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Home Renovation Tips for New Owners Looking to Make Improvements

When looking for a home, sometimes we choose a larger house or one that needs more work in order to secure the best location. For example, if you are thinking about having a family in the future, being situated in an excellent school district and a neighborhood that’ll be safe for the kids to run around is important. However, compromises might have to be made on the house’s overall condition to make the other pieces fit into place.

Once the home has been acquired, then it comes down to figuring out what might need to be improved, replaced or upgraded to bring it up to an acceptable standard. In this article, we explore what some of those renovations might be for a house that needs work.

Know Your Budget

If you’ve saved money buying a less expensive house because it needed work and the seller acknowledged that, then there should be money spare for improvements. Take your time to budget out each room or space in your home that needs changes. Try to be as accurate as you can in the calculations. The numbers need to be specific right down to what countertop is selected for a kitchen remodeling, or the cost of a replacement wash basin in one of the bathrooms. You can estimate or put a figure down in a range (e.g. $300-$450), but it will make your budget pretty broad.

Should You Stagger the Renovations Over Months/Years?

Look at what funds you have available and where that leaves you. Can you afford to update every room on the project list to the level that you’re looking for? If not, then either downscale the materials used, choose to make fewer improvements, or decide to stagger the project over a longer period.

If you decide on the latter, then you can save up additional monies to fund the remodel beyond what was available after completing the purchase. This makes it possible to get the higher-end materials and finishes you’re seeking and not let your initial budget dissuade you from that decision. Just bear in mind that it will mean your house will be in various stages of disrepair over an extended period which may try the patience of some occupants.

Wrestling with the Driveway and Pathways

When driving up to the house, the curb appeal is something that you surely noticed (or a lack of it) when viewing the property before putting in an offer. The driveway where at least one car might be parked will get a lot of use. If it’s worn down and has seen better days, then getting it replaced is worthwhile. Depending on how expansive it is and how many cars it’ll comfortably hold, don’t go cheap on the materials because they must be attractive and durable. Some of the best driveway materials include gravel, pavers, asphalt or concrete. It’s also worth thinking about drainage for rainwater to avoid flooding damage.

There are likely several pathways around your property too. If you have a front lawn, then there could be a steppingstone path to access parts of the front turf. There will also be pathways perhaps along the side of your home and into your backyard. Any of these could be a bit torn up and need repairs or a few replacement paving stones to bring them up to a consistent standard.

Replacing the Roof

You may have bought your home knowing that the roof was checked out and found to be leaking in one or more places. If the roof is already 20-30 years old, then you’ll surely see some issues here and there. A roof may last half a century, but it does depend on its construction and any wind damage that’s been sustained over the decades too. At a certain point, the damage is such that a new roof is a better investment that trying to keep patching leaks and paying to manage internal water damage after every heavy storm.

Roofs are complicated things. They can have up to 8 individual layers, which may surprise you. The initial roof truss acts as the support and the roof shingles at the top protect what’s below and let rainwater trickle down to the gutters to avoid water damage to the house. But between the top and bottom layers are ice and water barriers, a felt underlayment, substantial decking to provide additional support, and a wooden frame along with some insulation to keep the home warmer too.

With roofing, a good tile or slate roof when properly installed can last 50 years. Therefore, if this is your forever home, your next roof will likely be the last you ever have to pay for. Hiring the right roofing company becomes all the more important in this case because a roofing installation must be done right or it’ll give you trouble over the coming years. And violent storms as we all know are becoming far frequent now. Semper Solaris are worth strong consideration because they are Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractors and Veteran owned too.

Bathroom Improvements or Complete Remodeling Projects

With a house that has several bathrooms which need attention, you can either pick the one that’s in the worst condition, or the one that’s most frequently used. With the former, it’s about getting stuck into the largest problems first and resolving them with a remodeling project; most likely to tear out what’s there and start over while keeping the same plumbing lines to make it easier.

With the latter, you’re either willingly giving up access or making it harder to use the main bathroom in the house. In which case, the focus should be on completing the remodeling project or improvements as quickly as possible even if you have to take time off work to do so; with a secondary bathroom, you can take more time. You also need to invest reasonable in the proper home cleaning service so that your bathroom and your house are well cleaned.

Setting Reasonable Expectations

For home projects that will require weeks to complete and create a certain amount of inconvenience (an entryway project with new flooring, painted walls and so forth), everyone living in the home will find it a pain.

Sitting down and talking to everyone about what improvement project comes next allows family members or a couple to decide together which one to pick. Then by providing a rough estimate of how long it will take to complete and also what might stretch the completion date out longer, it’s possible to get the ‘buy-in’ from everyone who’ll be affected.

By setting realistic expectations and bringing people inside the planning stage, it makes it harder for repeated renovation projects to become a sore point or something where fingers get pointed. Everyone’s on board, knowing what comes next and how much of an inconvenience it will be. This makes life at home far more harmonious!

For a major house project, setting things up right from the outset matters. The more time spent figuring out budgets, the clearer things will be. Whether you’re getting multiple quotes instead of numbers from a single contractor or comparing material types and picking the one you want – it all informs the budget to avoid overspending. Similarly, by keeping everyone in the loop and spacing out the work, it’s far more tolerable for everyone living there. It also avoids getting to a stage where you feel completely overwhelmed by starting too many different projects and hitting a mental wall.

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