Doing It Yourself: Common Sense Tips for Efficient Home Renovations

Pros and Cons of Building a New Home From Scratch

Have you been dreaming of additional needed space in your home but just haven’t had the time or reason to take your dream seriously? If you answered yes, then did the year of quarantine make that dream a little closer to reality? If you answered yes again, then you are not alone.

As COVID hit, it appears that cramped living conditions and extra time at home brought out the DIY enthusiast in many households. Having the entire family all home at one time and for extended periods of time seems to have suddenly made what was once a completely satisfactory home into a renovation project. It was during that time that home improvement projects skyrocketed.

If you have always wanted to do your own DIY project, then it seems like there is no time like the present. With so many others out there doing the same thing, there is bound to be a wealth of knowledge to learn from. However, sometimes all that knowledge can become a little overwhelming, so here are a few tips to get you started.

Have Plans Inspected

You may have all the confidence in yourself that is needed to complete the project but just believing in yourself is not going to ensure that what you are doing to one of your largest investments is a good idea. Depending on the scope of your project, it may be wise to have an inspector go over your plans with you and make sure that what you are doing is within code and not going to lower the value of your home.

Just because you think it will look nice, doesn’t mean that others will feel the same way. Inspectors are trained to spot those possible scenarios. So unless you plan to truly make the home that you are about to renovate your forever home, you might want to get a second opinion.

Have a Budget

Most DIY projects begin because the main intention is to save a little money. However, many find this reasoning to be completely unsound. The problem is that many times non-professionals fail to truly comprehend the scope of the project they are attempting to do. Just “winging it” should never be an option when it comes to altering your home or sticking to a budget. The only way to make a project a verifiable success is to create a detailed plan and follow it with no exceptions. Only then will you be able to safely determine that you have accounted for everything and will be left with no surprises in the end.

Be Prepared with Tools/Equipment

Another issue that DIY projects run into is not having the necessary tools or equipment needed to complete the task at hand. You may have the skills required to do the work, but lack of experience can be a real hindrance. When you have no frame of reference, it is hard to anticipate what might come up next.

For these situations, the best thing that you can do is prepare. Go back to your school days, pretend like you are studying for a test. Do your research, create an outline, and be ready for discussion questions. Questions like do you have a way to transport materials and equipment to and from your project? If projects like these are not a part of your daily life, you may not have considered this small but crucial issue. Be prepared to do what needs to be done to make sure your project sees completion.

Completing a DIY project can most certainly be an amazing accomplishment. How wonderful to be able to enjoy something you did with your own hands and hard work. This is the outcome we all strive to achieve.

In fact, it’s these DIY home improvement projects that inspired so many people to take their hobby of tinkering around their home and turning it into a full-fledged business. This isn’t an absurd idea if you have the talent and skill to do it. You would simply need to rent your equipment, rent a heavy-duty truck for hauling materials, obtain necessary licenses and permits, and your talent will do the rest.

Hopefully, these tips will help to make sure that achievement becomes your reality. It may even lead to you starting your very own lucrative home improvement business! You never know, but you have to start somewhere.