Advice on renovating
Thinking of renovating sometime soon, Then stop and think about just what you are about to do.
When looking for advice or tips you need to keep in mind just where this advice is coming from.
Look at the person that is telling you or the author of the information to find out if he or she really knows what they are saying.
There are many people out there that will have something to say but that does not mean that they know what they are talking about.
Just because it is on the internet or in a magazine on home renovation that it is the right way for you renovation.
You need to keep in mind where the information is coming from, are they talking about your type of project and in your area.
Canadian building codes differ from US codes and then there is a lot of information on the web from the UK, all things to be aware of.
If you plane on using contractors to do the work then you need to follow a few steps when choosing one.
1 All references should be recent and picture are nice.
2 Contract, this is a must set out the work to be done and the cost as well as time frame. You also set out all other guide line here that way there are no surprises.
3 Get 3 quotes for the work so you have a good idea what you should be paying.
4 Ask for Insurance this is not always needed it is your choice but unless they have really good references then I would want it.
5 When you have picked your contractor then you need to know that he is doing the work and if he has subs coming in then I would ask for references for them as well.
6 Make sure to get a building permit if your renovation requires on.
7 Now this is where thing need to be stated up front when doing renovation and you are going to be doing demo, There most always are problem that come up and will requires added expense so set out ahead of time if your contractor has made allowances for this in his quote or if this will be added.
8 When choosing your contractor do not go with the lowest bid go by references and your gut feeling remember The joy of a low bid will turn sour by a bad job.
Interesting advice, Fred. Especially #7. Glad to see #6. #8 is a lesson we all need to learn. #5 - never thought of that! I think the difficulty lies in the fact that we, as homeowners, don't know enough to be able to tell a good contractor from a bad one. So, I guess references, seeing their past jobs and #4 is best!
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