be used to store household waste, bulky items and construction materials in one space. This should also give your greater peace of mind as you know that all waste produced during this time will be disposed of safely, securely and in an eco-friendly manner. 

Storage

Hiring out a storage unit may seem like an additional expense, but it can make your home renovation project run much more smoothly. There are various reasons for this. Firstly, it ensures contractors have plenty of space to carry out their work, and they don’t need to move around furniture every single day (which means the project could take even longer to complete). It also prevents your furniture from getting broken or damaged during the process. As a result, it’s highly recommended that you factor the cost of a local storage unit into your budget.

Planning application fees and permission

In some cases, such as if you were adding an extra room to your property, you will also need to apply for planning permission. This cost will vary depending on the area in which you live, but doing a little research ahead of time will ensure you can include this in your budget. As a general rule, the more extensive work you are planning to carry out, the more expensive the planning permission will be.