Renovating a house is an interesting project and since a lot of money is involved in the project detailed planning is necessary.
In some projects, the main agenda is to discover the original features hidden underneath the paint and dust and restore them to their former glory. And sometimes it will be extending and rebuilding the house.
The success of renovating a house greatly relies on how well we prepare for what lies ahead and anticipate some surprises. Renovating a building presents many unique challenges that require your detailed attention and resolution before your dream home can take shape. Most importantly these issues do involve hidden costs.
The solution is knowledge of these hurdles in advance and having a step-by-step plan of action ready at all times. This will ensure and keep the project on track and within the predicted budget.
What is the Importance of Schedule of Works?
The plan should outline every single job that needs to be performed from start to finish and, most importantly, in the right order. Each team should be allocated enough space and time to complete their task.
A schedule of work is crucial to anyone renovating a home. The plan must outline each task from start to finish, ensuring they are done in the correct order. Each team should be allocated enough space and time to complete their task.
In renovation, there is no room for error to avoid the same it is ideal to make use of a checklist.
The work schedule should include the assigned jobs to each individual, with the value of work, payment details, schedule and contact details.
At first glance sometimes a renovation project might look perfectly safe to do, but upon further investigation, it may prove otherwise. Your contractor should have enough experience to advise you on when to walk away from a renovation project and consider rebuilding from scratch.
Renovating a house and reselling is a traditional way of attempting to get more money for your old house but ironically, the shortcuts taken by the contractors can mean innocent people could end up spending considerably more for a property than it’s worth.
The good news is that now it is possible to know the condition and cost of any structure by availing our valuation services. Before you commit to purchasing any property or project kindly contact us to assess the actual condition and value of the same.
How is a property assessed for renovation?
During the initial site visit, assess the merits and demerits of the site to determine design possibilities and improve living conditions. For example? check whether there is enough outdoor area to do the extension.
Analyze the location and don’t forget to fully evaluate the current structural integrity of the building.
It is always recommended to consult a structural engineer. Since they will be able to give a report which would highlight all the sections of concern.
They will furnish you with an idea of any crucial repairs that will be required. These detailed reports will help you in calculating the cost involved.
A building report greatly assists in determining the construction methods and materials previously used on the structure.
You can use this data to identify new materials that can be better substitutes for the existing ones, reducing renovation costs.
Are Digital Survey Reports Important?
It is one of the helpful tools for planning renovation. And always remember to get a digital survey done from the right people. This will give you an exact scale drawing of the layout of the existing building, topography and vegetation.
The digital survey and reports enable you to plan more effectively it is a very powerful planning tool. While planning obtain as much info as possible on the new materials and make sure that the procedures followed to fix the same is satisfactory.
Do keep in mind that most of the known structural problems have solutions. Structural repairs are always expensive and they massively impact your budget. So the quicker you find out about them the more beneficial it is to the budget.
What’s the Difference between Renovating or Remodelling?
People often use the terms renovate and remodel interchangeably, but they have entirely different meanings. If referring to buildings, renovation is more comparable to restoration than remodelling. It means reverting something to its original state.
Remodelling essentially refers to changes in the elevation or structure of the building, sometimes achieved by altering its design or extending the rooms.
Most of the time we achieve a combination of the two returning the original features with minor modifications to the layout and aesthetics making your old house more appropriate for modern-day living.
Is it important to Hire an Architect?
Since creating a design for an existing house is more complicated than designing a new project it is always wise to involve an Architect in your project. With his correct design, you can save a lot of money and time.
An Architect can help you with the good design and elevation for the house. He can also assess the structural condition of the building and compare the same with the structural engineer’s report.
When renovating a residence, hiring a designer is not always necessary; it depends on the task at hand. However, expansion plans and total remodelling projects, as well as those in sensitive areas or listed buildings, will almost always require professional advice.
Once you have a design you’re happy with and approved, create a schedule of works to carry out alterations efficiently, minimizing disturbance and duplication.