If you’re planning a home renovation in Surrey, it’s likely because your home doesn’t fit your life very well anymore. Maybe it was built before open-concept kitchens, or before you knew you’d have that many kids, or before you learned to entertain more often, or before you learned to hate laundry.
It’s also possible you don’t like living with the region’s wet climate as much as you used to. Whether your priorities are indoor or outdoor, chances are the rain has something to do with it. Windows, roofs, siding, drainage, foundations, our climate can be hard on them all.
No matter what prompted your renovation plans, here are a few pointers for staying on track, and on budget, from start to finish.
Define the Problems Your Renovation Must Solve
Renovations often start out focused on one problem, that bathroom you can’t stand, that kitchen that doesn’t work for you, but grow to address a bigger list of priorities: more or better storage, greater comfort, improved energy efficiency, higher resale value.
Before you get too excited about colours and finishes (and we totally get it, picking paint colours, cabinets and tile is half the fun), it’s helpful to spend some time focusing on your family’s needs and wants in the spaces you plan to renovate. Write a list of everything you don’t love about the space, everything that frustrates you on a regular basis. It can help you to distinguish needs from wants, which can help you prioritize spending.
If you’re redoing your kitchen, for instance, your list of priorities might include more task lighting, better storage, easier-to-clean flooring, new appliances or an updated plumbing or electrical system to accommodate them. In the bathroom, your priorities might include more storage, new plumbing to accommodate better ventilation – the CDC explains the why of it at www.cdc.gov/niosh/ventilation/about/index.html, or more durable flooring and finishes.
You don’t need to nail down all of your material choices at this point, but a clear sense of the problems you’d like your renovation to address will help you define your project scope, and make it easier to get (and compare) accurate quotes from contractors.
Account for the Costs Hidden Behind Walls
The cost of a renovation is about more than size: moving a kitchen or laundry sink or stove, for instance, or a toilet in an ensuite, or your washer and dryer, will require more in plumbing and electrical.
Budget for surprises: opening up floors and walls often uncovers opportunities to update wiring and address gaps in insulation or unexpected water damage.
Water damage, in particular, is an issue worth flagging to your contractor in advance. It’s a common discovery during Surrey renovations, and something we would strongly recommend addressing, rather than drywalling over and ignoring.
Kiev Home Renovations
16181 89A Ave, Surrey, BC V4N 2Z4
+1-604-785-8444
Build in a contingency, even if your space has been well maintained, it’s not much fun for a major renovation to stall halfway when a bigger problem than expected surfaces.
Complete Structural and Mechanical Work First
Whether or not you can afford a contingency, it’s always less expensive to repair structural and moisture issues before proceeding with a renovation. They also need to happen first, to protect your investment.
Next come updates to mechanical systems (electrical, plumbing, insulation, ventilation and heating), followed by layout and finishes.
It’s easy to fall in love with the idea of an open-concept kitchen, but ask yourself what’s on the other side of those walls you’d like to remove. If one or more are load-bearing, we’ll need to figure out how to support the space above. Are those walls providing valuable storage space? Might removing one negatively impact heating and cooling costs?
When you’ve got your renovation priorities and project sequencing nailed down, you’re ready to think about finishes.
Select Finishes and Prepare for Construction
It’s easy to be dazzled by beautiful materials, but remember your renovation must stand up to your family’s daily reality, to everyday use and cleaning, little feet and muddy paws, guests and rainy weather.
Start by deciding on your major finishes, countertops and cabinets in the kitchen, for instance, flooring and tile in the bath, then fill in with the small stuff, from faucets to housewares.
Renovations that involve structural changes, or additions, or significant electrical and plumbing changes, may involve permits, confirm before work begins. Once permits are required, inspections may take place along the way, so build them into your timeline before demolition begins or big materials are ordered, to avoid a flurry of last minute activity (or worse) later on.
- Have a clear project scope, budget, and sense of what it costs to make changes along the way
- Know what to do when you want to make a change, in construction, it’s called a change-order, and agree in advance on how changes to the project budget will be handled
- Take photos of material orders so you know what’s been ordered and can match colours later, if necessary
- Pay close attention to lead times for materials so they arrive on site when workers need them
- Plan ahead for where kids and critters can wait comfortably during the day, how workers will access your home, where you’ll park, cook and bathe if your space is out of action during the project, and what to do about the noise
