How Many Followers Would You Need to Finance Your Renovation?
Renovating a home, whether you’re doing a full house makeover, or focusing solely on one room, can be costly.
From large projects that include upgrades like an extension, new roof windows or a conservatory, to smaller tasks like building new decking or adding extra insulation - there’s a lot to consider and budget for, with many people deciding to do some of the works themselves to save some cash.
Renovation Inspiration
Many of us turn to social media to find inspiration - whether it’s Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram or YouTube - the world’s most followed home renovation accounts can rack up hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views.
And for those with a big enough following, the benefits can be huge, with brand deals, ad revenue and sponsored posts giving renovators the opportunity to finance their latest projects, just from their social influence.
But just how many followers, views, and posts would you need to bring in enough money to cover the cost of different renovation and building works?
How To Get Your Renovation for Free
From loft conversions, to a new kitchen – we've consulted different industry sources to calculate an average cost for a whole range of different renovation and DIY tasks.
Using social media industry estimates, we’ve then calculated the number of social engagements, including views on YouTube and TikTok, and followers on Instagram, that you would need to finance a whole renovation and each individual task.
On TikTok, it’s possible to earn £0.02 to £0.03 per 1,000 views. On YouTube, the average YouTube creator receives £5.75 per 1,000 views (assuming that everybody watches the ads on their channel), and on Instagram, influencers need at least 5k followers to start earning, and then they can earn around £250 per sponsored post.
Our research shows a full renovation would cost around £70,000 for a three-bed house (for all labour and materials) and that would include:
|
Renovation |
Cost |
|
Full Kitchen Renovation |
£11,500 |
|
Bi-Fold Doors Out Into the Garden |
£5,500 |
|
Full Bathroom Renovation |
£5,500 |
|
Replastering Walls and Ceilings |
£12,000 |
|
New Windows Throughout |
£3,500 |
|
Full Electrical Rewire |
£5,750 |
|
Internal Painting Throughout |
£2,600 |
|
Painting All Internal Doors |
£350 |
|
Replacing All Skirting Boards |
£1,925 |
|
New Wooden Flooring Throughout |
£5,850 |
|
New Central Heating System (Boiler and Radiators) |
£3,500 |
|
Decking in Garden |
£2,600 |
|
Patio in Garden |
£1,950 |
|
New Lawn |
£875 |
|
TOTAL |
£70,200 |
To completely fund this level of renovation project from sponsorships, sponsored posts and ad revenue from your social media accounts, you’d need to rack up 3,052,173,913 views on TikTok or 12,208,696 views on YouTube or have 1,404,000 followers on Instagram.
Top 15 Renovation Projects That Require the Biggest Social Following to Finance
Unsurprisingly, it is the bigger projects that are the most expensive, and therefore would need the most views and followers on social media.
Ranking as the most expensive part of a renovation, is a loft conversion, costing on average £45,000 to complete. To cover the cost, you'd need just under 1 million (900,000) Instagram followers, or a whopping 1.9 billion views on TikTok. To finance the project via YouTube, you would need 7.8 million views, so it’s fair to say that you’d need to go pretty viral or have built up a hefty following over time, to finance a new loft entirely from online activity.
For an extension, you’d need 750,000 Instagram followers, a garage conversion requires 290,000 followers on Instagram and to replaster your walls and ceilings, you need to get to 240,000 Instagram followers.
