It’s normal to feel a combination of excitement and anxiety when it comes to house renovation projects. You want to improve your living conditions, but you’re also aware that you’ll have to invest in a rather complex endeavour, where many things can go wrong through no fault of yours.
In order to be able to achieve your goal, you need to make sure you’ve planned well and taken all the necessary steps. Here are just some of the most important tips that should help you on the way towards having a better, more functional and more attractive home.
Start with a list
The most important thing is to know exactly what you want to do, i.e. what rooms you want to upgrade. Perhaps you’re planning to overhaul the whole house or just a segment of it? What is it that you need to do in order to make your investment worthwhile?
Some answers are quite obvious. If you need to fix installations, that should be the first thing on your list. Upgrades are optional and depend on your financial resources, but it’s always a good idea to include them in a renovation project since the whole project would last shorter and you might get a discount from your contractor.
Bring in the experts
It’s quite difficult to correctly estimate the costs of a complex renovation project, which is why it’s useful to bring in experts, such as surveyors and contractors to tell you how much you’d need to spend and how much would you increase the value of your home. This is an expenditure, but you should see it rather as an investment in protecting you from making a more costly mistake. The real estate markets around the world, Australia is no exception, tend to be volatile at times and you need to know exactly what you’re getting into.
Utilities
This is the perfect time to revisit your wiring, gas supply system, heating pipes and sewer lines. Additional upgrades, such as making your home “smarter” largely depend on your budget, but you might want to use the opportunity to install gadgets that will make your home more efficient.
Utility replacements are one of the most critical elements of any house renovation since they require licenced experts, such as this reliable electrician from Blacktown, if you want your home to be safe. Don’t forget that renovation is not only about making something prettier, but also safer for everyone living in the house.
Doors and windows
Replacing old doors and windows will definitely improve the energy efficiency of your home since new models are much better at providing insulation, which means you won’t waste so much energy cooling and heating your place. Australian summers tend to be rather hot and you know that your electricity bill is much higher in the period when you use the air-conditioners.
Set the budget
You need to start by deciding how much you can and are willing to spend on home renovation. Next, find out the costs of each work you’d like to have performed and compare the total amount against the one you can afford. You have to be very careful with your spending and always leave some room for unexpected expenditure. So, once you add up all the costs leave at least 10% of the total amount for unforeseen costs.
Renovating a house is not an easy task, but, if done well, it brings so many benefits. You’ll either enjoy much better living conditions or you’ll be able to sell the house for much more money if it has just undergone a major renovation. Whatever your goal is, you still have to plan the whole project extremely carefully, so that you avoid a financial disaster.