5 Things to Consider Before Starting Construction on a House
Building your dream home is often considered the level up from the standard American dream of owning your own home. Building the exact home you want or renovating an existing property to fit your exacting specifications is certainly harder than just moving into an existing home and living with it. Here are 5 things to consider before starting construction on a house.
Set Your Scope – and Budget
When you’re planning your dream home or renovations to an existing one, plan your scope so that you can plan your budget. If the renovations will take up too much time and money, maybe you should reduce your scope to something more realistic. Or you may want to do the work in stages, such as building the extra two bedrooms and bathroom now and renovating the kitchen next year.
Have a Plan
We already mentioned the need to have a scope of work and budget. You also need a plan or ideally, several plans. You need the floor plan so that you know you’re getting new appliances that fit in the space you’ve allocated. Blueprints are critical so that you don’t buy hardware that doesn’t fit the items you’re installing. You need a schedule so that you can hire contractors so they show up when every preceding step necessary to prepare for them is done.
Considering Workers Needs
People often forget how inconvenient it can be for contractors to constantly have to go upstairs to go to the bathroom and the conflict created when everyone is forced to use the same bathroom for days or weeks at a time.
Another mistake is thinking that the contractors will hardly impact your life. Then you forget about the noise, the need to avoid areas under construction and the fact that the contractors will often want to use your only working bathroom, too. You could easily address this problem by renting portable restrooms from a company like On Site Co, and they’re much less expensive than many people think.
Pay for the Professionals
One major mistake is hiring people who are not licensed, bonded professionals to do renovation work, or trying to do everything yourself. Trying to lay tiles yourself or doing the painting risks hurting the value of your home because others can see that you did it yourself due to the poor quality. Laying bricks, installing new electrical outlets and other projects shouldn’t be done by yourself. You can’t afford the repairs for mistakes or take the risk of a major accident happening. Your wellbeing is more valuable than the few dollars spent on a good, reputable contractor.
Vet the Contractors
Before you work with a third party, verify that the contractor is licensed or bonded. You need to do more than a cursory check that the person has a website or business directory listing; you will also need to check references regarding the person’s quality of work or ability to complete work on schedule and within budget.
All these steps will ensure that your home remodeling or construction goes as smoothly as possible. Above all else, make sure that you have the proper security measures in place and make sure that you aren’t violating any city or state ordinances.
