[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. We've been talking today about my tricks to keep your project under budget. What can you do to keep this under control? So you can maybe tackle that project. Cause as we know, nothing has gotten less expensive out there. There is everything that we tackle that requires some kind of a budget.

[00:00:27] Eric Goranson: And, uh, man, it is crazy when you walk out of the home center and go, I just got this for what? It adds up quickly as we know so these are my tips to help you get that project done and on time Now we've been talking about, you know, planning your material use correctly and planning out those cuts and this is something Welcome

[00:00:56] Eric Goranson: to the round the house show this is where we help you get the most out of your home through [00:01:00] information and education education joining us today. Well, if you missed last week's show on the radio or the podcast, man, we had a great one with the Oregon Manufactured Housing Association talking affordable housing.

[00:01:12] Eric Goranson: If you missed that one. You can catch that on any podcast player just look for around the house And if you want to get a hold of me Send me a message head over to around the house Online. com and you can use the contact us page there as well If you want to catch my nearly 200 videos that are out there from the around the house Northwest television show I've got those broken out so you can catch those and just head over to the around the house online You can see the videos there and then just click over Uh, when you get to YouTube and you can find the playlist there on the Fox 12, Oregon.

[00:01:44] Eric Goranson: YouTube page and all of that. So you can find it just right there. So for really, for this, just head over to around the house online. com and you can, uh, navigate from there cause it's all kind of sliding and heightened over there. Well, today I wanted to talk about, um, my tricks to keep your [00:02:00] project under budget.

[00:02:01] Eric Goranson: And I've been really trying, uh, to really check out, um, ways to do that. Cause you know, man, everything's expensive. Building materials are expensive. Fuel is expensive. Everything's more expensive right now. So how do we keep things under budget? And so here are my tips and tricks. Now there's a lot of things we can do.

[00:02:22] Eric Goranson: And the first one here is one that can save you a ton of money and help you get the job done faster. And that is going to be find your favorite tool rental store. And because here's the thing. Many of us want to buy a tool like me. I want to buy a tool for every new project, but it doesn't always work out that way.

[00:02:41] Eric Goranson: It can add hundreds or thousands. Thousands or tens of thousands to a project. Cause you know, I don't need a mini excavator hanging around the house or a boom lift. I mean, I do, but I'm not going to want to spend the money on it because I'm just not going to use it every day. Just like if I need a really big table saw, if I need a really big table saw, I have a contract.

[00:02:59] Eric Goranson: I [00:03:00] actually have two different contractor saws, but I don't want to store that big things. I quite frankly don't have the room. So I'd much rather go down to my favorite tool rental center and grab stuff. Now, what makes up. A favorite tool rental center for me, the first one is not even the price, but how good of condition are they keeping your things in?

[00:03:22] Eric Goranson: I mean, here's the thing. If I go down to my big box store. You know national chain. I'm not gonna call them up by name. I don't have to you know who I'm talking about If I head down there and I don't know what it's like in your area but I tell you what when I rent stuff from there the Bobcats or whatever they have there for their Excavators or everything else.

[00:03:44] Eric Goranson: They are on their last leg. The tracks are worn. The tires are bald The tools have been used hard. I mean I went and rented a post hole digger there And they finally gave my money back because [00:04:00] it just kept breaking before I could even use it. And I went someplace else. So, if you're fighting old hammered equipment, maybe it's time to find a local tool rental center.

[00:04:10] Eric Goranson: For me, I have a place that many people don't know about in my market. And it's a small hardware store chain that's in my Portland area. And it's really cool, Parkrose Hardware. If I go rent a tool from them... It's probably a current year model and it is well maintained. It is the best of the best of that tool, which I like.

[00:04:33] Eric Goranson: If I go rent something, I want to be able to use it like it's supposed to. Not, oh wow, this thing's almost done. They just don't, they maintain them and they don't run them hard. So that's what I'm looking for in a tool rental. Because most people rent them and just abuse the snot out of them. Guess what?

[00:04:48] Eric Goranson: They go back. And the tool rental company has to put that thing back together and keep it maintained. These guys do a great job of that. So when I go down there and I rent a lift, it has three and a half hours on it. If I rent a Bobcat, it's got 25. You know [00:05:00] what I mean? That kind of thing. That to me is really important of how well, I mean, it could have a thousand hours on it.