|
Rank |
Renovation |
Installation Cost (£) |
Materials Cost (£) |
Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Followers |
|
1 |
Loft Conversion |
45,000 |
45,000 |
1,956,521,739 |
7,826,087 |
900,000 |
|
|
2 |
Extension |
37,500 |
37,500 |
1,630,434,783 |
6,521,739 |
750,000 |
|
|
3 |
Garage Conversion |
14,500 |
14,500 |
630,434,783 |
2,521,739 |
290,000 |
|
|
4 |
Re-Plaster Walls & Ceilings (Re-Skim Existing) |
12,000 |
12,000 |
521,739,130 |
2,086,957 |
240,000 |
|
|
5 |
Kitchen Renovation |
3,500 |
8,000 |
11,500 |
500,000,000 |
2,000,000 |
230,000 |
|
6 |
Rendering Home Exterior |
10,882 |
10,882 |
473,130,435 |
1,892,522 |
217,640 |
|
|
7 |
Conservatory |
9,000 |
9,000 |
391,304,348 |
1,565,217 |
180,000 |
|
|
8 |
Underfloor Heating Throughout |
2,100 |
5,600 |
7,700 |
334,782,609 |
1,339,130 |
154,000 |
|
9 |
New Roof |
6,750 |
6,750 |
293,478,261 |
1,173,913 |
135,000 |
|
|
10 |
Engineered Wooden Flooring Install |
2,350 |
3,500 |
5,850 |
254,347,826 |
1,017,391 |
117,000 |
|
11 |
Full Electrical Rewire |
5,750 |
5,750 |
250,000,000 |
1,000,000 |
115,000 |
|
|
12 |
Bi-Fold Doors Out Into the Garden |
800 |
4,750 |
5,550 |
241,304,348 |
965,217 |
111,000 |
|
13 |
Full Bathroom Renovation |
4,500 |
1,000 |
5,500 |
239,130,435 |
956,522 |
110,000 |
|
14 |
Water Feature Installation |
2,000 |
2500 |
4,500 |
195,652,174 |
782,609 |
90,000 |
|
15 |
Wet Room Installation |
1,850 |
1,698 |
3,548 |
154,260,870 |
617,043 |
70,960 |
Top 15 Renovation Projects That Require the Smallest Social Following to Finance
The least expensive renovation work is tiling above kitchen work surfaces. Costing around £275 on average for both installation and materials, you would only need 5,500 followers on Instagram to finance a new look for your kitchen surfaces, or around 11,956,522 views on TikTok.
For a slightly more luxury renovation, prospective renovation Instagrammers would need 33,500 followers (or around 291,304 views on YouTube) to install a TV in the bathroom – perfect for wind-down after a long day of renovating houses (and posting about it afterwards, of course).
Painting internal doors, a new front door and replacing a bath all feature in the top five, and each need under 13,000 Instagram followers and less than 115,000 views on YouTube.
|
Rank |
Renovation |
Installation Cost (£) |
Materials Cost (£) |
Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Followers |
|
1 |
Tile Above Kitchen Work Surface up to Wall Cupboards |
275 |
275 |
11,956,522 |
47,826 |
5,500 |
|
|
2 |
Painting All Internal Doors |
350 |
350 |
15,217,391 |
60,870 |
7,000 |
|
|
3 |
New Front Door |
85 |
350 |
435 |
18,913,043 |
75,652 |
8,700 |
|
4 |
Replacing the Bath |
650 |
650 |
28,260,870 |
113,043 |
13,000 |
|
|
5 |
Underfloor Heating Fitted in Kitchen |
300 |
500 |
800 |
34,782,609 |
139,130 |
16,000 |
|
6 |
Garden Shed |
300 |
550 |
850 |
36,956,522 |
147,826 |
17,000 |
|
7 |
New Lawn |
875 |
875 |
38,043,478 |
152,174 |
17,500 |
|
|
8 |
Repainting Kitchen Cupboards |
900 |
900 |
39,130,435 |
156,522 |
18,000 |
|
|
9 |
Retile Bathroom - Floor and Walls |
750 |
360 |
1,110 |
48,260,870 |
193,043 |
22,200 |
|
10 |
External Painting |
1,300 |
1,300 |
56,521,739 |
226,087 |
26,000 |
|
|
11 |
Artificial Grass |
1,350 |
1,350 |
58,695,652 |
234,783 |
27,000 |
|
|
12 |
Knocking a Wall Down |
1,475 |
1,475 |
64,130,435 |
256,522 |
29,500 |
|
|
13 |
Installing a Downstairs Toilet |
1,000 |
650 |
1,650 |
71,739,130 |
286,957 |
33,000 |
|
14 |
Bathroom TV (including the TV) |
175 |
1,500 |
1,675 |
72,826,087 |
291,304 |
33,500 |
|
15 |
Replacing Skirting Boards (per Room) |
1,925 |
1,925 |
83,695,652 |
334,783 |
38,500 |
|
Social Following Required to Finance Bathroom Projects
If you wanted to completely transform your bathroom with a full renovation, it would cost around £5,500 – to finance this, you’d need over 239 million views on TikTok, or almost 1 million views on YouTube or 110,000 Instagram followers.
