Where to Start with a whole Home Remodel

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Check Out What A Happy Homeowner Had to Say

After an intense process of finding the right Design Build company we choose Eco Minded Solutions for a large home remodel project for our Carlsbad home. From the initial consultation to the completion of the project, everything ran smoothly. The crew was always on time and often worked longer than expected to keep the project on track. Loving our newly remodeled home and would highly recommend Eco Minded!

Determine the Reason for the Renovation

The reason why you’re remodeling your home is going to impact every aspect of it. It will help you draw up the remodeling plans and figure out which items on the to-do list to prioritize.

So, what is the reason you want to remodel your home? Mentioned below are some of the most common motivations homeowners have.

Repairs Are Badly Needed

The truth is that you won’t always be in a position to make the final decision regarding when to renovate your home. There are times when the decision will be out of your hands by forces out of your control.

A powerful hurricane in your area may have caused leaks and cracks to form all over the place, leaving you a home in a state of disrepair, that is unacceptable and so renovating becomes a must.

Natural disasters are not the only causes of home structural issues.

Gradual wear and tear will also become an issue at some point. Repairs will be needed to help address the effects of aging.

Creating a Home More Suitable for Your Growing Family

The home you bought when you and your spouse first got married was probably ideally suited for the two of you back then. Now that you have growing kids, it may suddenly feel a bit cramped. Home remodeling can help unlock the space you need to accommodate your growing family.

If your kids need their own rooms, perhaps you can have the attic or basement converted for them. Creating more rooms is also a good idea if you’re planning on moving your elderly parents in with you.

Home Redesign

We want our homes to be extensions of ourselves. We want them to reflect our sensibilities and our preferences.

The traditionally designed home you have may no longer suit your preferences after you’ve seen modern designs online. Neither classically designed nor modern homes are necessarily better objectively, but there may be a difference to you if you have clearly defined preferences.

By signing up for a home remodel, you can mold your residence into something more in line with your tastes.

Upping the Resale Value

Even if you’re planning to move sometime in the future, remodeling your home is still a smart move. Remodeling can significantly increase the resale value of your home.

By the time you’re ready to move, you could sell your old house and use the money to purchase a better one. You may even have some money left over to purchase additional goodies for your new place of residence.

Figure Out How Much You Can Spend

After determining why, you want to remodel your home, you can now turn your attention to the not so insignificant matter of money. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise, but a remodeling project can be costly.

Focusing on an average 2500-square-foot home, Home Advisor notes that a low-end remodel project may cost somewhere around $15,000 to $45,000. That would be focused more on repairing flooring, landscaping, and perhaps addressing elements of the home exterior.

If you’re thinking about getting a kitchen and/or bathroom remodeled along with the other things mentioned above, then you’re looking at a final bill in the range of $46,000 to $70,000. For high-end remodels that involve thorough repairs and room conversions, you’ll probably spend north of $70,000 and possibly need to prepare a budget as big as $200,000.

Those are general estimates, of course, and your home project could turn out cheaper if you are more careful with your planning. Even so, you should speak to the bank now to find out how much you can realistically spend on this project. Doing that will make it easier for you to create your plan.

Start Putting Together Your Remodeling Plan

It’s now time for you to start working on your home remodel plan. At this time, you don’t need to finalize everything.  You’re doing this to create a general guide of what to do next as you progress through the project.

You can start by listing out your priorities.

Identify the Elements of Your Home That Absolutely Must Be Repaired or Remodeled

There’s no way to get around the exorbitant cost of a home remodel project. You’ll probably need to spend your entire life savings on it or spend a long time paying off the sizable loan you received from the bank.

If you’re investing that much into this kind of project, you must address the elements of your home that need the most attention.

You cannot put issues such as a leaky roof or faulty electrical wiring on the back burner. You must handle these right away, or else they could cost you your home. Even if you end up spending more than you expected to address those problematic parts of your home, you can take solace that they won’t be bothering you anymore.

The last thing you want is to run out of money while the roof is still leaking rainwater into your bedroom.

