Improving a home be a wonderfully rewarding experience. After all, you’ll be transforming a place you already love into an even more appealing living environment. At the same time, unexpected stress can come in the form of spouses disagreeing over what color to paint the kitchen or disputes with architects and contractors. If you plan to renovate, here are common causes of stress and tips to avoid these frustrations.
1. Uncertainty About Where to Begin
A home improvement project is kind of like having a blank canvas. This can either be a calming thing or something that instills a sense of panic in you. Whether your planned updates involve your landscape, a single room, or a top-to-bottom facelift, some homeowners in Huntsville aren’t sure where to start with their project. If this is where you’re at, ease this stress by brainstorming ideas with professionals. Remember, you don’t have to have all decisions made during an initial consultation. Take a deep breath and share your ideas, get some professional insights, and move ahead with confidence.
2. Failing to Estimate or Anticipate Costs
The cause of cost woes might be a failure to anticipate all possible costs or a lack of transparency about all project-related expenses. Avoid financial stress as your project progresses by taking steps to keep everything as transparent as possible. Do this by starting with an accurate estimate. Ask everyone involved with your project to itemize their estimates to show you what everything from labor and permits to materials and electrical and plumbing work will cost before any work is done.
3. Not Knowing When Everything Will Get Done
Stress can quickly set in if you expect everything to be done by the holidays and it’s a week before you’ll have a house full of Thanksgiving guests and your kitchen cabinets still aren’t up. Minimize delays by working with a company that’s locally based in Huntsville and likely to source materials and products from manufacturers or business within the area whenever possible. Homeowners can avoid delays by requesting a work back schedule prior to starting your project. It also might be beneficial to have weekly meetings with key members of your remodel team to discuss progress and identify any potential sources of delays.
4. Making Too Many Project Changes
It’s human nature to change your mind when an improvement project starts becoming a reality. Changing your mind about details such as appliances, colors and textures, and materials, however, can make your renovations more expensive and time-consuming. Minor changes like preferring oak cabinets instead of walnut won’t make much of a difference, but flip-flopping on layout adjustments and other major decisions can lead to a lot of mutual headaches. Sometimes, these issues stem from spousal disagreements over plans. While contractors can’t be serve as marriage counselors, you can avoid this particular project pain point by weighing the pros and cons of decisions during the planning phase of your project.
5. Not Knowing About Some of Your Home’s Hidden Problems
Your project can be moving along smoothly when all of a sudden major plumbing issues are discovered behind the walls that will make your bathroom renovation more expensive than anticipated. While reliable contractors are often adept at making accurate estimates, they can’t anticipate surprises that may exist in crawlspaces, attics, or behind walls. Avoid this particular source of stress by having your home inspected before your project gets started. Even if nothing major is found, you’ll be able to use the info from the report to get an idea of what value could be added to your home from renovations.
6. Communication Issues
Misunderstandings or a simple lack of communication with contractors can lead to a lot of assumptions, frustrations, and expenses. This often happens because homeowners aren’t sure what questions to ask while getting started. Before diving into your renovations, talk to friends or neighbors who’ve already had work done. Homeowners will be able to get an idea of what kind of questions they should be asking. Avoid other communication issues by setting up regular meeting times with project managers to stay on the same page. If you’ll be moving out while renovations are underway, make regular in-person visits to confirm everything is progressing.
Working with an experienced company like Alair Homes Huntsville is another way to ease stress and maximize your satisfaction. Our goal is make your renovations as smooth as possible from start to finish with extensive project planning assistance, up-front, competitive pricing, and ongoing communication from the initial idea phase through completion.