Getting a major home remodel project done feels so good. Most of us are itching about one thing or another in our home that we’d love to majorly transform, but often struggle to pull the trigger on hiring a home remodeling company to come and start the project.
If you’re close to making the decision to get a home remodel done, but don’t know if you’re adequately prepared to start, we have a few guidelines for you.
Preparing for a Major Home Remodel Project
Preparation comes two-fold. Firstly, you need to be personally prepared for a home remodeling project. Home remodels can get extensive, lengthy, and will interfere (to some extent) with your daily life. The degree to which it will affect your life will obviously depend on the scale of the remodel, but you’ll need to be personally prepared for how you’ll deal with the remodeling project.
Secondly, you’ll need to take on some preparation responsibilities in order for the project to go as you envision. Without preparation and action on your end, a remodeling company won’t have a clear picture of what you want which can result in a remodeling project that doesn’t match your expectations.
Here are a few tips on how you can properly prepare for a major home remodel:
Personal Preparation
Personal preparation for home remodels is huge. As mentioned before, a home remodel can get extensive, and that requires you to be personally prepared for how you plan to work around the remodeling project.
If you have a kitchen remodel being done, adequately prepare yourself for limited access to your kitchen appliances, cooking, and how you will carry out your usual kitchen tasks without 24/7 access. If it’s a master bedroom remodel or house addition, how will it affect your usual daily habits – dressing, showering, sleeping, organization, morning preparation, etc.?
A great remodeling company will work with you to greatly reduce the impacts of a major home remodel, but there’s no doubt that it affects your living situation in one way or another during construction. Adequately preparing yourself for the remodeling project is absolutely essential before you start a renovation!
Key Decisions
A professional remodeling company will have all the know-how regarding how to execute, incorporate your ideas into a design, and carry the project throughout the duration of the construction phase. But they will be building based on your ideas, and when it comes to key design decisions, make sure you have a clear idea of what you’re looking for and make all decisions before the project starts. If you are having a hardwood floor installed, know the style of boards you want. If you’re retiling, select the tiles you want far in advance to that stage of the process.
Ideally, you’d have time to make these decisions as you see the remodel in progress, but not all remodels give you that luxury. The last thing you want is to have a key, stressful design decision handed to you the night before they are constructing that phase of the remodel. Which leads us to our next point…
Defining the Process
A professional remodeling company should have a clear-cut process in place regarding how the whole remodeling project will flow. This is incredibly important for defining the scope of work, the length of the project, and ultimately remaining accurate in pricing. A lot of smaller or more inexperienced remodeling companies will have poorly defined processes, which result in pricing and timeline inaccuracy.
How does this relate to preparation on your part? You absolutely need to look for a remodeling company that you: 1) mesh with well, and 2) feel comfortable with their process. If you feel there are gaps in your understanding of how the project will flow and be executed, the truth is there are probably gaps in their understand of how that will all pan out as well. Do extra research, not only on companies, but also on their processes. Stonehearth, for example, offers a very clear process that not only keeps homeowners informed on the various stages of the project, but also all relevant contracts – electricians, plumbers, construction workers, etc. – so they know exactly when to step in to take care of their piece of the puzzle.