How Much Does a Remodel Cost? How Long Does It Take?

Does your home need a face lift, some enhancing, minor remodels, or major additions? Are you overwhelmed with starting a new project? Do you need expert advice? Are you looking to increase your home's value? Do you need help turning a dream into reality?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, first, read what 120,000 Houzzers said about their renovation project. Then, contact us for help - 85% of these renovators hired pros for help with their projects!

How Much Will This Cost Me?

So how much does a renovation cost overall? Obviously, the total cost will depend on the project’s scope, the materials selected and the fees of the professionals hired to do the job. Owners who completed the survey spent an average of $59,800 on renovation projects. Keep in mind that this figure is an average for all types of projects, including basement remodels and full kitchen gut jobs. Each project is unique, and the average renovation spend figure is not intended to be the norm for every project.

That said, the averages do provide some interesting guideposts. Notably, recent home buyers spent twice as much as people getting ready to sell. “Recent home buyers tend to do more, spend more and are more likely to hire professionals to help with their renovation project than other homeowners,” says Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz.

Renovation spending also correlated with age (and presumably savings): Homeowners 55 and older spent an average of $73,300, those 35 to 54 years old spent an average of $52,100, and those ages 25 to 34 spent an average of just $24,500.

Where Does the Money Go? Kitchens, bathrooms and living or family rooms are more likely to be renovated than any other room, according to the survey. The kitchen gets the most attention: Nearly one-third of all renovators remodeled the heart of their home, and more than 40 percent of recent home buyers did. Bathrooms are right behind in popularity.

In addition to redoing interior spaces, many home buyers who are renovating update core functions like plumbing and electrical systems, home automation, heating and cooling. This isn’t the glamorous stuff, but it sure makes a home run more efficiently.

How Long Will a Renovation Project Take?

When owners finally embark on a renovation, those projects do take time. And typically, the construction phase is only about one-third of the time for the total renovation process, including the planning phase. This chart shows the average time in months it takes for popular renovation projects. Kitchens take the longest, at around five months, while closets are the shortest project, at about two and a half months.

Why Remodel Now? As the American economy has improved, owner motivations for renovating have begun to subtly shift. In 2015, slightly more respondents said their trigger was finally having the time, compared with those who said the trigger was finally having the money. Though clearly both factors are important, it’s a switch from 2014, when more people cited finally having the finances than finally having the time as their renovation trigger.

Notably, the No. 1 reason people decided to renovate instead of buy was a desire to stay in their current home or on their current lot or land, according to the Houzz & Home survey. Forty-nine percent of survey respondents who renovated cited this as a reason. Twenty-eight percent said that renovating was more affordable than buying a different home.

Desire to stay in place increased with age: 26 percent of millennials (ages 25 to 34) wanted to stay in place, while 45 percent of Gen Xers (35 to 54) and 56 percent of baby boomers (55-plus) did. The data aligns with other noted trends: People aren’t trading up in housing, according to real estate data site Redfin. In 2001, the median amount of time a homeowner stayed in a home was four years. By last year, that had risen to a median of nine and a half years.

Of course, many Houzzers renovate due to outdated design.