5 Things To Consider When Planning Your Renovation

5 Things to consider when planning your renovation

1. Budget. This is the single biggest thing you will have to decide when you want to renovate your home. It doesn’t matter if you want to renovate your entire home or just one room you can’t start to make any plans for your renovation until you set the budget. Set your budget realistically.

2. Plans. Whether you draw them on a piece of paper, have them drawn by a professional or draw it out on the floor of the room with your contractor, you need some sort of plan. Don't ever start a renovation without a clear plan of where you want it to finish, some of the worst mistakes are made when someone starts a renovation telling themselves they will figure it out as they go.

3.  Style. Since you have plans now you need style. Best laid plans will look all wrong if you don't have the right style in the room. Look through magazines, watch TV shows and mark down what you like and what you don't. This will go a long way to helping you organize the room during and after the renovation. Make sure you involve your better half, chances are you and them will have different styles, you will have to find some common ground.

4.  Contractor. No matter how much you plan, if you don't find the right contractor to do the actual work then your renovation will turn out poorly. Take your time and find not only a contractor that is good at what they do but one that you can personally get along with. This will make the renovation experience a much more enjoyable experience.

5.  Price. Make sure that you get a price. It doesn't have to be a fixed price as some renovations can be hard to price, you should at least have a budget that you and your contractor will be working from that will help keep costs in line throughout the project. As I said about the budget, the price should be realistic, if your contractors price looks to cheap or way to expensive then you should be looking around for another price to compare it too. If it's to good to be true then it probably is something wrong with the price.

Whatever you want to do, you should be planning as much about the renovation as possible before it ever starts; right down to the colour of the carpet, every detail that you are able to decide on before the pressure of the renovation starts the more enjoyable the renovation experience will be.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Stick to the plan when you are renovating

Stick to the plan!

No matter how small or insignificant you think the project you are taking on might be, remember to stick to the plan.

Whether it is moving electrical outlets, changing lighting, new pieces of furniture, one change could throw the entire flow of the room off resulting in unexpected costs and disappointments.

Think about the space and how you would like to use it. If you can’t envision the whole space, how will you ever be able to bring it to life.

Make sure what you have been dreaming about will work in real life, take some measurements and put it on paper. If it works on paper then it should work in real life.

Ensure you can purchase your desired items. You’re going to be disappointed if you can’t find the items that you need to make your dream come true, so make sure that you do your homework before you start.

Execute your plan as per the drawings, the worst thing you can do is get half way through your project and decide to go a different direction, remember you spent a lot of time thinking about your drawing as you created it. A last minute change of mind usually ends up in disappointment. When you see the finished product and how it all flows together you will be glad you did.


 This is an exert from a newsletter that is distributed to all former, current and future clients of Village Builders Inc. If you would like to receive this newsletter feel free to email me at www.robabbott@villagebuilders.ca

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.