Tips for First Time Home Remodelers

Homeowners have a vision to make a house their home. Whether it’s a bathroom or kitchen, deciding to remodel any portion of your home is an exciting time. Making changes to personalize your house strengthens a sense of “home”. However, home remodeling projects hardly every go smoothly from start to finish. Many people who embark on this journey find it difficult to deal with and either do all renovations at once, or wait years in between projects.

Here are a few helpful tips that will help for a smoother ride during your first home remodel:

• Plan, plan, plan: During the design process, make sure that you are as detailed as possible to what you want. Understand in advance that if you’re working with a tight budget, you may not be able to have everything you want. Be sure to get all agreements from contractors in writing detailing the entire project scope. After you have signed the contract and you change your mind on a material or decide to something different with your space such as knock out a wall or move electrical sockets, this is at an inconvenience to your contractor because it requires appropriate planning; do be surprised if you get slammed with a change order for it.
• Schedules: Your contractor should have given you a schedule of work that is to be done and when, before the start date. You should also receive a payment schedule in accordance to certain phases of your project being completed. Be sure to check in with the contractor for daily progress reports on the work that was or was not completed. 
• Expectations: Most projects end up exceeding the budget and take longer than expected. However, this is usually due to poor planning from the contractor. And sometimes it is from unforeseen surprises; for instance, when a bathroom is being remodeled and the initial reason for starting was because of water damage. There is no way to access the severity of the damage until the walls have been opened up. It is hard to give an exact number on new materials and labor, if we don’t know what we’re working with.
• Accept the mess: Construction is messy. Get used to it! While your contractor will try keep tools organized and out of the way, and will do everything he/she can to contain the mess and keep your stuff from being covered in dust, but it is really really hard. It is going to be stressful, so remain hopeful by visualizing the end result. 

A home that is undergoing renovations is uncomfortable and we know it. There are things you can do to ease the stress and it starts with these steps.

If you found this article helpful, you might also want to check out these additional articles to help you with your home remodeling project:

• Things to Remember During a Home Remodel
• How to Avoid Costly Home Remodeling Mistakes
• Hiring a Good Contractor: Keeping Your Project on Time and on Budget

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