DIY Projects

Home DIY Projects

Trying to figure out how much your next home improvement project will cost shouldn’t be harder than the project itself. More often than not, however, homeowners will underestimate the cost of their next renovation. Why is it so hard to judge how much a home improvement will cost?  There are a few simple mistakes that homeowners repeatedly make. In this article, we’ll explore those reasons and help you avoid blowing your next renovation budget.

 Do Your Homework

If you’re planning to do most or all of the work yourself, you need to fully understand all of the steps involved in the renovation as well as all of the building code requirements. Don’t wing it. You’re much more likely to have a budget overage occur while doing a project you’ve never attempted before. You need to completely understand every step you’re going to take and every tool you’ll need to perform those steps if you want an accurate budget.

Let me give you an example. Recently, a co-worker described to me all of the details of a kitchen remodel he was planning. He had a really solid understanding of most of the project; then I asked him a simple question:

“Awesome. Good plan. But what are you going to do about the range vent?”

His reaction was telling: “Um. What‘s a range vent?”

He needed to rethink his whole renovation strategy as well as his budget. It’s better to do your homework and find out everything you need to do beforehand instead of finding out after you’ve opened up your walls. Start by going online and reading through articles of other people who have done similar projects. If you’re skeptical or just need more information, many websites have home improvement sections that are an invaluable resource.

 Have a Written Plan and Budget

The best way to stay on budget is to actually come up with a written budget based on real world prices. Don’t guess at how much anything will cost: look up prices online; call your local handyman; walk down to the hardware store.

Come up with a step-by-step list of how you will accomplish your project. For each step in that process, write down what tools and supplies you’ll need. Not sure how to perform one of the steps? Watch it on YouTube, homeowners will come up with some arbitrary number for their renovation budget and have no idea if that number is even feasible.

Once you know the cost of the all the supplies and tools, you’ll be able to make an informed decision on how to lower or eliminate extra costs. Don’t forget to account for the little things! Material waste, support materials, and unglamorous items such as wood glue and caulk can add up and ruin even the best budget.

Another important aspect of having a written budget is keep track of all your expenses. If you use a spreadsheet on your computer or tally it all up by hand, make sure you write down every expense for your home improvement project. This will keep you honest and help your stay on track. 

Stop Creeping

The most common cause of a wrecked renovation budget is due to something called “scope creep.” Scope creep is when you end up doing much more work than you initially planned. Scope creep can be intentional, like when you actively decide to expand the amount of work required for a project. For example, if you decide to install new flooring in the whole house instead of just the one room you are remodeling, that’s scope creep.

More often than not, however, scope creep isn’t something you expect. It just happens. If you are remodeling a bathroom and you find out mid-renovation that you need new pipes, that’s scope creep too. Unfortunately, scope creep isn’t always avoidable, but that doesn’t mean it has to destroy your budget.

The best way to avoid scope creep from sinking your remodel is to plan for the unexpected. Your budget should include an extra 10 to 15 percent for just-in-case scenarios. That extra money won’t cover all budget overages, but it will be a big help when something unexpected comes up.

If you end up not using those funds, you have the option of upgrading your project’s finishing details with something like higher-end faucets, or you can go to a nice restaurant to celebrate completing the project.

Funny Garden Moments

Confronted by Eggplant

I recall once being confronted by cold eggplant on my plate at the end of the meal when very young. I didn’t like the looks of it and had postponed eating it until last. But my mother had a firm rule that I had to finish everything on my plate before I could have dessert or be excused.

Never had eggplant before. One taste convinced me that I never wanted to have it again, but mother would not bend. I had to finish every last bit. She admonished me to think about all the starving children in the world who would beg to eat my eggplant if they could. I knew enough not to tell her to mail it to them.

My second bite tasted so awful it made me shiver although I managed to swallow it. Most of my malodorous task still lay before me. I simply could not conceive of placing a third bite of this slimey, cold, clammy, mess into my mouth and I began trying to stall for time.

Gave a piece of it to the dog, Hiho quickly spit it out and walked away.  I am in trouble. After over an hour, I had finished.  Mother never served eggplant again.

Last year, I grew eggplant and had it again. It is still to me like eating an old, purple sponge. Why would someone want to do that? Why would I want to do that? Sure, you can fry it up and slap some sauce on, but at the end of the day, it’s still just an old, purple sponge. The same things go for turnips and rutabagas.  #Gardening.

Landscaping

Landscape Lighting (Solar vs Low-voltage)

Solar Lighting System vs Low Voltage Landscape Lighting

While considering adding a solar lighting system to your home, you have likely done research that has led you towards either solar lights or low voltage lighting.

