What Is Involved When You Start A Home Improvement Project?

What Is Involved When You Start A Home Improvement Project?

The planning phase of a home improvement project

Before you decide that your home needs to be updated, you have to outline exactly what you want to be done, how much money you are willing to spend and who is going to do the actual work, and lastly the time frame that the work should be completed by.

As houses age, they tend to need updating to remain a comfortable place for you to live. No roof lasts forever, no kitchen will continue to serve the needs of a growing family, and as your family grows houses must grow to accommodate the larger amount of people living there. Not everyone thinks that their homes need improvement. They are content with the status quo, and have no desire to change the physical makeup of their homes. This usually changes when things begin to breakdown, and they find the equipment they have used for many years, is no longer manufactured, and they must purchase a newer model, or choose to do without it.

Kitchen remodeling

The kitchen is usually the first place where the need to remodel becomes most apparent. The growing family needs more room to eat their meals, the kitchen is too small, the appliances are outdated, and the cabinets somehow have shrunk, and just no longer fit all of the dishes the growing family has. The family then begins the planning phase of remodeling, how much money are they willing to set aside to make the kitchen a better place to cook their family’s meals? Is there anyone in the family who is capable of doing the work themselves? For most families there is only so much work you can do by yourself. Electrical, plumbing and carpentry work is usually done by licensed professionals in your area.

Another scenario is that you hire a general contractor, who in turn will subcontract the specific areas to other independent contractors. It is crucial that you that there is a clearly defined contract between you and the contactor. You expect that the work you need is done to your specifications on time and within the budget you have mutually agreed to. The best case scenario is that everything goes according to plans, that there are no cost overruns, time completion issues and too much disruption in your daily lives. Nice thought, but rarely the case. When you deal with other people, sometimes there is a disconnection between what you want done and what you actually get done. Even if you clearly outline your requirements for the proposed work, you must continually oversee the work as it is being done.

Increasing the Size of Your Home-Adding Rooms-Levels

The larger scope of such a project precludes a do it yourselfer from realistically attempting it. This is a construction project which will require a contractor to do it to specifications. He should be licensed in the area where your house is. Before you agree to anything check this contractor out with any governmental organization, to see if there any cases pending against this contractor for non performance of work, and to check if any consumer complaints have been filed against this contractor as well. If everything checks out, then and only then should you hire this contractor to do the work you require.  A project of this magnitude will require a substantial payment of cash to get the project done within your required time frame. But just because you want the project done a certain way, does not necessarily mean that you will not have to inform the contractor if things are not progressing as you would like. In effect you are “the boss” and until the entire job is finished you still have recourse to make adjustments in what you want, as long as you are willing to pay for them. Conversely, if the contractor does not hold up his end of the contract you have the right to seek financial remuneration for items that you are not happy with how they turned out.

Conclusion

Remodeling your home is not something you should attempt before you have fully researched what you want done, how much you are willing to pay for it, and the time you will allow it to be finished. How much disruption in your life are you willing to accept while the work is going on and how trustworthy is the person/people you have hired? These are issues that must be addressed before you embark on a home improvement project.