Finding a house is by no means an easy feat and chances are you’d rather avoid the house hunting, selling and buying process wherever possible. But at some point or another, you may find that your current home is failing to tick your boxes anymore. When you first found the property, chances are you spent ages scouring the property market with a specific checklist. This may have included a particular number of rooms you needed, a specific number of bathrooms, a garden or no garden, a garage or no garage… plus, more niche features specific to you and your needs. Even if you found a property that ticked all of your boxes, you may find that over the years your needs and preferences change and the house you’re in is no longer perfect. But the good news is that you don’t necessarily have to sell up and choose somewhere else to live. Instead, you can alter your own home to better suit you as things change. There are all sorts of renovations that you can make to your property to make it tick all of your boxes once again. Maybe you have more kids and need more rooms to accommodate them. Maybe your kids grow up and get their own cars, so you find you need more garage space. You could get a pet and suddenly find yourself in need of more usable space in your garden. Renovations can help you to achieve all of this and more! Here’s a little more information on the subject to help you along the way if this is something you’re interested in.
Consider Your Options
First things first, you need to consider your options. There are so many different renovations out there that there’s bound to be something that will benefit you! Here are some of the most popular and commonly carried out renovations that you might want to try out yourself!
- A loft conversion – if you need an extra room in your home but don’t want to add an extension, a loft conversion could be the perfect fix. This makes use of relatively disused space in your home.
- An en-suite – the vast majority of us could benefit from having an extra bathroom in our homes. An en-suite is a bathroom attached to your bedroom. This can prevent queuing for the bathroom in the morning when everyone’s getting ready for work and school. It can also provide convenience in terms of using the bathroom at night. This will take some work, as it will involve pipe relining. But it’s more than worth the results!
Get Planning Permission
Remember, if you are planning on renovating, you need to get planning permission from your local council or governing body. Put simply, planning permission will give you the right to make significant changes to your home. Generally speaking, internal changes that can’t be seen from the outside will generally be approved, as they don’t really have the potential to impact your neighbours’ happiness and the value of their homes. Exterior changes will undergo more thorough examination to ensure that everyone stays happy. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can renovate without seeking permission and then simply gain permission down the line if someone makes a complaint. If you do this and your plans are rejected or denied, you’ll have to put your property back to its original state, which is costly and wasteful.
Use Reliable Contractors
This may sound like common sense, but find a reliable contractor. So many people make the mistake of opting for the cheapest contractors on the market to save money and not getting the results they anticipated. Make sure to check up any contractor’s history before hiring them. You may want to see qualifications, training and a full portfolio of their recent work. Choosing the wrong contractor could see you having to get the work redone or fixed by someone more competent. It’s much better to pay for the work to be completed properly and to a high standard in the first place. You may also want to seek out customer reviews to see how others found your chosen contractor’s work! This will give you a good idea of whether you’re likely to have a good experience with them or not!
These, of course, are just starting blocks towards carrying out renovations on your home. But each is extremely important. Hopefully, some of the above information will be able to help you along the way!