[00:05:06] Eric Goranson: I don't care. Is it maintained? Well, it start right up. Do I have to fight it? Do I have to, you know, am I wasting time doing that? So really find a good tool rental center. Cause that can save you money. You don't have to go buy another tool now. And if you got the money and you want to buy the tool, knock yourself out.

[00:05:23] Eric Goranson: Nothing wrong with the tool collection, but this will save you money when you're trying to do it on a budget. And right now, many of us. My next one here is something that for you to consider and it can burn you and it can go well, but you just have to do your research. My first thing here is to do your research.

[00:05:43] Eric Goranson: Can you buy stuff used or slightly used or previously used? However you want to call it. And can you get away with it? Like I did a TV segment here, hot tub on a budget, and I wanted to see if I could do that on a budget. [00:06:00] And so, but. 1300 bucks I put a nice 8 foot by 8 foot hot tub into my backyard. Did I pick up the thing used?

[00:06:06] Eric Goranson: Yeah, it's a 15 16 year old hot Springs spa. It is nice Now does it have all the computer controls the flip up TV? No, it doesn't does it have everything to make me comfortable? Yeah, will it be? Reliable for a long period. Yeah, well, because there's not that much to go break break on it. It doesn't have all the crazy electronic stuff on it.

[00:06:29] Eric Goranson: So for now, I turned around and with my friends at easy pads and other people like that, we ended up having a great hot tub. And the most expensive part is electrical on something like that. If you need to run a 2 20 circuit over there, Or a couple circuits, depending on your tub, you know, you can have a grand or two really quickly.

[00:06:47] Eric Goranson: You can have a grand in materials if you're not careful. So be very careful that that's where the money comes in. If you've got to pay an electrician, it can be a few thousand bucks to get a hot tub disconnect and that stuff and get the tub wired up. So. Be [00:07:00] prepared. It can cost you even more if you have to put a new panel in.

[00:07:02] Eric Goranson: So that's the part there. If you're out shopping used and you want to do a hot tub on a budget, maybe find one of the one 10 smaller models out there that you have a 20 foot extension cord that you can plug in to a 20, you know, 20 amp outlet and be good. That might be your way to go, but see, instead of going out and spending eight, 000 on a hot tub.

[00:07:23] Eric Goranson: And then spend another five grand for somebody to come in and hook it up. You can go out and get started with something and then down the road, if you want to pick up the nicer one, trade that one in, sell it off, do whatever, but, uh, that's the way to do it. And one little secret here. I wanted to give you if you're out going to do a go out and take on this project.

[00:07:42] Eric Goranson: This is where you can save a ton of money. Do not go buy a hot tub unless you know it's history. If you can't go out there and if it's not running. It's not working. The jets are working, whatever else, or it's been already been disconnected and sitting there, man, all it takes is one freeze. And for those things to blow [00:08:00] up and you'll never get it repaired.

[00:08:01] Eric Goranson: And trust me, I can go through and fix just about anything at the same time. I don't want to have to go dig through a bunch of spray foam and keep looking for leaks. Get it over, find more breaks and just chase it down. And there's so many wires and tubes and stuff in there that you're going to snag when you're cutting through the spray foam.

[00:08:21] Eric Goranson: They're just not worth it to repair it once they've been frozen. And then the motors typically cost more. I mean, I bought a hot tub for, you know, under 350 bucks. Now that thing, if the motor was bad. Or if there was something wrong with it, it was going to cost me more than that to replace it. So that is something to consider.

[00:08:41] Eric Goranson: What conditioning is it working and what's the issues? You know, even a good hot tub cover can cost you a few hundred bucks to a, to something that's custom to seven or 800 bucks. So just be careful of what you're looking for. Those are where things get expensive, but really going for something used or something that was [00:09:00] a.

[00:09:00] Eric Goranson: Overage can be something that, you know, maybe people bought something, they can't take it back. And now they've got it on Craig's list or Facebook marketplace or offer up or the many different places you can buy things. Take a look at that. That could save you a ton of money. Now the only thing I want you to make sure of is make sure that if you're looking at wire and things like that, it could be stolen.

[00:09:21] Eric Goranson: It could be something like that. So make sure that you're getting something that might have a criminal case following it around so you don't get yourself in trouble. But really, There's some places to save money and we'll talk about that when I come back. Some of the things I've learned on saving money.

