Steps of a Home Renovation Project
There are many different steps to planning out a home renovation effectively, from planning and design to hiring contractors, to finally putting the finishing touches onto your dream home. Do you have a home improvement project in mind? Read on to find out more about how to get started on your renovation or refurbishment project.
Where to Start
Remodelling or refurbishing your home is exciting – it’s easy to be eager to get your project underway and start carrying out different jobs straight away, but don’t fall into this trap. The first step to any renovation that goes well is to plan everything out as thoroughly as possible. Inevitably, there will be aspects of the renovation that you had not initially considered, but the problem is that certain steps of a renovation become much more difficult once others have been completed. You can’t, for example, replace the plasterboard if you have already painted the walls. To avoid this, plan out the jobs you want to do carefully and consider the order it would be best to do them in. While this can initially take some time, careful planning can help you save significant time and money in the long run by optimising the stages of your project and avoiding unnecessary costs and delays. For more complex projects, or if you don’t have the time to do it yourself, you may want to call on an expert to help you plan your project, such as an architect who offers project management.
Planning Permission for Home Improvement Projects
This initial planning phase is also the time to check if your development will require planning permission. In Ireland, many renovation and refurbishment projects do not, as internal alterations to your home generally fall under permitted development. However, if you are going to change the exterior plan of the house, such as by adding an extension or changing the roof line, then planning permission may be required. If your home is a listed building subject to built heritage restrictions, you may be required to secure additional permissions as well, even for developments only affecting the interior. Changing the use of a building often requires planning permission as well, such as renovations aimed at using part of your property for commercial use. This could include converting your garage into a space you use for your business, such as a workshop, or converting a house into a bed and breakfast, for example. When in doubt, check with your local planning authority to find out if your refurbishment project will require planning permission.
Choosing the Right Professionals
The next step is to have some detailed drawings drawn up of the renovated space. If you haven’t yet, now is a good time to enlist the help of an architect, who will know how to optimise the space and come up with ideas that you might not have on your own. Once your plans are completed, and you have submitted your planning permission application if required, you’ll also need to hire the professionals that you’ll need for the project. Once you have determined the jobs that need to be done, split them up into any that you wish to tackle yourself and those that you feel will require an external contractor. Generally, you are required to hire a professional to do anything relating to gas or electricity, to make sure that the work is safe and compliant with regulations. Most of the work that you will be able to carry out yourself, if you so choose, includes decorations, changing wall coverings and laying flooring. It is important not to overestimate your DIY ability, and be honest with yourself about jobs that may put you out of your depth. Bear in mind as well that carrying out jobs yourself may take longer than hiring a professional, although you could end up saving on labour costs, so be realistic about your own availability and your timeline for the project. Try to address this step well in advance, between 6 months and a year before you aim for the work to start.
Planning Your Budget
The next step is to plan out the project’s finances. The first part of this step is to simply decide how much you are willing or able to spend. You may need to secure financing for the project from the bank for example, or apply for any home improvement grants or aid from the government that may be available to you. In Ireland, you may be able to claim a tax credit or receive loans or grants as part of schemes that aim to address mobility problems, help older people stay in their homes, improve your home’s energy efficiency, replace lead pipes and more. It’s important to take a realistic view of your finances and the investment you’re willing to make, and to make a realistic budget in terms of the work you’d like to have done.
This is the stage where you start getting quotes from different contractors to carry out the work. Calculate how much all of the different materials you require are going to cost you, as well as any building regulations. Some of the contractors you’ll get quotes from will be cheaper than others, but it is important to consider that price is not the only factor. In the event that, when you cost out the project in all the different aspects, it doesn’t fall within your budget, there are a number of actions you can take. The first is to consider the materials that you have planned to use and check if you might be able to find the same materials more cheaply from another supplier, or even second hand. You could also decide that it could be an option to use recycled or reclaimed materials - these will give your property a particular style, which is also kinder to the environment and your bank account. Another option is to carry out the project in stages. The first step for this is to go back to your plan, and decide which of the jobs are the least urgent or important to you for the renovation, keeping in mind the most efficient order to carry out the works. Then, plan out which works fit within the budget currently available to you, and leave the others for later when you’ll be able to free up more financing and be able to afford it. This way, the jobs that are most important to you will still get done and you will be able to appreciate the result, and you can refurbish the other aspects of the property as part of a second phase. Carry out this step between 3 and 6 months before the project is due to start.
Hiring Builders
Once you have planned your budget for your home refurbishment, you will need to decide which contractors to hire. Again, while the amount they quote you is obviously important, don’t let this be the only factor that influences your decision. It can be true that “you get what you pay for”, and other factors such as experience, reliability and the quality of their previous work are all important to consider. In case of a problem, you will likely regret going with the cheapest option, and setting right their mistakes may end up costing you much more than a more expensive contractor would have in the first place. Reputable contractors will be able to show you their certificate of insurance and examples of their previous work, and will definitely not ask you to pay for all the work upfront. Work out a payment schedule with the contractor that will work for both of you. If you have any doubts about choosing dependable contractors, it can be a good idea to turn to your architect for help. Many architects regularly work with trusted builders and tradespersons and can speak to the quality of their work, or even offer a full service to completely handle your project and take all the stress out of it for you.
Setting a Timetable
Next, work out a timetable for your renovation works. You can decide between determining a start date and consulting with your architect or the contractors you have chosen to determine an end-date, or do it the other way round and choose a date you would like the renovations to be finished by and then work backwards to find a start-date. They will be able to help you decide if your timeline is feasible, and you’ll be able to let them know which stages of the renovation you’d like carried out as a priority. Make sure to include plenty of time for the property to be cleaned out and made ready to be renovated, as well as taking into account how long the delivery of materials will take, and any holidays your contractor may have planned. It is helpful to physically plan this out on a calendar, marking the dates that each different stage of the renovation is scheduled to be finished. When deciding the dates you’d like the subsections of the renovation to be completed by, leave a couple of days of margin in case something unexpected should happen to come up (as is very often the case during renovations).
Your final step before handing the reins to the contractors (assuming you aren’t planning on doing the work yourself) is to get the property cleared out and ready for the refurbishment. Decide if you are going to keep living there while the work is being carried out: if you are having small-scale work done you can get away with staying but for a whole-house renovation you may likely have to move out for a couple of weeks. This is your chance to relax and watch your house be transformed into your dream home!
Ready to get started on your home renovation project? Find the best architect for you on find-my-architect.com and start bringing your project to life today!