7 Home Renovation Projects That Will Cost You Way More Than They’re Worth in 2025
Written by
Joel Lim
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
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Many homeowners believe that just any renovation project will provide a good ROI, but in 2025, rising costs of labor and materials are eroding how much you’ll earn back and cost way more than you expect. So at the end of renovations to homes today, you could potentially lose money.
The current market conditions, combined with rising renovation costs, mean that this might not be the best time to undertake a renovation, unless it’s essential, of course.
Let’s take a look at seven costly renovations that are best avoided in 2025.
Major Kitchen Remodel
When it comes to kitchens, if you want to emphasize luxury and style, then all-white (or grey) surfaces and walls are out of fashion and “warm, contrast-filled spaces” are on-trend, according to Homes & Gardens.
When it comes to kitchens, you can sink a fortune into surfaces, units and of course, appliances, white goods and cookers. Doing a major kitchen remodel, either to stay on-trend or because it badly needs an upgrade or because you’re thinking of selling, can cost you more than it did last year.
- Estimated cost ranges: $60,000 to $100,000 (for a luxury, large kitchen; it will cost less if your kitchen is smaller and you aren’t going all-in with luxury surfaces and appliances) or around $69,000 on average, according to Home Depot.
- Why this is more expensive in 2025: 75% of kitchen remodel costs are cabinets, flooring and countertops, which have increased in price due to inflation and supply chain issues and for every $10,000 you spend, expect to pay $2,500 in labor, per Angi.
Luxury Bathroom Upgrade
Bathrooms, like kitchens, are an important part of any home. If you can afford it, why not infuse your bathroom with a bit more luxury, like a rainforest-style shower or a freestanding tub? Thirty-nine percent of homeowners doing a major bathroom upgrade now include a bath that stands alone rather than is integrated into side panels, according to Badeloft.com.
More people want to turn their once purely functional bathroom into a spa-style sanctuary, which, of course, can be expensive.
- Estimated cost ranges: $50,000 on the low-end or $100,000 on the high-end, according to Gentile Construction, Inc.
- Why this is more expensive in 2025: High plumbing and material costs, rising labor costs and other restrictions, such as layout limitations. All of these add to the cost of doing a bathroom makeover that will add to the value of your home.
High-End Basement Finishing
Getting your basement turned into a luxury home cinema, games room, spa or wine cellar sounds exciting, but it can get pretty expensive.
- Estimated cost ranges: $15,000 to $75,000 depending on square footage with an average of $30 to $75 per square foot, per Element Homes.
- Why this is more expensive in 2025: Higher material costs, including any high-end gadgets like TVs and rising labor costs are making this kind of remodel more expensive.
Pool Installation in Your Garden
If you are in an area where pools are worth having (the right climate) and have the space, then it could seem like a great way to add value to your home, especially when only 8% of households have a pool (approximately 10.4 million across America), according to RenoSys.
- Estimated cost ranges: $45,000 to $100,000 or more (with an average cost of $65,909), per Angi.
- Why this is more expensive in 2025: Maintenance is expensive, usually in the $3,000 to $6,000 range per year. Insurance costs and safety fears deter buyers in many markets (358 children drown every year, mainly in family swimming pools at home, per RenoSys).
Luxury Garden Renovation
Having a garden is one thing. Having a luxury garden is something else entirely. There’s nothing money can’t buy and a luxury garden is one of them. But, it’s not as appealing to someone who either doesn’t like gardening or doesn’t want the bother of paying for gardeners to maintain it.
- Estimated cost ranges: $15,000 to $50,000, according to Angi.
- Why this is more expensive in 2025: Garden materials are more expensive for luxury landscaping and it may not be as appealing to buyers who want an easy-to-maintain lawn or no plants at all.
Custom Home Office Build-Outs (Internally or Externally)
When working from home (WFH) was mandated and even after, preferred, getting a custom home office, either in your house or in the garden, made sense. However, with more and more mandates to return to the office, having a home office is becoming less relevant.
- Estimated cost ranges: $2,000 to $22,000 (the average is $15,000), according to Angi.
- Why this is more expensive in 2025: Rising parts and labor costs, as is the case with most home renovations and WFH is no longer in favor.
Solar Panel Installations
One of the major challenges for anyone wanting solar panels installed is that, at the end of 2025, the 30% solar tax credit claimed by homeowners will end, per Solar.com. Some states and local governments are also terminating financial incentives, forcing people to absorb the total cost of solar panel installations.
- Estimated cost ranges: $18,000 to $30,000, according to PowerOutage.us.
- Why this is more expensive in 2025: Incentives are fading in some states and there is a long break-even timeline with any solar installation.
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