If you have read any of the other posts on my blog site, you likely know how fond I am of  low voltage lights. Be that as it may, it is important that you understand the benefits (and drawbacks) of both. The last thing I want you to do is go out and buy a bunch of solar lights that are not going to work for you, just based on my assertion that they are the best thing since sliced bread.

Low Voltage Lighting

I am going to low voltage lights over solar lights. The good thing about them is that they will work anywhere that you have something to plug them into which I use an extension cord coming around the house. Contrary to a solar lighting system You don’t really need to worry about whether or not you get enough sun to charge the batteries, because they do not have them. I have bought a light sensor which comes on at dusk and goes off at dawn for $18.  The lights cost around $15 to $20 dollars (I got mine for $10 clearance at Walmart).

That being said, they are also more difficult to install. I just dug a small trench where they are going to run the wires and lay the wires in the trench and covered it up with mulch. I do not recommend this. You can with a couple of dollars to buy some small diameter PVC pipes, glue, and fittings. Use the pipe as a wiring conduit. This will protect the wires from being gnawed on by pests and being accidentally cut with a gardening tool.

The benefits of using low voltage lighting in your garden is that they work well for areas that need a lot of light. They are much brighter than solar light especially good for paths.  The floodlights are a great deal brighter than the solar equivalent.  Also you do not need many lights for an area.  I have one light for every 6 feet. They will have a small impact on your energy bill.

Solar Lights

It means that it cost literally nothing to run as long as the solar powered lights get enough sun to keep their built in batteries charged. They will turn off during the day and turn back on at night. They will stay on all night, until they detect morning sunshine. This makes them easy to forget about until you go out in the dark and see them lit (or trip over one while gardening).

The “pitfall” in all this is that if you do not get enough sunlight, they will not work. Most solar garden lights have pretty efficient solar panels, so they can collect a pretty decent charge during overcast days.

Solar lights need to be able to charge to full capacity from time to time or the batteries’ life is reduced. If you plan to place them in the shade (like under a bush or something), make sure you get a fixture that has a remote panel that you can mount in a location where it will get enough sunlight.

Another point to consider is the bulbs themselves. Most solar powered garden lights use LEDs as their source of illumination. While this makes them virtually maintenance free, they are not as bright as other types of garden lighting. LEDs are manufactured to last for a very long time. Usually, the fixture itself will wear out before the bulbs do. They are also much more efficient. Incandescent bulbs convert energy into two things: light and heat. LEDs do a much better job of converting the energy into light, and create very little heat.

That said, they are still not quite as bright as other types of landscape lighting. This is due to the fact that they must focus on staying lit for 10-12 hours on a single charge. That longevity comes at a cost – they cannot be as bright. They also have batteries that need to be replaced.  That are solar batteries and you can not use regular batteries in their place.  Some lights the batteries are easy to replace, others you need to get the smallest phillip screwdriver you can find. Most are rather brittle with the weather and myself breaking them.

Hybrid Systems

Hybrid systems for landscape lighting do exist. A hybrid system uses primarily solar power and supplements it with low voltage electricity when the solar batteries run low. The biggest problems here are price and installation. You still need to run electrical wires with this kind of system. You also need to have a voltage sensor and relay system that detects when the batteries are running low, so it can start using electricity. While this obviously solves some of the problems associated with both solar and low voltage systems, they are not yet popular enough to be priced at a range that is comfortable for most people who are just looking to add some lights to their garden.

Battery Lights

You know, these are lights that you place batteries in whether AAA or AA.  I found these lights last around a week before the batteries state to deplete, so you put more batteries in.  After time, I found this starts to get rather costly.  Some of the lights will start when you place the batteries in and will run 6 or 8 hours then shut off until the cycle starts the next day the same time.

The Verdict

I think that if you live in an area that gets plenty of sunlight throughout the year, and you do not need a TON of light, solar lights are the way to go. If you think about it, there are not many applications where you need a lot of light. I think the two areas where they do not work as well as low voltage lights are floodlights and spotlights for garden walkways.

If you need lights that are just too bright for solar lighting to facilitate, or if you live in an area that does not get much sunlight, low voltage lights might be what you need. Be careful with the usage though. I would recommend having them on a timer to allow them to run only at certain times of the evening. Leaving them on all night long could cost may be a waste of money.

As for variety and style of difference lights, both comes with a large assortment to choose from.

Have I forgotten anything? Well, here you have it then. Solar lighting system vs. low voltage lighting. Which way will you go?