5 Tips to minimize home remodeling stress
A house remodeling project can be quite an undertaking and costly. A lot of people put off their home remodeling plan because they think there will be too much stress involved or because they have heard stories from friends about their home remodeling nightmares. In this article, we want to share some useful tips for reducing home remodeling stress and achieving a successful home remodel.
1. Take a closer look at your current house
By evaluating your house's condition, you will have a better idea of the extent of remodeling you need to undertake. Do you actually need a complete home remodel or can you get by with a simple upgrade? Whether you're considering a kitchen remodel or a whole house renovation, this step will make estimating overall costs more realistic.
While taking a good look at your home, write down what your don't like or where you wish to improve your house. You should know why you're doing a home remodeling project before you start planning it. It will help you to set priorities if you have to sacrifice some parts of the remodeling plan due to budget constraints. Don't forget to take your home's energy efficiency and long-term maintenance into account. Keeping all your notes and thoughts about your project in a durable notebook can go a long way in planning and organization. This can be notes on items in your house you'd like to update, inspiration from other projects, or even concept sketches. In general, having a single place to refer to lets you keep your home remodeling project more focused and distraction-free.
Before starting to remodel
Although nothing beats working with a professional home designer, having a general idea of what you want and the style you like is still helpful. Pinterest is a great place to find home design inspiration. When you later discuss with your home remodeling contractor, this collection of written thoughts, ideas, and images you gather on Pinterest will come in handy to better express your ideas to a contractor.
While contractors are very good with industry terms, the average homeowner might not be able to easily explain what they want. Instead of telling your contractor "I really like that kind of blue-ish pink" or that "grainy looking stone," having actual images on hand can reduce a lot of stress when selecting materials.
2. Make a plan
Before any construction begins, think through your home remodeling project extensively. If you don't want your home remodeling project to turn into a disaster, the key is to plan ahead. Think about what your primary needs for you and your family are, and how they will change in a few years. Will this house remodeling project you're planning on doing today still fit your family's future? Will you possibly resell this house 5 years down the road? These factors might influence the best option for your situation.
Creating a good home remodeling plan and preparing accordingly is very important because this will help keep you on budget and cut back on potential delays. In fact, it's rare for projects to go completely without any sort of delay or set back. Although no one can prevent unwelcome surprises from happening during a home remodeling project, planning ahead will make you more prepared for contingencies. For instance, mold damage in your house's walls or structure might be discovered during a remodeling construction. Setting aside a budget beforehand for these emergencies will help you to be more comfortable when facing these potential setbacks.
Part of planning is purely experience. The more time you've spent on remodeling projects, the more you understand where problems might creep up and how to circumvent them. Using a professional workflow and Gantt chart goes a long way in shortening project duration and without this, a one month project can easily turn into six.
3. Don't start without a realistic budget
Determining a realistic budget can be one of the most daunting aspects of a home remodeling project. From data compiled from over 2 million users' search behavior and project posts, you can see that homeowners consistently set unrealistically low budgets for their home remodeling projects. To give you some general idea, overall in the states, homeowners report spending an average of $5,157 on home projects within the last 12 months. And remodeling multiple rooms in the Atlanta area, the average reported costs are nearly $30,000 in 2017.
There are so many factors and numerous variations that contribute to the bottom line of your home remodeling project, including the size of each room, unforeseen problems, the cost of the materials, the amount of labor required, etc. If your budget is getting too high, reevaluate your needs and see if you're over-remodeling. You can go on Homeadvisor to see the average costs for some of the most popular renovations in your area and get a sense of what your home remodeling project might cost.
While home remodeling budgets can get steep, don't forget to consider the return on investment. For example, insulating your attic can recoup as much as 117% on the dollars you spent. Opting for quality and sometimes more expensive work can also ensure that you get the most value back if you flip the home.
Most importantly, know how much you can afford, and go from there. Creating an honest and realistic budget to stick to won't put financial strain on your family or burn through your savings.
4. Hire a trusted professional contractor
Hiring a professional is absolutely the most helpful way if you want a stress-free home remodel, unless you are extremely handy. We still recommend hiring experienced professionals if it's a major remodeling project, such as kitchen remodeling or bathroom remodeling. It not only can save you a lot of time and headache, but is also generally 10x better than most DIY work.
Talk to your friends and family for referrals and get quotes from a few different contractors (about 3 bids) before you commit to one. Hiring trustworthy local home remodeling contractors is very important because you'll be depending on their expertise to ensure a successful home remodel. A good home remodeling contractor with the right credentials adds a crucial layer of protection to you and your properties.
Communication is key
A clear line of communication between the homeowner and home remodeling contractors keeps everyone on the same page. Keeping the line of communication open during the whole remodeling process prevents misunderstandings which could slow down your home remodeling project or turn a simple project into a bad situation where no one is happy with the results. Getting regular updates on the remodeling project and knowing that you're hitting preset milestones also helps to reduce anxiety and stress.
5. Get your house prepared
Plan accordingly during your home remodeling project since you will need to make adjustments to your and your family's daily routine. Dirt and mess is unavoidable, so move valuables that you want to stay clean away from construction areas. If you know that there may be a week of noisy construction, it may be a good time to schedule a family trip or an oversea vacation. After everything is set and ready to start, give your neighbors a heads-up about your home remodeling project as a courtesy.
Put your home remodeling projects into our hands
Sanctum has been delivering better living in the Atlanta area for over 35 years. We are a one-stop shop from design to implementation, providing you successful and stress-free home remodeling services. We help our clients through great experience in enhancing public and private spaces or remodeling existing homes. If you're ready for a no-hassle home improvement or remodel, call our professional and experienced team at (770) 777 0100. We look forward to building you a dream home.