Are you looking to give your property a makeover? If so, you’ll need a house renovation checklist to ensure that you have mapped out all of the details and stay on top of the project.
This is a great time of year to undergo a renovation, given the natural lull so many go through between the festive period and the spring and summer months. Making sure that you have a checklist for renovating a house in place will help with planning and project management, and here is what it should include.
Steps To A House Renovation Checklist
Let’s take a look at each detail that your checklist should contain. Get the checklist right and you’ll be well on your way to a successful renovation project.
Project Scope
At the very beginning of your renovation process, it is going to be important that you lay out a rough time frame for completion, including the size and complexity of the work planned. In most cases, you can expect anywhere between 3 and 6 months to finish your makeover.
You will want to create a plan and a list of must-haves during your renovation, and research renovation projects with the highest ROI. If you speak to most who have undergone the home renovation process, they’ll tell you to anticipate things being late. Despite this probability, it is still worth your while to have a loose idea of the time frame for the completion of your renovations.
Budget
Next up on the house remodel checklist, is the finances of it all. Having a budget is important as it gives you something on which to base all of your decisions.
No matter whether you are deciding on tiles, carpets, cabinet knobs, light fittings, or other materials, your budget will dictate a great number of your choices.
Budgets can be flexible depending on any changes in your financial situation during the house remodeling. Any additional funds, however, should be treated as a bonus and never considered during the planning stage. Remember that your budget shouldn’t be all the money that you have, but rather how much of it you can afford to spend.
To plan a budget, the best course of action is to split up the renovation project into bite-sized pieces. First, break it down room by room, and then look at each component.
Here you can make loose estimates based on a quick online search. This will help to give you the structure of your budget, the most important factor on your house renovation checklist. You will want to leave around 15% of your budget untouched, for any unexpected expenses.
Deadline
Whilst the scope of a project will factor in the expected amount of time you expect each aspect of the remodels to take, the deadline will put a much finer point on things. This will be the date that you and your contractor can commit to, at which point the entire project will be finished.
Having a specific goal like this that you can work towards, will ensure that you have the necessary pressure behind you to get jobs done. Equally, it will help you to press the issue with contractors who perhaps aren’t prioritizing your job as much as you would like.
Design Plans
No matter what kind of house remodel you are planning on, there are several steps to take when working out the design. This will start with you, at home, with a brief design that you can later pass on to your contractor or architect.
The first step of this construction process is to make a very basic list or sketch of what exactly you want to change and how. Once you have this sketched-out blueprint, you have something on which to build.
Try to include information such as:
- Colors
- Space changes
- Textures
- Styles
- Furniture items
Once you have the basics of a design for your home renovation, you can then speak to professional architects or construction teams who can help finalize your design.
Find Inspiration
There are plenty of places where you can find some much-needed inspiration for your home renovation. Working out how you want your home to look can be overwhelming, and many of us just lack the vision to imagine how things will look.
There is nothing wrong with being inspired by, using elements, or completely taking an idea from someone else. Here are just some places where you can get some inspiration for your dream home.
- Websites such as Etsy and Pinterest
- Homes of friends and family
- TV shows that focus on home renovation
- Glossy magazines
- Lifestyle websites
Look at what colors and aesthetics people use, how they incorporate different textures, how they play with space, and what styles work well in various rooms.
Select Materials Needed
The next step on your home renovation checklist is selecting what materials you are going to need. This is going to be infinitely easier than it could have been, as now you have a budget, design ideas, and inspiration.
This can be an overwhelming task, after all any home remodel is going to require a huge amount of materials. Begin by making a list of the materials that you do know that you need, you could even start with the trimmings like paint and carpets.
Try to work in reverse here and go as far as you can. If you haven’t included items like nails and bolts, caulk, silicon, drywall, etc. don’t panic. The key is to first get a list of the materials that you know you require.
If you have worked with a professional designer or architect on this, they should be able to support you when making a list of materials that will benefit your needs.
