Laundry and mudroom remodel budget: owner-bought appliances and small change orders

In this example two approved change orders, a shelf above the washer and a bench upgrade, each push their line past its budget, and only the part above each line budget counts as contingency used.

General information only, not financial, construction or legal advice. Contingency, holdback and payment-split percentages are your own inputs, and payment and deposit rules vary by contract and by state or province; check yours. Names and numbers in the example are invented.

What changes for this kind of project

This remodel has two firms and a few owner purchases. The carpenter holds the shelving, the bench and the flooring, the electrician holds the outlets, and you buy the washer, dryer and paint with no contractor. The Contractors tab then lists the two firms and totals the owner purchases in a separate row, while Laundry room and Mudroom each get a row in Rooms & Summary.

The shelf and the bench upgrade are approved, and both lines now sit above their line budgets. The extra outlet is only proposed, so it is pending exposure and not Committed. The flooring line has no quote yet, so Committed does not include it.

A worked example: Laundry/mudroom remodel, 150 sq ft

Invented numbers, to show the shape. Settings on Start Here: contingency 12% (an example value you set), total project budget $12,200.

The contingency pool is $1,464 ($12,200 x 12%). That leaves $10,736 to share out as line budgets. The lines below add up to $10,700, so $36 is unallocated.

Change orders on the Change Orders tab. Only Approved rows move into Committed:

What the summary shows

• Committed: $8,800. Paid: $5,650. Unpaid commitment: $3,150.
• Contingency used: $450, what each line's committed total goes above its line budget, added up. Contingency left now: $1,014.
• Pending exposure (Proposed change orders): $120. Contingency left if every proposed change order were approved: $1,014.

Where each piece goes in the workbook

1. Start Here: Type the total budget, which includes the contingency pool, the contingency percentage and two contractors: Timber Built Carpentry and Brookside Electric. The washer and dryer and the paint are owner-bought, so they get no contractor.
2. Budget: The carpenter has three lines: shelving, bench and flooring. Flooring has no accepted quote yet, so it reads Not committed. The washer and dryer line carries the price you paid as its accepted quote.
3. Change Orders: Log the shelf and the bench upgrade as Approved against their Line IDs and the extra outlet as Proposed. The two approved rows raise Committed on lines that are now over budget; the outlet is pending exposure only.
4. Payments: Enter each payment with its Line ID and invoice reference. If the Payments total differs from the Paid total on the Budget tab, the tie-out check is telling you a Line ID is blank or misspelled.

Two formulas worth a cell of their own

• Committed for one room: =SUMIFS(Budget!$K$6:$K$65,Budget!$B$6:$B$65,"Laundry room") returns $6,750 on this example.
• Contingency used, the sum of the Overrun now column: =SUM(Budget!$S$6:$S$65) returns $450.

Four tracking tips

1. A change order draws on the pool only when a line's Committed goes above its line budget. The shelf and bench lines each had a little room under budget first, so only the part above that room counts as contingency used.
2. The carpenter's percent milestones on the Cash Schedule use the original quote. List the approved shelf and bench add-ons as Fixed $ rows, or the Cash Schedule leaves them out of its still-to-pay total.
3. Leave the flooring line without an accepted quote until the carpenter's number is agreed. It reads Not committed with Committed at 0, and its Forecast column uses the line budget in the meantime.
4. The extra outlet is Proposed, so it counts only as pending exposure. The electrical line is under its line budget, so approving the outlet would not draw on the contingency. Check Overrun if pending approved to confirm.

Questions

Should I list the washer and dryer separately or as one line?

Here they are one Appliances & fixtures line with one price and one flag for both. Split them into two lines if you want each unit's price and flag on its own; each payment then goes against its own Line ID.

What if the carpenter's flooring quote comes in above the line budget?

Type it as the accepted quote. Committed rises to that figure, the line reads Over budget, and the part above the line budget is counted as contingency used. Check Contingency left now afterward.

Related renovation guides

• Renovation budget by room spreadsheet: SUMIFS per room, with an overrun flag
• Contractor payment schedule template for homeowners in Excel
• DIY renovation expense tracker spreadsheet: receipts by room and category

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