If you’re someone who has inherited a house from your parents, you might try attempting a renovation of the old house. There are a lot of reasons why you should. For one thing, the furniture might be too old, so talking to a discount furniture specialist and getting those replaced is a priority. Then there are the fixtures, the ceiling, the stairs and so forth and so on. It’s an old house, so you’ll find a lot of things that will need fixing, so much so that you’ll even wonder where to start.
Thankfully, there is a lot of expert advice out there. Here’s a neat little compilation of some of those tips:
- Make a list of things needed to be changed
To efficiently address the issues, you’ll have to check out everything. If you feel overwhelmed by the number of things needed to be fixed, then that means you did your job well. Then, identify the ones that can be considered “important and urgent”, “not important but urgent”, “important but not urgent” and “not important and not urgent.” You’ll have to make these distinctions so that you can identify what needs to be fixed first.
Consider the time of the year when you have to deal with walls and ceilings when making those distinctions. The threat of rain and snow makes them very important and very urgent since once the rainy or snowy season starts you won’t be able to renovate the walls or the roof until the season is over.
- Be cost-efficient
You can now address each issue one by one, or if you have the funds and it’s possible, two problems at once. Starting with the issues that are both important and urgent, try to do things that can be done at the same time. For example, replacing damaged windows and reinforcing damaged walls. Or fixing both the inner walls and ceilings of your house.
Never toss away things you can still use. Set them aside for now, as they can be used later. Same goes for any supplies that are surplus from the renovations. Store them for the next round of improvements.
- Get a team you can trust
Get the help of someone you can trust making good decisions, someone who understands what you want to be done with the renovations, somebody whose work you respect, especially when it comes to renovations.
- Don’t be cheap
This part may sound contradictory to number 2, but it isn’t. Always use the best materials you can find. If you cannot afford it, gather more funds until you can. A half-hearted renovation effort will only cost you more if the quality is poor. And the quality of the renovation depends on both the workers’ effort and the materials used.
And there you have it. But before you begin any work, remember the single most important tip of them all: to enjoy what you’re doing. This is your house after all.