For other individual bathroom renovation projects, a wet room installation would cost you just over £3,500 or 70,960 Instagram followers, and a bathroom TV would need just 33,500 followers (or £1,675).
|
Renovation |
Installation Cost (£) |
Materials Cost (£) |
Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Followers |
|
Full Bathroom Renovation |
4,500 |
1,000 |
5,500 |
239,130,435 |
956,522 |
110,000 |
|
Wet Room Installation |
1,850 |
1,698 |
3,548 |
154,260,870 |
617,043 |
70,960 |
|
Bathroom TV (Including the TV) |
175 |
1,500 |
1,675 |
72,826,087 |
291,304 |
33,500 |
|
Re-Tile Bathroom - Floor and Walls |
750 |
360 |
1,110 |
48,260,870 |
193,043 |
22,200 |
|
Replacing the Bath |
650 |
650 |
28,260,870 |
113,043 |
13,000 |
|
Social Following Required to Finance Kitchen Projects
In the kitchen, again, it’s a full room renovation that will cost you the most, with the average kitchen renovation costing £11,500. This is the equivalent of 500 million views on TikTok or over 2 million views on YouTube, meaning you’d have to get creating some great content to finance this particular renovation work.
A smaller job in the kitchen would be to just repaint the kitchen cupboards – this would sert you back by around £900 on average, or 39 million views on TikTok.
|
Renovation |
Installation Cost (£) |
Materials Cost (£) |
Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Followers |
|
Kitchen Renovation |
3,500 |
8,000 |
11,500 |
500,000,000 |
2,000,000 |
230,000 |
|
Bi-fold Doors Out Into Garden |
800 |
4,750 |
5,550 |
241,304,348 |
965,217 |
111,000 |
|
Repainting Kitchen Cupboards |
900 |
900 |
39,130,435 |
156,522 |
18,000 |
|
|
Tile Above Kitchen Work Surface Up to Wall Cupboards |
275 |
275 |
11,956,522 |
47,826 |
5,500 |
|
Social Following Required to Finance Full House Projects
When looking at renovation projects that cover the whole house, replastering the walls and ceilings is the most expensive job, with the work costing £12,000 on average to carry out. This is the equivalent of over 520 million views on TikTok or a fairly large following of around 240,000 on Instagram.
|
Renovation |
Installation Cost (£) |
Materials Cost (£) |
Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Followers |
|
Re-Plaster Walls & Ceilings (Re-Skim Existing) |
12,000 |
12,000 |
521,739,130 |
2,086,957 |
240,000 |
|
|
Engineered Wooden Flooring Install |
2,350 |
3,500 |
5,850 |
254,347,826 |
1,017,391 |
117,000 |
|
Full Electrical Rewire |
5,750 |
5,750 |
250,000,000 |
1,000,000 |
115,000 |
|
|
New UPVC Windows Throughout |
3,500 |
3,500 |
152,173,913 |
608,696 |
70,000 |
|
|
New Central Heating System (Boiler and Radiators) |
3,500 |
3,500 |
152,173,913 |
608,696 |
70,000 |
|
|
Internal Painting Throughout |
2,600 |
2,600 |
113,043,478 |
452,174 |
52,000 |
|
|
New Carpet Fitting Throughout Home |
270 |
2,238 |
2,508 |
109,043,478 |
436,174 |
50,160 |
|
Replacing Skirting Boards (per Room) |
1,925 |
1,925 |
83,695,652 |
334,783 |
38,500 |
|
|
Underfloor Heating Fitted in Kitchen |
300 |
500 |
800 |
34,782,609 |
139,130 |
16,000 |
|
Painting All Internal Doors |
350 |
350 |
15,217,391 |
60,870 |
7,000 |
|
Social Following Required to Finance Building Works Projects
On the smaller end of the scale, knocking down a wall (great for opening up space in your home) is the least expensive way type of building renovation work. Costing around £1,475 on average to carry out, you would only need 29,500 Instagram followers to finance the work.
