8 Steps To Renovating A Condo
When it comes to renovating a condo, apartment, or entire house, you are in for a lot of planning and challenges. However, that does not mean you lose all the excitement during the process. After all, residential and commercial remodeling is all about organization and management skills. In this article, we are going to share some important condo renovation tips that will help you breeze through the process and take on the challenges without any hassle. Let’s begin.
Become Familiar With The Rules
Whether you are renovating or building a property from scratch, you need to be familiar with the local rules & regulations. These policies are governed by the government and can impose heavy fines or land you in serious trouble if you were to ignore them.
But since you will be hiring a contractor to renovate your condo, you should not be worried about breaking the laws. However, it is important that you are familiar with the laws yourself as well. For instance, some rules and regulations only allow construction during certain hours of the day.
Furthermore, you might not be allowed to use some materials that might affect the properties of the surroundings. All these factors will surely influence your overall design. And that is why you need to be aware of such laws so that you plan your renovation accordingly. Otherwise, you will simply end up tearing down or modifying different sections of the condo adding to your expenses.
Define The Purpose
Next, defining the purpose of your renovation is the single most important factor you need to pay attention to. The reason is without a purpose, you won’t have a direction and without a direction, you will simply end up with a condo that is impractical and invaluable.
For example, there is a difference between renovating a condo for selling and sprucing the place for yourself. If you are planning to sell the condo, you will need to focus on upgrading and renovating the important sections and features.
This is to add value to the property. You can add a few luxury items but the main focus is practicality. On the other hand, if you want to give the condo a new look just for yourself, you will need to think about the purpose you are setting out to achieve.
Keep in mind these are not everyday decisions, so make sure to give yourself enough time.
Define A Budget
Defining the budget is as important as defining the purpose. Renovating your condo calls for upgrading, replacing, or simply adding new features. This means that you will have a sea of options while searching the market. It also means that you will be easily distracted.
Perhaps the only and the best way to avoid such distractions is by defining a budget. Even if you have a lot of money to spend, you should still have a budget. The only reason is that it embeds a sense of practicality and functionality over luxury items.
The majority of the owners spend a huge portion of their time and money focusing on luxury items only to leave out important everyday things. That is simply because of the amount of money they have influenced their decisions.
So, prepare a budget and share it with your contractor. This will help you understand your limits and focus on your needs and preferences.
Don’t Play Around With The Fixtures
Renovating a property is one thing but changing the locations is another. While you are looking for ideas, avoid playing around with the fixtures. For instance, if you plan on moving the bathroom to another room, you might be wasting your time and effort.
That said, it is best to leave such things where they currently exist. However, what you can do is make slight changes to the color, tiles, and other accessories. And the same goes for the kitchen along with its cabinets and floor etc.
Knowing your limits is another way of avoiding distraction. Not every idea is supposed to come to fruition. Considering the rules & regulations, you will have to be smart with where goes what.
Be Flexible
The reason renovations are both exciting and interesting is due to the ideas that are floating around in your head. As mentioned earlier, not every idea is supposed to be a wise decision. This is why you need to consult an expert and have him on your side to suggest ideas that will prove beneficial.
For that, you will need to be flexible. It is often that owners feel disappointed if their ideas are rejected simply because the architect does not find them practical and law-abiding. So, you should expect some changes and allow space for suggestions for your condo remodel DC.
Don’t Hesitate To Paint
You might be hesitant to paint your condo just because you think things could go awfully wrong. Then again, you need to decide whether you are willing to rent or keep it for yourself. If you intend to rent, try to understand and research the rentees’ tastes and preferences.
But if you are willing to sell, you will need to study the market and choose a color that is neither underrated or overrated and helps your condo stand out. Believe it or not, a paint job will completely change the vibe of your living space and will further give you a direction of what needs to go and come in.
Choose A Third Party To Work With
You might be tempted to renovate the condo on your own. In some cases, it might be a smart move in terms of avoiding labor costs and other expenses but depending on the project, working with a third party might be necessary.
As mentioned earlier, having a contractor on your side will keep you away from legal troubles, to begin with. Furthermore, the contractor will do all the purchasing and organization of the materials. As a result, you won’t be left with any leftovers to pick up once the project is done.
If you want your condo to look exactly like what you had envisioned, it is better to hire a third party. It will cost you money but will surely be worth it.
Lay It Down On Paper
Once you are through the most important steps, you need to lay everything down on paper. Keep in mind there is a difference between having something in your head and laying down on a piece of paper. And the difference is the insight.
With several things running around in your head, it is easy to become confused and miss out on really important things. But if you were to draw a layout of the project on paper, you will be able to get a better idea of how the final look will come out to be.
This will allow you to make minor changes that would make a huge impact on the condo.
Conclusion
Renovating a condo is not going to be easy considering the unexpected factors popping up. However, you can make the process easier by following the tips mentioned above and hiring an experienced home addition contractor McLean. It will take a few weeks or months at most but will surely breathe new life into your living space.