[00:09:34] Eric Goranson: We'll do that just as soon as around the house returns.

[00:09:42] Eric Goranson: Ugly faces.

[00:09:46] Eric Goranson: Should I be alive? Be so hot.[00:10:00]

[00:10:04] Eric Goranson: So many people. Around

[00:10:10] Eric Goranson: the house. Show this where we help you. Get the most out of your own through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Hey, if you're catching us on the radio or the podcast, make sure that you catch our around the house insider, be part of our premium membership, and we've got so much going on over there.

[00:10:26] Eric Goranson: Now we just did drop here a week or two ago. Exclusive episode, which is all about me. Just kind of my history with Jeff Tracy, the cowboy cook. And we went back through. So for find out more information about that premium membership, it's only four bucks, so it's not much. And you can find that over at around the house online.

[00:10:45] Eric Goranson: com would love to have you over there because we're going to be putting some special premium content. Over there. And then you get to check out the show early as well, as you can find out so much more of our history back there with the exclusive back catalog. So you get to get back into the [00:11:00] early shows or earlier shows of around the house.

[00:11:02] Eric Goranson: Some of those ones from the very beginning, we don't even have record of as far as recordings, but, uh, over the last. Well, seven or eight years, no problem. We've got them back there for you. Well, we've been talking about today about how to take on these projects, you know, on a budget, how to save money while we're tackling these kinds of projects.

[00:11:20] Eric Goranson: And there's a lot you can do with doing these things on a project, you know, projects on a budget. And some of that comes down to shopping and getting materials. Now, there is a big controversy out there over, should you be buying it at a lumber yard? Should you be buying it at the home center? Where are you getting your wood from?

[00:11:39] Eric Goranson: On a DIY or construction project. And you know, something that's really depending on the market where you're at. Um, what I've seen is that I've seen that the, the pricing at the home centers is a little more flexible sometimes where they're a little more market driven, where the lumber yards are really more importantly.

[00:11:58] Eric Goranson: Figured out what's came in the door. If they [00:12:00] ordered a real car full of lumber and it showed up and they've got out there in stock, you might have a better job there. So that is going to be just shopping. Cause it's kind of market prices. You just don't know where it's going to be, but call around and see, you know, I've got some guys that take care of me.

[00:12:14] Eric Goranson: So I get a pretty good discount there, but sometimes the home centers are competitive as well. Now. If you're doing electrical and wire, one of my things that I've noticed, and this was something that was probably for seven, eight years was the rule. But I think with, um, you know, the retail thefts going on, this has changed so much.

[00:12:32] Eric Goranson: It used to be, you could go into home Depot and buy wire cheaper than anywhere else, because they were trying to use that as a loss leader to get the electricians in, to come in and buy stuff for the contractors. Those days have left the building that wire is not the least expensive thing anymore, and many times it's locked up and it can take you a long time to get somebody to come on, lock it for you to have access so that that is [00:13:00] not your best place.

[00:13:01] Eric Goranson: So I would be looking at your local electrician supply places or for me right now, the best prices I've been getting has actually been on Amazon. So I can order wire there and get it the next day in my market. And, uh, it is been 15 or 20 percent less than what the home centers are. And I've even gotten it more than that, where it was like 40 percent less.

[00:13:21] Eric Goranson: So, um, same wire, same packaging. But, uh, they've got it there, uh, with less markup on it. So, uh, that has been one place that I've been able to find wire, you know, and then here's the thing too, when it comes down to maybe you're doing a kitchen project, when you're doing appliances, things like that with cabinetry, here's another little secret.

[00:13:40] Eric Goranson: If you've been going into the home center and buying those big name brand cabinets, unless you're doing it with one of their credit cards, which might make sense where you're going to get 12 months, no interest or something like that. Really many times that is the most expensive place to get that brand of cabinetry versus [00:14:00] the least expensive and here's why When you have an independent kitchen and bath dealer carry a brand like I don't know I'm just gonna use one of the common brands in there You all seen them whether it's craft made or American woodmark or go down the list, right?

