Golden Tips to Building the Perfect Home Addition
Are you building home addition to accommodate your new family, or are you simply looking for additional space? There are plenty of tips you need to put into place to have a successful home addition project. Which are these tips? Here they are: Have a home addition plan The last thing you should do is to begin your project without a plan, regardless of how small it appears. As a rule of thumb, you must ensure that the addition fits your property lines. Here you will need to check with your local government to see how closely the codes in your city allow you to build next to your neighbor’s property. As you are coming up with the plan, think about the utility lines or pipes, as you aren’t allowed to interfere with them. To have a design that adds value to your living space and impacts the outside of your house, have detailed plans drawn up by an architect or builder describing all aspects of the project, from the work you will need done to the materials you will require. Have a clear budget You need money to undertake your project, and the last thing you want is to halt your project in the middle. To ensure this doesn’t happen, have enough money for the entire project beforehand. If you do the estimations and find out the project will be too expensive for your budget, it will be good if you can cut back on your house plans or come up with ways to save money on the project. You can get cheaper materials and so on. Besides the ballpark amount, you need for the project, also have a 5-20% set aside to spend on emergencies. Work with experienced professionals. To save time and money, always work with expert professionals that know what they are doing. For this to happen, you need to be ultra-cautious when hiring. As a rule of thumb, get at least 6 bids from different contractors, then thoroughly interview them to find an experienced professional. You should never be in a hurry when hiring, as you will likely hire the wrong contractor who will waste too much of your money. As much as you want to save as much money as possible, be wary of extremely low bids. If you receive a bid that is too low than the industry standards, the chances are that the contractor doesn’t understand what you want or they are inexperienced, and as you can guess, this might mean serious problems later. Hire an experienced contractor, and although they will be expensive, they will save you plenty of money and stress. It also doesn’t hurt to hire one with a beautiful personality as chances are you will spend weeks or even months together, and you don’t want to be stuck with a contractor you can’t comfortably talk to, do you? Find out the things you can do You should leave most of the work to home addition companies Washington DC as they have the know-how to do it, but this doesn’t mean that you should be hands-free with the project. If […]
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Home Renovation Mistakes to Avoid
As much as remodeling a house improves its functionality and space, many homeowners have been making plenty of costly home renovation mistakes. Which are these mistakes? Here they are as given by home remodeling architects: Setting unrealistic budgets We are sure that you have come across an unfinished remodel. Often this happens when the homeowners are under budget for the project, resulting in the project stalling once the money is exhausted. To avoid this, you should work with an experienced professional to help you come up with a more accurate budget. Regardless of how experienced the professional is, remember that it’s common for the cost of materials to go up. There is also the risk of the project not getting finished on time. To ensure that your project never stalls, set aside an extra 20% of your budget for any surprises that might come up later down the line. Sacrificing function for form As much as you want a beautiful remodel, you shouldn’t sacrifice function for form. This means that the new remodel should be functional, then beautiful to look at. To ensure this is the case, work with an experienced contractor to help you come up with the perfect design for your house. Being too trendy There is no one that doesn’t want a modern house, and there is nothing wrong with this. Some homeowners make a major mistake of significantly updating their new remodels that they look out of place. For example, they will install all the latest and trending materials. While the house will look trendy and new, you should note that trends are often short-lived, and it’s a matter of time before the house begins looking out of place. To be on the safe side, balance the look of the house design. The house should have a properly thought out design that looks good and has the potential to last for a long time. To have an easy time coming up with the right design, work with an experienced designer. Saving on materials As much as you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on your remodel, it doesn’t mean you should buy cheap, low-quality materials that you will need to replace after a couple of years. The best way to go about it is to buy high-quality building materials that will last for years. While they might be expensive, you won’t have to replace them soon. Some good quality materials even last for decades. If you don’t have money for top-quality materials, it’s wise that you postpone your project and only start it when you have enough funds for quality materials. Having unrealistic expectations When many people think about remodeling their houses, they imagine that they will look perfect and flawless. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case as remodeling is often messy, noisy, and inconvenient as you may have to change your living conditions. To avoid surprises, do some research and know what to expect. You can also check with your builder and understand the process involved and what will be expected from your end. Working with any contractor Unless you have a simple […]
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