Renovating your home can be expensive. Very expensive.
Especially if you purchased your home recently, renovations might feel like a dream that is far out of reach. It doesn’t have to be, however. Even though the average American doesn’t have much savings, just $3,800, you can still achieve your dream of home renovation.
Residential home remodeling can be done on a budget if you know how to spend your money carefully. Here are 8 ways you can be more creative with renovations and find some cheap ways to renovate your home.
1. Garage Doors
It might sound like an odd place to start, but you can look at your garage doors as an opportunity to upgrade your home’s look. The outside of the home is the first thing people see, so a little upgrade to the garage doors can be one of the best cheap ways to renovate your home.
A simple coat of paint can be a big upgrade for your garage doors. And paint isn’t particularly expensive. Even on a tight budget, you can pick out a color you love and spend an afternoon repainting your garage doors.
This has more than just an aesthetic purpose, too. Painting your doors is more than just one of the cheap ways to renovate your home. A fresh coat of paint can also help repair chips and other minor damage in your garage door.
Of course, you might also find during this that you need more serious garage door repairs. For that, you will need to invest more heavily. Paint can’t fix a broken spring, for example.
2. Roofing
The roof is another piece of your home’s first impression that you can renovate cheaply. All it really takes is a ladder, some caulk and a little time, love, and attention.
Roof repairs should be a regular part of your home maintenance. However, they can also offer an opportunity for a little facelift for the exterior of your home.
You should check your roof for damage like cracks or missing tiles, as well as things like rust. Don’t think of that work as just boring chores, though. Think of it as cheap ways to renovate your home. Fixing those little crack and imperfections can make your roof look better and, by extension, your entire house.
If you are looking for something more intense, you could replace your roof, but that is a far more expensive option. However, even with this, some cheaper options or more cost-effective options are depending on where you live.
3. Fences
A fence can be a great way to improve the look of your entire home. If you already have a fence, simply fixing it up is one of the best cheap ways to renovate your home. If you do not already have a fence, you may need to look into fence installation. It’s not as cheap as just fixing an existing fence, but some options are affordable for all types of budgets.
If you already have a fence, checking it for damage should be a regular part of your home maintenance. However, you can make it much more interesting by applying a fresh coat of paint while you do.
As with your garage door, your fence is a great opportunity for a quick and simple upgrade. A fresh coat of paint is one only one of the best cheap ways to renovate your home, but it can also help protect your fence. Some types of paint can seal the wood against moisture, helping your fence to last longer no matter what kind of climate you live in.
This is an important aspect of all these cheap ways to renovate your home. It isn’t simply about making your home more attractive to the eye. It’s also very important that you are protecting your home and ensuring it stays in good condition for the long term.
Trying to balance both these concerns while searching for cheap ways to renovate your home can be a tricky thing, but it is worth it in the long run. Often, a coat of paint can do a lot of good for your home, both in appearance and in longevity.
4. Plumbing
Another area to look to is your plumbing. There are a lot of topics related to pluming, but we will start with plumbing as an overall concept when renovating your home.
Plumbing is absolutely crucial when it comes to your home. It impacts everything from the bathroom drain to the shower to the kitchen sink and more. However, ensuring your plumbing is functioning properly might sound like an expensive prospect.
Fortunately, there is a lot you can do on your own to keep your plumbing clean. It does not need to be a burden and can be one of the best cheap ways to renovate your home, in fact.
For example, you can try cleaning out your drains with a snake or other tool as part of your cleaning routine. This keeps them clean and prevents you from needing more expensive fixes like bathtub drain repair or sink drain repair.
There are also some plumbing projects you can take on yourself without having the expense of paying someone else to do it. Repairing leaky faucets, fixing leaks in joints, repairing a running toilet, unclogging a bathtub drain, and even fixing a leaking water heater are great DIY projects. You can find help on how to do these online.
These may not sound like big renovations for your home, but they can add a lot to your living conditions if you repair them.
5. Water Heater
Speaking of the water heater, you shouldn’t let this one slip by. The water heater effects the temperature of the water in your home. It can be a major inconvenience if it isn’t working properly.
When something goes wrong, it can feel like you need to call a plumber immediately. But while water heaters installation is a complicated project you need a professional for, once it’s in your home you are more than capable of repairing some issues yourself.
