You’ve started the initial stages of your home remodel, including the demolition of drywall and ceilings. What you thought was just a basic wall impeding your open concept vision, actually contains a structural column supporting your upper levels or roof. You’re now forced to have to insert a support beam across your ceiling to make up for the removal of the structural column. This will not be cheap!

According to Consumer Reports, for a kitchen remodel alone, unplanned structural changes will raise your budget by 10 to 15 percent. You’re best to plan ahead and include structural changes into your initial budget by exploring all options with your contractor before you begin.

All contractors know that building codes were put in place to protect the public’s health, implement energy efficiency, and overall sustainability. Sounds great right? Until you’re remodeling your home and realize it’s not up to code.

As materials, technology, and advancement in building techniques change, so do these regulations.  If you’re starting a remodel on an older home, you are more than likely going to run into sections that are not up to code. This now means you are required to bring it up to code. To help prevent additional costs to your budget, have an expert perform a code inspection so that you have an idea of what changes and costs will be necessary.

Your home might look fine from the outside, but once your contractor gets inside the walls the truth is revealed. Maybe the previous owner put a new roof on top of an old one, or they jerry-rigged some electrical to the garage that they turned into an addition. These cheap workarounds won’t fly with your new permits, and in order to correct them, you could have to pay a pretty penny.

To help prevent additional costs to your budget, discuss with an expert on how you can plan for these issues and how much of your budget you should allocate to remedy the situations.  

Once you open up walls and reveal rafters, you may uncover damage caused by termites, rodents, or water. These unforeseen costs can cause a huge problem, not only with the house, but your pocketbook as well. Termites will eat away at the wood that’s holding your home up, and they can travel throughout causing widespread havoc on your structural support. While water damage can cause rot and be required to replace entire areas of your home.

Fixing these issues could be a simple nuisance or cost thousands of dollars. It’s best to have your contractor examine certain areas of your house that would be must susceptible to these issues so that you can try and plan accordingly.

One of the most common hidden costs when remodeling your home is your own changes. Most home owners have a good idea of what they want before they start their project but that doesn’t always mean that it’s going to works to their liking. Something you thought would be great might have an effect on another aspect of your remodel. These changes can be simple fixes or be pocketbook nightmares.

The best way to avoid these situations is by your own due diligence. Make sure you do your research and talk with industry experts so that you absolutely have a strong understanding of every aspect of your home remodel.