Avoiding Costly Renovation Mistakes: 6 Tips from the Pros
You’re finally about to get round to starting that renovation project – you’ve got a crystal-clear mental image of the finished look, you’ve dusted off your tools and you’re ready to go. Or are you? Here are some of the most frequent DIY errors and how they can be avoided.
1. Purchasing Before Planning
It’s tempting when you’re researching materials, appliances and features like automatic gates online to splash out and order things you like. This would be a serious mistake – to avoid wasting money, hold off on the shopping spree until you’ve fully planned your project in detail and all measurements and dimensions are final.
2. Failing to Prepare
Any project that takes up your time and money needs to be very carefully planned. By drawing up plans for how you intend every aspect of your renovation to proceed, you’ll stay on budget and keep to your schedule. Make sure you check any legal requirements, such as planning permission.
3. Ignoring Unexpected Issues
It’s likely, when you start removing floors or walls, that you’re going to uncover things you weren’t expecting. But don’t just close your eyes – any plumbing or electrical problems need to be resolved before you put in the new flooring and walls. It might hurt to take the hit of an unexpected cost up front, but ignoring the issue will cost more in the future.
4. Doing Too Much Yourself
An exciting part of home renovations is the thrill of building something yourself, but it’s important to know when to take a back seat and let professionals do the job. Complicated tile laying, installing automatic gates by protonaccesscontrol.com/ and cabinet mounting are difficult and could even affect the value of your house if done poorly.
5. Hiring Cowboy Tradesmen
Over 85,000 complaints are made to the Office of Fair trading every year about shoddy building work. Seek recommendations from friends, and check the previous work of any contractor you take on.
6. Trying to Cut Corners
Just like ignoring the dodgy plumbing under the floor, trying to cut corners on finishes or materials just sets you up for bigger problems down the line. Use competent contractors, invest in quality materials and spend the necessary amount of time to get everything done properly the first time around.
