A home renovation is a big deal but it can be the most effective way of making sure that you have a home that you absolutely love. They’re also significantly cheaper than building one from scratch. But you need to be careful with them. One bad or misguided choice can make it a nightmare of an experience. So take some of the stress off your shoulders by making the big decisions and plans well in advance.
Know why you want to renovate
The most important part of a successful renovation is the motivation. If you’re unsure of what you want, if you just want ‘something better’, don’t be surprised if you don’t like the result. Create a real list of wants and needs. Do you want to increase the value of the home? Is there a room you think would benefit from a lot more space? Don’t leave it up to whoever you contract to try and figure out what you want. Know what you want. Quantify it. Even make a floor plan of the post-renovation home. Just make sure you’re as accurate as can be with measurements. You don’t want to get that wrong.
Get prices on absolutely everything
Renovations might not be as expensive as building your own home from scratch but they’re certainly not cheap. For that reason, you should be as watchful as a hawk over expenses. Get into detail with everything you’re going to need. Building and plumbing materials. Waste Disposal and removal costs. Even the choice of machinery. If you’re going to need to hire fork lifts, then research the options near you yourself. Tidy it all up into a budget. Account, of course, for mistakes as well as the fee for the renovations themselves. This is vital for keeping yourself from running out of money in the middle of the operation. That’s how you end up with a real unfinished disaster on your hands.
Choose renovators you trust
If you’ve never hired a team for a renovation before, then you’re naturally going to be wary about who you hire. But there are some easy ways of getting that wariness out of the way. The most important part is finding out about their experience first-hand. They should have examples of homes they’ve worked on on their site. If you can, try to get in touch with those homeowners or even take a look at the home. Find out their opinion and get a look yourself. Make sure that the company you’re after takes care of the whole process. Some will only do certain steps, a designer who passes you to a construction crew or vice versa. Even after you choose them, of course, you should keep yourself as part of the key decision-making team during the project.
Any home renovation is going to be quite a stressful experience. But if you stick with the tips above, it should at least be a stressful experience with a happy ending. Make sure you plan your budget well in advance. Know what you want and how you get there. Finally, make sure you’re getting renovators you can trust.
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