We all know that home renovations can be a pricey affair, but they are necessary to maintain and improve the value of your home.
Gerhard van der Linde from Seeff Pta East offers the following tips for getting the most out of your money when renovating:
1. Do it yourself (if you have the skills)
If you are a fan of DIY and you often get complimented after completing a DIY project, consider doing some of the renovating yourself! Of course, it is important to leave the tricky stuff to the experts, but by performing tasks such as painting you can save a lot of money. In a nutshell: try to cut back on contractor’s costs wherever possible.
2. Watch the water points
When renovating, try your best not to make changes to any of the water points, because the moment you do, you stand the chance of causing plumbing issues which could be difficult, time consuming and expensive to resolve. Water points include toilets, sinks and points for the washing machine and dishwasher.
3. Be innovative
It is much more affordable to bring natural light into your home by using clever tricks like installing skylights and choosing white blinds and shutters than what it is to break holes in the wall to fit new windows.
4. Don’t replace, repair instead
Try to salvage what you can before replacing it. Repairing is often more fun, not even to mention more affordable. This especially applies to walls and floors.
5. Think long term
Are the renovations you have in mind going to be expensive to maintain on the long run? If so, seriously reconsider. Beautiful white carpets may sound like a great idea now, but the cleaning costs might shock you and shake your pocket later.
6. Spring clean
Throw out and donate wherever and as much as you can. You’ll be surprised how much space will magically clear up and it might not even be necessary to build extra storing space as part of your renovations any more.
7. Shack up
Live with friends and family while your home is being renovated. Living in a B&B or hotel could make renovating much more expensive than what it should be.
8. Know your budgets
Know exactly what you want and how much of it when the time for renovating has arrived. When you leave important decisions regarding flooring, tiling, baths, showers, taps and other fixtures to contactors you better prepare to fork out much more than what you budgeted for. No one knows your budget like you do and no one will drive a hard bargain like you will!
