How is Remodeling Better than Rebuilding your House?

Are you wondering whether to remodel or rebuild your existing home?

Property upgrades and home improvements are no mean feats and can become a daunting task with huge expenses. There are even hidden costs associated with remodeling or rebuilding a home, that ultimately make the endeavor more costly than originally envisaged to be. The difference between remodeling or rebuilding your house will rest on certain important factors including financial, legal, sentimental, and practical.

Let us discuss some important things to consider before you decide whether to remodel your existing house or to completely tear it down and build it from scratch.

How well does your house cater to your current living condition requirements?

You need to identify why you and your family exactly need the house for. Do you just use it to sleep, cook, eat and rest? Or do you operate your office from a portion of the home? Or do you frequently have guests over for gatherings? Does the current layout of your house have an extra space that can be put to good use with minor remodeling?

The answers to these questions will tell you whether you need to go for minor remodeling or a complete overhaul and rebuild of your house. If you go for a remodel, your family can stay in the house by making minor adjustments to their lifestyle for the duration of the remodel.

If you are not convinced that remodeling will improve your house, you will have to tear it down and start construction afresh. This will be time-consuming and put a strain on your finances. Also, you will have to relocate your family for the duration of the construction which will become an additional expense.

What is the current condition of your house?

Remodeling, though can be done for all types of houses, should not be done for each and every house. You need to consider the historical value of your house. Older houses are renowned for their quality and durability as they can have strong walls, hardwood floors, and high ceilings. If that is so, it will be unwise to tear down your old house to construct a new one in its place. You might lose the historical significance and charm associated with an old house. Alternatively, older houses are not energy efficient and can also become structurally unsound. In such a scenario, rebuilding, though costly, will be better.

You will also have to look at the foundations of the house. If the foundation is old and has gone weak, you will need extensive work on the foundation itself before going for a remodel of the house.

If you just want to add some extra space to your house, you should consider remodeling. Building anew will just be more expensive and become a double draw on your renovation funds.

What are your local zoning laws and restrictions?

Building construction parameters such as location, type, and size are governed by the zoning laws of your city or county. While some areas might prohibit you from completely tearing down your house to rebuild a new one in its place, others might make it mandatory for a certain percentage of the current structure to be left standing.

Other restrictions imposed by zoning laws may put a cap on the height of the house or renting out a portion of your property. It is best to read up and consult a professional on the permitting and zoning laws of your city or county before remodeling or rebuilding your house.

Can you afford better or do you want to go for cheaper?

If your budget is on the higher side, you can opt for better by tearing down and rebuilding your house. If you want cheaper, you can remodel your house. Even if the whole house needs to be remodeled, it will still be cheaper than rebuilding the house from scratch.

It is understood that tearing down an old construction and building anew can provide huge architectural benefits such as a better fundamental architectural design, tall ceilings, new systems, high-quality windows, clean circulation, newer and more efficient cooling and heating systems, and rooms designed to suit your personal living patterns. The major drawback of adopting the rebuilding process will be purely from a financial standpoint as the cost will be about 20 percent more than what would be for extensive whole-house remodeling.

Remodel vs Rebuild

Rebuilding a house is a bigger project than remodeling it. To implement the rebuilding of your house, you will need a professional contractor or a construction agency to tear down the property and build a new one in its place. You will also require the services of an architect to prepare the layout and an interior designer to do the interiors of the new house being constructed.

Remodeling is preferred by many homeowners as it can help with retaining the original details of the house such as antique fixtures, wooden floors, and stone fireplaces. Material reuse is also possible while remodeling a house. Even energy efficiency can be introduced by upgrading your house to have solar panels serving the electricity consumption requirement. Rain-water harvesting and solar water heating are additional energy savers. All this will require minor additions and will neither take up too much time nor will cost more.

Another reason to prefer remodeling over rebuilding is that remodels are faster to implement. This is due in part because of the fact that since remodels require less exterior work, fewer regulations and permits are required.

Conclusion

Considering the aforementioned factors, it is wise to hire professional remodeling contractors to renovate your house instead of going for a complete rebuild, unless absolutely necessary. Even during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, professional remodeling contractors are essential as they can renovate the house to implement covid safety measures. Some of the benefits of hiring remodeling contractors during covid include – more time to implement the project, special discounts on home remodel, and the availability of home remodel contractors due to the significant reduction of work during the pandemic.

 

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *