Collaborative post
When taking on large projects, such as a whole house renovation there are many things to consider. Not only do you need to decide on what work you will do to certain areas of your home, costs, and schedules, but you must also ensure that the entire integrity and foundations of the property are safe and secure before any work commences, so as not to waste your time, money, and effort redoing or repairing the planned work. To help you get your project started on an even keel here are several important things to consider when planning a whole house renovation.
Make a plan for your renovation project
If you want any project to be a success, then you must create some kind of plan to follow, as without one there are a whole array of problems that can occur. These problems can range from financial difficulties to timetable and schedule clashes between contractors, the use of incorrect materials, and even several health and safety concerns. The project plan that you create can be as detailed or vague as you like, as long as you, and everybody else has some kind of idea about what is going on. However, it is advisable to spend some real time on your plan, and make it as detailed as possible, as this will help ensure smooth sailing throughout your renovation project. A few things to include in your plan would be budgets, timescales, schedules, required work, materials needed, tools required, various contractor information, schematics, and possibly end results.
Don’t forget about your outdoor buildings
Whether you have garages, sheds, small outbuildings, or a granny annexe on your property, these structures can often get forgotten about when planning for a whole house renovation, and cause uncalculated costs at a later date. Luckily, due to their size and uses, these structures often need only a little work doing to them to bring them up to part. For example, it might be that all you need to invest in is some bitumen sheets for sheds and garages to repair a roof, or a new secure door to keep the elements and animals out. Whatever work needs doing to your outdoor buildings, just ensure you consider them in your renovation plans.
Relevant planning permissions
Applying for, and obtaining the relevant planning permissions is a very important consideration to think about if you are planning on a whole house renovation. It is likely that you won’t need to apply for any kind of permission for most of the jobs you plan on doing throughout your renovation. However, if you plan on building an extension, or converting your loft into a livable area then you will need to look into what kinds of planning permission you require before starting any work.
Remember to look at your roof
Looking at the roof of your home probably isn’t something that you do very often, and therefore it is likely that you won’t consider the work or repairs that need taking into consideration during your planned home renovation. Although the roof of your home is designed to withstand the harsh elements of each season, they are still subject to wear and tear. It would be a shame for you to put months of hard work and money into an entire renovation, just for your roof to fail during the next winter or storm and ruin everything. Often there is very minimal work to be done to roof renovations, unless of course, you are planning to redo the entire roof. As a side note, while you are up there, it would also be the perfect time to check on the condition of your guttering. If your gutters are in poor condition, all the water that runs off your roof will simply drip down the side of your home, and potentially cause damp issues.
Hiring professional contractors
Home renovations come in all shapes and sizes. When you are planning a smaller renovation (for example one room) it is easy enough to carry out a lot of the work yourself so as to help with costs. However, if you are planning on doing a whole home renovation it is likely you will have to consider hiring professional contractors to help complete the work. Although there will be additional costs involved in hiring contractors, you will receive many extra benefits such as reduced timescales for the work to be completed, a high-quality finish, relevant qualifications and certificates, along with in-depth knowledge of their trades. So, although it might seem cheaper to do as much of the renovation yourself as possible, it might be worth considering hiring professionals to get some of the bigger jobs done quicker, to a higher standard, and to allow you that little extra piece of mind.
The Finer Details
It’s all well and good planning all of those big details because obviously they need to be done, but what about the finer details? Once you have completed the bulk of the renovation, you still have things like the decor to get sorted. We know it might not feel like an important consideration but it is definitely going to be one. Take the time to think about what kind of style you want for each room in your home, look around online for any pieces that you might like for the rooms, see if you can find some cheap rugs that look amazing and things like this.
Whether you live in your home during the renovation
When people take on an entire home renovation, often the home is empty and this is not a consideration that needs to be taken into account. However, if you currently live in the property that you are planning to renovate then this will be something you need to think about. You might need to consider doing the renovation room by room so that you cause as little disruption to your life as possible. Another option is to look for temporary accommodation so that you can complete the renovation work in one go, and as quickly as possible.
Include your garden
If you own a garden then you might want to consider including this in your renovation project. If you are already spending a lot of time and effort to make the inside and outside of your house nice, you might as well include everything else inside your boundaries. After all, it would be a shame to do all that work to your home, only to walk outside into a garden area that you are not happy with.
To make sure you don’t miss out on any vital steps when it comes to a complete home renovation, make sure you take these considerations into account.
