Bizzibid’s Remodeling Blog

When it’s time to remodel a kitchen, one of the key areas of concern for homeowners is the kitchen cabinets. With cabinets, we’re faced with the tough choice of refurbishing the cabinets, which can save money, or buying all new cabinets. Tearing out the old cabinets and installing new ones does cost more, but the benefits of brand new kitchen cabinet installation far outweigh those of refacing.

Resale Value

Though it’s easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of having something new, making areas of your home look nicer and making it your own, the first concern any homeowner should have when considering upgrades is whether they will get a return on their investment. Fortunately, kitchen remodeling, along with bathroom additions and upgrades, is the best remodeling project for adding resale value to a home. While swapping carpet for laminate flooring or painting walls won’t get much return on investment, brand new cabinets will certainly go a long way in paying for themselves when it’s time to sell.

Longer Lasting

Though many homeowners keep a keen eye on resale value, others plan on staying for a long time and aren’t thinking about return on investment at all. These homeowners can realize a tremendous benefit from choosing brand new cabinet installation as well. While refurbishing old cabinets by stripping the finish, swapping old hardware and repainting or refinishing is certainly cheaper, you’re still left with the “bones” of those old cabinets. Refacing cabinets is only a cosmetic fix. If, as a homeowner, your aim is long-lasting quality rather than just making old cabinets look better for a sale or as a “stop-gap” measure, then brand new cabinets are definitely the way to go.

New Kitchen Layout Options

Most homeowners are stuck with the same old kitchen design they inherited from the previous owners or, if it’s a new home, from the builder or architect. Working with a professional to design and install new cabinets allows homeowners to break out of this rut and change their kitchen design completely. Once the old cabinets are out, home owners are free to create the kitchen of their dreams with many more layout options. With simple kitchen cabinet refurbishing, this just isn’t possible. But by completely remodeling their old kitchen and choosing new cabinets, homeowners gain options they may have always wanted or may not have even considered.

More Storage

The problem that a lot of homeowners have with their existing kitchen cabinets is that there’s just not enough storage. Resurfacing old cabinets makes them look nice, but they’re still the same old cabinets that are too small for homeowners’ growing needs. A new cabinet installation allows homeowners to choose larger cabinets to accommodate all their storage needs. For example, the existing cabinets might be the standard 30 to 36-inch height, leaving a foot of wasted space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling. Custom designed cabinets can be built to use this space, allowing for many more square feet of useful storage. This is just another of the many reasons new cabinet installation is such a benefit for homeowners.

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If you’re thinking of launching a home remodeling project, you have a lot of things to consider: how much can you spend?, what area of your home do you want to remodel?, how quickly do you want the project done?, and which contractor should you hire to handle the project?

As it relates to the last question, finding the right contractor for your home remodeling project can be a little tricky. For this reason, we’re providing a list of 3 questions to ask potential contractors before you decide which one to hire. With the information you receive from these questions, you should be able to make an informed decision that ultimately leads to a satisfactory outcome to your project.

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If you’re thinking about updating your home, you have a few things you need to consider before your break out the power tools and paint. A little planning now can go a long way to preventing a home remodeling nightmare later on. Here are 4 things you need to consider before starting your home improvement project.

1. Your Budget—Before you begin your home remodel, you need to have a clearly defined budget. More importantly, you need to make sure you stick to your budget (after all, that is the point of having a budget). See, the costs of a home remodel can start to add up pretty quickly. Once you see one thing renovated, you might be tempted to renovate something else. It can be easy to get carried away, leaving you with a drained bank account. When setting your budget, think about how long you plan on staying in your home (the longer you plan on staying, the more money you should probably spend), your other monthly expenses (car, mortgage, credit cards, etc.), and how much money you need to maintain your standard of living.

2. Return on Investment—If you’re going to put money into remodeling your home, you want to make sure you get a decent return on your investment. Each year, a report is compiled analyzing the return on investment for various home improvement projects. Deck additions, kitchen remodels, and bathroom renovations always tend to earn top returns.

This said, your ROI calculation might be a bit fuzzier…  Often home remodeling investments are evaluated in terms of ROI when considering resale price, but if you are planning on staying in the home than its resale value isn’t really of importance.  Instead, try and quantify the value you will derive from a new space, new layout, style, etc.  Its a bit of a gray area, but it would be silly to only look at resale unless you plan on moving soon.

3. The Purpose—What’s the purpose of your home improvement project? Are you simply looking to add value to your home before you sell it? Or do you just want to make a more comfortable living space? By clearly defining a purpose for your remodel, you’ll be sure to make sure everything you do is aimed at achieving that ultimate goal. Without a purpose, you could end up blindly spending money on random renovations that really don’t meet your true needs.

4. Your Home Remodeling Skills—How much of this home remodel will you be handling yourself? Before you start remodeling, you need to truly assess your handyman skills. And be honest here because an amateur mistake on your part can end up costing you more money than you’d spend on hiring an experienced contractor. Only take on those tasks that you know you can handle. For other assignments, hire a trusted home remodeling contractor in your area.

Once you consider all of these things, you should be ready to begin your home remodeling project. Good luck with your renovations!

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