Home Renovation Costs: Expectation vs. Reality

If HGTV is your main reference point for pricing out your dream home renovation projects, you may be underestimating the actual costs.

The New Yorker recently did a deep dive on HGTV and explained why that is: “HGTV shows use the real money of homeowners to cover the cost of renovations, but producers may quietly incorporate discounted goods and services, in a way that jumbles our sense of what seventy-five thousand dollars can buy. Steve Ford [co-host of the HGTV show “Home Again with the Fords”] acknowledged that participants ‘are getting more for their buck than they should,’ and said that an HGTV viewer could be forgiven for thinking, ‘Oh, I can do this! I can make this crazy thing happen at my house that should be in a magazine. And I can do it for X dollars!'”

Think you know how much home renovations really cost? Click through to see how much five of the most popular home improvement projects will actually set you back in real life.

Remodeling a bathroom may entail repairing or replacing toilets, sinks, vanities, countertops, lighting, ventilation/fans, flooring, doors, windows, paint, faucets and/or plumbing. According to HomeAdvisor, you should expect to spend 50% of your total budget on materials and 50% of your total budget on labor, with the average cost of labor for this project coming in at $65 an hour.

With that in mind, can you guess how much the average bathroom remodel costs? Click through to the next slide to find out.

Homeowners typically spend between $6,611 and $16,631 to remodel a bathroom, with the national average at $11,196, according to HomeAdvisor. Of course, how much this project actually costs will depend on the size of the bathroom, what exactly you repair/replace and how high-end you go with your fixtures. A bathroom remodel can cost as little as $3,500 on the low end to more than $28,000 on the high end.

HGTV lovers know how far a fresh coat of paint on a home’s exterior can go to completely update a house’s look and add to its curb appeal. However, this is not an easy undertaking — it requires proper planning, prep work and tools, and is ideally left to a professional to handle, according to HomeAdvisor.

Do you know the average cost to paint a home’s exterior? Click through to see if your expectations are in line with reality.

The cost to paint the exterior of a 1,500-square-foot house typically ranges from $1,772 to $4,353, according to HomeAdvisor, but you might pay up to $13,000 for a house that’s 3,500 square feet. Price varies by not only the size of your home, but your location, the condition of your exterior, your exterior’s level of accessibility and the material it’s made of. Stucco and brick are usually more expensive to paint than vinyl or wood.

Adding a window to a room can help fill a space with more natural light, making it warmer and more inviting. The cost of this project will depend on accessibility and material type, but expect to pay a premium. According to HomeAdvisor, increased demand for windows has sent prices up by 5%-10% this year.

But can you guess the average cost? Click to the next slide to see if you’re right.

Window installation typically costs between $2,980 and $9,767, according to HomeAdvisor. That includes labor, which runs from $150 to $800 per window — or about $40 an hour — and the cost of the window itself, which runs $300 to $1,200, depending on the type and material. Custom and bay windows cost $2,110 on average.

Installing or replacing countertops in a kitchen or bathroom can give the room a whole new look — which is why this is such a popular project on almost any HGTV show. The main cost for this project is the material, though you need to factor in labor costs as well. The price of this project will depend on the counters you choose and how much counter space you have.

Do you have a guess for the average cost of this popular home improvement project? Click through to see how close your expectations are to reality.

If you guessed around $3,000, you would be right. The average cost to install countertops ranges from $1,856 to $4,326, according to HomeAdvisor. Countertop materials range from $15 to $70 per square foot on average, and labor typically costs between $10 to $30 per square foot, for a total of $25 to $120 per square foot.

Kitchen designs have changed dramatically over the past few decades, and many homeowners now dream of having an open kitchen complete with a spacious kitchen island. But remodeling can be a huge (and expensive) undertaking. For a full remodel, expenses include design fees, installation, appliances and ventilation systems, cabinetry and hardware, countertops, lighting, flooring, doors and windows, walls and ceilings, and faucets and plumbing.

Do you know how much the average kitchen remodel costs? Click through to see if your knowledge is up to par with the HGTV experts.

According to HomeAdvisor, most homeowners spend between $13,387 and $38,372, or $75 to $250 per square foot, to remodel their kitchen. The total cost depends on the size of the space, the quality of the material and whether you change the layout of the room.

Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.