“Quotes, quotes, quotes, quotes,” editor of Money Magazine Effie Zahos told Shevonne. “And then add on 10 or 20 per cent above the budget of what you thought because you will always blow it.”
Quotes will only get you so far, in some instances. A big problem many renovators face is hidden costs.
"A lot of the costs come in to play once you knock it down because you don’t really know what you are dealing with until you get it in there," said Effie.
A good place to start, however, is the Archicentre website, which has costing reports for each room of the house ready to download.
According to Effie, though, "They [the Archicentre] estimate a bathroom to cost anywhere between 10-25 thousand dollars, the kitchen between 12-30 thousand dollars and the laundry between 5-10 thousand dollars. And that doesn’t include your white goods."
As for which room to renovate first, Effie says an updated bathroom will add the most value to your home.
"The bathroom seems to be the one that gives you a better return…people look at bathrooms very seriously."
RELATED: Three ways to keep your bathroom renovation costs down
