6 Steps To Renovating A House - We Made This Life

Renovating a house is not a job for the faint hearted but it is definitely well worth doing. Often you can find a property that is in disrepair and needs renovating for significantly less than other properties in the area, meaning you have an ideal opportunity to make some money if you are clever with your budget. It also means that your home will be designed and decorated exactly how you want it so it will really work for your family and lifestyle. If you are a newbie to renovations don't worry, here are 6 steps to renovating a house that you might find useful with your planning.

Work out your budget

Step one is to work out how much money you have to spend. You might need to save up for a while or fund the work using a loan or borrowing money from parents but it is important to know exactly how much you have available. You can also look for some of your old gadgets and resell them. You can use the money to augment your funds. iPad Recycle offers good deals for old iPads. Remember you will need to include a contingency fund in case something unexpected comes up during the work.

Design

For most renovations you will probably want the input of an architect or quantity surveyor. It will be helpful if you have proper plans and you can work out the projected cost and timescale of the project and be able to keep it on time and budget. The architect can work with the building company to ensure that your design comes to life.

Use a project manager

It is definitely advisable to get a project manager in to oversee the project, especially if it is a big one. Otherwise you will need to make sure that you take this role on yourself and keep yourself updated every day with what has been happening on site and make sure that it is keeping to plan, timescale and budget.

Clear out space

You will want to clear out space so that the building work can take place. If you can move out while it is happening that might be best, especially if you are having structural work done or work done to the kitchen or bathrooms. If you need to move big items out of the way self storage is a good idea - you can clear a lot of space to allow the workmen to work and also so decorating can be done easily. There will usually be a self storage facility near you, for example Now Self Storage in Reading is great if you are local to there.

Decorate

Once the renovation is finished it is time to decorate! This is the fun part in my opinion and it's great to have a blank canvas to work with. Approach decoration in the same way as you handled the renovation - make a plan, design and a budget and stick to it!

Declutter

Once it is time to move everything back in make sure that you only move in what is essential. This is a great time to declutter and make sure that you organise everything neatly so that you can access it well. Once everything has a place and is tidy make sure the whole family is on board to keep it that way!