From Gas Safety to appearance, 5 Common Remodeling Mistakes by New Homeowners
House Remodeling is something homeowners can do to enhance the beauty and usefulness of their home. With a tight budget and several options to choose from, there is only a small exception for experimenting and error. From renovations of your kitchen to your bedroom, it’s necessary that the right design and tools are installed for an appropriate balance between design and functionality.
While refurbishing your home, keep in mind to check that all safety measures have been applied in every room of your house. Add only those features that work with your home and provide you ease in completing your work. If not done under strict observation and planning, renovations can make your house seem out of order, leading to frustration and an increase in expenses for correcting them.
To prevent you from facing such a situation, here are 5 common errors that you need to stay aware of while remodeling your home.
image © pexels
1. Not Having Your House Inspected From A Gas Safety Engineer
Whether you’re going to live in the house or sell it, safety is the top priority. Check all appliances including gas stoves, ovens, and heaters whether they’re in proper working order. Several incidents related to house gas explosions have been repeated until now, due to the negligence of checking gas ventilation systems and gas leaks.
That is why in the UK, it has been obligatory by law that every landlord attains a gas safety certificate that has to be renewed every year through the examination of their house by a gas safety engineer. The gas safety certificate assures that a certified professional tested all of your home’s gas appliances, fittings, and flues.
Gas safety certificates cost anywhere from £35 and can exceed £150 based on the number of gas appliances available in your home. If gas safety regulations are not adhered to can bring a hefty fine of up to £6000 or jail time of six months.
However, if you’re a homeowner, it’s only necessary that a yearly inspection is carried out by a gas engineer. Ask your gas engineer to provide you documents that testify you conducted a gas safety check.
2. Hiring the Wrong Contractor
To map out the right strategy for reshaping your house, it’s essential to hire a contractor. A contractor can help you gain access to the right labor fit for the job. They can guide you through the planning process which will be ideal for your budget. So, don’t wait until you’ve completed making the blueprints of your renovation ideas, rather hire a contractor when you’re jotting down ideas.
While searching for a contractor, you need to keep an eye out for reviews and customer feedback related to the contractors. Moreover, check that they are licensed for authentication purposes, can be easily contacted, and answer properly to your questions.
Though the process of evaluating multiple contracts seems tiring, it’s better than choosing an unprofessional contractor who can cause you to end up with more costs in the future. Therefore, meet a couple of contractors to get a better picture of renovation ideas, and then search for an expert.
3. Sacrificing Beauty Over Functionality
Yes, it’s important that any new upgrades that are done to your house fit the overall theme, but their function matters as well. If they’re present in your house for aesthetic reasons only, chances are you would have to spend on remodeling again to replace those upgrades.
Before you begin to renovate your home, think about how every component of your home serves its purpose and what changes do you wish to make to use them in an even better way? If you’re wishing to make your living room more spacious, see which accessory doesn’t provide any benefit and replace it. Prioritize the functioning of your home over designing.
4. Identify Your Investment Budget
A budget plan can help you to identify the amount of money you can spend in the refurbishing process. With this plan, you can set the correct limitations to your remodeling outline, guiding you towards making better decisions for improving your home. Whenever you start creating the blueprint for your building renovation, first make a budget plan. This will help you to point out those areas of your home which need to be focused on first.
Furthermore, experts suggest always maximize the budget by a minimum of 20% that your renovation plan will take. So, you can stay prepared for any additional expenses that may appear during the process. Remember, unexpected problems can appear anytime during the execution of your plan and it’s your responsibility to stay prepared.
5. Not Sticking to the Original Plan
It’s natural for any one of us that once we stick to a plan and execute it, new innovative ideas begin to pop out in our heads. These ideas would cause one to react at once and change the current plan they’re following. A similar situation can appear while remodeling your home.
Little adjustments can be accounted for, however, too many alterations can cause an unexpected increase in costs. If the contractor was almost near to completion of adding a new feature, it’ll take even more time to deconstruct and add a new accessory, doubling your expenses.
So, it’s recommended that while planning out your renovations, take out enough time to revise the complete plan and see what ideas aren’t fit for your home. This way, you can edit out your blueprint before the renovation project is set into motion.
The key point to remember is that stick to your original plan to keep your costs as close to the budget as possible as well as finishing the project on time.
Conclusion
A chance to refurnish your house can be very rare, so use that opportunity well to improve its functionality and appearance. Make sure that all of your appliances at home are in good condition and are safe to use, from electrical components to gas appliances. Develop a budget plan to ensure that you’re prepared for the costs of your renovation project.
Moreover, hire a professional contractor to ensure that your home’s refurbishing process is carried out smoothly and efficiently. Stick to your original renovation plan so that your project will finish on time and will be within your budget estimates.
Author Bio: Myrah Abrar is a computer science graduate with a passion for web development and digital marketing. She writes blog articles for Gas Safety Certs.
cover image © pexels
