How Do I Plan A Home Remodeling Project?
If you are having a home remodeling project, you need a plan. Are you wondering how do I plan a home remodeling project? There are several ways to go about it. Here is one of the best ones as given by architects builders: Have a vision How do you want your home to look once the project is complete? You need to think about this. A good way to go about it is to make a list of the must-have features. For example, if remodeling the kitchen, you can put a kitchen island as a must-have. You also should come up with blueprints and sketches of the finished project. Will you be doing the project yourself or hiring a professional? You need to think about this and divide the project into DIY steps and the steps that will require a professional. As you are coming up with a plan, think about the local zoning regulations and permits and ensure that your neighborhood is zoned for your remodel. While at it, find out whether you need a permit for your project. While different jurisdictions have different rules, most areas will require you to have a permit if your project involves changing the structure of the house or the use of a room. Find out the necessary permits you need but don’t hurry to apply for them—wait until you have hired a team and built a project timeline. Set a project budget Once you have the project’s vision, the next thing to do is to come up with the budget and financing. Of course, your budget should include all the projected expenses, including the miscellaneous. A great way to develop a project is to go through each goal and set a realistic estimate for it. For example, if you are planning on installing new kitchen cabinets, think about the materials you need, the paint, labor costs, and any other costs involved. The unique thing is that if you have been thinking about remodeling your home for a while, you most likely have a figure in mind of the projected expenses. To come up with better estimates, work with experienced professionals. Build your team Who do you need to complete your project? You should begin putting them together. Many homeowners go online and hire the first company that pops up in the search results. Don’t do this, as you often end up hiring the wrong professional. The right thing to do is to take your time and research the different companies in your area. You should then schedule meetings with them and settle on the best one after interviewing three or more contractors. Some of the things you should look out for when hiring include: Years of experience: You want a professional that has been in business for five or more years. This way, you are sure they know what they are doing, so they have a high chance of delivering an exemplary project. Licenses: Of course, the contractor should be licensed to work in your area. References: You should request the references that the contractor has worked with before. And don’t stop […]
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How Often Should You Remodel Your Home?
Are you wondering, how often should you remodel your home? While the time you do it depends on the condition of your property, architects builders agree that you should do it at least every 15-20 years. You should note that this recommendation isn’t set in stone, and you can always do it earlier or later than this. You should consider renovating your house if: The tiles are getting detached Detached tiles are an eyesore, a tripping hazard, and significantly reduce a home’s resale value. Even if you had professionally installed the tiles, it comes a time when you have to replace them due to wear off. In most cases, the most affected rooms are usually the bathroom and kitchen, often due to the large amounts of water there. You can replace the loose tiles using similar tiles to those that were originally there or install completely new ones. As you are placing the new tiles, pay attention to the room’s theme and maintain it. The paint has chipped. Who said you have to bring down the entire house to say that you are having a renovation project? Sometimes the renovation project is as simple as repainting your walls. The beauty is that doing the repainting work is simple and cheap. If you don’t want or don’t have the money to hire a technician, you can always paint the house yourself or with the help of your family members. The roof is leaking To keep your house in top shape, you must ensure that the roof is in good condition. Most roofing systems are known to last for decades, but they rot and get old sooner than expected due to harsh weather elements. Depending on the materials used in roofing, you can have leaking problems. If your roof is leaking, it’s time to renovate your house. If your house is old, chances are you can’t find the exact materials you had used in roofing, so you have to use modern materials. While this is the case, like when installing the tiles, be cautious of the house theme and design. The last thing you want is to install a roof that doesn’t agree with the house’s theme. You have outgrown your house. If you have a new family member such as a child or elderly relative living with you, the chances are that the house has become smaller. For everyone to be comfortable, you need to make some renovations. You can knock down a wall to make room for an additional bedroom or build an addition. Your house feels old. Do you enter your house and feel like you are in the 60s? It might be time to invest in a new house. When you are doing the renovation, avoid the trending house designs and plans as it’s a matter of time before the fad fades off and you start feeling that your house needs to catch up. The right thing to do is to work with experienced professionals that will help you choose a design that looks good and will still be good in the coming decades. You have money for […]
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Will Home Renovations Pay Off?
