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.

Stop Repairing Your Cottage And Renovate Already

This winter is turning out to be a wide one with temperatures rising and falling from warm enough to allow it to rain to so cold that you don't want to go outside into the freezer. We have weeks of blowing and snowing and then rain and sunny skies. This kind of weather can be really hard on older chalets and cottages as they will have foundation problems, pipes freezing, heating system issues, roof leaks and a whole host of other issues that will go wrong with the building.

This could be considered a disaster, with you having to spend money on fixing or repairing all these issues that keep happening to your place when you are simply trying to enjoy your weekend.

There is another way to look at it, its a wake up call, its your cottage/chalet telling you that its time to renovate and repair the place so that this doesn't happen in the future. The winter is actually a pretty good time to start having your cottage fixed. A good contractor can renovate and repair your cottage while still allowing you to be able to use it when you come up on the weekends.

As they are renovating they then can fix all the other issues that prop up like freezing pipes or heating system issues. Instead of you finding the problem when you arrive on friday night, your contractor would find it in the middle of the week and have it repaired before you arrive on the weekend.

Your cottage will require renovations in the near future, why not forgo the cost of emergency repairs, hire a contractor to renovate the cottage and have him take care of everything without the cost and stress of the emergency repairs.

This winter isn't a one off, extreme weather is becoming the norm in Southern Ontario, so you might as well start preparing your cottage/chalet for it now, have it renovated and fixed right and not worry about it into the future.

Call a contractor to start repairing and renovating today,

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.