Is it cheaper to build or renovate?

When it comes to upgrade or renew your housing arrangements, choosing between renovating your current home or building a new one can be a very difficult decision. There are so many different aspects to consider, but probably most crucial among those considerations is price. If you’re looking to expand because your current home is too small or you have a growing family and need more space, you may be able to renovate your current home to make better use of the space you have, or add a new addition. Of course, you may decide that it’s best to just move on and build something new for you and your family.

So which option is cheapest?

Oftentimes, renovating an older house can become a much more costly project than building new. Depending on the amount of work that needs to be done, the age of the house, and the demo work that may be required in order to begin renovation work, your budget can be maxed out before you can even begin considering what type of finish work you want done on a house. There can be a lot of uncertainty when it comes to renovating, since there’s no way of knowing what’s inside the walls until you start tearing them down. Things tend to go much more smoothly when dealing with fewer surprises and more straightforward work when building new, and when you know what you’re getting into.

Another consideration to make when evaluating whether to renovate or build new is the cost of your mental health and stress management. Not only can they become a complete guessing game as to the amount of work that will required, but living and working through renovations can also be very stressful. Things can get quite messy, both on site with dust and debris and materials flying around, and off site with trying to track budgeting, important decision making and your everyday life.

Renovations can of course result in very successful and rewarding experiences, but when compared to building new, they often tend to become much more demanding financially.