Your house is supposed to be your comfort space and should be able to cater to all your needs and wishes. Perhaps you are thinking of selling your house in a few years, or it’s starting to look outdated, and you believe it’s time for some remodeling. Renovating your home can sound like a daunting process, but once the final product is visible, you’ll find it worth the effort. In the U.S., the home improvement market is currently valued at $538 billion and is expected to continue increasing.
Through proper planning, you can prevent this task from becoming an overwhelming burden and save money in the process as well. In this article, we’ll provide an introductory guide on how to go about the process of renovating your house and some of the important things you should keep in mind.
1. Deciding How to Remodel
The first thing you should consider is whether you’re going to undertake the work yourself or hire a home remodeling contractor. While doing all the tasks by yourself can sound appealing, it can be very time-consuming and might not go as planned. However, it does have the advantage of saving money on labor costs and avoiding the daily coming and going of strangers in your house.
On the other hand, a professional’s experience will enable them to do the job much more efficiently. Due to their expertise, they’ll be able to complete tasks quickly and with the right safety measures, for example, electrical wiring or roof repair. A professional knows all the what’s and how’s, reducing the possibility of future replacements because something was not installed or fixed correctly.
2. Budgeting
You should carefully plan out how much you are willing to spend on your home renovation and set a budget accordingly. A budget is helpful in decreasing the stress that comes with paying for materials, labor costs, and any other unforeseen expenses. An estimate of your maximum and minimum budget for revamping a room or the entire house will allow for things to run smoothly.
Things to be taken into account include the size of your house, the type of jobs you want to be done, and how much you are willing to pay a contractor. For example, if you are experiencing water leaks or plumbing issues, you want to be aware of the cost to replace gutters. You should also note that buying materials in bulk is much cheaper and saves money.
3. Contacting Professionals
Once you’ve made the decision of which tasks to take upon yourself and which ones require an expert’s help, you should get in touch with your local contractors and find out who is available to carry out the work and the prices they are offering. For the most part, it’s easy to contact contractors by calling or by paying them a visit during their office hours in order to access their portfolios. You should put together a list of contractors and compare their portfolios so as to determine who is best suited for carrying out required tasks in the way you want.
Keep in mind that the cheapest option might not always be the way to go, while portfolios containing fewer projects or bad pictures can indicate that the work they produce might not meet your expectations.
When you’ve narrowed down your options, you can ask the remaining contractors for references from other people they have worked for. If they hesitate or refuse to do so, that’s something to be wary of. Once you’ve completed this process and found the best match for yourself, you’ll feel confident and secure in your choice.
4. Prioritizing
It’s not uncommon to have big dreams when it comes to your renovation plans. Maybe you want to indulge in refurbishing, repainting all the walls, as well as adding a baby room for a child on the way. However, if your budget is limited, you’ll have to prioritize your needs over your wants.
In this case, a new room for the baby will be at the top of your list, and repainting some room walls will have to be postponed to a later time so as to not exceed your budget. It’s essential that you jot down your priorities in order of importance to avoid running out of money before getting to the most urgent job. Tempting as it can be to get everything done simultaneously, including the small jobs, sometimes it’s just not possible, and you should, first and foremost, focus on the task that you’re most desperate to get done.
5. Choosing Your Design and Style
There are several ways you can go about picking a style and design for your house, but it’s likely you already have a clear picture in your mind of the kind of renovation you’re interested in. It’s always helpful to draw up plans to envision what the end product will look like. You can also create mood boards that include paint and wallpaper samples, colors for new appliances, and strips of floorboard samples so you can compare which combination stands out and aligns with your remodeling goals. If you’re going for a modernistic look, you can search for the latest trends online, such as kitchen design trends.
This way, the process remains streamlined, and there are no mishaps where your renovations don’t complement each other, leaving you with an aesthetically unappealing house. The new setup you ultimately want should be decided before you get any work started and should be one you are sure of. You don’t want to change your decision halfway through the renovation as this corresponds to a greater cost and time duration than you had initially planned.
Endnote
A home renovation might be exactly what you need to take control and attain the house of your dreams- all the while increasing its value. Although it can be tempting to pick up the necessary tools and start tearing down walls or discarding old appliances, there are many things you should take into consideration beforehand. Rather than jumping headfirst into the remodeling process, you should construct a structured plan that will make this activity far more enjoyable and organized. Forgoing the right, informed decisions will do both your wallet and dreams more harm than good, cost you a lot of time you don’t have to spare, and cause an unnecessary increase in your stress levels.