Renovating a house costs an average of $52,304, and homeowners can expect to spend between $19,498 and $88,413.
If you’ve finally found the perfect fixer-upper home, you’ll need to prepare to refresh it inside and out, from updating the kitchen and bathrooms to sprucing up the siding and front porch. Renovating a house that’s 1,250- to 1,600 square feet costs an average of $52,304. However, if the house has good bones, you may pay as low as $3,000, or it can cost $190,000 or more in the same small house for a complete renovation. Since renovating an entire home is a huge project, it’s important to prepare your budget accordingly, which you can do using this guide.
House renovation costs about $15 to $60 per square foot on average, but that range can get even wider depending on the quality of the materials you use. If you want custom paints, high-end flooring, or other premium finishes, you might end up spending upwards of $150 per square foot.
Even with standard finishes, though, the square footage of your home will be a major player in determining renovation cost.
| House Square Feet | Average Cost Range |
|---|---|
| 1,250 | $18,750–$75,000 |
| 1,600 | $24,000–$96,000 |
| 2,000 | $30,00–$120,000 |
| 2,500 | $37,500–$150,000 |
| 3,500 | $52,500–$210,000 |
When renovating a house, you may decide to overhaul all the rooms at once or take it one room at a time. Keep in mind that rooms that require running water cost more to renovate than “dry” rooms. Here are some common costs to expect for each room, with prices ranging from $1,500 to more than $50,000 per room.
Living room remodels cost: $5,000–$10,000
Bedroom remodeling costs: $1,500–$5,500
Kitchen renovation costs: $14,550–$40,400
Bathroom remodeling costs: $6,600–$28,000
Basement renovation costs: $12,023–$34,497
Home theater installation costs: $10,000–$60,000
Attic remodeling costs: $4,600–$16,400
Garage renovation costs: $1,500–$50,000
Most homeowners choose to hire a general contractor instead of several tradespeople and subcontractors themselves. Hiring a general contractor will cost between 40% and 50% of the overall cost of the renovations. However, it will free up your time and eliminate the potential frustrations of doing the work yourself and managing the various tradespeople involved.
A general contractor will handle all aspects of the job, from planning and designing to completion and inspections. A contractor's job includes hiring the right sub-contractors for the work or supplying the labor, managing the subs and the schedule, pulling permits, handling the inspections, and everything in between.
However, here is a look at some of the specialists that your local remodeling pro may bring on to help with your project.
Your home's physical location can affect the cost of renovations. Fluctuations in regional and local labor and prices have a large impact because of the labor-heavy nature of home improvement projects. Labor charges in metropolitan areas tend to be higher than in rural locations. Regional material price can also have an effect, but typically to a lesser extent than labor.
The table below includes some average home renovation prices in major cities across the U.S.
| City | Average Home Renovation Cost |
|---|---|
| Austin | $39,400 |
| Chicago | $44,700 |
| Dallas | $42,000 |
| Houston | $45,400 |
| Los Angeles | $47,200 |
| New York | $50,100 |
| Philadelphia | $40,000 |
| Phoenix | $39,500 |
| San Antonio | $35,900 |
| San Francisco | $56,500 |
| Seattle | $52,600 |
Several other costs can come into play in addition to the primary cost factors of home renovation. The cost of these factors and whether you'll need to include them in your planning will depend on the scope and specifics of your project.
Older home renovations start around $100,000 and can increase from there. These renovations are usually more expensive than renovating a newer home since you’ll likely need to update plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems. Plus, older homes may reveal hidden problems during the renovation process, such as termite damage costs or water damage in the basement.
Building permits cost about $500 to $2,500 for major home renovations. Small updates, like painting a room, don’t often require permits. Check your local rules and regulations or ask your contractor.
The timeline for a home renovation is two to eight months, on average. For minor or “contained” renovations, like redoing one of several bathrooms or a single bedroom, you and your family can live in your home while your contractors work. For larger projects, like gut renovations or second-story dormers, you’ll need to pay for alternative living space, like a mobile home on your property or an extended-stay hotel. These can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 or more, depending on how long you need the arrangements.
Changing the floor plan of a room or area may cost about $350 to $500 for minor changes or over $10,000 for major changes. These changes may involve knocking down or building new walls or rerouting the electrical work or plumbing, so you’ll need to hire a structural engineer and other certified professionals to ensure the changes are safe to implement.
Major floor plan changes—like removing a load-bearing wall and installing a steel I-beam in its place—will fetch the highest prices when it comes to floor plan alteration.
When drafting your home design, think about the function of each room and the flow of your home as a whole. Thoughtful planning at this stage will help you create an effective and comfortable space that your household can enjoy for years to come.
While you’re installing new kitchen cabinets or a custom laundry storage system, you may be considering upgrades to the fridge or washer and dryer. New appliances may cost $200 to $10,000 each, depending on the appliance type and quality. For example, Energy Star-rated appliances typically cost $200 to $3,500, and custom built-in appliances will likely cost $1,000 to $10,000.
Mold remediation costs $2,230 on average, and asbestos removal costs about $1,200 to $3,100, depending on the extent of the damage. Mold and asbestos remediation need professional attention, or these problems can put your family’s health at risk. If you discover either of these issues during a DIY renovation, stop the process and bring in a professional to address it immediately.
Keep in mind that you might need alternative housing during the renovation if mold or asbestos could become airborne during the process, and potentially put your family at risk. As such, these issues can contribute to higher costs overall.
Foundation repairs cost between $2,200 to $7,700 in most cases and might be essential to keeping the home structurally sound and safe. Again, you will likely need to work with a structural engineer to ensure the foundation is repaired and maintained properly. You’ll likely need to repair the foundation before you can get started on any other renovations.
