What to Know Before Renovating Your House

If you currently live in an older house or want to buy one, you will probably need to make major renovations sooner or later. Older homes tend to need major remodeling due to safety, maintaining home value or meet the growth demands of a family. Whether you’re a DIY newbie or an aficionado, you should do an assessment and come up with a scope for your home renovation. Carefully consider all your options and do your research as you develop a plan.

Assessing and Budgeting

You should properly assess your needs. For example, it may seem obvious that the bathrooms need to be updated, but what if there is structural damage lurking behind the walls? Before you go further, you should hire a professional to do a home inspection in Austin. The last thing you want is to allocate all available funds to aesthetic improvements when there may be serious problems that aren’t visible. Once you know what has to be done, you can account for it in your scope and budget.

Realistic Scope and Scheduling

Resist the urge to go overboard when it comes to improvements. After determining your needs and wants, develop a feasible scope of work. Which upgrades are necessary and take priority? The scope of work should be proportionate to your budget and overall renovation goals. For instance, you probably shouldn’t be spending $85,000 to renovate your kitchen if your house is worth $135,000. You should also consider the duration of your remodeling project. Case in point, if your master suite is going to be overhauled, you may not be sleeping in your bed or using your master bath for several weeks.

Hiring Professionals

You may be able to save a significant amount of money by doing the work yourself. It is not recommended to do everything by yourself since some projects require the expertise of professionals. We’ve already established that an inspection should be handled by an expert company such as DBL Check, but other work such as electrical and plumbing should also be done by experienced contractors. Painting and replacing light fixtures may be simple enough for most people, but more hazardous labor, or anything that requires permitting should be left to the professionals. Don’t bite off more than you can chew as mistakes and costly rework may devastate your project budget and success.

Home remodeling is a major undertaking. Comprehensive planning and research help set you up for success. Prioritize your house’s needs over your wants and make that the basis for your scope and budget. Take stock of what needs to be done and look for prudent ways to save money by doing things yourself.