Top home renovation tips

Some home renovation tips that I would recommend to you can really help you project get off on the right foot! Unless you have been through a home renovation before it can be hard to know what to expect. Your approach may be missing certain key elements and this could expose you to risk. Take a look at 6 top home renovation tips below and use these on your renovation!

Home renovation tips: Item 1 - 3

1. Allow enough time

One of the number one things people underestimate is the amount of time a successful renovation can take in the planning and design stages. Do not expect to breeze through this in 2 or 3 weeks, the reality is a well executed planning and design phase is much more likely to take 6-8 weeks for a reasonable sized renovation and potentially much longer for a bigger renovation with an addition! Also don't forget the progress of the planning and design phase is often dictated by your availability! If you are a busy professional couple for example, finding time to get to show rooms to make selections during regular hours may be hard to actually achieve. Don't rush yourself and set an unrealistic deadline you feel you have to meet and now operate under pressure, resulting in hastily made decisions. Start your planning process early!!

2. Plans and specs

When doing a renovation have your original home builder plans or even plan from a previous renovation can be very useful indeed. If your house is not too old you may be able to request a copy of the plans from the original home builder, along with all the specifications (really useful if you are trying to match product). If you are buying a previously owned house, ask the current owners for all the plans they have (sometimes they just get thrown out). You can request to view plans at City hall in Calgary, but this is somewhat restricted and will take time and money to achieve (and then you can only view plans not copy them, due to copyright laws). Having plans can really give clarity on planning for a renovation and may give you valuable information on structure, roughins, materials specs and other details.

3. Create online accounts

Create an account on websites such as Houzz or Pinterest is another one of my home renovation tips. By saving information on the type of look you are hoping to achieve in your renovation project, will greatly aid your designer and contractor to get a much better feel of what you want to do in a much quicker time frame. You can create your own account and then save all the relevant information in there, which keeps everything is one easy to access place. This can then be shared with other parties and can therefore be used as a very effective means of communication.

Home renovation tips: Items 4 - 6

4. Detailed plans for construction

This is often under valued, but without clear plans you are putting the quoting and construction phases of your renovation at risk! Time and time again I have seen plans which look pretty and nice, but are sorely lacking in precise detail and therefore increases the chances of something not being constructed correctly (or a trade quoting incorrectly and the price usually ending up higher). In an ideal world someone should be able to build from the plans without ever having to phone the designer, as all details are clearly shown. Knowing what floor plans and elevations are needed to achieve this are not obvious, but this is something we can help you with if you are unsure.

5. Accountable estimates

If you are using a renovation contractor they should provide you with an accurate estimate up front. The more detailed and broken down this is, the more accountable and accurate they are likely to be. Simply providing an estimate without showing in detail how that has been arrived at should not inspire a high degree of confidence. Estimates need to be realistic too, so ensure that they are based on the level of renovation your are looking to achieve. Also when it comes to trade quotes, one liners are unfortunately all too common but do not place you in a strong position. The more itemized and details the quote is, the less the chance is that something has been missed, or that they are assuming something that you are not! Linking quotes back to plans and selections is also a good way to cross reference quotes and hold trades accountable.

6. Clear documentation

Depending on your renovation contractor you may receive a price for your project with plans, selection sheets and a scope of work. Other contractors may share you on trade quotes and these become the basis for construction contracts. Whatever method they use, of if you are doing the renovation yourself the trade quotes should provide clarity of information, which is really important. Make sure that details are not open to interpretation due to lack of information and ensure documents contain a detailed breakdown on what is included, but also importantly what is not included! If you are not clear, get clarity before you start as you opening yourself to things going off track in construction otherwise. This does not mean that nothing will ever change, but it does drastically reduce the chance of changes being needed because things were assumed or missed in the first place!

We can go over these and other home renovation tips in much more detail if you bring in the Calgary renovation consultant on your project! Knowledge is power and you chance of renovation success is significant increased by having the right advice up front! Discover how our consulting services can help you and provide real value to your renovation project.

So are you ready for us to help you with your renovation project?

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