If you are asking, will home renovations pay off? You must be thinking about remodeling your house for sale, right? The good news is that renovating the house can pay off if you invest in the right projects. Some of the best projects that always pay off include: Home additions When you hire home addition companies to add some square footage to your house, you have more room for your family and significantly add the value of the house. After all, who wouldn’t want a larger house? To maximize your investment, be cautious with the materials you choose. As a rule of thumb, don’t use highly premium materials as you might fail to recoup your investment. At the same time, avoid overextending your house as you risk not getting your money back. Redo the kitchen The kitchen is said to be the heart of every home, so you can’t go wrong by taking care of the heart, can you? You will even make a better return when you remodel an older, outdated kitchen. Some of the things you should do to your kitchen include: upgrading your cabinets, refrigerator, stove, flooring, and sinks and faucets. As you remodel the kitchen, think about older buyers and ensure that the kitchen maintains functionality and accessibility. Some of the things you can do include: installing lowered light switches, cabinets, and countertops. If you have the funds, install cabinets with a hydraulic system that allows the homeowner to move them up and down quickly. Remodel the bathroom If you have tried selling a house, you must have noticed that most prospective homebuyers rush to the bathroom to check its condition. This means that if they don’t like how it looks, chances are high they won’t even give you an offer. With this information, you can use it to your advantage and wow the prospect from the word go. According to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry report, you stand to recoup up 57% of your bathroom remodeling investment, so you should do it. Besides the usual, replacing the flooring, vanity, tub, toilet, or shower, you should develop brilliant ways to renovate the bathroom. If you have one bathroom in your house, add a shower to a half bath or add a half bath to the living area. Like with kitchen remodeling, don’t go overboard and invest in high-end materials as they might be too expensive and you fail to recoup your money. Amplify the outdoor living space Every homeowner wants a relaxing space to have as much fun as possible. The beauty of renovating the outdoor space is that you can be creative and use inexpensive materials that won’t take too much money. Some wise outdoor structures you can invest in include: fence, deck, and fire pit. While a pool gives your house a high-end look, chances are high you won’t get your money back by investing in it, as many homeowners view it as additional liability. This is because they need to maintain it, which isn’t cheap. There is also the risk of the children and pets falling into the pool. Unless you […]
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Can You Build An Addition On A Mobile Home?
If you have a mobile home, you might have the impression that you are out of luck, and unlike your neighbors with traditional houses, there is no way you can increase or add value to your home. Fortunately, this isn’t the case. Can you build an addition on a mobile home? Yes, you can definitely do it, but before we proceed, we need to make one thing clear—there is a difference between modern and older mobile homes. Current mobile homes aren’t strict, but rather manufactured and modular homes built in the factory and transported to your preferred site. Manufactured houses are almost similar to a traditional house so if you feel that you need to make an addition to them, go ahead and find an experienced home addition builder and put up your desired structure. What additions can you make to your mobile home? Well, there are plenty of additions you can make to your home. The common ones being: Deck or porch If your mobile home doesn’t have an outdoor living area, you should go ahead and add a porch or deck to it as a way to improve the look and value of the house. You aren’t limited on the size of deck you can construct. It can be a small one to cover a small area, or it can wrap around the house, creating a large area for outdoor relaxing, entertaining, and barbequing. If you love being outdoors, but prefer sitting under a shade, consider constructing a sunroom. Add an extra bathroom. Most modular houses come with a single bathroom that can create logistical issues, especially if you have a growing family and you frequently have houseguests over. If your house is becoming smaller, consider getting an extra bathroom. Like the deck, you have plenty of options you can go with. You can add an adjoining bathroom to the master bedroom or add a powder room or half-bath to accommodate the mushrooming number of guests and visitors. There is no right or wrong way to go about it—it’s up to you to go with your preferences. Add a car parking area. If you don’t have a covered parking area outside your house, you are forced to carry your groceries and large packages long distances, which are inconvenient. Sometimes you are forced to regularly scrape snow and frost off your vehicle, especially if you live in cold climates. To solve this, you should consider building a paved driveway to the exterior of your mobile house. If you want to protect your car from the weather elements, build an enclosed garage. Build an entertainment room If you love your entertainment, nothing is preventing you from adding an entertainment room to your house. An ideal entertainment room features a large screen TV to watch movies, shows, and play video games and a comfortable seating area. As you can tell, this addition will cost you much more or even require more work than when adding a small bedroom or bathroom. Increase the amount of light getting into the house Sometimes you might not need additional rooms or extra space, but you […]
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Is It Safe To Live In A House During Renovation?
