Hey and Welcome to this weeks design video!

We are coming at you live from one of our current projects that is knee deep into the renovation! Almost the entire 2 storey home has been gutted, including the kitchen and 3 bathrooms and we have just begun to see some pieces like the new electrical being installed.

While every new home or renovation project is always super exciting for us as designers to experience, it is not always all sugar and rainbows for the home owners both living through and paying for the project. So today, I am going to share with you a quick rundown of what to expect if you are embarking on a renovation and a few tips that might just help make it a bit less painful to get through.

So, because we just happen to be on site of a current renovation project, I am going to use this project as an example, to walk you through the possible steps and timelines.

Allow time for Design and Planning

We first met with these homeowners roughly 6 months ago to begin the process of designing their renovation. We pulled together floor plans, elevation drawings, cabinetry designs and selected all the finishes and fixtures we wanted to use in their respective spaces. There is typically a bit of back and forth until everyone is happy with the plans and then we hand everything off to the trades for pricing. This can take a few weeks depending on all the trades that are required – but helps homeowners by arming them with all the information they need to make educated decisions about how they want to move their project forward.

In my experience, nobody’s budget ever matches their wish list, so it is at this time that either budgets have to come up, or project scope has to be removed. But, you as the homeowner are in the drivers seat.

Once your construction budget is approved, start times will really depend on your contractors schedule and lead times for the required materials specific to your project. But give yourselves time to pack up household items and furniture and if you can, find somewhere else to live for the duration of the project – but we will revisit that point in a minute. With this particular project, once the homeowners gave their approval, demolition was able to start within a few weeks of that.

We expect this project to take roughly 6 months to complete – but every project is very different. Experienced contractors won’t over promise on timelines and will build in some cushioning for any possible surprises or timeline upsets.

There are a lot of responsibilities your contractor takes on once he begins work on your project – obtaining any required permits, scheduling all the various trades people, ordering and tracking materials, maintaining a safe and clean worksite and much more. But you, as a customer, also have roles and responsibilities in order to ensure an amazing experience and outcome.

Trust the Construction & Design Team

First: Unless otherwise proven, trust that everyone is on your side and wants the best possible outcome for you. I have seen time and time again, homeowners so nervous that they are going to be taken advantage of, that they don’t trust anyone and, in the end, shoot themselves and their project in the foot. Stay positive and assume the best of everyone. If you have done your homework selecting your contractor, then give him the trust and respect he or she needs to get the job done well.

Move Out of your Home, if at all possible

Second, as previously mentioned, move out if at all possible. If you are just having your basement finished or are having one of your three bathrooms remodeled, then, ok, you can stay living in your home. But much more than that and you are better off off site. In my experience, a couple of things can happen quite easily when homeowners are living in their home during a renovation. One is that they are way too accessible to the trades people working in their home. So, Mrs. Jones walks by painter Tom and he thinks “Oh, I will just ask Mrs.Jones a quick question about the sheen she wants her paint to be, rather than dig through my work order. It will be much quicker and faster.” Meanwhile Mrs. Jones is panicking on the inside thinking “Oh my god – I don’t know, shouldn’t he know this? What if I tell him the wrong thing?” and sometimes, she does…. This is never a good scenario and sometimes despite all the warnings, it still happens.

The other thing that happens all the time is homeowners seeing deficiencies or mistakes, panicking and becoming really stressed out, only to find out that the contractor was well aware and already dealing with the issue or sometimes had a very good reason for what the homeowner believes to be incorrect.

Both of these scenarios cause stress and frustration for everyone involved and can drastically impact your experience.

Stay Positive - Keep Your Eye on the Prize

And lastly, the best way to stay positive throughout your renovation project is to keep your eye on the prize – the beautiful end result that started you down this crazy journey in the first place. It will be trying at times, no matter how patient or excited you think you will be, but focusing on the big picture will get you through the rough days.

If you liked this video, check out our blog where we cover a tone of different design related topics. And if you don’t see one there that answers the questions you have, reach out to us to tell us what you need to know.

Thanks for watching and we will see in the next design video.