Remodelling a home can be a truly exciting project, where you have all sorts of thrilling ideas to change things about the place you live. It’s easy, and fun, to imagine yourself in what feels like a new home, with new furnishings, decor and appliances, and it is well worth looking at changes that you can make to your living space. With that said, turning the fantasy into reality is rarely so simple, so you need to prepare for the tricky parts of the job.
Completing a remodel will require you to make some tough decisions – you will, quite simply, have some ideas that compete with other ideas you have had. Some of what you would really like to do may, simply, be impossible where you currently live. In other cases, it’s not that what you want to do won’t be possible – more that you will need to be ready for some complications. Below, we’ll look at some unexpected issues you may come up against during a renovation – and how to get past them.
1. There is such a thing as excessive economizing
Are the carpets you would like slightly too expensive for your budget? Not to worry, there are some second choices that will look nearly as good. Can’t get the wood you’d prefer for the outdoor cladding? Never mind, you can make do with an alternative. Is the budget still climbing? Okay, you can take on most of the work yourself!
It’s tempting to look at how you can do a remodeling job on a shoestring, and in some places it might work quite well. However, taking an overly parsimonious approach to the project will end up costing you more in the long run; either by dragging down your property value or forcing you to carry out expensive fixes, and paying for expert assistance.
2. Remodelling a bathroom is harder than you thought
Everyone knows a bathroom is a small, compact room which has to fit plumbing, electrics and storage in its uncharitable space. However, many of us don’t realize how narrow it is until we try to renovate it. When you barely have room to move, it’s easy to make a mess of the DIY in here, so leaving it to bathroom renovations professionals can be the smartest choice you make. If you have a dream look for the “smallest room in the house”, then don’t allow it to become a nightmare by holding up the whole project.
3. Doing “A little at a time” is a recipe for mess
We’re all busy, all the time, and it’s a tough balance to strike between downtime and working on your home. It can be tempting to soft-pedal a renovation, just doing a bit at a time so as not to get too swamped in work. However, in truth, it really is better to go for it and get things finished sooner rather than later. Don’t pull 24-hour shifts or even consecutive 18-hour days, but the more jobs you get ticked off, the more complete your renovation is going to be; letting it drag on ensures that you will lose interest and settle for second-best in places so you don’t have to think about it anymore. Commit and apply yourself, and you’ll see the benefits.