Some helpful links:
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/renovation-vs-remodel/
VIDEO DIALOGUE:
So what’s the difference between a remodel and a renovation? These similar terms are not synonymous, and it can be important to know the difference if you’re looking for an existing home renovation, or remodel.
Here’s the deal, you already know that each term refers to improvements made on a house. That’s pretty obvious.
A renovation will change the look and feel of a room – or an entire structure. You’re not changing the purpose of the rooms. Generally you’re resurfacing floors, painting walls, and switching cabinet and door hardware. It does involve some structural building, but a lot of that has to do with updates to existing things that need to be fixed.
In a remodel, the design and structure are often altered. The purpose of a remodel is to change the function and design of an area. You might push a wall back a few feet to make more room in a bathroom for additional amenities, or to move the plumbing or electrical around. You might tear down a wall to open up an area between a kitchen, dining room and living room to give that area a more open floor plan.
Say you want to make a master bathroom bigger in a 100 year old house. Evidently people were a lot smaller 100 years ago than we are now. You could push back a wall, move the existing tub from one wall to another, along with the plumbing, and put the sink in a different spot. Maybe even put in a shower, because if this is a 100 year old house, it might not have had one. That’s a remodel.
Are you ruining the historical integrity? Not necessarily. You can use the same, or other era specific sinks and tubs, and they do make shower extensions for claw-foot tubs you can put in with a ring around the top for a shower curtain. It’s all doable, and keeps that feel you bought the house for. You could also renovate, but in that case, you’re doing more of the type of updates that create a different aesthetic, as opposed to a different function or more space.
Whether you’re talking to a REALTOR about the type of home you’re looking for, or you’re talking to a contractor about doing work on a house you own, you want to know whether you’re talking about renovating or remodeling. Because they are different things and the costs are very different. A remodel is generally much more expensive. A renovation can require a building permit, but a remodel always does.
There are some great articles I found on this topic, I’ll post below this video. Check those out, and let me know if I can help in your journey in any way.