Renovating tips

Some handy hints to keep in mind when choosing your builder and starting your home renovation project:

1. Check the Government’s Licensed Building Practitioner Register to ensure your builder is licensed. Make sure all the builders who work with the building company you are considering are fully qualified tradesmen also.

2. Do your homework on your builder. Ask to view past projects and speak with previous clients.

3. Don’t be lead by the cheapest price. If a quality result is important to you, then keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Your builder’s experience and track record of keeping to budgets and timelines are also very important to a successful renovation.

4. Look for a builder who is going to listen to you and your ideas, and has good communications skills. You will be dealing with them a lot, so you want to make sure it will be a pleasurable experience.

5. Make sure your builder gives you a start and completion date for your project, and make sure they keep to project milestones.

6. Throughout the project there will be deadlines for decisions that you will need to have made regarding fittings, colours and so on. Get a copy of these key dates from your builder so that you can plan ahead, and not hold up the renovation while they wait for you to make these decisions.

7. Take the time upfront to measure out the real size of the rooms from your plans. Sometimes rooms appear bigger on plans than they do in real life. Find a space in the lounge or other large room, and measure out the size of the bathroom, laundry etc. If you’re planning a kitchen island, measure this out and look at the gap between the kitchen island and the rest of the kitchen units. Make sure you can work in that space.

8. If at all possible, try to build around the seasons. Don’t plan to dig out a basement in winter, for example, and expect it to cost the same as in summer.

9. Be flexible with your electrical plans. Once the renovation is taking shape, you might want to change where you had planned to install your lights and power sockets. Having personal input into your lighting once you can visualise the space, rather than sticking to plans drawn up at design stage, will help avoid regrets.