Renovation Decisions Are Key To A Smooth Project

When you are renovating before you start you (as the homeowner) should take the time to make as many decisions as possible.

When I say as many decisions as possible I don't just mean the general layout of what you want accomplished in the renovation, I mean the colour of the walls, the type of flooring, the style of trim, your electrical and any plumbing fixtures.

Now depending on the size and scope of the renovation that you are hoping to have completed you probably won't be able to make all those decisions, but even if you can narrow your choices down to a couple for every category then you can finalize it when it is required to be ordered.

One of the biggest delays in completing a renovation project for people is waiting for them to make decisions. This actually slows down your renovation far more then you realize.

It doesn't sound like a lot of decisions to have to make, but what you don't realize is that once your renovation starts your contractor (if he's the right contractor) will be asking you questions and giving you options and asking you to make decisions on certain things and this will happen probably every day.

These decisions could be as follows;

•  Upgrading existing insulation.
• Fixing damaged areas of walls.
• Changing windows.
• Fixing found water infiltration.
• Removing rodents and other unwanted pests.
• Upgrading or repairing existing electrical.
• Upgrading or repairing existing plumbing.
• Adding more lighting in existing ceilings.
• Changing plans because of existing structures that make the original plan impossible.
• Adding sound proofing.

Those decisions come as the demo is started and happen up until the drywall has been installed. These decisions are usually not included in the original budget, so its not just the decision to do it or not but it is also a decision on how it will affect the final costs and if and when there should be cost cutting.

If you haven't made any of the main decisions at the start then these decisions which are decisions you have a very small amount of time to decide on will take priority and one day you will realize that your contractor is asking you where your plumbing fixtures are because they need to be installed shortly.

Another factor of making your decisions early is that usually your first thoughts on the project are the best and most closely resembling your original vision. Once you start though everyone will be giving you a piece of advice and sometimes they can muddy the waters so much that when you finally have your renovation project complete it looks nothing like what you wanted it to at the start.

If you want your renovation to run smoothly without a lot of delays then make sure that you make your decisions early and often in the project. You will then have a far better chance of ending up with something that you truly love.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.

Cottage Renovations Can Be Like Pealing An Onion

When you are renovating an old cottage a lot of the time you have to start by pealing back the layers like an onion before you are able to get to a point where you can start putting it back together.

In old cottages there are usually half a dozen renovations over the years that have happened, so of the renovations could have been done properly, but a lot of the renovations where done by people with small budgets and limited knowledge of what they were doing.

The last renovations are the kind that are considered cosmetic and happen over and over again in cottages just to make the place livable, workable and a little more enjoyable.

These renovations pile one on top of the other until there is no way to know what is behind the wall coverings or the drop ceilings. What makes it worse is that the cost to remove all the layers rises for every time some renovated it cosmetically. This increased cost and scale of job can be a road block to a lot of cottage owners as it becomes to big a job to think about and to large a cost to pay for.

What usually ends up happening is that the renovations finally get done when the cottage is sold to another party who has put it in their budget to renovate and restore or the cottage gets transferred to the next generation in the family that comes in with fresh ideas and want and need to fix the cottage up to make it more habitable.

When planning the renovations with your contractor you have to leave some wiggle room with your design, the contractor will have be given a little freedom to do as he thinks best because as they peal back the layers the plan for what is to happen can change slightly.

A lot of the time when contractors start demolition they find things hidden behind walls and ceilings that require fixing or repairing. One of the big things that ends up happening is that we find there is a lack of insulation or the insulation that was there is damaged or outdated. Rooms can be come slightly smaller when you have to add insulation to the outside walls and more studs are needed or the ceiling needs to be built done to accommodate spray foam on the roof.

This is your cottage and chances are you will not be around for a lot of the work because you live somewhere else and you really don't want to be there for all the noise and dust that a renovation causes anyways. So you will have to trust your contractor will do the right thing, you can still have input into the renovation as your contractor can send you pictures and emails but a lot of what happens when it comes to what is behind the walls and ceilings your contractor will have to use their best judgement.

Remember that you hired your contractor because you trusted them, so let them do their jobs and fix your old cottage. If you don't trust them, well that's another blog for another time....

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc. 

We bought an old cottage, it needs renovations but we don’t know where to start?

Q:

We bought an old cottage, it needs renovations but we don’t know where to start?

A:

This is a very common occurrence for people when they purchase older cottages.

What you’re going to have to do is decide on what you really want to do with the cottage and how you want to use the space. The reason that people buy older cottages even though they know that they will require renovations is usually because of the location. In real estate location is usually everything.

There are many things that you will need to decide on;

• Can the cottage work for your family as it presently is?

• Can you use the cottage at all or does it need immediate repairs?

• Is the cottage large enough for your family and what you want to do to with it?

• What is your budget for renovations?

• Should you use the cottage for the first couple of seasons until you know what you really want to do with it?

• Do you want the cottage to be usable in all 4 seasons?

• What are the restrictions for renovating and adding additions in your area?

• When do you want to accomplish the renovations and when do you want them finished?

• Do you want to renovate over several years to spread the cost of the work around?

That seems like a lot of questions to think about, but most contractors that you call for renovation quotes will ask you a lot of these same questions. A lot of these questions will affect the contractor’s ability to schedule the work, complete the work and how extensive of a renovation that you will be able to afford.

Once you have figured out some of the questions listed above then you can call in a contractor and start working with them on what you want fixed, repaired, renovated and the cost of what it will be and also what they think you will require now and into the future.

The worst thing you can do is buy a cottage, call a contractor over and have none of these answers ready.

Remember that the contractor will be into their busy season and without at least some of these questions answered above they might not have the time or the schedule to help you.

Plan ahead and then you will always be ahead of the plan.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.