Classic things people forget when renovating homes

Renovating your home is a great opportunity to improve your standard of living. It’s always a challenge but it can also be a lot of fun, especially if you’re doing it with the help of family members or friends. What’s less fun is having to deal with the consequences of mistakes made along the way. You might be surprised by the things some people forget when undertaking projects like this.

Planning matters

One of the most common things that get forgotten, and the most important to remember, is making a plan. This is the stage at which you set out what you intend to do, establish your budget, and work out what materials will cost and where you will need to bring in professional help. You’ll also need to work out how much time the work will take and how you can fit that around other commitments in your life. Failing to plan (and to take into account that you may end up exceeding your expectations where both time and costs are concerned) means that your project is almost guaranteed to get out of control. The last thing you need is to be stuck with half-completed work.

Planning permission

Once you have established your plans, you’ll need to ensure that you can carry out the work without contravening any state or local ordinances. For the most part, work done entirely inside your home is entirely your own business, but changes you make to the outside (including the windows) or to your yard or outbuildings may require permission. This is a bigger issue in cities than in rural areas. If you do need permission and don’t get it, you may later be required to undo all your hard work.

Home warranty

When you’ve completed your work you’ll want to make sure that you have a home warranty in place, but it’s worth thinking about it in the early stages so you can identify any issues that might arise. Choice staff will be happy to talk through their requirements as regards certification for various kinds of work, with the best home warranty company approach being to help you identify potential problems ahead of time. This means, for instance, that you’ll know when getting a job done professionally – even if it costs you more in the short term – will reduce your warranty costs in the future.

Wiring comes first

Because lighting and electronic devices tend to be thought of as add-ons rather than fundamental building blocks of a home, it’s common for people to finish their renovations before realizing that they haven’t thought about the wiring – wiring that needs to run inside the finished walls and ceilings. Naturally, you don’t want to be in this position, so plan out where you will need light fixtures and power points before you begin. You’ll need a professional electrician to do the work and you’ll need to be realistic about how many devices your circuits can support. If you want to generate electricity using solar panels or other such devices, you should also discuss that at this stage.

Materials need a safety margin

Whether you’re buying carpet, linoleum, wallpaper, paint or tiles, you need to purchase around 20% more than your calculations say is required to do the job. This allows for any errors you may have made and for damage that occurs when you’re putting it in place. Buying more if this happens is not a substitute because no two batches are ever the same. Buying excess at the start also means that you’ll have some you can store for patching up damage that occurs later on when you’re living in those rooms.

You’ll have to live there

It might sound obvious but whatever you do during your renovations, you’re going to have to live with it. Therefore, you need to think practically about how you’re going to move around your home and use the things within it, both now and in the future. If you’re getting older, will you be able to manage if you start to have problems with your joints? If you have growing children, will your home suit their needs? You also need to be realistic about the design elements you’ll be comfortable with. It’s great to be creative but what looks exciting now might become wearing over the next few years.

Being alert to these risks means you’ll be able to undertake your renovations with confidence. When they’re complete, you’ll have a home you’re satisfied with – and no unfortunate surprises.