Home Renovation Projects are an excellent way for increasing the price of your residential property. Or you may want to do it just because you feel like your home is due for some sprucing up. According to one study of homeowners, approximately 73 percent of them plan to do some renovations in a given year.
However, home renovations can take an awful long time. According to some experts, home renovations can range between 4 to 8 months before completion. This depends on the scale of your renovation. If you’re simply changing the wallpaper in your dining room, you’ll probably be done in a few weeks. But if you don’t like your carport design, it may take months.
If you don’t want your home renovation projects to take any longer or you want to improve your project processes, here are six tips you should keep in mind.
Plan a Realistic Budget
Endless home renovations can become bottomless money pits. After you’re done changing the wallpaper in the kitchen, you may be tempted to repaint the ceiling or change the parquets floor. The best way to prevent this from happening is to plan a realistic budget ahead of time. This will stop your project’s costs from ballooning and help you stay within your timeframe. It will also restrict what you may be tempted to add along the way, letting you finish your project without extra costs.
Safety First
Home renovations can already drag on for too long without being complicated by injuries and accidents. When you’re improving your home on your own, make sure you have appropriate construction safety materials in the building site. For example, if you’re repainting a garage, make sure you have breathing apparatus and adequate ventilation equipment. If the construction site is large enough, you’ll need signs to warn pedestrians and other people from possible debris or other obstructions. Putting safety first will improve your project and prevent potential lawsuits.
Pick Most Expensive Items
This tip may seem counterintuitive for planning a realistic budget, but this advice has merit. Pick the most expensive items you want first and structure your budget around them. For example, if you’re renovating your bathroom, choosing that lovely clawfoot bathtub you’ve always wanted first will let you manipulate the rest of your budget to accommodate it. Now you can choose affordable tiles and paint while being able to enjoy your luxurious new tub.
Secure Permits for Your Home Renovation Projects
Home renovations are more complicated than you think because some of them involve securing building permits from the local government. Almost all extensive external renovation will need a building permit and many internal home improvements will need them too. Unless you want to be slapped with a large fine or face an inspection, you better double-check local regulations and secure your permits as soon as possible. This will prevent any work stoppage and let you continue your home renovation without a hitch.
Vet Contractors
Some renovations are too big for you to tackle on your own. This is why building contractors exist. However, not all construction businesses are the same and some of them are less trustworthy than others. There are many ways you can check on the reliability of a contractor before you choose them. First, you can check their credentials on the internet. But online reviews can be misleading or untruthful, especially in the age of multiple and robot accounts. The second method is by choosing only contractors that people you know personally have worked with. Your personal contacts can make their recommendations and you can determine if they’re the contractors for you.
Secure Alternative Lodgings
Because home renovations can stretch for weeks or even months, you will need to secure a different place to live before you even begin. Ideally, it would be somewhere nearby, so you don’t have to go out of your way to get back to your normal routine. Alternative lodgings close at hand will also make it easier for you to keep an eye on the renovation. Make sure your alternative lodgings have flexible arrangements because unforeseen circumstances could extend the length of your projects and you don’t want to be booted out with anywhere to go.
Home renovations are certainly challenging aspects of being a homeowner, but they don’t have to be. A lot of foresight and plenty of proper planning can make these times go by faster and cost you less money. With the tips above, you can reduce the length a home improvement project takes and still have your wonderful new home after all the dust has settled.
