Home Renovations: Why Planning Matters
While we continue to spend most of our time indoors, it’s easy to get frustrated by all the things you can’t do. But if you, like many others, have found yourself focusing more on your home and imagining the possibilities, now is the perfect time to do one thing—plan!
Planning is often the most overlooked aspect of a home project, though arguably one of the most important. When you’re dreaming of walking into that newly renovated space, it’s hard to stop and think about the fundamental steps you need to take to get you there. From making decisions about what features and materials will go into it, to the actual design work, planning is essential to ensuring you get what you want and how you want it.
Planning is Vital to the Success of a Construction Project
If a project isn’t planned adequately, what frequently happens is homeowners want to make changes after construction is underway. And changes (even small ones) cause a domino effect, impacting timelines and schedules. Everyone and everything has to be rescheduled when things are changed. Not to mention, there's a lot of paperwork involved, too.
Having a well-planned project that is carried out accordingly avoids any unnecessary issues or changes that extend the timeline and leave your home under construction longer than you expected. In addition to interrupting the work and extending the schedule, it costs money to make changes and sometimes a substantial amount. If you have a set budget and it’s already been allocated when construction begins, you may not be able to afford the changes you suddenly want. All of this can be avoided if you carefully and thoughtfully plan from the outset.
And it’s not just up to you! A good contractor knows how to help you make decisions that are right for your home and your budget. We know the importance of planning, and that’s why we put so much emphasis on this phase of the project. But no matter who you hire, make sure it’s someone who is knowledgeable, easy to work with and has good references.
Planning is to Integral the Design/Build Philosophy
You put a lot of thought and planning into just making the decision to start a home project. After you’ve gathered your idea boards and listed your wants and needs, it’s time to translate all of that into a design.
The "design" stage of design/build is all about planning. Our design process begins with a thorough consultation to discuss your thoughts and vision, defining exactly what you want and ensuring that the final design reflects your style. Our process is centered around frequent and clear communication, and we work closely with you to ensure we give you the new home or renovation that best fits your lifestyle, family and budget.
The Truth About the Planning Process
What you don’t see, but is extremely important, is all the work that goes into engineering a design that works. For a lot of people, it's difficult to wrap their minds around spending money on plans. But what you need to know is it's not simply a matter of drawing a picture. It's working out all the details and the problems in advance to make the whole project cohesive and its execution seamless. If it's a home renovation or addition, this phase of the project will make sure the new or updated space looks like it's part of the original home.
This is money well spent because it also ensures construction will go much more smoothly. Thorough planning drastically reduces the likelihood of last-minute changes or surprises that throw the project schedule off. If changes aren’t being made on the fly, the construction will be carried out as expected and on time, and you will ultimately be more satisfied with the final result.
Your Design Budget
Many people don’t know how to budget for their project plans. If you're working with a design/build firm, you should expect to spend 4-6% of your total budget on the plans. If you hire an architect, you may be looking at the 10-12% percent range.
It’s important to know, if you hire an architect or purchase pre-made (so-called “ready-made” or “construction-ready”) plans, your builder or contractor will more than likely need to make changes or adjustments to meet local building codes and fit the design to your property or space. So, if you go that route, make sure you include the cost of making these changes in your budget as well.
Conclusion
When it comes to planning, start with bigger ideas first. Don't get hung up on "I want a door here; I want a window there." Instead, think about what you want to achieve with that particular space or what you want to get out of the house. What features and functions do you want? What are your and your family’s needs?
Be realistic about timelines, too. Not just for the planning and design discussions, but for estimating and scheduling as well. We’ve received calls for very large projects in September that the client wants done by Christmas and, more often than not, that's just not realistic. For small to medium projects, you should probably contact your builder at least three months in advance. For large projects, contact the builder anywhere from six to twelve months ahead of your goal completion date.
It's tempting to want to dive in and get started ASAP, but the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term gratification. Slow down and make sure you get everything right because you'll be living with the results for a long time.
Thinking about a renovation for 2020-21? Now's the time to start making plans.