Is your home in need of an update, but you’re not sure what’s involved in renovating? Are you worried about budget blow-outs, time delays and the overall stress of the build? We have all heard the renovation horror stories, and these factors can have enormous impacts on your quality of life and overall satisfaction, not only during the build process, but also on the enjoyment of your home for years to come.
Knowing what to look out for, which questions to ask, and good communication are pivotal to being involved and excited about your build. Making informed decisions and selections about one of the biggest investments you will ever make, decreases stress levels and helps you to enjoy the build process.
There is a lot to go through before you start building. You need a building designer to create the plans (check if your builder has a design and build package), you may need engineering design, energy reports, soil test – the list goes on, and on. Many people are shocked at the length of time (and money) it takes to get to the quoting stage. It’s also really important to read and understand your contract, and to ensure you understand what has been drawn on your plans. If you don’t, you could be up for thousands of extra dollars in variations or worse – end up with a final product that does not meet your expectations of your dream home.
The role of a builder is to coordinate, organise and ensure the quality of your build. There are many areas to coordinate when building a home – trades, materials, local authority permissions, even weather conditions, so it’s no surprise there are so many ways a build can go wrong, but add in a disorganised builder, and now you have a recipe for disaster!
You don’t want to be living with, or repairing, a builder’s mistakes for years to come. It’s so important to research your builder and ask your builder plenty of questions before you sign on the dotted line. Builders should be happy to show you through current properties they are busy completing.
Your renovation is a long-term investment, not only financially, but into your lifestyle as well. You want to ensure your builder is professional, organised and has great communication. As the saying goes, “When you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”.
To help you avoid the 5 most common mistakes people make when planning their renovation, we have put together a simple guide – here’s the link to download it.
