SOURCE: Houzz
Get expert tips for improving your home while preserving your sanity
A significant home improvement project rates high on the list of life’s most stressful tasks. Horror stories abound, causing racing pulses at the mere thought of contractors taking over your home. But it has to be done! That new kitchen, bathroom or bedroom suite won’t come into being until you enter the fray. Forewarned is forearmed, so read this essential advice to accompany you on your journey.
1. Plan and Prepare
It’s study time. The more time and effort you invest in the run-up to your project, the better.
Sketch out clearly the scope of the work envisioned. Online resources such as Houzz will help you build up a clear picture of exactly the look you want. You can browse photos and save the ones you like to ideabooks to share with family members and your pros. Visit showrooms and suppliers to see samples of products and finishes and tour houses for sale in your area for inspiration on what you may realistically expect to achieve.
Establish at an early stage which professionals you need on your project. Architects, interior designers and engineers each bring expertise which may be essential to a successful outcome for your project.
Finding the right contractor, builder or design-build firm is the holy grail. While you should aim to get three competitive quotes, the best advice is to choose the best one you can. You will save time and money in the process.
2. Create a Written Agreement
A signed, written outline of the work to be done, the agreed-upon period for completion and the agreed-upon price is essential. The more detail you can include here the better, including products to be used and the standard of finish expected.
If working with a professional team, you should be signing a formal, legal contract with the contractor.
3. Expect (Lots of) Dust and Dirt
It’s shocking how quickly a habitable home reverts to a building site once work of any scale begins. It seems as if every particle of dust that ever settled in the furthest recess is shaken out in the process.
Major work may require that you move out for the duration. If you’re staying put, keep the spread of dust to a minimum by sealing off those rooms where work is being done from those unaffected.
Talk to the builders about dust management and ask them to put up dust protection sheets for you. These will protect any built-in or fixed furniture in the vicinity of the work that can’t be removed.
Make a careful plan in advance of how you’ll live around the project. Do you need to turn the spare room and bathroom into a station for microwave dinners and washing-up? If space is tight and your options are stressing you out, talk to your builder about any temporary measures they might be able to help with — moving the stove or installing a temporary sink, for instance.
4. Monitor Progress
Visit or inspect the site being remodeled frequently to keep on top of what’s being done and to make sure you’re happy with the quality of work. The best time to do this is before or after the day’s work. A noisy, busy building site is not conducive to focused attention.
Arrange a regular, formal meeting or catch-up on site with key participants to review progress, discuss challenges that have emerged and map out decisions that need to be made. These are usually undertaken on a weekly basis and should be documented, with the details circulated to all parties.
5. Agree on Lines of Communication
To avoid misunderstandings between you and your contractors, it’s essential that there is a clear line of communication between you and them. If you’re embarking on work along with a spouse or partner, agree in advance which of you will be responsible for dealing with the contractors.
If you’re employing an architect or other professional, all instructions and requests to the builder should be channeled exclusively through your professional. Keep and circulate a written record of all your dealings, in paper or digital form.
6. Avoid Changes
This is where your homework and advance research will pay off. Even minor changes can lead to cost over-runs and time delays, which can quickly spiral out of control and be difficult to monitor. The more decisions you make in advance, the quicker materials can be ordered and work can progress.
You will still be bombarded with a plethora of detailed decisions to be made along the way, all of which, of course, will be flagged as urgent. Dealing with these will, hopefully, be made easier in the context of the clear vision that you have formed for your home.
7. Stay Calm and Focused
Building work tends to be all-consuming, with a unique, frantic pace of its own. Those urgent decisions seem endless.
This means it’s a good time to sign up for a yoga course or schedule in some definite, relaxing downtime over the course of the work. This will help you maintain perspective and the energy levels needed to bring the project to fruition.
8. Celebrate the Wins
You will get there! The project may run over time and over budget, and you may have your own battle stories to add to the anthology, but your enjoyment of a beautiful home crafted to suit your every need will make it all worthwhile.
SOURCE: Houzz