For example, if you found a leak in your water heater, that is a problem that can be fixed at home and without any fancy tools or expertise, making this one of the best cheap ways to renovate your home. No one wants to live in a house where they can only take cold showers, so this is a serious upgrade to your quality of life if you can repair it quickly yourself.
6. Heating and Cooling
This touches on the broader topic of heating and cooling. All of that is connected to not just the plumbing in your home, but also the electric. Heating and cooling can be very complicated, but it can also be one of the cheap ways to renovate your home through some simple maintenance and repairs.
For example, you don’t need to pay for professional HVAC services to keep your HVAC unit running smoothly. There are many aspects of your HVAC you can take care of yourself. The filters can get dirty easily. These should be changed regularly and offer you an opportunity to learn more about your HVAC while keeping it running properly.
Of course, there are also many aspects of an HVAC that do require professional help. It can be dangerous to try to repair it on your own, so if you are getting in over your head, do call professionals for help. Cheap ways to renovate your home are great, but only as long as they aren’t putting you and your family in danger. There is a point where you just have to pay for the help of an expert.
There are other heating and cooling solutions that are more friendly for DIY, though. You could install window units, for example. You might even use that as an excuse to clean your windows thoroughly and repair them. This is on the best cheap ways to renovate your home because it is so simple to do on your own.
7. Driveway
Don’t forget about the unusual places that are part of your home, either. These can be great cheap ways to renovate your home.
It’s easy to overlook something like your driveway, for example. However, an upgrade to your driveway might be just the type of upgrade that can make your home look amazing on a first impression.
While you can’t do something like asphalt paving yourself, there are other options for your driveway that are cheap and easy to do on your own. Some people even find that pouring concrete isn’t as hard as the first imagined, giving them a great way to renovate their driveway without having to pay for professional services.
There are also alternative materials you can use for a driveway. Things like gravel, asphalt, paving stones and other types of pavers come with different costs and benefits. For example, gravel is the cheapest and can save you a lot of money, but might not give you the sleek look of something more expensive like asphalt.
Paving bricks are one option that can produce a beautiful driveway that you can install yourself. It can be tricky to keep weeds out with this one, but if you do the installation properly, there is a good chance that you will have a weed-free driveway.
If you are looking for the best of the best in terms of cheap ways to renovate your home, look for recycled asphalt. Recycled materials like asphalt are very cheap and can make for a great, simple driveway. It won’t have the elegant look of something like brick, but it will save you a lot of money.
You can also do a combination of approaches. For example, maybe you want brick, but can’t afford much. You can lay down a simple gravel driveway of loose rocks and then edge it with brick. This gives you the clean look of brick or other types of paving stones without the high cost of materials and labor.
Finally, you might try dirt. That’s right. Plain, old dirt. Sometimes, when companies rip up concrete they grind it down and sell it as a recycled material that is a lot like dirt. This can actually be a great base for a driveway. Plus, if you decide you want to renovate again later and do something fancier, you can lay it right on top of the dirt or crushed concrete you’re putting down now.
8. Doors
One more big area to look at – doors. We touch on this a little with the garage door, but that is only one door out of many. When thinking about cheap ways to renovate your home, think about all of your doors, inside and out.
There is a lot of opportunity for renovation here. You can, of course, add a fresh coat of paint to doors. This has an especially large impact on something like your front door. This is something every guest to your home will see, so a nice, clean appearance can set the tone for your entire house.
The front door can also be seen from the road, giving it the potential to make a striking first impression. You can also decorate over that fresh coat of paint. Wreaths, doormats, and other little touches make your home warm and welcoming the moment a guest arrives.
You might also need to do some door repair. Luckily, this is often a simple process. Things like changing a lock can often be done by the homeowner. Of course, if your doors have more serious damage, you will need to call a professional. You should not choose cheap ways to renovate your home over the safety and structure of your home. When needed, contact a professional.
While we’re here, don’t forget interior doors. Things like bedroom doors can also get a big renovation out of a simple coat of paint. This can simply be a nice way to freshen up a door that has gotten a little beaten up from constant use. If you are feeling bolder, you might even give the interior of your home a whole new look by repainting the doors.
