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Ways to Help Your Renovation Go Smoothly

Friday, December 9, 2022

by Sandi Pressley

A renovation involves improving the appearance or functionality of a house. You can do it to repair damage caused by weather, natural disasters, or for aesthetic reasons. Whether you are planning on doing some major renovations like flooring or just simple repairs around your home, here are six things to keep in mind when undertaking a home renovation project:

Safety First

Renovation projects should be undertaken with safety in mind. There are many heavy materials and tools involved in this project. Therefore, you should make sure that you have enough space around your workspace so that you can move around quickly. Be sure to unplug all electrical appliances before starting work. Wear gloves and goggles when handling chemicals or using power tools.

Plan Ahead of Time

A plan is the best way to ensure your renovation project runs smoothly. As such, you should take the time to create a detailed plan for each room of your home. This will help you avoid making costly mistakes and prevent frustration. In addition to having a plan, you must take time when renovating your home. This may seem like an obvious tip, but rushing through a project is one of the easiest ways to make mistakes and end up with a subpar result.

Hire a Professional Contractor

Despite the temptation to save money by doing the work yourself, this is one of the worst mistakes homeowners can make. Hiring a professional contractor will help ensure that your renovation project is completed with high-quality materials and craftsmanship. In addition, having a professional on hand means that you don’t have to worry about whether or not your home will be structurally sound after renovations.

Always Have a Backup Plan

Despite your best efforts, things will go wrong during a renovation project. A backup plan keeps your home safe and livable in case of an unexpected plumbing leak or an absent contractor. Maintaining a backup plan will help you avoid costly delays to your renovation project. In case your contractor fails, it's essential to have a backup plan. If you don’t, you could pay for substandard or even dangerous work to your home.

Make Sure You Meet Your Homeowner’s Insurance Requirements

Your home insurance policy may have specific requirements for the types of contractors you use and how much they are paid. You should check with your insurer to ensure that the contract meets their standards before it’s signed. If not, they might refuse to pay for any damage caused by the contractor or even deny coverage altogether.

Never Skimp on Materials

It makes sense to install the best materials in your home if you spend money on a contractor. This could result in a shoddy product that needs to be repaired or replaced sooner than expected. Ensure that the materials come with a warranty. After a contractor finishes a project, you may have to pay for repairs yourself if poor-quality products were used.

Renovating your Albuquerque home can be fun if you do it right. Success is planning, researching, and hiring a good contractor. If you do those things, you’ll be able to enjoy your home for years.

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Contact us today to help you buy or sell your next home in Albuquerque. Looking for the perfect home for sale in Albuquerque? Our easy-to-use home search tool can help you start the process. Join us twice a week on our blog for more real estate advice and great reasons to buy a home in Albuquerque and the surrounding area. Follow us on Facebook for the latest Albuquerque real estate updates.

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DIY Renovation Mistakes to Avoid

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

by Sandi Pressley

Everyone wants to renovate their homes. People in Albuquerque are now more inclined to do things themselves than ever before. All the remodeling is great for the economy, as well as for people's home equity. However, if homeowners take on tasks themselves without adequate training, problems can arise. It's easy to keep renovations on track if you know what to look out for.

Overestimating your skill

It looks easy to tile, doesn't it? It would be great if the whole bathroom was done, including the floors and walls. You don't need to take a class to do this, or even watch a few YouTube tutorials. You've seen it done on TV, and you're pretty good at picking things up, aren't you? That's a recipe for disaster, and, chances are, you'll either be calling a professional to come finish what you started, or to rip it out and start over.

How to avoid mistakes:

Start small. Prior to taking on the tough stuff, test your skills and patience.

Underestimating your budget

Nobody ever saves enough money for their renovations. There seems to be an increased likelihood of issues arising when your budget is tighter. The last thing you want is a problem that changes your entire plan last minute or makes you stop mid-renovation to make alternate plans or find more money.

How to avoid it:

A good rule of thumb is to set your budget amount and then add 20 percent, but the more novice you are, the more you may want to add.

Minimizing the timeline

Many Albuquerque homeowners underestimate the amount of time needed to make their own renovations. Most of the time, this is due to inexperience, but individual needs can also play a part in it. Just because you only have two weekends to completely tear down and renovate your kitchen before your in-laws arrive doesn't mean it's going to happen within that timeframe. Rather than a pretty finish, they're likely to find a mess and no functional kitchen to prepare a meal.

How to avoid it:

Make sure you do your research. Take the advice of professionals. Take a look at some blogs written by homeowners who have already done the DIY kitchen renovation thing and see what they have to say. Rather than dismissing them as amateurs, really listen to what they have to say. Learn from the mistakes and experiences of others so you can approach your renovation with an open mind and open eyes.

Swinging the hammer without a plan

Seeing demos on TV is fun, and they can be enjoyable as well. When you don't know what you're swinging at and have no plan for what you're going to do if an unexpected event occurs, it can be seriously damaging to your property.

"Work on older buildings can yield a lot of unforeseen events," said Architectural Digest. "Who knows what's behind that wall you're opening up? New construction is more controlled, but that doesn't always mean smooth sailing. Be prepared for the unexpected. We all hope and pray everything goes according to plan. Trust us: Nothing will."

How to avoid it:

The best way to ensure you don't do something crazy, such as compromising the entire structure of your home, is to hire a structural engineer to tell you exactly what's going on in the wall you want to take down.

Not asking for help

It's great to be independent, but when it comes to renovating, more is better. When you have suspicions, you need someone to confirm them, help with the heavy lifting, and provide feedback.

How to avoid it:

Get in touch with your friends, family, or that coworker who's self-proclaimed Queen of Reno. At the very least, having another person in the room will make the renovation go faster and give you someone else to talk to.

The best thing to keep in mind with renovations is that they are hard work and take time and planning. Dont go it alone, unless you've done them befor eand know what you're doing.

HOT ALBUQUERQUE PROPERTY OF THE WEEK!

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Learn More!

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Albuquerque Home Renovation DIY Home Renovation Renovation Mistakes Renovation Advice

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