Home Renovations: What You Need to Know

Sum­mer is the per­fect time of year for home ren­o­va­tions.  There’s no snow, no cold and plen­ty of day­light to get the job done.  Home ren­o­va­tions are a great way for home own­ers to add extra equi­ty into their home before sell­ing it or for a chance to improve the func­tion of the home and fall in love with it again.  What­ev­er the rea­son, there are two options to choose from when under­tak­ing a home ren­o­va­tion: make it a do-it-your­self project (DIY) or hire a con­trac­tor.
DIY Projects

There are quite a few home ren­o­va­tion projects that a home own­er can do on their own, depend­ing on how good they are with their hands.  If you do plan to under­take a DIY project:

1. Make sure you have all the required infor­ma­tion regard­ing the project.  From how to com­plete the project to what tools are need­ed, you want to be ful­ly pre­pared when enter­ing a DIY project.  If it’s a new DIY project, make sure to ask a spe­cial­ist ques­tions before start­ing, from what mate­ri­als to use to the best ways to com­plete the project.
2. Safe­ty first.  You don’t want any injuries on the job so make sure you wear the cor­rect pro­tec­tive gear, from gloves to hard hats to safe­ty glass­es.
3. Know the equip­ment before using it.  Read the instruc­tions to all the equip­ment you will be using and make sure that you are capa­ble of using those tools.  If you’re not quite sure, try prac­tic­ing before­hand.  This way you can ask some­one for assis­tance instead of doing the job by your­self.
4. Take your time.  A DIY project should nev­er be rushed in order for it to be com­plet­ed.  Sched­ule your time in such a way that you have extra time left over at the end of the project just in case unex­pect­ed issues come up.  Rush­ing a DIY project can tire you out and make the com­plet­ed project look poor­ly done.

Hire a Con­trac­tor

Many peo­ple are not “handy” when it comes to fix­ing up their homes so hir­ing a con­trac­tor is their best option.  Fur­ther­more, there are some projects that require hir­ing a con­trac­tor as they are just too big for the aver­age home­own­er to do on their own, such as fin­ish­ing a base­ment.  If you do hire a con­trac­tor:

1. Be care­ful of scam artists.  We’ve seen on the news count­less occa­sions where peo­ple have been scammed by their con­trac­tor.  Before sign­ing a con­tract, research the con­trac­tor to see if they are cred­i­ble.  Check to see if the busi­ness is list­ed on the Bet­ter Busi­ness Bureau (BBB) and read reviews from past cus­tomers before mak­ing a deci­sions.  You don’t want to find your­self with a run­away con­trac­tor.
2. Pay a deposit first and the full amount at the end.  Many home own­ers make the mis­take of pay­ing the con­trac­tor the full amount before the project is com­plet­ed.  Pay­ing the full amount upfront allows the con­trac­tor to leave at any­time, with­out com­plet­ing the work, as they have received their pay­ment.  To avoid this, pay a deposit at the begin­ning and either grad­u­al­ly pay the rest through­out the project or wait until its com­plet­ed.  This way, the con­trac­tor won’t leave a job half done.
3. Shop around for a con­trac­tor.  Just like most items we buy, shop around for the best con­trac­tor, com­par­ing quotes, reviews and the work they offer.  Also, don’t always go for the con­trac­tor with the cheap­est price.  The ren­o­va­tion may save you mon­ey in the short run but will cost you more in the long run.

Gen­er­al Tips

1. If you’re ren­o­vat­ing a room that has secu­ri­ty cam­eras installed, ask your secu­ri­ty com­pa­ny about mov­ing or dis­con­nect­ing them for the time being until the ren­o­va­tion is com­plete.  Most secu­ri­ty com­pa­nies will offer to help re-install the cam­eras after a major ren­o­va­tion.
2. If you’ll be liv­ing through a home ren­o­va­tion, make sure that you’re aware of where the equip­ment is locat­ed and if you need to wear any pro­tec­tive gear.  Also, keep your belong­ings orga­nized and stored away, keep­ing the most impor­tant items present.  You don’t want things get­ting lost.
3. If it’s your first home ren­o­va­tion, start with a room or a small­er project first.  Ren­o­va­tions can cost thou­sands so you want to see the end result first before com­mit­ting to a larg­er project.