There’s nothing that can renew your love for your home quite like a remodel can.
Making your dream home a reality is an exhilarating feeling, but it’s often a process fraught with hardships. Indeed, remodeling projects are notorious for going over budget and being delayed. While half of the battle is choosing the right contractor and knowing what you want, a large part of making sure the process goes smoothly is in the preparation leading up to the remodel.
You need to prepare to get a little dirty. If you’ve walked past a construction site recently, you probably realize these aren’t the cleanest areas. There’s going to be extra dust in your house for the next few weeks, but there’s plenty you can do to minimize this dirt. Setting up ZipWalls and cordoning off the remodel area are steps in the right direction. A great contractor will also help you figure out how to redirect your home’s airflow to minimize the amount of dust you encounter outside the workspace.
Get ready for the noise. This may not be a problem if you’re not home many hours of the day, but if you do work from home, you’ll want to make sure your home office is set up as far away as possible from the construction work. Hiding from the pounding of nails into wood or from the buzz of a saw is not easy. Managing expectations and taking steps to mitigate noise from the crew ahead of time will help to ensure you stay sane while still being able to utilize your space.
Be ready to make seemingly tough decisions quickly. Problems will undoubtedly arise when you tear into a wall and something isn’t where it was supposed to be, or when the design has to change to accommodate unforeseen circumstances. While good planning will help keep these problems to a minimum, it’s highly likely that issues will arise. Knowing what you want going into the project makes these decisions happen faster and prevents any delays on your end, helping to keep costs down.
However, the most important thing to do leading into a remodel is to communicate with the contractor. Most contractors will tell you that the key to a successful remodel, where all parties leave happy, is good communication between the owners and the remodelers. Being prepared for your remodel is the best way to ensure the success of your project.
Download a complimentary copy of our handy remodeling guide here: 10-Questions-When-Preparing-for-a-Remodel-Case-Design-2014
