With the recent tightening up of mortgage lending and the slowing down of the housing market, a lot of people are looking at renovation and home improvements as a way of strengthening their property investment. It is pretty well accepted that there is no greater way to add value to a home and by carrying out the work yourself, you stand to make a greater gain at the end as the overall costs are lower and property value higher.

Keeping the renovating cost down is not always easy. Some tasks require professional workmanship, often for your own safety amongst other reasons, which can drive the cost up. There are, however, a plethora of improvements to a home that can be carried out yourself and help keep the cost down.

If you are capable with most DIY tasks and are happy to undertake some tasks yourself, you leave yourself in complete control over the tools and materials used, offering further potential cost reductions. Here are my top 3 tips to achieving lower renovating costs:

1.Reuse as many materials as you can. Look under your house. In the garage; the shed. Even other peoples’ skips can hold treasures for your home. Obviously always knock and ask the owner before removing something from a skip! Before you chop up that piece of timber for the fire, ask yourself if it carries any other potential purpose in your home, like, perhaps, skirting repair or even a small shelf. The reusing of any materials already owned, or available free or at low cost, can massively help drive down your renovating costs, so give this some thought.

2.Now, I would never suggest trying to skimp when it comes to purchasing tools. I have had too many heads fall off hammers for that. What I would suggest, where logic prevails, is the purchasing of second hand tools. Check out your local flea markets, you never know what you might find. I recently bought a recently sharpened chisel for $5 NZD (About $2.50 USD) from our local village market. I would also recommend charity shops for any DIY/home improvement books you may want along the way. Popular techniques have barely changed over the years, so it often doesn’t matter whether you’re buying the fifth edition, or the first.

3.Keep doing what you are doing and stay online! The internet is quickly becoming a massive resource for renovating techniques and cost saving ideas. There are plenty of sites out there that can inspire, guide and inform on the job you wish to carry out, so keep your eyes open and remember: the more informed you are, the less it will cost.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 12:22 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.