8 Things Homeowners Typically Forget When Renovating Their Homes

Home renovations are a great way to improve your standard of living but it’s by no means an easy feat. Many homeowners have experienced tremendous amounts of stress while renovating their property, especially when mistakes are made along the way.

The thing is, your home renovation doesn’t have to cost you your sanity. As long as you remember all the important things you need to do, the whole process can go a lot smoother than you expected.

People typically forget these things when preparing for a home renovation, so make sure to keep them in mind.

1. Picking the Right People for the Job

The success of your home renovation project lies in the ability of your contractors to deliver, so make sure you hire the right people for the right jobs.

Before you hire builders, painters, electricians, and other home improvement professionals, always check their credentials and references. If you’re repairing or replacing your roof, for example, ask for roofing contractor qualification and insurance.

You’ll also want to talk to several companies and do some online research before making a choice. Compare their rates, the quality of their work, and what the reviews are saying about them and then decide who can provide you with the best deal for the project.

2. Planning Everything Before You Start

Before beginning any project, it’s critical that you have a solid plan in place. Set a deadline and polish all the details as much as possible. If you plan things well, you’ll be able to accomplish your renovation faster and save weeks of labor costs.

When it comes to the budget, decide on a maximum limit and stick to it. It’s easy to overspend on labor and supplies, so if you don’t take any measures, your bank account could quickly go into the red. You’ll save a plenty of time and money if your project is carefully thought out.

3. Getting the Necessary Permits

After you’ve finalized your plans, you’ll need to ensure that you can carry out the renovations without violating any local or state laws. While you have full control over what you want to do to the inside of your house, major changes to the exterior of your property may require a permit.

Permits are usually a more pressing concern for urban dwellers than those living in the rural areas because cities tend to have stricter laws regarding home renovations. Regardless of your location, though, make it a point to check. Lack of necessary permissions could undo all your work.

4. Notifying Your Insurance Provider

A lot of homeowners overlook this step when undertaking a home makeover. However, it’s critical to notify your insurance company of an upcoming remodeling project and the changes you’re planning to make to property as this could impact your policy.

To ensure that your renovations won’t affect the validity of your insurance policy, best call and run your plans with your insurance provider. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

5. Allocating a Safety Margin for Materials

When buying materials such as carpets, tiles, wallpaper, or paint, purchase 20% more than the amount necessary to complete the project. Accidents and mistakes are common in the construction site. Having extra materials allows for any errors that may occur when you’re putting them in place.

Also, because no two batches are exactly the same, buying excess means you’ll have materials at hand to patch things up in the event of future damage.

6. Leaving Enough Room for Storage

It’s easy to get carried away by the overwhelming design options available to you when you’re redesigning your home. Putting two sinks in the master’s bathroom so you can get ready in together or installing a larger window to allow for more natural light can be very attractive ideas, but make sure you still have enough storage space left after these changes are implemented.

Every household has slightly different storage needs, and it’s very important to take this into account when redesigning your space. You don’t want to finish your renovation project, only to discover that you have nowhere to put your stuff.

7. Selling Your Home in the Future

Your home is your castle. Of course, you can renovate it for your benefit and satisfaction. But while changing the layout of the kitchen or building an additional bedroom is perfectly normal and absolutely okay, some alterations may affect the value of your home in the future.

If there’s any possibility that you could be selling your current home in the next few years, try not to go overboard with the design or add plenty of unconventional features. Keeping things subtle and classy will help you attract more prospective buyers.

8. Living in the Home

This might be the most obvious thing in the world, but it bears mentioning because some ideas can seem very good on paper but not so in reality. Before you change anything in your home, think about how it will affect you in the future. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on something and then be inconvenienced by it afterwards or end up not using it at all.

It’s important to think realistically about the design features you incorporate in your home. While there’s nothing wrong with tapping into your creative side, what looks exciting now can become uninteresting over the years.

About The Author: Rachel Porter is the content specialist for Custom Contractors Insurance, LLC, an Arizona roofing and contractors insurance company. When not writing, she enjoys reading and mountain biking with her friends.

Photo by Daniel McCullough on Unsplash