What are the greatest challenges in a renovation?
There are several, but these are the biggest:
Budget. The first challenge, and perhaps the hardest, is knowing what you can realistically afford and how much makes sense for you to spend that also respects your overall family budget. Your budget must cover not only design, construction, materials, and finishes, but possible hidden structural problems or necessary upgrades before the project gets underway.
Design. This is a critical challenge best left to the professionals. The design has to be feasible, first of all, for your particular project. It has to meet your needs, interests, lifestyle and personality. Some people hire an architectural designer and then take the resulting designs to a contractor. Others prefer to use a design-build company with a well-established process from design right through to construction.
Finding your contractor. Once you have an idea of what you want, and have a grasp of a realistic budget, finding the right contractor can be challenging. The hunt for your contractor takes time, research, references, and interviews. You will need to verify a company’s quality and successful reputation that includes a proven process that aligns with your needs.
Managing your time. Any renovation will be disruptive, for sure, and it can sometimes take longer than you expected. If you have a family and pets, you’ll need to plan carefully so life can go on normally as much as possible. It can be done, but it does need planning. Part of the planning might include moving out temporarily. An experienced contractor/renovator can help with the planning.
Dust, noise and inconvenience. This can be hard to take at times. One of the challenges will simply be to have patience and to rely on your renovation firm to keep your site clean and safe ‒ another reason to choose the right one.
Decisions. You’ll need to make many ‒ about materials, finishes, fixtures, colours and lighting. Options are good and even fun, but sometimes they can be overwhelming. Ask your contractor how they go about this – does it feel overwhelming, does it feel last minute or does it feel like their process allows me to make informed decisions well in advance including understanding the financial impacts?
Communication. A good renovation company will do quality control every step of the way, but communication can be challenging if it’s not well established between you and your renovation team. Make sure you set out with your renovator the way you will communicate ‒ when, where, and how ‒ from the beginning. Good communication will make the entire experience so much less stressful.
