Taking the plunge into a big home renovation project brings two distinct emotions.
#1: Excitement
You're finally going to get the changes you have been craving are going to happen. Your home is going to get a new lease of life and a new purpose. Perhaps you're building a sunroom or laying a new deck in your garden in anticipation of summer, but anything has the same inspirational effect. Change is coming, and you're determined it's going to be a good one.
#2: Worry
It's inevitable that with great change comes great concern. You find yourself envisioning all the things that can go wrong. It's such a massive undertaking, both in terms of disruption to your life and the impact on your finances.
So the two emotions mingle together. The excitement you're probably fine to handle by yourself, but worry might be something you can alleviate a little. A good place to start is going through this checklist. When you can answer a resounding "yes" to each of these questions, then find some confidence in knowing your project is in good shape.
Question One: Do You Trust Your Professionals?
For most of us, undertaking a large-scale project means hiring in the pros. That means you hand over part of your home to someone else and have to trust they are going to do good work - a great cause for concern.
There are ways and means of establishing trust. Ask to see photos of prior work; any reputable firm will be happy to provide them. For example, QNR Quality Construction has photos of their work on their website, and other companies with a good history will do the same. They should also be willing to show testimonies from previous satisfied customers. If they are as good as they claim they are, they should be prepared to back it up.
Don't be afraid to ask. It's your home and your big project, so make sure you're 100% confident in the people you have hired.
Question Two: Do You Have A Contingency Fund?
Budgeting for a project is all well and good, but something will go wrong. It's not a maybe; it will definitely happen. So you need your budget and then an extra 10% set aside for contingencies when issues arise. Without this, you expose yourself to having to halt a project while you gather finances to cover any unexpected hiccups.
Question Three: Is Your House Ready?
If you are having an extension built, then you need to clear the area that is being extended. This might be an inconvenience, but it's a short term pain for a long term gain. Try and have this done at least 48 hours before work is set to commence, so you don't have the stress of rushing to do it at the last minute.
While there is no way of totally reassuring your concerns, being able to answer these three questions in the affirmative will help on a practical level. Hopefully, you can now focus more on the excitement than the tendrils of worry!
Lot's of love
