Dave Ramsey Reveals the 10 Most Popular Home Renovations and Their Typical Cost

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Many homeowners are familiar with different types of home renovations. You might even have plans to renovate a room in your home within the coming year. What you may be less certain about, however, is how much these renovations cost. If you don’t know how much certain renovations cost, it becomes harder to budget accordingly.

Money expert Dave Ramsey recently outlined some of the most popular indoor and outdoor home improvements in a post on his website Ramsey Solutions. See whether you can guess the ballpark cost of the top 10 home renovations.

Minor Kitchen Remodel

• Typical cost: $26,800

According to the post on Ramsey Solutions, selling a home that features an upgraded kitchen means the seller can potentially receive around 86% of the money they invested in the remodel. 

Often referred to as the heart of the home, minor kitchen remodeling may include replacing cabinet doors, countertops, lighting and flooring as well as upgrading appliances like refrigerators and ovens.

Midrange Bathroom Remodel

• Typical cost: $24,600

Homeowners need to address different variables when determining how much they’ll spend on remodeling a midrange bathroom. Some of these include the bathroom size and remodeling scope, with the latter ranging from simply replacing some fixtures to potentially moving the bathroom to another place in the home.

If you want to keep to a budget, the post on Ramsey Solutions recommends aiming for midrange fixtures with your remodeling plans. Some of these updates may mean laying new tile, replacing older toilets or fitting new countertops.

Midrange Primary Suite Addition

• Typical cost: $157,900

Which room is defined as the primary suite in a home? This is a bedroom with its own private bathroom, a walk-in closet and possibly a dressing area. 

Ramsey Solutions prices the typical cost at around $157,000. This is a lot of money, even more than the cost of a kitchen remodel. One of the reasons it costs so much more, as outlined in a post by Sweeten, is that a primary suite is a combination of both a dry room and a wet room. For clarification, a wet room is a space like a kitchen or bathroom, whereas a dry room would be a bedroom. If a private bathroom were not included and you were renovating the space as a bedroom, it would be much cheaper. 

Basement Remodel

• Typical cost: $21,900

If you live in a home that has a basement, chances are you’ll want to turn it into a finished basement (if it isn’t one already).

Before you begin your remodeling plans, the Ramsey Solutions post recommends having a professional inspect it for any water damage or other problems that may require making additional repairs.

Landscaping

• Typical cost: $3,500

We’ve covered several popular interior renovations and now it’s time to head outdoors. While Ramsey Solutions cites landscaping as having a typical cost of $3,500, Forbes reported these costs can inch upwards to $10,000 or more.

Several variables will determine the total cost including the size of your yard, the type of work you need done and how long you anticipate it will last. To help keep costs down, the Ramsey Solutions post recommends visiting a local garden center and seeking expert advice about the type of landscaping you should look into for your yard.

Composite Deck Addition

• Typical cost: $23,400

A remodeled deck doesn’t necessarily need to be a composite deck. 

However, the Ramsey Solutions post recommends homeowners who want to remodel their decks opt in for composite deck additions. This is because composite decks last longer than options such as wooden decks. The more a durable deck is built to last, the less money you spend maintaining it in the long run.

New Front Door

• Typical cost: $2,200

Upgrading your front door is fairly inexpensive and easy enough to do, with Ramsey Solutions quoting the typical cost at around $2,200.

New Exterior Veneer

• Typical cost: $10,900

Does your home have vinyl siding? If you answered yes, you might be considering spending around $10,000 to install veneer on the front of your home. The post on Ramsey Solutions recommends stone veneer because it holds in value well over time.

New Vinyl Windows

• Typical cost: $20,100

Investing in new vinyl windows is a win-win remodeling decision for homeowners. You add an instant curb appeal boost to your home, and the stronger insulation may result in cheaper utility bills.

Garage Door Replacement

• Typical cost: $4,300

We saved one of the biggest remodeling returns on investment for last. According to Ramsey Solutions, homeowners who upgrade their garage doors can recoup 103% of what they spend and add massive value to their homes.

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