Your home is your safe space, your place to watch your children go, to relax, and to recharge after all of the other chores and errands are done. You love your home, but you may also want to make some great changes to it to help it fit your current or future needs. When that happens, it is time for a home remodel.
As a homeowner, you do not want to just jump into the home remodeling without a plan. This is the fastest way for you to run into some problems and can even decrease the value of your home or cost you more than it should. Some of the common home remodeling mistakes that you need to avoid include:
Doing Renovations Before Moving In
Purchasing a home that needs some love is not a bad thing. You will be able to make some great changes and personalize it to exactly the way that you want. And you can often get a better price on it. But you should consider moving into the home before you get started with all of the remodeling plans. your head.
It is better to move into the home before you decide to remodel it. Many experts agree that you should live in the home for a minimum of 2 months before you start any of the renovations. This will give you a much better idea of how the space works, the features you would find most useful, and how you would like to do the remodel.
Only Thinking of the Here and Now
Unless you plan to purchase the home, live in it for less than a year, and then sell it, it is important that all of your remodeling plans think about some of your long-term needs, not just what you will need right now.
While it is impossible to predict all of the things you would need five to twenty years from now, it is important to at least think about it. For example, if you and your spouse moved into the home without kids, and you plan to have kids, adding a new bedroom to the house may make a lot of sense, rather than a bar.
Take in the big picture approach to your remodel. This can inspire some new ideas and will help you to make some informed and careful decisions throughout the whole project, no matter which direction you decide to go with.
Setting Unrealistic Expectations
This one can happen to anyone. You get into a home with all of the best ideas out there and you are ready to get it all done. You have starry eyes about how the home will look and how everything will get done without a problem and for under budget. But if you go into this project without a good plan in place, you are going to be disappointed.
Even if everything goes relatively smoothly, remodeling is going to be messy and noisy. This is just how renovations are designed. Working with a good design company can help with this, but you can’t expect that it is going to be perfect all of the time.
Before you decide to do the renovations, take a look at your own schedule and see when the best time of year is to get the work done. You want to pick a time that is going to include minimal disruptions to you and your family while the work is getting done.
Choosing the Lowest Bid
Everyone wants to get the work done on their home for an affordable price. But it can be a big mistake if you choose to go with the lowest bid simply because it can save you money.
When you are evaluating some of the different options out there, it is tempting to go with the lowest bid to help you keep the costs of construction as low as possible. However, if you compare the bid to many of the others and find it is drastically lower than these, then there are some red flags to look for. These could include:
- The contractor is hiding some of the costs and will spring them on you later.
- The contractor is not skilled in estimating or budgeting the cost of the project.
- The contractor plans to cut some corners to save money.
- The contractor is not going to have the necessary experience that you need.
Compare all of the different bids that you receive, after getting them from at least three companies, and then pick the one that provides the best price and the best value all in one.
Making Too Many Changes During the Process
While it is a good idea to work closely with your contractor to make sure the final project is the way you want it, if you end up making too many changes during the process, your final project is not going to look all that great.
When you work with your contractor to iron out all of the details that you want before you start on the construction, you can cut down on how many changes you wish to make down the road. There are times when something will come up during the construction project and you may need to change them, but this needs to be kept to a minimum.
If you are looking at changes, just keep one main thing in mind. Each change is going to slow down the time for the project to get completed and it can send your budget upwards.
Choosing to Remodel Your Home
There are a lot of reasons to remodel your home, but it is important that you take the time to do it the right way. Rushing in and not setting realistic expectations, or rushing in and not having a plan for now or the future will make the remodel go badly. Take some time to look at the most common home remodeling mistakes and learn how to avoid them with your home remodel.
