Home Renovation: What does it really cost?
Our “What does it really cost” series sheds light on how much different women across the country spend on the big life events: having a baby, taking a sabbatical year, moving, getting a master’s degree, buying a house, etc. This week’s feature is highlighting one woman’s cost to renovate her 1200 sq ft home built in the 1920s.
Location: Bay Area, CA
Age: 39
What was your total home renovation cost?
There were various projects we did to our 1920’s home over the course of about 10 years. We first started with a full house plumbing re-pipe and on demand hot water heater install in 2011 which cost about $12k. In 2013 we replaced half the house foundation for about $27k and replaced the windows and stucco for about $40k. We waited a few years then in 2019 we did a full bathroom gut and remodel for $50k and our solar + roof with lifetime warranty for $27k, before a 30% rebate. Then in 2020 we finally did our air conditioning install for $12k.
Final Costs: About $168k.
Was this more or less than you were expecting?
It’s always more, isn’t it? But this was pretty much expected. The cost of adding air conditioning threw me, but it was so worth it.
Were there other options that you considered? What are the pros and cons of this compared to other options?
Not really. We could have gone cheaper with some of the options we chose, but I think in terms of long term investment. We made the best choices we could within our budget. Again, it would have been better if we had more options in the beginning, but I don’t regret anything!
What do you wish you would have known?
How endless it can be to properly renovate an old home. Project scope creep is very real. But, if we had more money, we could have gutted and redone everything all at once. It would have been much easier and cleaner.
In conclusion, this woman’s home renovation costs were about $168k.
Do these costs surprise you?
This post was created as part of the “What does it really cost series?” Her Personal Finance’s mission is to help high-earning women take charge of their finances. As an MBA, our founder has a particular passion for supporting this community. Here is a link to a Q&A with Harvard Business School students about finances in school. You can also learn more about our founder and our classes on our website.
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