4 Top Tips For A Home Renovation
If you’ve been living in the same house for a long time, certain bits of home renovation become unavoidable. After a while, doors start not to close properly, taps begin to leak and cabinet hinges become loose.
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Home renovations can be compared to ‘Matroyshka’ Russian dolls - there are many layers! You take a peek behind one, and many more layers are revealed - what starts as a quick paint job can turn into applying full thermal insulation. Here are some things to consider when approaching a home renovation:
1) Take time to determine what your home needs before starting renovations. Proper due diligence will not only help you to budget accordingly, it will ensure nothing is missed.
2) Put small items from rooms that you are going to renovate into boxes so they aren’t affected by dust and dirt. Covering larger items of furniture with dust sheets or tarpaulin will provide a good level of protection.
3) Don’t start cleaning until all sawing and drilling work is finished. Doing so would be both boring and futile!
4) If you don’t want to live on a building site whilst the builders are renovating, you can always be a temporary guest at a friend’s house. However, being on-site during the renovation to guide the builders willprevent any unwanted surprises!
Now, let’s take a look at some of the parts of the house you may want to renovate:
Bathroom: If your house is old and you have the budget for it, you may consider a complete renovation with changes top to bottom. If, however, you only have problems with your bathroom tiles, consider regrouting. Make sure you compare prices to get the best value if you plan to buy a new toilet bowl, sink, bathtub or shower.
Flooring: If you’re considering changing the flooring in your home, we highly recommend doing some research first. Make sure you ask important questions to determine what type of flooring is best for you, i.e. hardwood or marble. If you opt for marble flooring, you can also consider parqueting it. If you already have parquet flooring, bear in mind it can be costly to have it removed completely and then replaced.
Door / Window renovations: If any door has become unusable, we recommend replacing it completely. If, however, the problem is just with the frame, or handle, then minor modifications can be made thus saving some money. If you have old windows there can be issues with insulation. uPVC windows are great for insulation, however you should note that not all models are the same. For example, sliding windows aren’t as useful in terms of thermal insulation.
Thermal insulation: If your building doesn’t have external sheathing, and you’re sure it’s not going to be added anytime soon, you can take a DIY approach and add internal insulation yourself. Interior insulation can be applied to exterior-facing walls, columns and beams. Generally, re-painting is included in quotes from interior insulation companies,so why not kill two birds with one stone!
Painting: Even if you plan to repaint the house yourself, we advise you to at least consult with a painter and decorator. They’ll be able to tell you at a glance how much paint will be required for the entirety of your home. However, we believe it’s an unnecessary burden on you to buy all the paint and do it yourself! Even after you’ve finished painting, the clean up job itself can take days. Instead, we recommend that you think rationally and hand the work over to the experts, by bringing in a professional painter and decorator to do a perfect job.