At the other end of the scale, a loft conversion – typically costing around £45,000 – would require almost 1 million followers on Instagram – the highest number of followers and views required of all the renovation works we analysed.
|
Renovation |
Average Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Instagram Followers |
|
Loft Conversion |
45,000 |
1,956,521,739 |
7,826,087 |
900,000 |
|
Building an Extension |
37,500 |
1,630,434,783 |
6,521,739 |
750,000 |
|
New Roof |
6,750 |
293,478,261 |
1,173,913 |
135,000 |
|
New Staircase |
2,750 |
119,565,217 |
478,261 |
55,000 |
|
Knocking Wall Down |
1,475 |
64,130,435 |
256,522 |
29,500 |
Social Following Required to Finance Garden Projects
New decking in the garden would cost around £2,600 – the equivalent of 52,000 Instagram followers or over 450,000 YouTube views. For those just starting out with their social profile, a garden shed costs just £850 - the equivalent of 17,000 followers on Instagram.
|
Renovation |
Installation Cost (£) |
Materials Cost (£) |
Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Followers |
|
Water Feature Installation |
2,000 |
2500 |
4,500 |
195,652,174 |
782,609 |
90,000 |
|
Summer House |
1625 |
1750 |
3375 |
146,739,130 |
586,957 |
67,500 |
|
New Garden Decking |
2,600 |
2,600 |
113,043,478 |
452,174 |
52,000 |
|
|
Laying a Patio |
1,950 |
1,950 |
84,782,609 |
339,130 |
39,000 |
|
|
Artificial Grass |
1,350 |
1,350 |
58,695,652 |
234,783 |
27,000 |
|
|
New Lawn |
875 |
875 |
38,043,478 |
152,174 |
17,500 |
|
|
Garden Shed |
300 |
550 |
850 |
36,956,522 |
147,826 |
17,000 |
Social Following Required to Finance External Works Projects
For work on the exterior of the home, it was a new front door which ranked in as the cheapest project to undertake. Costing around £435, budding influencers would only need just over 75,000 views on YouTube or 8,700 followers on Instagram.
For bigger projects, including a garage conversion or rendering the outside of a house, you’d need to build up 290,000 followers or between 1.8 and 2.5 million views in order to finance the work.
|
Renovation |
Installation Cost (£) |
Materials Cost (£) |
Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Followers |
|
Garage Conversion |
14,500 |
14,500 |
630,434,783 |
2,521,739 |
290,000 |
|
|
Rendering House Exterior |
10,882 |
10,882 |
473,130,435 |
1,892,522 |
217,640 |
|
|
New Porch |
200 |
1750 |
1,950 |
84,782,609 |
339,130 |
39,000 |
|
External Painting |
1,300 |
1,300 |
56,521,739 |
226,087 |
26,000 |
|
|
New Front Door |
85 |
350 |
435 |
18,913,043 |
75,652 |
8,700 |
Social Following Required to Finance Ground Floor Works Projects
Building a conservatory would require you to have the biggest following. Over 1.5 million YouTube views or 180,000 Instagram followers are needed to finance the conservatory building works, which on average cost around £9,000.
|
Renovation element |
Installation Cost (£) |
Materials Cost (£) |
Total Cost (£) |
TikTok Views |
YouTube Views |
Followers |
|
Building a Conservatory |
9,000 |
9,000 |
391,304,348 |
1,565,217 |
180,000 |
|
|
Underfloor Heating Throughout |
2,100 |
5,600 |
7,700 |
334,782,609 |
1,339,130 |
154,000 |
|
Installing a Downstairs Toilet |
1,000 |
650 |
1,650 |
71,739,130 |
286,957 |
33,000 |
Tom Pallot, a Digital Strategist at Definition Agency, recently renovated his home and started a renovation Instagram account.
“Our renovation took just under a year. To save on costs, we got quotes for every single aspect and then trimmed down to suit our budget – including allowing for an extra 10-15% for the inevitable extra costs.
We also carried out a lot of the smaller jobs ourselves. We stripped wallpaper, washed down walls, filled in and then painted. We also sanded down and varnished the wooden floors and completely cleared out the overgrown and coal bunker filled garden - relaying lawn and replanting the border.
The whole renovation cost around £60,000 and we saved around £10,000 by doing some of the work ourselves.
To find inspiration, we followed property Instagram accounts like Farrow and Ball, Louise Roe Home, and Home and Gardens UK.
We did start a renovation account on Instagram (@seeking_southsea) – but it was too much of a commitment to maintain!”
---
Methodology and Sources:
We used building industry sources (listed below) to reveal the labour and material costs of completing a range of building and home renovation works. We then, using leading social media industry insights (also listed below) on the monetary value of one follower or view, calculated how many followers and views you would need on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to finance each of the renovation works.
Social Media Sources:
- https://pages.sevensixagency.com/influencer-pricing-report
- https://influencermarketinghub.com/youtube-money-calculator/
- https://socialpubli.com/blog/how-many-followers-on-tiktok-to-get-paid/