[00:14:14] Eric Goranson: All of the brands in there when you have a brand like that that is in there There's a lot of markup in the home centers on this and here's why First off, the cabinet companies aren't making them a smoking deal because, and I've been through probably 20 years ago through the negotiations of this, of putting a brand in the home center and here's what they were asking for back then, and it's no different now, they would say, Hey, we're going in so many thousands of stores in the country and no matter where they're at, we want you to have a rep in that each one of those stores, every one Two weeks, two months, whatever it is, doesn't matter.

[00:14:53] Eric Goranson: And we want all our displays for free. Well, if you've got to put in four displays and keep [00:15:00] updated and give it to that big box store and you got to put thousands of those in the country as well as pay for a rep, hire them and get them in all those stores. There is a lot of overhead over the top of that.

[00:15:14] Eric Goranson: And so what happens is, is their cost many times as more so than what that independent dealer is, because that independent dealer might have one or two displays, but, uh, that rep who's probably already there being forced there by the home center is already around, or they have their own independent reps.

[00:15:31] Eric Goranson: But long story short, there's a lot less headaches with those independent dealers and the home centers because the home centers also have these wild return policies where if the people don't like it, bring it back and then they want to get full credit back on those cabinets. So it's very expensive for these cabinet lines to deal with the home centers.

[00:15:49] Eric Goranson: It just is. There are no special deals. The cabinet companies are moving a lot of boxes and they have the luxury of selling, you know, truckloads of [00:16:00] cabinets each day to these guys, which keeps the factory going. But it's also one of their lowest margin because of the level of headaches. And that level of headaches could be, um, lack of training for kitchen and bath designers.

[00:16:13] Eric Goranson: Typically the best kitchen and bath designers that are designing your kitchens usually leave the home centers. Now there's great ones out there, so I don't want to disparage if you're a great designer. I worked for the home centers for a while. So when I was early in my career, but here's the thing. Most of these people and this is what it is.

[00:16:33] Eric Goranson: Most of these people when they've got that, um, Skills for their design once they realize they're in the home centers and they can make three or four times the money if they go work for an independent dealer, they're going to be much better off. So that's what happens guys. So they go, wow, I can make four times the money going out working for an independent design place.

[00:16:51] Eric Goranson: Cool. So the home centers spent the time, they did some training and they got them going. And then once they've been there a year or two and they got really good at what they're doing [00:17:00] by trial and error, yeah. They leave to go make commissions, go big, because basically if you're working at the home centers, you're getting paid by the hour and that's just about it.

[00:17:08] Eric Goranson: So you clock in, do your thing. If you go sell a million dollars of the cabinets one year, guess what? You don't make a ton of money doing that, where you could have a six figure income in many places if you're doing it as a designer. So that's kind of the background on that. So many times you're better for those brands.

[00:17:25] Eric Goranson: If you want to have something specific, check with your independent dealer. So one of the best tips I can give you in today's economy is don't assume that where you're going is going to be the best price because you could be paying a lot more for something that you don't know of. So just take the time, do your research, figure it out.

[00:17:43] Eric Goranson: And I think you're going to be better off in the long run. So just do your research on that. And you might be surprised where some of these people are giving you a really good deal that you're not expecting. And it's probably not the place that you thought of. So take your time. And do that. Now, the next thing I [00:18:00] wanted to talk about is planning your material use correctly, basically planning out your cuts and trying to use the most out of your material.

[00:18:10] Eric Goranson: I have always, because you know, I hate wasting material. My little game is when I'm doing decking or things like that is really trying to save money. And I'm going to give you my tips when you come back. How do you get the most out of the material? Cause if you're paying 50 or 60 bucks for a deck board, why throw it away?

[00:18:28] Eric Goranson: Round the house. We'll be right back after these important messages.[00:19:00]

[00:19:10] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round the house show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. We've been talking today about. My tricks to keep your project under budget What can you do to type keep this under control so you can maybe tackle that project because as we know Nothing has gotten less expensive out there there is everything that we tackle that requires some kind of a budget and Man, it is crazy when you walk out of the home center and go I just got this for what?

[00:19:41] Eric Goranson: Yeah It adds up quickly as we know. So these are my tips to help you get that project done and on time. Now we've been talking about, uh, you know, planning your material use correctly and planning out those cuts. And this is something that I really like to pay attention to. I'll spend. 15 or [00:20:00] 20 minutes if I have to and start planning out the best use of material.

