Renovation and remodeling are two terms that are often used interchangeably. It’s best to know which terminology to appropriately use when planning on making significant improvements to your home. While both remodeling and renovation improve your living space, these two projects are still different from each other, each having its own set of benefits.
We made a comparison on renovation vs. remodeling. Here are the six key differences that will help you differentiate one from the other so that you will know which project to take on.
The first key difference of renovation from remodeling is that the former upgrade the feel and look of a structure without changing the purpose it’s initially intended for.
The main idea for renovation is that a bedroom remains a bedroom and a kitchen remains a kitchen. It’s just that updates and repairs are made within the room. Renovation usually includes installing new flooring, switching out items, repainting, and structural rebuilding.
In a remodeling, however, the design and structure are modified. Remodeling a structure usually involves changing the design and the functionality of a structure. It can include reconfiguring a room layout so that the parts are in different locations and tearing out walls to expand a specific area. You can also consider constructing an additional area to your home as remodeling. It doesn’t always have to be a major structural change, or modeling can also be something simple like turning a bedroom into an office. To keep it simple, when an area’s purpose has been altered or modified, then it’s been remodeled.
Remodeling almost always costs more than renovating since it can involve altering the physical structure of a house. What makes it more costly,and complex is that when remodeling, it’s usually necessary to reconfigure the plumbing, ductwork, and wiring. The generally higher material cost and the cost of professional labor are often included in remodeling as these projects involve building and creating new additions. The final cost comparison between remodeling and renovation depends on the quality of the materials used and the scope of the project. Renovations require less complexity which makes them more budget friendly.
Usually, renovating rarely requires you to pull a permit, but remodeling often does. Permits are given to ensure that the proper building codes are being followed. There may be a set of rules for a certain community, but it’s often common for the local building authorities to require a permit every time there is a structural change, including tearing out and replacing interior walls or adding a structure. Simple types of renovations like installing new carpets or painting walls don’t require permits. Although, replacing a roof usually requires one.
Renovations also encourage more DIY projects for those with the time, desire, and most especially, skills when compared to remodeling. Many communities don’t allow any unlicensed person to install plumbing or run electrical wiring and only permit the putting on of wallpapers, installing trim work, hanging new doors, and painting. Even if they do allow it, the usual DIYer might not be cut out for heavy-duty projects.
Renovations also offer a better return on investment (ROI) since they usually cost less. Likewise, homeowners think that they will see a better ROI on renovating because it only involves updating and repairing a home’s basic features compared to remodeling projects when selling their home.
Remodeling your home when it has many structural issues, such as your furnace not working and your roof leaking, requires a lot of spending to do, and buyers will often opt to look elsewhere. Renovation projects like re-siding a home and replacing a garage door or an entry door will bring the homeowner a net of approximately 76 percent, 75 percent, and 98 percent ROI, respectively, when sold according to the annual cost-vs-value analysis for common home improvement projects published by the Remodeling Magazine. In comparison, adding a master suite to your home will only bring a net of approximately 50 percent ROI, and a major kitchen remodeling will only bring a net of about 60 percent ROI.
When it comes to poor home design, remodeling is better than renovation. House issues such as water supply lines connected to your kitchen sink inside an exterior and freezing almost every winter or going through one bedroom to get to the next are something that renovations can’t solve. Remodeling your home is the only answer to a poorly designed structure.
In some historic homes, renovating is the only one permitted. Remodeling beautiful homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places is not allowed. Homeowners are not allowed to change the home’s structure and are even encouraged to restore it to look as close to the original.