Is it safe to live in a house during renovation? If you ask this question, you must have a renovation project, but you don’t want to leave the house. Well, it isn’t safe to live in the house during the renovation, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t live in the house. You only need to put several tips in place. To help you out, here are tips to increase the safety aspect as given by home remodeling architects: Have a designated storage area When doing the renovation, you obviously will have renovation materials over. These materials can easily hurt you and your kids. To ensure this doesn’t happen, have a specific area where you store everything. If you are lucky to have a large house, you can have the materials in a specific room and cordon off your kids from going there. Be out of the house when the renovation work is going on Most of the risk is when the renovation work is going on. A hammer can slip and hit you, something might drop from the roof and land on you, among many other things. To protect yourself and your loved ones, make an effort to be out of the house when the project is going on. If you work from home, ensure that you are far from where the contractors are working from. Communicate with the contractors A house can be risky even after the end of the day when no work is going on. This is because the contractors might have accidentally left a tool in a precarious position, and it falls on you. Some of the construction materials might also be in risky areas, and they hurt you. To ensure that the renovation area is safe, maintain a clear line of communication with the contractors and regularly ask them whether you can go in the room you are renovating. Set designated areas To avoid accidents, have designated areas for the various tasks. For example, if you are remodeling the kitchen, stay out of the kitchen and set up a temporary kitchen. If you have a garage or covered patio, work with your contractor and set up the temporary kitchen here. The same thing applies to the bathroom, bedroom, or any other room you are making over. Limit the visitors coming over The last thing you would want for yourself is one of your guests getting hurt in your home. Even if you love hosting, you should minimize the number of people coming to your home. Of course, you will have some of your friends who don’t understand it, but you should explain it. Instead of coming to your home, you can start having your events in the homes of other friends that aren’t renovating their homes. You can also begin having your meetups in hotels or nearby parks. Plan a vacation If you have a small project that will be over in a few days, take a vacation, so you are out of the house and safe. Do you have friends or places you have always wanted to visit but have had no time? […]
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7 Home Remodeling Tips To Increase House Value
If you want to sell your house, you definitely want to get the best deal possible, right? Most home sellers rush to install new swimming pools, gazebos, and other expensive features. While these units increase the house’s value, they are sometimes too expensive that you don’t recoup your investment. And you don’t want this, do you? One way to get your investment back and still sell the house fast is to remodel the house. By doing this, you spend less and still increase the house’s value. Don’t know how to go about it? Here are expert tips given by home remodeling architects on what to do: Get creative with the garage. If you are lucky enough to have a garage, you can get creative with it and significantly improve the house’s value. Start with getting rid of all the junk there and turn it into an additional room. If it’s built onto the house, you can turn it into an office. If tied to the house and has a connecting door, remodel it into an extra bedroom. Do you actively use the garage? Add an extra floor on top, and you immediately double your space which, as you can guess, significantly adds to the house’s value. Make the most of the basement. If you are like other homeowners, you most likely use your basement as storage. Can you imagine taking a prospective house buyer to the basement and only find dirt and worn-out electronics? It’s not a beautiful sight, is it? Luckily, you can turn this around by getting rid of all the junk and turning the room into a usable room. You can turn it into an office, extra bedroom, game room, or any other room. Transform the attic Like the basement, many homeowners use their attics as storage spaces. If you are lucky to have a large house, the attic space serves as an extra floor that you can use to your advantage. You can turn the attic into a reading room, bedroom, extra living room, or other livable room. If you still need storage space, work with your contractor and install eaves in the walls. Touch up the bathroom Most homebuyers are highly sensitive to how the bathroom looks, so touching it up will go a long way towards making the house more attractive to housebuyers. There are plenty of things you can do to your bathroom: change the bathroom color, install new appliances, add paneling around the bathtub, add more storage space, among many other things. To ensure you are making the right addition, sit with your contractor and agree on what is valuable to you. Add more space in the kitchen. In most families, the kitchen is the hub of the house. Besides having the right appliances, the other important thing you should ensure your kitchen has is enough storage spaces. Work with your contractor and come up with ways to add as many storage areas for your kitchen as possible. This can be hidden cupboards, stand-alone pantries, breakfast nooks, and any other thing. Add a laundry room If your house is old, chances are […]
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How Can I Make My Home Addition Look Good?
