7 Practical Steps to Plan a Home Renovation Without the Stress *

*Collaboration

A home renovation can be appealing for more than a few reasons. It wouldn’t just make your home nicer, but:

• Increase your property value
• Add more style to the house
• Make your home more functional
• Address any safety issues

Before you can see these, though, you’ll need to actually plan a home renovation. It’s not uncommon for homeowners to struggle with this, and it can cause a lot of stress. Nobody wants to go through that.

Thankfully, you don’t. Using a few tips can help with this, but it’s always worth focusing on taking the right steps. They’ll help you make sure the process is as straightforward as possible. They could even take a lot of the stress and hassle out of the process. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t help you.

Seven of these stand out because of how practical they are, and how straightforward they can make a home renovation.

Plan a Home Renovation: 7 Practical Steps to Take

Figure Out Your Budget

One of the first areas you should focus on is your budget. It’s one of the more essential parts of trying to plan a home renovation.

You can only get done what you can afford, after all. Take the time to figure out what you can afford, and then you can start planning everything out from there. If you’ll be getting a loan for it, then work out what kind of repayments you’ll have to make.

Only take a loan you can afford to pack back, so focus on what the monthly repayments will be like. If it’s cutting your finances too close, consider cutting back on your renovation.

Don’t Overlook Hidden Costs

Speaking of costs, it’s worth making sure you don’t overlook any hidden or surprise costs. A lot of these could come up when the renovation actually starts.

If you’re renovating the bathroom, for example, plumbing issues you didn’t know about could come up. You’ll need to make sure your budget can handle these hidden costs if they come up. It’s worth adding at least an extra 15% to your budget in case you have to deal with them.

That way, you don’t have to stress about finding the money to cover anything that could come up.

Find the Right Contractor For You

Unless you’re a skilled craftsperson yourself, you’ll need to hire contractors to do the work for you. Don’t just go with anyone you come across, though.

It’s worth spending a bit of time and effort on finding the right contractor for you. Some of this can depend on the type of work you’re having done. Many contractors will specialise in specific work. Do some research and find out what your options are so you can start comparing them.

Looking into reviews from previous clients can be a great way to figure out which ones are worth your time.

Get Your Materials Together

You’ll naturally need materials for your home renovation, and there can be more than a few to pick up. In many cases, your contractor could get them for you.

It can be worth trying to get them all yourself, though. It could work out a lot cheaper once you do. Thankfully, this doesn’t take too much time or effort. Start off by making a list, and the amount of each of them you need.

This can be a little tricky with tiles and similar materials, but it shouldn’t take you much time to figure out.

Put a Timeline Together

Once you have your materials and contractor, you should be able to figure out roughly how long the renovation should take. Your contractor can figure this out for you.

Naturally, larger projects will take much longer than smaller ones. An extension will take longer than a bathroom facelift, for example. A few other factors can also affect this, with how complicated the renovation is being one of the more notable.

Make sure you get a timeline estimate from your contractor. This should include roughly when each part of the renovation will be completed.

Prepare For Surprises

Once all of the above have been done, it’ll be time to consider starting the renovations. There’ll be almost nothing else to sort out.

That doesn’t mean everything will be smooth sailing going forward. Quite the opposite. A few surprises could come up, and these might have a large impact on the renovation process. At a minimum, they could mean your renovation will take longer than you’d think. While the chances of them happening are low, it’s worth being prepared for them.

Put a little extra toward your budget in case of emergencies, and expect the renovation to take a little longer. You’ll have nothing to worry about once you do.

Get Ready for the Renovations

With all of the above sorted out, it’ll finally be time to start the renovation. This shouldn’t be too difficult to get through once you’ve taken the right steps.

Your contractor should give you a relatively accurate idea of how long the process will take. The larger the renovation, the longer you should expect it to go. Keep the surprises mentioned above in mind once you’ve gotten this timeframe.

Depending on the kind of renovations you’re getting done, it could be worth moving out for a while until the work’s done.

Plan a Home Renovation: Wrapping Up

There are more than a few reasons to renovate your home. It’ll be more functional, stylish, and comfortable once the renovations are done, and it could even be more valuable. Who wouldn’t want a better home?

To actually see these, though, you’ll have to plan a home renovation that improves your house. That can be where many people struggle.

It’s easy for homeowners to get stressed and anxious when they’re doing this, especially when the renovation is happening. You don’t have to settle for going through all of that stress, though. By taking the right steps, you can make it easier for yourself.

There’s no reason not to properly plan it out.