By Gordon Lee
Undertaking any kind of renovation, no matter the size, is never an easy task. With all sorts of different jobs, supplies and work needed, it can often be difficult to keep up with what exactly still needs to get done. Of course, if you’re outsourcing most of this work to a group of professionals, the weight gets lifted from your shoulders, but it’s not always the best to take your foot off the gas entirely.
We’ve put together this quick checklist for your home renovation so you can be across some of the key elements that need to be in front of mind at all times throughout the process. So whether it’s a small bathroom renovation or you’re radically transforming your house and adding a whole second story, these are some of the most important things to keep in mind as you start laying out your plans.
Create a styleboard
From the initial brainstorming stages to completion, you want to be sure that the design is coming alive in the best possible way. Creating a styleboard that outlines some of your favourite colour palettes, materials or products you want to see in your new space.
For example, if you find a particular type of tile you like in your research, you want to reach out to a tile shop in Perth to see if they stock that specific style. Having a particular vision and style in mind can help to narrow down your focus and allow other collaborators to understand your overall decision making process for the design.
Finalise a budget
Given the often changing plans of a renovation, the costs involved can often fluctuate quite significantly. Although you should expect some degree of change throughout the process, setting a budget range and then finalising on an agreed price should be a top priority.
Working with different contractors and materials can bring in quite different quotes, so make sure to confirm on quotes once you are happy to proceed. This way you can break down your costs across the different sections of the project, to ensure that all aspects of the renovation are covered. Whether it’s including costs for an electrical contractor, or for tiles Perth, you need to make sure the budget includes all of these costs, so you’re not hit with any hidden or extra costs at the end of the day.
Organising A Builder
Unless you consider yourself pretty handy with a power tool, chances are you’re going to lead some outside help to bring your new space to life. If you’re also working with an architect, they will complete a tender assessment document for you and let you know which of the builders they think would be best for the project.
Some of the things that factor into your decision making process here would be the estimated completion date, whether or not they can start in your desired date range, the hourly wage of the workers who would be helping on the project, and any other special rates for changes in the work. Ultimately the decision will come from weighing up all these factors and seeing if the quality of work that the workers have delivered in the past justifies their overall price.
Order the necessary products and appliances
You can often forget about the small products and appliances that form a part of your new renovation, but if you’re in charge of ordering them, make sure you leave plenty of time so the project completion date doesn’t blow out crazily.
Although some particular appliances, fittings or other products are super common and can be picked up from a local Bunnings, other specialist items may take a couple of months to be delivered. If you’re working with contractors here who are waiting on a part that you were supposed to order, that budget that you worked so hard to stick to could suddenly skyrocket out of control.
Think about small things such as powerpoints, wiring, or other small electrical items that can often be forgotten in the grand scheme of things.
Let locals know the timeframe of the project
No matter the current relationship with your neighbours, you’ll definitely want to make sure that you let them know the broad timeframe of the renovation so that they’re across the timing for the project. Undoubtedly, there’s going to be a fair amount of noise, comings and goings and all sorts of other mess created by the renovation, so it’s a common courtesy to let them know that they might be slightly disturbed during this time.
By letting them know as early as possible, they can make plans to mitigate the disruptions and make sure that they can make any other changes on their side.
Keep an eye on all moving parts
This last one is a little tricky to quantify, but with all the moving parts in the project you want to make sure you have eyes across each and every one of them. Or if it’s not feasible, make sure someone else you trust is managing that part of the project. Of course it’s impossible to be super involved in every part of the process if multiple things are going on at once, but taking a step back to observe the overall progress will allow you to manage each part and make adjustments where necessary.
Being flexible throughout this process is key, as budgets and timeframes may change a bit as your plans evolve. The most important thing is to remain in constant communication with everyone involved in the project and ensure all changes are actioned in a timely manner, to avoid the project blowing out into a disaster. Stay composed and keep working consistenly across the project and you’ll see your design come to life before your eyes!
