Things You Don’t Want to Forget When Planning Home Renovations*

It’s nice when you find the time, money, and resources to make improvements to your home. Not only do they add significant value, but the right renovations can improve the health, safety, comfort, and functionality of your home. When planning home renovations, however, it can be easy to overlook certain steps in the process. While some can be minimal and easy to resolve, others cause problems that can be costly and uncomfortable for homeowners and their families.

To ensure you don’t end up in a serious pickle, remember to add these tasks to your home renovation plans:

Creating a Budget
There’s more to the cost of a home renovation than simply paying the quoted price provided by contractors. Remember, what is provided is essentially an estimate as more funds could be needed down the road. Your quoted price may not also include things like installation fees, taxes, mishaps, and delays. So, take the time to create a realistic budget.

Relocating
Depending on what is being done in your home you and your family may not be able to reside there comfortably. This could be the case if contractors have to remove asbestos from your basement or you’re having your main kitchen and bathroom renovated. Don’t forget to come up with a plan of where you’ll stay until the renovation is complete. This also means finding a suitable place for your pets to go.

Purging/Decluttering
The construction area needs to be cleared of all obstacles and personal belongings. Don’t wait until the day of the renovations to begin scrambling for ideas of where you can place your living room furniture or your dishes and food from the kitchen. A few weeks before the scheduled renovation is to begin, make time to purge and declutter the home. Get rid of things you have no need for and reorganize things so that they’re in the appropriate place. Now that you have more space, you can move items from the construction zone so they don’t get lost, stolen, or damaged.

Pests
All that banging, clanging, and rearranging will certainly shake the pests awake. Unless you want these uninvited guests to remain in your home, you should be proactive and look for a contractor like Moxie Pest Control to exterminate after the renovation has been completed.

Post-Renovation Inspections
Though you’ve done your due diligence in hiring the most qualified contractor to complete your home renovations, you still need to be safe. After the renovation is complete, schedule for a home inspector to come visit your place for a post-renovation inspection. If there are any discrepancies or issues, the home inspector can point them out and the contractor will have to fix the problem. This may also be necessary if the work completed required a permit. Your local building inspector will come out and certify that everything is up to code and done efficiently.

Delays
From watching home improvement shows you know that there are times when things just don’t go according to plan. The contractors could run into an issue while working, parts and materials could be delayed in being delivered, and a number of other things that can throw the timeline off course. This often means more money and longer inconveniences you want to be prepared for. So, be sure to add extra cushion to your budget, and also have a plan for a place to stay and keep the pets if things go on longer than you anticipated.

Checking In
You should never hire contractors to work on your home and never check in on the progress. Though you may not know very much about the inner workings of the project, you can, at the very least get an update and see what is being done. If you don’t like something, you can communicate this to the contractor before the job is completed so it doesn’t cost you time and money. Find time in your schedule to check in periodically when the contractors are working to see how things are coming along.

Whether you’re renovating for safety reasons, aesthetic appeal, or to increase the overall value, you want to make sure it’s done right. Overlooking any of the above-mentioned tasks will slow the process down, cost you more money, and could potentially put your family’s health and safety at risk. So, be sure you’ve completed all of this before your next home renovation.