We are in the middle of our home reno! We were supposed to be finished last week, but unfortunately we still have a long way to go! Below is a list of do's and don'ts I've learned over the past few months.
1. Do all your shopping before you start. My contractor kept telling me this wasn't necessary and we'd have lots of time during the renovation to find faucets, railing, stair posts, and tile at the prices in our contract. But I wish I had at least window-shopped so I understood pricing and added another 15% to our contractor's sometimes unrealistic allowances.
2. Do add an extra 30% for permits, structural engineering, and architecture fees on top of the price from your contractor.
3. Do understand that for the construction-challenged among us it's really impossible to visualize how the plan is going to actually look in real life, and once you get started and it's all in 3d in the space you have you'll want to make a few changes. Add another 20% for those.
4. Don't ever be both working full-time during your renovation. It's really going to slow down your decision-making and add 30% to your timeline. Of course, it's also going to help pay all those extra charges from 1-3!
5. Don't live there while it's happening, you are going to slow things down by another 20%. Impose upon friend or family or pay two monthly housing fees, although that can be problematic too!
6. Don't have four little boys at home during your reno. The boys will want to play in the sand piles, dirt piles, climb up the ladders, walk on the strewn about nails, trip over the lumber, and give your contractor heart attacks.
7. Do allow your contractor to develop a fondness for your boys if you happen to have them. Allow them to give him hugs every time they see him and get gum from him.
8. Do allow yourself to be super-excited about finally having a home that will allow for a person to bedroom ratio of 2:1 and provide place for guests to stay so everyone can get a good sleep! Hurray!
9. Do keep reminding yourself of all the benefits you're going to enjoy when it's finished!
10. Don't expect too much of yourself during your crazy reno. If people offer to bring you meals, accept them and any other offers for help that come your way!
Hopefully we finish at the end of next month- but I'm thinking it's probably going to be more like March. Oh boy!
2 comments:
As a witness to the excitement here all I can say is hang in there Baby! And - its gonna be one AWESOME house!
PS Yay for the guy who finally swept all the sand off your driveway today so that the floors INSIDE the house no longer feel like you're taking a walk at the beach...
Sounds intense Melissa! I bet the boys loved living out their "Bob the Builder" fantasies with all of that construction going on. Like going to Disneyland to see Mickey!
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