Starting a renovation at home is a challenging experience. But unlike building a new home, renovation allows you to start with the framework already there. Your existing home.
When renovating you will need to take into account your existing home and add to it. Renovating your home can give you more space, can add more value to your home and give you a better quality of home life.
Renovating your home can also be stressful which can be made worse when unforeseen issues crop up. To make your home renovation successful you will need to be prepared. Today we have gathered some of our best tips for making a project a success.
Get a survey
Before starting a home renovation project you should get a building survey from a chartered building surveyor. A survey can cost up to £1000 so it isn’t cheap but you will need one to make sure there are no major problems before starting a renovation.
Getting a survey won’t mean that you are protected completely against problems but it will help. Bear this in mind when you are budgeting for your renovation.
Create a budget
Budgeting is one of the most common mistakes home renovators make. Most home renovators don’t set a budget or don’t stick to one. If this is your first renovation you will want to stick to a budget.
Although it can be tempting to start a renovation project straight away, you should take your time and carry out research first. By researching contractors, materials, ideas and anything else you can think of you are far more likely to stick to your budget and make your home renovation project a success.
You should also factor in an emergency fund. Something will go wrong with your home renovation so set aside 10% for the unknowns. This will keep pressure off yourself and it will also keep the renovation running smoothly.
If you are finding it hard to stick to a budget, see if there is any work you can do yourself. Even if this means you help the contractor by cleaning up or if you have to create more realistic goals then so be it.
Get the right type of insurance
Restoring your home is a big commitment financially so you should make every effort to protect yourself and your building. You can do this by having the right type of home insurance.
When carrying out a home renovation you should have the following insurance:
- Building Insurance.
- Contents Insurance.
- Home Insurance.
- Life Insurance.
- Health Insurance.
Getting all of these insurances will help if a problem does occur.
When building or renovating your home having insurance to protect your items (contents insurance) is vital because with all the building equipment and work going on it’s easy for your items to get lost and damaged.
We spoke to Scott from Pink Storage Cardiff who said that “During a home renovation it’s easy for your valuables to get damaged. You should think of this before commissioning any work and you should move your items either into another room or into temporary storage if possible.”
If you do have space in another room we would advise moving your items there, or as mentioned above a storage unit is also a great option.
Check for restrictions
Your building could be listed or have listed features so check with the local planning office first to see if you can do the work that you plan to do. There’s nothing worse than starting a build and then realising you have wasted money because of restrictions.
Find the best contractor for your work
When you have all the paperwork in place you can then start shopping for the best contractor to carry out your job. When looking for a contractor do your research as you don’t want to be left with one that won’t see the project through.
You can look at past work, and testimonials and even ask them for previous customer details so you can do your due diligence. Remember to check the contractor’s website, too — a reliable renovation company will have relevant information about the available services and obtained certifications. Take a look at Rénovation Gatineau for an excellent reference.
When dealing with quotes you may not want to go for the cheapest one. In most lines of work, you get what you pay for so going cheap may mean that you end up spending money fixing the cheap work.
Do you need to renovate?
The final step you will want to ask yourself is do you need to renovate your home? Renovations do add money to your home but they are costly too. If you can make smarter furniture choices, remove some of the clutter from your home or even create multi-purpose rooms then you may not need to renovate at all.
If you have tried all of the above and you still need more space in your home then renovating is an option that should be considered.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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