[00:20:03] Eric Goranson: Okay, if I make a, if I have an eight foot board, if I'm going to cut a 60 inch or a five foot piece, I got three feet left. Am I better off buying a 12 foot piece of lumber so I have two sixes or am I throwing a bunch of stuff away or can I use that someplace else? So really think about what your cuts are.

[00:20:25] Eric Goranson: And the material length you're buying when it comes to lumber, make sure that you're getting the right size because sometimes you just go in and go out by eight foot. That's what it is. And that can be pretty difficult. If you didn't plan everything else, you could be throwing away a ton of two or three feet material, because if you would have bought the next size or two sizes up.

[00:20:44] Eric Goranson: Even though it's a little bit more money, sometimes you're not throwing away all the material. So your square foot price is less. So one of my little tricks and tips when I'm doing cuts is I put a five gallon bucket at the bottom by my saw. It is my little [00:21:00] reminder. To make sure that I'm paying attention to my cuts and two, it's the places I can put those little tiny pieces that I don't just drop on the ground.

[00:21:08] Eric Goranson: So it's also my cleanup bucket. So if I've got a little scrap or pieces, I can drop it down into that. And it's my constant reminder to be mindful of the material I'm using, so I'm not wasting it now. I know if I was a licensed and bonded contractor working on somebody's job site, sometimes, you know, it's not cost effective for them to spend all this time trying to figure out those cuts because maybe the materials cheaper than what their hourly time is.

[00:21:33] Eric Goranson: And maybe they just need to blast through it. So you'll see that a lot when you see framers building a house, especially a spec house, things like that. The material that gets thrown away from half sheets of plywood to, you know, a seven foot of an eight foot. Board, you know that kind of stuff that you see where it's just not reused You know, you see a lot of that in new construction these days depending on the builder Now there are some great builders out there and some great framing [00:22:00] contractors That just don't waste material because it's a point of pride for them And there's other ones that get in and get out and if they have the materials sitting there, they're going to use it and If it's cut, guess what?

[00:22:10] Eric Goranson: They're not going to mess with it. Off they go. So it's just really depending on the attitude of the company and, you know, what they're getting paid to do it. So it's really dependent on that. But for you tech, take it on your own projects, kind of tackle your own stuff. There's no sense wasting wood and materials that you're not going to use.

[00:22:28] Eric Goranson: So spend a little time. So you don't have to overpurchase materials now, depending on what you're working on. You might need a 10%, 15, 20 percent overage, depending on what you're going. But these are things that you should have into your plan. And many times you can take that stuff back when you're done.

[00:22:44] Eric Goranson: So if you save some money that can go on to your next material purchase, you'll be okay. Now my next tip here is something that really can save you a lot of money. And for instance, right now i'm working on a plan myself. To make sure I do it correctly. [00:23:00] And it's a little bit of a complex one. I'm going to be building an outdoor pizza oven for an upcoming television show, but I need to do a little tiny deck extension, a little cover extension.

[00:23:08] Eric Goranson: That's just a little tiny thing, but I need to figure this out and get this done. So that is my next little. Battle. So let's think about that just a little bit. How do you plan it ahead? And the plan is the most important part of this process because you don't have to build things twice or have to go back and do it.

[00:23:26] Eric Goranson: So really I'm starting to plan out now how I'm going to build this because I need to come out of the ground with concrete. I need to build a concrete and block base. I need to build a little bit of a. deck extension around it. And so these are things that I've got to come up. So it's kind of the, you don't want to get the card ahead of the horse, if you know what I mean.

[00:23:44] Eric Goranson: So you really need to go through and map out like a game plan. Like you're playing a football game or something else like that. What are my plays to get this done? And that way you don't have to do things twice. So for me, I know that I'm coming out of the ground with concrete to [00:24:00] build a footing for this pizza oven.

[00:24:02] Eric Goranson: Cause it's. You know, 1600 pounds just in materials before I build the base, before I put a top on it, those kinds of things. So these things take up weight. So I'm going to have over 2000 pounds of material sitting there. So I need to build something solid. But at the same time, while I'm pouring concrete, I might as well put some footings around it because While I'm at it, I might as well support the little deck surface.

[00:24:24] Eric Goranson: It's around it because it's just going to be stronger. So that forces me to really plan out how I'm going to build this and make it make sense, because as long as we do that, it's going to be okay. So let's think a little bit more about our plan and make sure that we're doing it correctly. So that plan is going to be the key for saving money.

