Top Tips for your home remodeling project
- A good plan – This is the key to anything in life and goes just the same for your home remodeling project. There are many different ways to plan a home remodel but for larger ones such as an addition, kitchen, basement, or main floor renovation drawings with specifications are the ideal place to start. The plan general includes drawings, measurements, and details on your local/state codes. This can be accomplished by hiring a architect, home design firm or choosing a design/build contractor. There are many programs that homeowners can purchase for their own use, some of these can be expensive and take considerable training. You can try looking up Floor Planner as an option.
Basement Drawings/Plans - Specifications – This is the details of the project and very important piece to how or what types of materials will be used to remodel your home. This can also be found in your remodeling plans under specification’s. Example – Hardwood flooring in kitchen to be 3/4” real hardwood, nailed down, with approved underlayment. Wood should be stored at the job site for a period of 48 hours before installing. This level of detail allows for less mistakes and gives you more accurate bids on your project.
- Budget – Forming a budget isn’t always an easy part to a home remodeling renovation. If you haven’t done a project like this before you may not have any idea what it could cost. If not click here for our Home Remodeling Project cost as a guideline. Once you have established a budget for your remodel you can set allowances for the material selections that will be needed. Such as tile allowance is $5 per square foot for shower walls and $10 a lineal foot for glass inserts. Your budget should be based off of your plan and past project costs from your contractor or sub contractors. We will talk about selecting a contractor later or being the general contractor yourself later on.
- Selections – Some people love this part. Going out and looking at toilets, tile, countertops, and all the new materials going into your home. This can be very fun. With your plan and allowance’s you can go and make selections based off of these. Some of our clients will hire our interior designer to help make the selection process easier. There are many interior designers in your area to help you with this if needed. Once selections are done and complete you can have the project budget adjusted to a firm fixed cost.
- Scheduling – This is as important of a piece as any of the above for a smooth and as cost controlling measure. Even the best schedule on a home remodeling project can have its moments. Orders not received on time, plumber has the flu, rain delays. All of this will throw off the schedule and that of all the team members coming after them. This can take a lot of work to get the crews all back on track, when a simple thing such as the sink can damaged. These are just a few of the things that can come up during your home remodel. As an experienced contractor of over 10 + years, I have seen it all, and know the work it takes to keep everything running smoothly.
- Who performs the work? – This is what can make or break your home remodeling project and what probably accounts for a large amount of the BBB complaints filed every year. If you decide you can handle the remodel yourself then you will have to hire or perform all the needed work. This includes permits, inspections, ordering, scheduling and making sure the sub contractors you hired do their job right. For some people this can work for them especially if they don’t work during normal business hours. If after reading all of this you don’t want to be in charge of your remodeling project you should look to hire a licensed, qualified contractor. The right contractor will be able to help walk you and your family thru all the steps and ensure your project is completed for you to enjoy for a lifetime. Hiring the wrong contractor can lead to all sorts of problems which should be left for a different blog post.
