As an award-winning architectural firm, planning a home renovation is a daily occurrence, and something we love working on, so this is what we would likely recommend…
Learn about the processes involved
Make sure to take time on your home renovation, and learn about the work that you’re actually wanting to be carried out. Learn about the permissions you need, what materials cost at the moment, and what the work will actually consist of, and get a general understanding of what you want to happen. This gives you more foresight to think long term, avoid problems, and get a more professional service.
Budget everything
Another solid idea is to budget for the home renovation; Getting a ballpark average and a maximum costed list of everything that will need to happen helps you to get a better understanding of what your renovation is going to cost, and if anything goes wrong, how likely it is you can afford to set it right.
Speak to professionals
Speaking to an architect, project manager, builder or any other construction professional will help you to get a professional opinion and quote for the work that you need to happen. This will help you fill in the gaps in your knowledge, give you more areas to research and budget, and it will help you get a feel for who you want to do the job for you or if you want to go it alone, how much work it will be.
Create a timeline (or Gantt chart)
Managing a home renovation in the best way possible always involves creating a timeline. Although many pros will use a Gantt chart, anything that you can do to understand to scope and scale of the project you’re taking on and what life will be like around it is a great idea. Plan ahead and plan wisely.
Create exclusion zones & terms of work
Any home renovation gets messy at some point or another. Whether it’s the workers, the materials or just the nature of the job, there can be mess. A great thing to do is to create exclusion zones around the timeline. Have places you know will be untouched and allow you to live your life around the work. Also, it helps to set out a clear understanding with any workers about what you want or need them to do too, and what access they can have.
Speak with a project manager
Lastly, although it isn’t for everyone, the best possible thing that you can do is to hire a project manager. Hiring someone that can oversee all of this work on your behalf, manage any issues and keep everything running smoothly can be a real asset to have. They can save money on problem avoiding, time delays and general time invested by you that might be better used elsewhere all giving you the best renovation possible. It all goes a really long way.
