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3 Contractor Secrets to Save Thousands on Your Kitchen Renovation

Prefinished granite counter tops. Granite counter tops and backsplashes look great. They are also traditionally some of the most expensive items in a new kitchen. Prefinished granite slabs are polished and cut to standard sizes before they are imported, which lowers costs significantly. The rule for granite: custom edge cutting costs money. Plan your design around the standard sizes and you can save hundreds, sometimes thousands and still get the counter top of your dreams.

Slate: Natural beauty, reasonable price. A slate floor is a great way to give any project a natural, refined look without blowing the budget. With new slate producing regions exporting more and more product to the North American market, the price of slate has dropped considerably. Tiles that once cost $12/SQF now cost $3-4. While slate comes in a wide variety of colors, the best savings are on the grays, blacks and rusty browns coming out of Asia.

Don’t move the sink! Try to work around the existing services layout. Moving plumbing, electrical, gas and duct work (think range hood) are all expensive design choices. Relocating the sink and the dishwasher will cost you the most. Even small moves of a few feet will often cost hundreds of dollars. The same is true for walls-if you are sticking to a tight budget, change the finishes and fixtures, but try to stay away from big changes to the structure of the spac

Tags: kitchen renovation, saving on kitchen