[00:24:43] Eric Goranson: So plan it out, make a play by play. You know step by step plan so you can save some money while you're doing this and that plan if it goes Well, it's gonna save you some money because if I have to go back and do something twice on this It's gonna cost me a lot of money [00:25:00] just buying the decking for this little 5 foot by 10 foot thing at my cost Is 800 bucks just for the decking for this stuff.

[00:25:09] Eric Goranson: That's expensive. I do not want to waste it, nor do I want to have to do this twice. So these are all things that I want to think about things that I need to do. And more importantly, these are things that I want to make sure I got this done right, so I can enjoy this and not really go, Oh man, if I would have only done it this way.

[00:25:27] Eric Goranson: So I'm really working on getting things dialed in for that. So something to consider. It's going to be something that has to look really good and, uh, you know, be self supportive as well. So these are things that I'm working on right now to make sure I've got everything dialed in. I've got some decisions to make.

[00:25:41] Eric Goranson: What do I want? Do I want to cover over it? Do I not want to cover over it? So there's a lot of little things that you have to take into account as part of the bigger project and make sure while you're doing these things that you've got these things dialed in, because there can be so many issues while you're doing this.

[00:25:55] Eric Goranson: I want to make sure you got it right. So these are things that are really important to get dialed in [00:26:00] so something to think about I want to make sure you got this done right and make sure that you planned ahead and that you can fit all the pieces Of the project together. What else do you have to do? Is there a next step?

[00:26:11] Eric Goranson: Are you gonna add more to it? See, this is a mistake that I did on this deck because I didn't plan for this to go in here I didn't leave room for it. I have a space for it But I didn't plan for it. So now I'm having to do an addition to make that work to this ground level deck. So something I'm still working on, something that I changed, something that, uh, well, it's costing me a little bit more money.

[00:26:32] Eric Goranson: If I would have thought about doing this earlier, I would have saved probably a thousand bucks on it. So that's my cost of doing it later would have saved me a bunch of money back when I built the deck. So that's another one there. So next one here is, is an important one that I think we'll talk about here.

[00:26:50] Eric Goranson: Is slowing down and making sure you don't make mistakes. I can be the king of this. I get going, I'm cruising, I've got my [00:27:00] plan, and maybe I, I, I messed up my numbers, maybe I mismeasured, maybe I didn't think of the next step enough. But slow down, and make sure, measure twice, cut once, you know the rules guys.

[00:27:13] Eric Goranson: I don't have to tell you that, cause you've done this before. But here's the thing, slowing down and being more self aware, Will help you in making sure that you get this project done, right? That's another one of my tips for you is just slowing down. Make sure you're not getting too crazy with it. And that's going to really help you out to make sure that you're making the right cuts and doing it right.

[00:27:36] Eric Goranson: You know, the next one here is an important one. Let's talk about this before we go out to break. And this is making sure that you've got sharp tools, so make sure you've got a decent saw blade and you know, you can send them out and get them sharpened. If you've got a circular saw, a table saw blade, depending on what you got, if you've got a sharpening service around, I did see in one of the home improvement stores that there's actually a brand that you can walk in and buy a [00:28:00] blade and then when you're done with it or it gets dull, you can send it off, trade it in and they'll get you another one right there.

[00:28:06] Eric Goranson: So that's kind of cool. That's something to consider when you're doing this kind of stuff. So be very careful. These are things that, uh, that, uh, a good sharp blade, whether you're using a utility knife, you're using a saw. Uh, these are things that'll keep you from wasting material. There's nothing like making a cut on a piece of plywood and blowing it out and having to go get another sheet.

[00:28:27] Eric Goranson: Make sure you get that blade that's nice and sharp round the house. We'll be right back. Don't go anywhere.[00:29:00]

[00:29:05] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round the house show. I'm Eric T. We've been talking about ways to save you money on your next renovating project. Whether you're talking on that little DIY project or a major remodel, this is stuff that I want you to make sure that you're doing to save some cash while you're doing it.

[00:29:20] Eric Goranson: Cause things just keep getting more and more expensive. So there's a few things we can do to save money. Now let's talk about here. Maybe you're hiring a contractor and you are wanting to save money. And this is one of the most important things. If you're hiring somebody to make sure that you're doing this correctly.