Whether it’s a larger kitchen, an extra bedroom, or a completely new wing, homeowners add new space to their houses every day. While these home addition projects are good as they add the vital space, there is usually one big problem—in most cases, the home addition looks ugly and not part of the main building. How can I make my home addition look good? If you are asking this question, you want your new home to look and feel like an original part of the house, right? And the beauty is that it’s possible to do it. Some of the things you need to do as given by home addition companies include: Use the same building materials as the main house Many homeowners try to modernize their old houses by building an addition using modern materials. As you can guess, if the original house is old and made from old materials, building an addition using new materials makes the addition look out of place. To avoid this, build an addition using the same materials as the old house. If the original house is too old that you can’t find the same materials, consider using alternatives that will coordinate with what is already in the house. Remember that when you use different materials, you create a visually inconsistent outcome, which gives your new house an ugly look. Be cautious of the scale and proportion of the new addition If you can’t find similar materials as the original house, play around with the size of the new addition. Instead of adding one large block onto the house, build a few smaller houses of varying sizes that are less overpowering. This way, the addition will look like it has always been part of the house instead of looking like an out-of-place afterthought. Work with your contractor and find the ideal room size to add that won’t look out of place. Ensure that the architectural style of the new house is in harmony with the old house In the same way, you should strive to use the same building materials as the old house, you should strive to maintain the same architectural design as the old house. This is because using different designs will make the new house look out of place. As a homeowner, you should take your time and find an experienced contractor that understands the different architectural designs and how to pull them off professionally. Consider the house’s grade and slope. Ignoring the house’s grade and slope will give your property a visually jarring look as the addition doesn’t follow the land’s natural contours. Again, as a regular homeowner, there isn’t much you can do about this other than entrusting it to an experienced contractor. If the land slopes away from the original structure, the contractor should know that they need to step the foundation walls of the home addition down so that you don’t have an unsightly foundation wall sticking out from the ground. Work with the right contractor. The contractor you hire goes a long way towards ensuring that the new addition is as appealing as possible. The contractor […]
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Can You Live At Home During A Remodel?
In an ideal situation, when you are having a remodeling project you should find a hotel or any other place to live in to give the home remodeling architects enough space to work on. What if you can’t afford a hotel for extended periods of time? Can you live at home during a remodel? The short answer to this question is yes. You can definitely live in your house when having a remodel but you need to consider a set of tips that include: Separate the remodel space Since you won’t be leaving the house, you should talk to your contractor so that they can create a clear separation between the space you are looking to remodel and the rest of the house. The purpose of doing this is to ensure you are safe and at the same time prevent dirt and dust from getting into your living area. There are plenty of ways the contractor can separate the two areas. One of the ways is to erect a pole zip wall or a magnetic wall system. To keep the house clean, the contractor should use an air filtration system such as a HEPA filter that will constantly filter the air and also cover the ducts in and around the work area so that dust doesn’t get inside. Set up a temporary kitchen If you are remodeling the kitchen, it automatically means that you can’t use your kitchen area for some time. To continue preparing your meals, you need to set up a temporary kitchen. Bring the appliances you used to use in your new kitchen. They include: coffee maker, microwave, instant pot, toaster oven, burner hotplates, and any other necessary appliance. Besides the appliances, also think about the sink. Where will you be washing the vegetables? Work with your contractor and hook up the sink to the existing plumbing source of your home. If the laundry room is nearby and has a sink, you don’t have to stress yourself over setting up the sink as you can use that one. Tips to living through a bathroom remodel Living through a bathroom remodel can be complex or stress-free depending on whether you have another bathroom you can use while the other one is being worked on. If you have multiple bathrooms you can use you have nothing to worry about as you simply need to use the ones you aren’t remodeling but it will be a little tricky living through a remodel when you have only one bathroom. If you are in this situation, you should work with your contractor and come up with a plan. One of the things you can do is to set the toilet back at the end of the day. There is nothing fun about living without a toilet so if the contractor has to pull it up to undertake the project, ensure that they put it back to operation before the end of the day. When remodeling the bathroom, chances are high that your regular shower will be out of operation. Should you stop showering simply because you can’t use your shower? Absolutely not. […]
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Is It Worth Remodeling An Old Home?
