A home renovation can be a wonderful experience or something you never want to do again. However, it mostly comes down to getting some of the basic first steps right before work begins. I have really enjoyed renovating our home and making it suit our family, it’s been stressful at times and a long wait – but it is definitely worth it.
Get to Know the Space
Even though it may seem obvious, you shouldn’t choose things like paint, flooring, and light fixtures until you’ve spent some time in the space you’re remodelling. This helps you to visualise the main points of your project, like choosing a colour scheme that will need to be made in order to come to a conclusion. For example, when you paint the walls and put down new carpet, you might notice that some light fixtures don’t give off as much light as you thought they would. You can save yourself a lot of trips if you take a little more time to think about how everything fits.
Plan, Plan, and Plan
Planning and scheduling for your renovation improve how well the work gets done and will reduce delays and hiccups. For example, managing materials well and distributing resources correctly saves time and money. Knowing and understanding your project also makes it easier for your contractor to ensure a project is completed on time and on budget. There is no guarantee a project will go without delays and interruptions. But you can mitigate most risks by having a plan, a backup plan and a disaster recovery plan for your construction team.
Home Renovation Needs a Fitting Timeline
Renovation will take longer than you think, so you need to plan a timeline for specific jobs. For example, it can take a few hours to take out the old fixtures, but it can take weeks to find new furniture that you love. Some of the stages to plan on your timeline include the following:
- Stripping, gutting and removal of interior materials.
- Critical structural work such as plumbing and electricals.
- Finishing the home, such as plastering and decorating.
The best advice is to set realistic expectations about how long it will take. Also, choose your new updates before the old ones are taken away. This way, you can have them ordered and delivered with minimal interference and ready to be placed by your contractor.
Shop Around for Contractor Work
Your top priority should be to find a contractor who can do good work. But you must consider all your options to find the best contractor. When looking for reliable commercial contractors, recommendations from people you know and trust who have just finished a project like yours are an excellent place to start. Read online reviews to find out about the contractor’s reputation by checking what others say. And check to see if they have the skills to handle your project, and make sure they are available to take on your project after finding someone good enough.
Expect Hiccups Along the Way
In general, most contractors expect around 30% of projects to suffer some kind of delay throughout. However, many unexpected things can be found during a property renovation. Like when your contractor comes to measure for your new hardwood floors and tells you that your floors aren’t even. As a result, you might have to call a home inspector to completely reassess the home. This is just one example of how you should plan for the unexpected. It helps by adding extra time and money to your plan to account for problems you didn’t expect.
Summary
You can make sure your home renovation goes well by building a solid (figurative) foundation. Begin by getting to know the space, develop a timeline and plan for and expect some hiccups.