[00:29:38] Eric Goranson: Now hear me out on this. So if you've got a contractor and you're like, Hey, I want to do the demo. There are some contractors out there that's going to go great. I'm going to take a thousand or two bucks off the demo and handle it. There are some contractors that are going to go. Okay. Most homeowners that I have do the demo.

[00:29:56] Eric Goranson: Are not going to do it right. They're going to over demo. They're going to cause more [00:30:00] damage. They're not going to get it how I want it. And I'm going to take off 500 bucks. So not every time by you doing part of the work is going to save you money. And really, sometimes that just comes down with you having the honest conversation with the contractor to make sure.

[00:30:16] Eric Goranson: That it's getting done correctly and that you know what the expectations are because that contractor is going to have his team or a subcontractor come in and do the demo the right way. Come in, you know, all the nails will be off the wall. If you're stripping it down to the studs, everything's gonna be ready to go and swept up, cleaned up, ready to go.

[00:30:37] Eric Goranson: Ready to start changing things or doing what needs to be done. It doesn't matter if it's a deck out back or the roof or whatever. That's all part of the process. So you doing demo might not always save you in the long run. So have that legitimate conversation with the contractor and say, okay, what's that going to save me?

[00:30:56] Eric Goranson: And what can I do to make it easier to make sure that we are getting the [00:31:00] most value out of this question and say, Hey, I make sure I want you to do a walk a couple of days beforehand, pop by the job site, make sure that we've got everything for you, make sure that that contractor is a hundred percent.

[00:31:12] Eric Goranson: Capable of your understanding what your skill set is and what you're going to do and make sure that you have the skills to do it. So you have demo because so many contractors that I work with in the remodeling side of things out there will go, Oh man, they're not going to get it done on time. The job site's not going to be complete as far as the demo.

[00:31:30] Eric Goranson: It's going to be half done, it's going to be more of a headache and I have to fix things that they broke. So many times that doesn't really save you a ton of money. So make sure that there's a great understanding of what that is and that your hard work is going to be accounted for. In the savings, so these are things that can really do now.

[00:31:51] Eric Goranson: I've seen some other lists down the over the years where I think there are mistakes where they'll say, you know, hey, make sure and haul your own [00:32:00] materials and stuff like that. That can actually be more expensive and more time consuming because here's one thing I want you to think about and it's an important thing to think about.

[00:32:10] Eric Goranson: What is your time worth? Everybody's time has some value. But many times that contractor you're gonna go. I'm gonna save him time and money. I'm gonna go pick it up for him Maybe they're getting free delivery Maybe you need to go rent a truck. I Tell you what, if I go rent a U Haul truck Take my time drive over pick up materials come back here Almost always that's more expensive than the delivery fee is to get it And then the chance of you damaging something, Hey, if it's their store delivery service and they're bringing it on here, the damage that they have to go get another one.

[00:32:51] Eric Goranson: So make sure that some of the steps that you're taking are actually going to save you money. [00:33:00] And so that's a key right there. You know, that's a key. Now one of the other things that I want to talk about here as well is hiring people to help you with the project. To save you money. Now hear me out on this one.

[00:33:13] Eric Goranson: And you've heard me, if you're a regular listener here to the show, I apologize because you've heard this one before, but many times hiring that designer to help you make choices saves you money because they are going to help you. With that project to make sure you get the right paint color, make sure that you've got the right countertop or whatever you're doing, hiring a designer to make sure that that is going well will save you money in the long run almost every single time, because as soon as you have to repaint something, as soon as you have to put something else and replace it because you don't like it, that's an instant cost, especially if you're paying somebody else to do it.

[00:33:52] Eric Goranson: So when in doubt, if you're questioning your own decisions, bring a designer in, even it's for it's a day, even if [00:34:00] you're just having them in for a day to go through and pick out some finishes that can save you a ton of money and you're going to have a more confidence in your decisions as well because you've got a professional helping you pick what's good for your house.

[00:34:15] Eric Goranson: Now you are going to be ultimate judge of what that is. But really going for it is gonna save you some money. So hire that designer bring them on board help them You know help them with your information, but let them be the professional and have them bring it in here Now here's something that I've been I've been testing and this is something I wanted to bring up as a tip here in this fourth Segment of the hour.