List the Additions You Would Like to Include in the Project

With your priorities sorted out, you can now turn your attention to some of the additions you would like to see in your home upon the completion of the project. We’re talking about possible room conversions and perhaps a second bathroom so that the people in your household no longer fight over who showers first.

Focus on the additions that you could use. A schematic redesign would be nice, but your children would appreciate having their own rooms more.

Name Your Dream Home Additions

If there’s still room left in your budget, you can use that for your dream home additions. Now is the time when you start dreaming up a fully redesigned home. Maybe you saw some light fixtures or pieces of furniture that you would like added, for instance.

Prepare for Unexpected Expenses

When was the last time you performed a thorough check-up of your home? Have you taken a close look at your roof lately or examined how things are in the basement?

Over several months and years, things can get away from you. Your obligations at work and to your family may prevent you from spending the time needed to evaluate the current state of your home regularly.

That’s why you shouldn’t be surprised if additional repairs are needed once work begins on your home. Leave some room in your budget to accommodate those possible additional costs. If they don’t come up or turn out to be relatively minor, you can redirect the funds toward adding more new features to your home.

Come Up with a List of Tasks You Can Take On Personally

Since you’re trying to reduce costs as much as possible, why not take on some of the home improvement jobs yourself. If you have experience with woodworking, perhaps you can create pieces of furniture that can go into converted rooms.

You can also focus on more minor tasks. Cleaning out the basement on your own may not seem like it will help much, but you could reduce labor costs by handling that yourself. By completing as many of those minor tasks as possible, you could save a sufficient amount of money.

Find a Contractor to Work With

Thus far, you’ve been working on your own to put your whole project together, but you cannot expect to complete this undertaking alone. You will need professional assistance at some point.

It’s now time for you to start searching for a general contractor. General contractors take on many tasks throughout a home remodel.

They’ll first help you by finding and hiring the right subcontractors. They can also get in touch with their suppliers to ensure they only use the best materials for your home. General contractors will also help by securing the needed building permits from the local government and your neighborhood.

On top of all that, a general contractor can serve as your eyes and ears during the project. You probably can’t stay at the job site 24/7 since you have other matters to attend to. That’s okay because you have a general contractor who can provide you with regular progress reports, who also works to keep everyone in line.

Create a Finalized Plan and Timeline Together with the General Contractor

When you were crafting your remodeling plans earlier, you were doing so while accounting for your finances, expectations, and preferences. Now that you’ve hired a contractor, you can get his/her professional opinion on your plan.

The reason why it was important to come up with your plan beforehand is it makes the process smoother from here on out. The contractor can tell you if your estimates are correct, if you need to set aside a bigger budget, and if you need to cut some things out of the plan.

The contractor can take cues from your plan and improve it instead of coming up with his/her own. You’re also paying the contractor, and you don’t want those paid days going towards crafting the plans when you could do that job yourself.

Finalizing the plan is one thing but creating an accurate timeline will be more difficult.

If we’re talking about minor repairs, the project may only take a few weeks or a couple of months. Adding new elements to your home may mean that the project will take about four to six months to finish. For extensive remodels that involve foundational and structural repairs, don’t be surprised if the project takes a year to complete.

Angie’s List also notes that remodeling projects tend to take longer if more professionals practicing specialized trades are involved, so make sure to account for that in your timeline.

Take Up Residence in a Temporary Home

Creating a timeline is crucial because it gives you a good idea of how to plan your living arrangements for the next few months. You can’t stay there without getting in the way of the workers, and realistically, there may be tasks they cannot perform if people are still living inside the house.

Hopefully, you can stay with a relative or find an affordable apartment to ride out the entirety of the project’s duration. This will be a long wait – one made even longer by the great anticipation – but it will all be worth it when you see your newly remodeled home.

The best way to ensure that your home remodel goes well is to work with experienced professionals. We at Eco Minded Solutions have a wealth of experience to draw from, and we know our expertise can lead to the creation of better homes. Contact us today to find out how we can work on improving your home!