Beating The Rising Costs Of Home Improvement

By Author: Gary Nealon
Total Articles: 335
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Prices are rising on almost all goods and services. It is hard to believe that we might be heading into a depression, but still prices are increasing. However progress still has to be made, home improvements will still happen and no matter what the state of the economy is -- you still have to renovate that old kitchen; especially if you want to increase the value of your house.

I was aware that prices on home improvement products were increasing; if you're involved with the industry at all you will know things like electrical wire have tripled in price. But when I recently visited the home depot and noticed that nails have now tripled in price, the thought of that drove me right out of the store and onto the internet. It was not that rash of a decision; I had been researching internet prices versus retail prices and have seen a vast difference in price. Internet prices tend to be twenty to thirty percent less than a retail store. Of course there are the perceived problems with buying online, or at least I thought there were problems. I, like most people who have not bought products online, assumed that there could ...
... be issues, but quite the opposite happened when I decided to buy kitchen cabinets.

I wanted to buy a good, quality kitchen cabinet, but like most people I did not have a large amount of money to spend. I did some research and found that there are basically two types of cabinets. Assembled and un-assembled cabinets (also known as RTA: Ready To Assemble kitchen cabinets). I priced both and found that RTA kitchen cabinets were consistently thirty to thirty five percent lower than buying an assembled cabinet. I was thrilled, these cabinets looked as good or better that the assembled cabinets and the price was right for me.

Next, I found that the better RTA cabinets are not made of particle board. The quality RTA kitchen cabinets are made of solid wood fronts and paneled wood sides. Avoid any website that is selling RTA kitchen cabinets with particle board. (Note - the retail stores like the big box retailers predominantly sell particleboard and if they upgrade you to paneled wood, you will most certainty pay dearly for it).

So even though the economy has got most Americans down, the thought of finding quality cabinets at a bargain price improved my outlook on the cost of my renovation project. Just remember that even though retail stores advertise the lowest prices guaranteed, make sure you go online and compare prices before you buy. Especially when shopping for kitchen cabinets, it is essential to look online and see the difference in prices. Just remember that RTA kitchen cabinets will save you extra money. As always saving money is essential to making your kitchen renovation a success and the way to do this is buy following a few simple steps. Avoid retail, save travel time, save gas money and shop online; it will give you the boost you need to keep some money in this tough economy.
I have been remodeling houses for over 10 years... want to find out my secret to getting deals on bathroom vanities and bathroom furniture vanities? I have been able to save hundreds on each of my bathroom renovations.