[00:34:37] Eric Goranson: I wanted to bring this one up because it's been interesting and this has been really hit and miss If you're having to buy tools to do the project I have been going on and on my TV show, been doing a let's test it where I grab budget products or tools off of Amazon and I test them. And you know something, [00:35:00] it has been about a 50 50 thing.

[00:35:03] Eric Goranson: Sometimes I go, wow, this worked out amazing. These are a great copy. Most of the time I'll go, ah, it's not the same, but they're pretty decent. Sometimes I go, wow, these are so poorly built that this was a rip off and you just got to be careful with some of this stuff. And the more, um, the more of a knockoff they are, usually the lower quality they are as well.

[00:35:34] Eric Goranson: So be very careful when you're buying tools. If you're buying the one knockoff, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. And, uh, if you're buying electronics, I've noticed anything that's electric. I mean, I probably the worst one I had was I jumped on Amazon and for 30 bucks, I bought a carbon monoxide detector that is a portable handheld one.

[00:35:57] Eric Goranson: And no matter what I did, I [00:36:00] couldn't set it off. It didn't matter if I had something burning next to it. Heck, I threw it up underneath my Mercedes diesel and it showed zero parts per million. And it was so close to the exhaust that I couldn't get it to move at all. And I was going to burn my hand if I took it any closer.

[00:36:18] Eric Goranson: That's how close I got it in there. There was nothing that would set this thing off now. I'm gonna test it again I sent it back because it clearly was defective and I'm gonna see if the new one does it but I tell you what so Far it hasn't worked. Well, and I want to go back and test it. I mean you can always get a bad one, right?

[00:36:35] Eric Goranson: but Anyway, be very careful just going on and buying the cheapest tool out there because here's the one thing I've learned over the years Having the right tools makes your job easier and it can save you money on a DIY project, but you got to make sure you have the right tools. So, uh, great example. I bought some of the budget blades, uh, for my multi tool on Amazon.

[00:36:58] Eric Goranson: Jumped on there [00:37:00] and you know something, they're pretty good. Are they going to last as long as the... The other brands that you get at your home improvement store, probably not, but I bought a hundred of them for the price of one blade. I can throw a few more away in the recycle bin because you're just steel with a coating on the tip.

[00:37:16] Eric Goranson: If I go through those for doing wood, yeah, okay. I throw a few extra away and put it in the recycle bin, but you know something? I'm still getting, you know, when I can get a hundred for the price of one, I'm still way ahead. So if I'm going to be cutting like anything other than soft metals or, or, or wood, then of course I'm going to go use my better blades, but for just cutting a piece of wood or doing some detail work.

[00:37:43] Eric Goranson: They do great. So think about where you're saving. Sometimes saving can cost you more money if you don't do this right. Now, again, this is another one of the things that, um, that you have to be careful with. Now, here's a great example, [00:38:00] and I've seen this one in a kitchen remodel. This is a great tip here as well.

[00:38:03] Eric Goranson: One of the common mistakes is people do a kitchen remodel, they'll pull the dishwasher out. And three months later, the dishwasher goes back in after the major remodel because it's a newer dishwasher. The problem is I've had about a 50 50 chance of that dishwasher going back up because all the crud that was inside has now gotten hard and it jams up the pump, the motor, all those different things.

[00:38:24] Eric Goranson: So be very careful when you're trying to reuse things. It can cost you more money in the long run because about 50 percent of the time you're either calling a repair person out or you're buying a new dishwasher later. Now, a lot of good contractors are going to warn you about that, but one little tip, uh, when you're doing that is to run four or five loads of empty dishes through there with soap to try to see if you can get that stuff out of there.

[00:38:49] Eric Goranson: Run some of the dishwasher cleaners through, see if you can get all the food stuff out of there. That's the hardest part is the old food stuff that's trapped in it. When you're running it for a few days, it doesn't have a chance [00:39:00] to bake in there and get really hard. But it does dry out when you store that thing.

[00:39:04] Eric Goranson: So be very careful with how that works, because I tell you what, if you're doing a kitchen remodel, you might be better off just getting a brand new dishwasher and garbage disposal. When you do the project, it might save you money in the long run. All right, everybody, time to go out to break. We come back our number two on the radio and don't forget to grab the next hour in the podcast.

[00:39:23] Eric Goranson: Thanks for tuning in.