Tips for Your Next Big Renovation Project
Thinking of a major renovation project for your home? Many people love the idea of going through their entire house and tearing it apart to put in new walls, floors, furniture and everything else they can think of, but simply going about it randomly and without a properly planned approach can be risky, even if you’re on a more relaxed budget. It’s important to keep a few things in mind if you want to make the project as smooth and hassle-free as possible, including some points not directly related to the renovation job itself.
Check for New Regulations
Housing regulations change all the time, and it’s actually not rare to discover that your dreams are now covered by a new legislation that makes it impossible to install something specific in your home. It can be a costly ordeal to revert things to the way they were if you’ve already started the renovation process too, so make sure that you’re extra careful about what you are and aren’t allowed to do in your remodelling.
When in doubt, get in touch with a professional who can guide you through the process with a knowledgeable attitude. If nothing else, at least you’ll have someone to fall back on in case things get messy, and you won’t be directly responsible for overstepping your legal boundaries. But of course, working with someone who can prevent you from overstepping those boundaries in the first place is preferred.
Experts Can Make All the Difference in Some Areas
Which brings us to another good point – while a DIY approach to home renovation can be fun and a great educational experience, you should definitely leave some parts of the process in the hands of people who know what they’re doing. This is especially valid for things like electricity, plumbing, security, and various other technical aspects of the renovation process that require a good set of specialised skills. You don’t want to find yourself in the middle of a huge mess that will cost more to undo than you would have had to pay if you had done the job properly in the first place.
And to be fair, most of these specialists will charge you a fraction of the overall cost of the renovation project when you consider all the tools, supplies and other similar points, so working with professionals is a sensible thing to do in the first place. Of course, some people may be in an exceptional situation where they have a specialist as a family member already, but the fact that this is an exception should be obvious.
Don’t Forget the Garden
A common mistake is to pay too much attention to the interior of the house and forget all about the exterior until it’s too late and you’re already done with the whole project. You can often do a lot to make your garden a nicer place to be in, especially if it’s a larger one with more room for experimenting. A good set of garden fence panels can change the appearance of the place completely, and they are often not difficult to come by and install. This is, however, one of the areas that meets what we wrote above and definitely requires the assistance of a professional who knows what they’re doing. Companies like Fencestore are a good bet if you want to know that what you’re buying will be of quality, and you should do some research in this area before getting started in general. Fencestore also have a UK based call centre who can help you out if you have any installation questions.
Garden fencing is also a great way to organise your yard into different areas if you have more real estate to work with. You can even set aside a small playing area for the kids, or perhaps a secluded workbench for those exciting DIY projects.
Your Neighbors Will Appreciate an Advance Warning
If you’re going to be loud with your renovations, you should give everyone in your neighbourhood a courtesy warning at least several weeks in advance and let them know how long you plan to be renovating for. While many people will not be able to do much to avoid the noise, some may decide that pushing the date of their upcoming vacation so that it matches your renovation project might be a sensible idea.
In any case, every neighbour will appreciate being told what to expect from your renovation job, and it shouldn’t take you too much effort to go around and give everyone their notice well ahead of time. Put up some posters around the neighbourhood as well if you can’t reach some of your neighbours.
Ensure Things Will Be Maintainable
Another common mistake that many beginners tend to make is to pay too little attention to how sustainable the whole project will be in the long run. Sure, it might look nice for a few weeks, but can you realistically afford the time, money and effort to keep everything in check? If you’re replacing your floors with something that takes significantly more time to clean, this can quickly stack up in a large house. The same goes for furniture and decorations. Don’t go overboard, and always consider what you’re setting yourself up for.
This applies to things like filling your pool on a regular basis – it can hold a surprisingly large volume of water, which in turn can take a huge toll on your monthly budget if you live in a warmer place and want to keep your pool filled most of the time. Pay attention to these things early on because they may turn out to be extremely expensive to undo once they’ve already been put in place.
Other than that, make sure that you spend enough time researching ideas for the project, looking up layouts, colour combinations, new furniture, services, and everything else. This will allow you to save a lot of money – and annoyance – when you start the actual work, as realising that you’ve hired the wrong company can often be quite the unpleasant experience when it happens in the middle of a serious project.
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