As you prepare to renovate your home, you should understand what you’re getting into. The process of remodeling a room or adding more space to your home can be stressful. You may struggle to keep to the deadlines that have been set, and you may have to constantly deal with a mess in your home. The work may drag on for longer than you think, and other difficulties can arise that will add to the stress you already feel.
The finished work can be very rewarding to see, but before you get there, you’ll have some hurdles to move past. We want to share with you some steps you can take to make home renovation less stressful.
Plan for Setbacks
No major project tends to be completed without a few difficulties along the way. If your home renovation project involves work that may take more than a couple days, you can expect some setbacks in the process.
Be prepared for those and be ready to deal with them as they come. In order to do that, you will want to be flexible in your scheduling. When the construction team tells you how long the work will take, you may want to give yourself space in the schedule for an extra day or two. This is especially true if the work is outdoors.
Not every remodeling project will go off without a hitch, and yours may have more than a few hitches. That’s okay, if you’re mentally prepared for a few problems, they won’t seem as big when they develop. Tell yourself before the project starts that not everything may go smoothly, and that will help you to have the right mindset.
Expect Additional Costs
When there are delays in the renovation process and when the work doesn’t go as smoothly as expected, that may lead to a costlier project. It’s possible that you’ll end up paying more than you thought for your home renovation. The construction company may give you an estimate at the beginning, but if they run into problems, the cost could escalate. If you need to make any changes as they’re working because you see issues you didn’t notice before, that’s going to cost you as well.
It’s wise to plan for additional costs before the project even starts. Take the construction company’s estimates as a guideline and not as gospel. Keep in mind that there may be problems you can’t foresee and then try to plan to have extra money allocated to deal with those issues. You can talk to your bank ahead of time and let them know you may be asking for a loan. This will give you an opportunity to check your loan eligibility so you know what your options are.
Here’s an idea of a few factors that might cause additional expenses for you:
- work delays
- bad weather
- changes to the renovation plan
- difficulty in securing proper materials
- poor planning on your part or the construction company’s part
- mistakes made during the renovation process
- electrical or plumbing problems in your home
- scheduling conflicts
It’s hard to say what problems will come up as renovation is ongoing, but if you can try to expect the unexpected and be prepared to pay extra for the work, you will be able to handle problems more smoothly. This also helps to keep the work on track a little better.
Choose Professional Cleanup
One of the biggest problems with a home remodel is that there’s a lot of debris to clean up. Dust can be created from tile work and when walls are put up, and it could be difficult to keep that dust under control. Preventing it from spreading to other rooms in the home may be one of your biggest challenges. You may need to be constantly cleaning around the work area, even if you can’t clean the area that is being remodeled until it is finished.
Some construction crews are very messy and leave behind a lot for you to clean up. Others will clean as they go and leave you very little work to do. Depending on the kind of mess you end up with when everything is finished, you may need to bring in a popular company to tidy everything up for you. Using professional cleaners can take a lot of the responsibility off your shoulders and speed up the cleanup process. They can get things tidy quickly and prevent dust from spreading through your home. They should be able to handle larger debris that you may have trouble with as well.
Take a Break when Necessary
When things go wrong in the renovation process, you may try your best to push through and keep things on target, but that’s not always the best option. If money starts to run out or there are scheduling problems, it may be best to take a short break. Give yourself or the construction company a chance to rest, and then get back to the work when you and they are able to handle it.
If you need a chance to get a little more money in the bank before things are finished, then it’s okay to take a break and wait until you can afford the remainder of the renovations. That would be better than trying to rush through it and get it done with limited funds. If the delay is necessary, just try to work around the mess as much as possible and keep everything in its place until the workers are able to get back to the job.
Be Clear in Your Communications
A lot of problems are caused by poor communication. Make sure that you communicate clearly with the builders as well as with any suppliers that are providing materials for the renovations. If you want things to go smoothly, stay in constant communication with the work crews and stay up to date on what they’re doing. Make sure you get regular updates from them so that there is no confusion.
If you can keep communication clear and regular, you will avoid expensive delays and help keep things on track.
