One of the best things about owning your own home is that you can make changes to it in order to suit your needs. With people spending so much time at home this past year, home renovations have become extremely popular.
Home renovation projects aren’t a journey for the faint of heart. They can be expensive and time-consuming, and there’s a lot that can go wrong before its complete. To ensure that your renovation process goes smoothly, make sure that you don’t fall into the following traps that many people do…
Not Obtaining Permits
This may not be something you even realize that you forgot until it comes time to sell your home — which is really a bad time to discover that your house needs a permit for something and doesn’t have one. Therefore, once you know for sure of what you want your home renovation to be, do yourself a favor and contact the permitting department at your city or county office and ask them what you’ll need.
You probably won’t need a permit to paint walls, replace cabinetry, repaving your driveway or other minor updates. But if you’re going to be knocking down a wall, then you definitely want to check on the permits that should be filed to make a change like that.
Having An Unrealistic Budget
There are a lot of home renovation TV shows out there that make it look super easy, and inexpensive too. That may not always be the case. Like your timeline, your budget needs some room to stretch. Between materials, hiring labor, emergencies or any other budget-breakers, at some point during the renovation, you’ll be glad you built in some budgetary breathing room.
Skipping Prep Work
If you’ve ever painted a room, then you already understand how critical prep work can be. It’s a lot easier to thoroughly tape off an area that you’re planning on painting.. Well, that fact holds true for all home renovations, so do yourself a favor by smoothing the road for yourself.
Buying Cheap Materials
It may be tempting to discount your way through a home renovation, and one of the easiest ways to do it is by choosing the cheapest materials — but don’t do it! The saying “you get what you pay for” is as true for home renovation materials as anywhere else! Talk to your contractor about options and make sure you understand what sacrifices you could be making in quality or longevity for price.
Taking Bad Measurements
The one home renovation mistake that you should avoid at all costs, is “Measure twice, cut once”. That may sound like good advice, but when it comes to your money and your house, you should “Measure TEN times, cut once”!
Imagine finding out that your new cabinets don’t leave enough room for your refrigerator, or that you didn’t order enough flooring, or the bookshelves are too tall for your office. All of those catastrophes can be avoided if you measure carefully and accurately, so whatever you do, don’t breeze through this step.
Failing To Anticipate The Mess
A home renovation is usually a pretty messy project. There will probably be dust everywhere, and some of your rooms may not be usable during the renovations. This may not be a problem in the case of a closet or bedroom, but when you’re redoing a bathroom or kitchen, then renovating a house where you currently live can get a lot trickier.
Be prepared for a big mess, and think hard about how it will affect you if you’re living in the home while it’s being renovated. Use plastic sheeting and drop cloths to keep as much of the mess as you can at bay, and understand that the clothes you’re wearing in the construction zone might get pretty messed up, so dress accordingly.
Thinking about renovating before selling? Contact me first! I'll let you know how much money you can make back on the improvements you make.