If you have or looking to buy an old house, you must be wondering, is it worth remodeling an old home? After all, you don’t want to waste money on a dodo. According to home remodeling architects, remodeling an older house can be worth it, when done right. To help you out, here are the tips to consider: Know the house’s history If you are looking to buy the house, don’t go at it blindly—ensure that you know its history. After all, you don’t want to buy a house, then find out it’s constructed on riparian land. Since nature never forgets, this can be catastrophic. A good way to understand the house better is to look at the old maps from your local historical society. You can also look back at the real estate listings of the older properties in the area. If there are older occupants in the neighborhood, ask them about the house. Even if the house is selling dirt-cheap and you are sure that you can turn it around, don’t make the purchase if you don’t know its back story. Avoid adding another room. It can be tempting when you are renovating the house to add another room. While it can be a good move, it often interferes with the look of the main house. The reason for this is you will be building a new house next to an old one. While you might ensure that the details and finishes match the rest of the house, it will always stick out, and if it doesn’t look good, it will always be a bother to you. You should always avoid adding another room to the house unless it’s necessary. Always prioritize working with what you already have, then look outside if the space isn’t enough for you. Don’t renovate the house by yourself. With everyone recommending DIY projects and with the never-ending supply of YouTube tutorials, it’s easy to try and handle the house renovation project yourself. While you will learn a thing or two from the project, chances are you will make mistakes that will be costlier than hiring a contractor. Obviously, when you are handling a complex project such as bringing down a wall, it’s recommended that you hire a professional, but when you are dealing with older houses, even the simple projects can end up being catastrophic. For example, it’s easy to replace a faulty faucet in a new, modern house but a completely different game when dealing with an older house. With an older house, the faucet and knob cutouts are of different dimensions from the modern faucet assemblies, so you would have to find salvage pieces or custom make the faucets. And you can’t do all of these as a DIY, can you? Even a simple task such as removing the old paint can be an issue as the paint can be containing lead, which increases your chances of suffering from cancer. To be on the safe side, regardless of how minor the task looks, let it be handled by experienced architect builders Washington DC. When hiring professionals, don’t simply look at […]
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What Should You Know When Working With Home Remodeling Contractors?
Home remodeling is one of the largest projects you can undertake and unless you have the skills, you should avoid doing the remodeling by yourself—let experienced home remodeling architects do it. If this the first time you are working with the contractors, ensure that you go about it right so you get the most out of it. To help you out, here are some of the tips you should consider when working with the contractors: Interview three or more contractors What do most homeowners do when they are looking to undertake a home remodeling project? They go online and on searching on the search engine, they contact the first technician they come across. This is wrong as ranking high in the search results doesn’t mean that the contractor is good at their work. What should you do instead? The right thing to do is to get in touch with three or more contractors and schedule interviews with them. During the interview, ask as many questions as possible from the contractor. You should know the experience of the contractor, other projects the contractor has handled before, and any other important information. The essence of doing the interviews is to find out whether the contractor is experienced enough to professionally handle your project. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on expensive remodeling materials then an inexperienced contractor botches it up, do you? The other reason you should do the interviews is to find out whether you are at the same energy as the contractor. If you have a sizable remodeling project chances are you will spend weeks or even months with the contractor. Do you want to spend all of this time with a boring, horrible contractor? I thought so. So, during the interview, engage in simple talk and gauge the contractor’s personality. As a rule of thumb, go with an experienced contractor with an upbeat, positive personality. Don’t be stuck with a boring, negative technician. Get estimates in writing After you have settled on the contractor you want to work with, explain to them what you want done and get an estimate for the home remodeling project. Most homeowner have verbal agreements with contractors, but you shouldn’t do this as the contractors can easily get out on their word. The smart way to go about it is to have the estimate in writing. While this is the case, the estimates are a guide and they shouldn’t be set in stone—they can change but the disparity with the actual figures shouldn’t be too large. Be on the same page with the contractor on what you want done To avoid problems in the future and have peace of mind your project will be a success, reiterate to the contractor what you want done to ensure you are on the same page. If you want the contractor to rip apart the floor, change the wall colors, install a new ceiling or any other thing, be clear about it and ensure that the contractor fully understands what you are after. Be clear about the fine details Any remodeling project is bound to […]
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