Part of the joy of owning a home is being able to tailor it to suit your individual tastes and preferences. The right renovation can be transformative – but if you fail to plan properly, costs can spiral, and the results might end up being less than satisfactory.
Let’s take a look at how to approach planning for your dream renovation.
Setting a Realistic Renovation Budget
Your renovation ambitions will be limited by the resources you have available. First, come up with a bottom-line figure for how much you’d like to spend. Then, break this figure down into the different areas of spending. Estimate the costs for every separate area. For a kitchen renovation, this might be broken down into things like appliances, tiling, plastering, worktops, plumbing, electricity and restructuring work. Make sure that you leave yourself enough spare cash that you can keep the project going if you come up against unexpected delays and expenses.
Once you have a budget, you’ll be able to make adjustments. You won’t be distracted by things you can’t afford, and you’ll be able to focus on the things that will really make a difference in your renovation.
Hiring the Right Professionals for the Job
If you fail to bring in the right trusted professionals, then your renovation project is unlikely to deliver. Look for recommendations from other homeowners, and from the tradespeople you’ve already established good relations with. Google can be an excellent source of information and reviews, as can sites like Checkatrade.
Managing Renovation Risks and Staying Protected
While choosing reliable professionals is essential, it’s also wise to consider renovation insurance to protect your home and investment in case of accidents, damage, or unexpected issues during the project.
You can also mitigate and limit the risks you face by making sure that you have legal agreements in place with all of your contractors, and that the job is clearly defined in each case. In almost every case, it should be possible to resolve a dispute with a reputable contractor – problems only tend to arise from misunderstanding. If you’re unsure, getting everything down in writing might be essential.
Keeping Your Renovation on Track: Timelines and Communication
If you have a timeline to work with, then your project will be much more easily managed. Your timeline will allow you to establish when each phase of a project will be completed. This will allow you to be precise when you’re communicating your expectations.
For example, if you know that a room is going to be ready for plastering on a given week, and you know that your plasterer will take a day or two to do the work (and another few days for the plaster to dry), you might book a decorator in for the following week.
Love,
*This is a collaborative post