There are many home improvements and changes we would all like to make to our houses but getting an idea of how much they cost is sometimes tricky. How much does it cost to change the bathtub for a shower tray, to strip and varnish your parquet flooring, to paint your house or to make the built-in wardrobes you’ve been dreaming of for all this time?
Although the price will depend on the workman you hire to do it for you, as a general rule painting the walls can cost between 4 and 8 euro per metre squared (between 0.37 and 0.75 euro per square foot), depending on the type of paint, while changing the bath for a shower base can cost between 1,200 and 1,400 euro. Here are four practical examples from home decoration company Houzz:
1. Painting the house
The budget will obviously depend on what the painter charges. They will base their pricing on things like the height of the ceilings, the condition of the walls and even which floor the apartment is on – it’s not the same for them to take all their materials to a ground floor flat than to a top-floor room in a building where there’s no lift. Normally, if the wall doesn’t have too many imperfections and they don’t have to do any extra preparatory work like plastering, painting a house will cost you between 4 and 8 euro/m2 (0.37-0.75 euro/sq ft).
2. Changing the bathtub for a shower tray
This is a relatively easy home improvement to do and will give you more space in the bathroom, which is especially good for the elderly or those with mobility problems. What’s more, having a shower instead of a bath will mean a significant saving on your water bills. A project of this type should be ready in four or five days at the most. In terms of the price, it will be around 1,200-1,400 euro. That price should include a glass screen, new taps and, of course, a new shower base.
3. Removing the wax and revarnishing a wood floor
If the wooden floor is in a good state, stripping off the old layer of wax and putting on a new finish will be cheaper than laying a whole new floor. In addition, solid wood floors are of a higher quality than laminate floors and these days you can get waxes to restore your parquet without first having to sand it down, a process that reduces the thickness of the wood. As we said, if the parquet is in good condition, this home repair should be around 500-600 euro for an average room of 25 m2 (269 sq ft). If the floor is not in good shape, it will be up to the tradesman to assess the condition and give you an estimate.
4. Custom built-in wardrobes
A made-to-measure wardrobe is the perfect way to make the most of the full height and width of a space, whereas a standard wardrobe will always leave some unused spaces. Above all, think carefully about how you will set it out to make the most of the room you’ve got. As for the price, it will range from 700-800 euro for a small, two-door cabinet that is lined inside with melamine, going up to 1,700-1,900 euro for a wardrobe with three compartments.
On Houzz, you can find the right home refurbishment professional to help you decorate or renovate your home the way you want.