Home Renovation Mistakes to Avoid – Today’s guest blog is by Cavalier Estates. The opinions expressed by the author in this and all guest blogs are not necessarily those of Gainesville Restoration and Remodeling.
Home Renovation Mistakes to Avoid
Two things homeowners have on their mind when renovating their home are saving money and maximizing value. The reason a lot of owners do a home renovation in the first place is to improve the look and function of the home and make it more valuable to potential buyers.
But at the same time, owners are often motivated by financial constraints to try and cut down on the cost of the home upgrade. Basically, as Cavalier Estates LLC explains, homeowners often have two objectives when renovating their home: to improve the value and to save money. This can lead them to make mistakes during the home renovation process.
To help you avoid this, we have created this list of the most common home renovation mistakes that homeowners make. The list can help you be more careful about the choices you make during the planning and execution of your home renovation project.
1. Renovating before you live in the house
If you are not a building professional, it is hard to fully understand the shortcomings of a house until you have lived in it. Living in a newly bought home for at least two months before renovating will help you avoid unnecessary upgrades.
2. Failing to consider long-term needs
Many renovation efforts are based on what catches the homeowners’ eyes or the latest trends in the market. Homeowners often fail to adopt a big picture approach or take into account what the users of space will need in 5-10 years.
3. Mistakes in design choices
Common mistakes homeowners make when choosing designs for a renovation project include:
- Using a design that does not compliment the home’s original architectural style. Doing creates incongruity in the design and this devalues the home.
- Failing to think of function, how spaces are actually used, and thinking only of form and how the place will look.
- Being overly trendy and failing to recognize that trends will always change but a good design will never lose its appeal.
4. Doing too much at once
In their eagerness to create a space that is uniquely theirs, some homeowners will take on too much. Rather than renovate the home piecemeal, they attempt to overhaul the whole house. This often results in too much disruption, lots of change orders, and wasted money.
5. Underestimating costs
Renovations budgets are intelligent estimates at best. A good contractor may give you an estimate that is just a little above the eventual cost, but the estimates will rarely be your exact costs. You can avoid underestimating by building an additional 20% into the budget.
6. Choosing the wrong contractor
Some homeowners choose their contractor without asking for recent references from the company. Yet others will choose a contractor who does not have a proper warranty or is not bonded. Another mistake that homeowners make is to choose a national firm that does not have local experience.
7. Going DIY when you shouldn’t
Due to the explosion of DIY videos on YouTube, many homeowners are fooled into thinking they can successfully undertake their home renovation themselves. This often ends in damage to the home and injury to the homeowner.
8. Settling for the lowest estimate
Some homeowners make price the main criteria for choosing their contractor. But this often results in them eventually spending more money than they were trying to save. That’s because the contractor may cut corners and they would have to redo the work.
9. Working without a permit
Getting permits for a renovation takes time but proceeding without one is not an option. If a renovation project requires permits and it is done without one, that part of the building may be torn down. A good right design-build company can facilitate the necessary building permits.
10. Not anticipating problems
Every renovation project has its fair share of problems. For instance, when drywall is torn down, you may discover that the electrical system is in bad shape. There may also be incidents that do not inflate the budget but delay the project. Anticipating these problems helps to reduce stress.
11. Not doing prep work
Prep work is the foundational work that must be done before the renovation itself. Depending on the part of the home being renovated, prep work can be anything from priming walls, to sanding or the structural work that goes before re-flooring. Proper prep work prolongs the life of a renovation.
12. Not following the proper workflow
Every home renovation project has a workflow that guarantees the best outcome. The right workflow saves time, materials, and money. It ensures that you do not go back and forth on the project by tearing up finished work to install new components.
13. Installing appliances last and buying furniture or décor too early
If furniture and décor are bought too early, they may not fit into the overall design of the home. They should be bought when the project has gone far enough to give you a clear idea of what things will look like at the end. But choose appliances early enough to make sure the design will accommodate them.
There you have it, renovation mistakes to avoid if you are thinking about renovating your home.
