Thinking of renovating your home? Wondering how to plan and prepare for your project into action? Cowan Building takes a look at how to plan your perfect home renovation, and alleviate a lot of the stress along the way.
Home renovations are a soup bowl of emotions. Excitement, anticipation, stress, and most times - disruption and dust. Planning is paramount to ensuring the process is smooth, and the project is as enjoyable as possible.
There are some key factors when deciding to renovate, particularly for larger projects. Start by asking yourself the following questions:
1. What rooms/spaces need attention first?
2. What can we realistically do ourselves?
3. What is our total budget for the entire renovation?
4. What council rules/regulations and consents do we need?
5. What are our storage solutions when renovating?
6. How will we keep the children/pets safe during the construction period?
The most important aspect of all renovations is expert advice. For large jobs having a project manager is vital to ensure the project runs on time, and as smoothly as possible. It is not uncommon to hear of home-owners attempting renovations themselves, to only realise halfway through the job, that if one tradesperson has not finished onsite, many of the others cannot start. This can lead to endless delays in your project being completed. Planning is vital. If you are attempting to align all the tradespeople yourself, it is paramount you understand the entire process and how the project will work in terms of plumbers, builders, flooring experts, and painters. Understanding that if one team is held up, pushing other trade experts to different days could clash with other work, leaving you with a half-finished renovation and a construction site that is stand-still.
It’s all About Money!
Budget is also key. Many renovations can escalate in terms of budget. It’s important to have a clear picture of what you want to be done. Adding to your plans during a renovation can see your budget quickly disappearing, leaving you with no option to continue on other areas of the home. Have a list of what needs to get done first and get a professional quote to ensure your budget is correct for your dream renovation. Hold back on changing your plans until your total renovation is complete. If you do decide that you want to add certain features during the build, re-evaluate your budget. This will allow you to focus on what really needs to be completed and what could wait until you have the needed funds.
Rules, Regulations & Consents
Your professional builder will help with many of these and give you a good understanding of the paperwork needed before you start removing walls or adding new bathrooms. In New Zealand, it is important to remember that any renovation will also need an asbestos check if the home was built before 2000. This is to check that any areas you are upgrading are free of asbestos. This can include pipes, ceilings, cladding, and even floor coverings. If you are on a septic tank and you are adding additional rooms or bathrooms you may also need to update your septic tank options. The regulations and building consents needed can be a pandora's box, it’s advised to seek professional advice to ensure your space is 100% legal or you could be faced with hefty fines from your local council, or worst still, be ordered to remove the renovation.
Getting Ready
Once all paperwork and planning are in place, it’s time to start planning for the actual renovation period. Remembering that there will be dust, there will be noise and your home could be transformed into a construction site for a good period.
It’s vital to consider storage before the builders are on-site, as too, what you will do with the family pet’s during this time. Having clear areas that are off-limits to children is also a good idea. Get prepared with plenty of heavy-duty plastic sheets so you can section off areas of your home. Baby gates are also a blessing with children and pets to keep them away from areas that are not safe.
Pack up everything you are not using in the home for dust purposes, and remove pictures from walls. Plastic storage containers are wonderful at keeping dust out and can be used for anything from bedding to toys and clothes.
If you are planning a holiday, consider doing this during your renovation to reduce the amount of time you are in the home when it is very busy, dusty, and noisy. Having an expert builder can allow you the freedom to leave the project in good hands and escape some of the pandemonia of the actual renovation. If you are renovating a bathroom, organise an alternative shower source from friends or family. Getting prepared for the disruption with tangible solutions is the best way to survive a renovation with little stress.