Finding The Right Contractor
A common mistake that people make when commencing home renovation projects, is only focusing on the work reputation of a contractor. This, of course, is a very critical factor, but there is more you should be looking for beyond this.
We all want potential contractors to deliver quality, but you should also be looking for great customer service, communication, honesty, and a reasonable price.
Here are some of the aspects you should be focused on when finding a construction team:
- A detailed description of the necessary work together with an accurate estimate of the cost for each component
- Projected start and finish dates
- A comprehensive, legible payment schedule with a clear final payment date
- Both parties’ signatures; refrain from signing a contract with any blank spots
- All relevant warranties, including details (who is responsible for the guarantee, what is guaranteed, and for how long)
Vetting Your Contractor
Before hiring a professional contractor, you must meet up with them for a brief consultation. The first stage of the vetting process is identifying what you require.
Next, up, research contractors to find a team that could fit the bill. You will want to make sure that they are licensed, bonded, and insured. Finally, have a face-to-face before deciding on whether they are right for you.
Interviewing contractors is not necessarily just about learning what they can offer you. This should have been already established during your research. These meetings are in fact, about you feeling comfortable with the team and their leader.
Remember that these men and women are going to be in and out of your home for 3 months or longer. You need to trust the contractors implicitly and feel confident that they will treat you and your property with the utmost respect.
Check & Read Reviews
Be sure that you have checked any reviews that previous clients have left about the team you are thinking about hiring. We all have different standards and that is why it is important to have an open mind when reading the reviews of others.
With this being said, you should certainly be on the lookout for red flags. Home renovations are difficult enough, without poor-quality contractors causing even more issues. These reviews can often help you if you are stuck between 2 or more contractors and cannot decide.
Preparation
No matter if you are going for a whole house remodeling or simply renovating a room or two, you’ll need to ensure that you and your family are prepared. This in many ways is the reason behind having a home renovation checklist.
There is so much to consider before your home renovation, and the better prepared you are, the smoother things will go. With regards to the necessary preparation, add a sublist to your home renovation checklist, and add the following.
Living Arrangements
Even if your home renovation doesn’t include the whole house, it may be that homeowners have to move out of the home to help the contractor. If this is the case then you’ll have to make some solid plans for where you can go, and a backup should things go awry.
Even if you are only getting a small area like the laundry room or a bathroom renovated, it may be best to leave your own home during the remodel. So many contractor jobs like new walls, new flooring, and new furniture require plenty of space and access for construction workers. Leaving the whole house empty, they can do the job more efficiently.
Rent Storage
At this stage of the home renovation, you may still not be sure what you will keep and what will be thrown away. The best option, therefore, is to put old furniture and other items in storage, until you have time to go through the process of sifting through it all.
This means that your contractor can get the renovation project started quickly, and sort your appliances and old furniture out at a later date. Be sure to add this to your home remodel checklist, as you may have to rent these spaces ahead of time to ensure availability.
Permits and Licensing
The most important of home remodeling steps is that homeowners have double-checked if they require permits or licenses for the work they are about to carry out. In the case of most renovation projects, you won’t need any approval for pre-planning or need to file any applications.
It is of course, always important that you check before your renovation gets underway. Both Federal and State licensing can differ, so you will have to check both before you find contractors for your job.
A whole home renovation can throw up all kinds of safety issues and potential legal wrangling if you don’t have the permit that you require. You can always get professional help from your chosen contractor to help you with permits if you are in any doubt.
Conclusion
This house renovation checklist is going to greatly help you to stay on track with your project. A renovation project of any scale can be stressful and intimidating, but you can ease this stress with simple planning and forecasting. Before you know it, you will be fully organized and ready to kickstart your renovation project.
If you live in the greater Los Angeles, California area and looking for professional home remodeling contractors, contact Build Method Construction at 818.900.9626 for a free consultation or Get a Free Quote.
With over 25 years of experience, we can help you every step of the way from the design, permits, material choices, and quality advice on how to complete your ideal remodel.