I was recently in a home where the owners were renovating a bathroom. They pointed excitedly to the granite countertop, the whirlpool bath, the gold-plated faucet, and the other truly wonderful features such as a steam towel warmer. Then one said, "When we sell this place, just imagine how much money we'll make!"

So I tried doing just that. They had a modest home and their improvements far and away exceeded the neighborhood's norms. No way could I imagine any buyer paying them back anything close to what it cost them to renovate, not in their neighborhood. They would receive only a fraction of each dollar they spent. Unfortunately, the house was a white elephant -- overrenovated.

If they were the exception, I would have just sadly shook my head at the oddity. But, from the great number of home renovations I've seen, I suspect they are more the rule. Most people either over-or underrenovate their homes. Very few have the keen insight to know just how much to put in, in order to get the most back.

Of course, some people point out that renovation is done to please the renovator, hence who cares about the money recouped on sale. Yet, just as I've never met a poker player who liked to lose, I've never met a renovator who liked to lose money on a project. Yes, it's definitely to enjoy the results that most of us remodel, but a home is usually our biggest investment and very few of us can afford to overlook the money side of renovating.

And that's the genesis of this book. I wanted to create a guide that would truly explain how the money works in renovation projects -- how to realistically determine the amount you'll get back from your renovation project without resorting to overly simplified charts found elsewhere.

More than that, having built homes from the ground up as well as having done dozens of renovations myself, I wanted to point out the many tips and traps that could benefit readers in the related areas of how to handle contractors and contracts, get accurate bids, work with plans and permissions, and even how to do the projects entirely yourself.

The result is this comprehensive guide to home renovating. It shows you the pitfalls you could trip into when dealing with material suppliers, workers, architects, contractors, and even yourself when you do the work on your own. It goes on to show you how to do projects like a pro giving a multitude of tips on how to save money, time, patience, your health, and even your emotional stability.

From selecting projects that will return the most money to identifying which jobs should be avoided to going through all the steps in the right order to get the best looking and least expensive result, this book will show you the way to a better, cost-saving, profit-producing renovation.

Robert Irwin