Installing or replacing plumbing costs $350 to $2,000 on average. If you need to make a few updates to a room or fix some leaky pipes, plumbing repairs cost about $330. However, you’ll need to budget for labor costs, about $180 to $500 per hour on the cost to hire a plumber. More extensive plumbing work—including roughing in the plumbing in a new home addition—will push you toward or above the $2,000 mark.
Rewiring a house costs $1,500 for a small rewiring project to $10,000 or more to rewire the entire house. Installing new outlets costs about $75 to $490 per outlet, while upgrading an electrical panel costs about $1,250. No matter what type of electrical work you need, you can expect electricians to charge about $50 to $100 per hour.
Once again, more extensive renovations, like gut renovations or installing a dormer or home addition, will drive up the price for electrical work.
While you’re updating the rooms in your home, you may also want to ensure they stay cozy and comfortable year-round with a repaired or new HVAC system. HVAC repairs cost an average of $350, while installing new heating or cooling systems costs around $5,000 to $12,500. You may need to upgrade to a new system if you’re adding a significant amount of square footage to your home, and the space requires heating and cooling.
Designing a home with accessibility in mind can be challenging and may increase renovation costs. We highly recommend consulting with any individual with specific accessibility needs to determine whether features like a home elevator, stair lift, or other universal design accommodations are desired. Be sure to communicate these needs clearly with the pro to ensure satisfactory results after the remodel.
Since labor costs account for around 50% to 60% of the total home renovation cost, you could save an average of $25,000 to $30,000 by doing the work yourself. However, most home renovation projects are massive undertakings that may involve handling electrical wires, plumbing pipes, and structural systems.
You risk damaging your home and injury from electrocution or other accidents. It’s best to turn to the expertise of architects, structural engineers, demolition crews, electricians, plumbers, and local home renovation companies for home renovations.
But some of the smaller tasks, like hanging drywall and painting, are DIY-friendly and could save you between $5,000 and $10,000 if you do it on your own.
The primary difference between renovating your home and fully remodeling it comes down to cost and project scope. Remodeling generally includes making structural or floor-plan changes, adding rooms, or significant tear-outs and rebuilding. Renovations, on the other hand, can be as simple as replacing furniture, adding window treatments, painting, updating appliances, or adding storage or shelving.
While remodeling can completely change your home's look, feel, and functionality, the project will cost significantly more than renovating the space or a room at a time. If you're looking to meet a budget and remodeling is threatening to max it out, consider performing renovations instead. Doing so can refresh your home's look, including DIY tasks like painting, making repairs, and updating fixtures and components to provide a fresh feel to any space.
Renovating a house costs a lot of money upfront, but there are ways to save while achieving the home of your dreams.
Budget-Friendly Materials: Mid-range options are more durable and last longer than the least expensive materials on the market while offering a similar look at a lower cost than high-end alternatives.
Do Safe DIY: You can’t complete an entire home renovation on your own, but you can take on some smaller, easier tasks to save money on labor costs. Many homeowners can handle painting rooms, tearing out old carpets, or installing shelves themselves to save on individual project costs.
Consider Short- and Long-Term Savings: While you may be tempted to buy the least expensive flooring option or windows on the market, keep in mind that you often get what you pay for. While you could save upfront on low-cost materials, you may spend more on maintaining, repairing, or replacing these materials down the road.
Maximize Space: House renovation costs heavily depend on the size of the house or each room, so you can save by sticking to smaller square footage while making the most of the existing space.
Multiple Quotes: Before signing any home renovation contracts, get at least three quotes for each professional service you plan to hire. Compare what each price includes to get the best value for each part of the renovation process.
Completely remodeling your house will include elements that can have an excellent return on your investment (ROI), while other parts of the job may not significantly increase the home's value. Home improvement or remodeling projects with excellent ROIs can fetch between 60% and more than 100% of your investment in terms of house value increases.
Kitchen remodels, upgrading to energy-efficient windows and doors, installing efficient appliances, adding attic or basement living space, adding a deck, and upgrading the exterior finishes can all earn excellent ROIs.
Luxury installations, such as high-end fixtures and finishes, generally do worse when it comes to ROI, as does installing sub-par materials such as wall-to-wall carpeting throughout the home or using outdated laminate countertops. Depending on your location, installing a pool can realize moderate returns or none at all, and can even reduce the home's selling appeal.
Home is the most important place on earth, which is why Angi has helped more than 150 million homeowners transform their houses into homes they adore. To help homeowners with their next project, Angi provides readers with the most accurate cost data and upholds strict editorial standards. We’ve surveyed over 10,000 real Angi customers about their project costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We pair this data with research from reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects.
Want to help us improve our cost data? Send us a recent project quote to costquotes@angi.com. Quotes and personal information will not be shared publicly.
Renovating or remodeling an existing structure is usually less expensive than the cost to build a new house. That’s because you can save on the costs of new building materials, laying a foundation, framing the entire building, and installing new materials and utilities throughout the house. However, if a home is in very poor condition or is incredibly old, you could spend more on upgrades and restoration compared to building from scratch.
Renovating a house can take on many forms. The time it takes to perform home renovations will depend primarily on the scope of the project, management skills, and luck. Minor projects, such as painting or upgrading appliances can take as little as a few days. Installing a major addition can take over a year if outside factors complicate the process.
Most home insurance policies will cover a rebuild or renovation in the event of a disaster, such as a fire or extensive storm damage. Check with your agent about coverage for home renovations, and review your policy with your agent before and after renovations because extensive upgrades could leave you underinsured. For example, if you increase the size of your home with additions, your policy may no longer cover the higher-value home, and you’ll need to update your policy.
