We’ve been renovating our house ever since we first got our keys at the end of March. I feel very privilidged that we’ve been in the position to do it. A combination of help and support from both of our parents combined with lots of savings has helped us be able to renovate. But there are lots of things I’ve learnt while renovating a house that I thought I’d talk through.
Timelines will always move
It doesn’t matter how strict you are with deadlines, or how prepared you are, things will always move. It might be something as simple as you can’t get a delivery for an item as soon as you’d like. Or it could be that you discover additional work needs doing. One thing I’ve learnt while renovating a house is that you need to learn to be flexible and go with the flow to an extent.
We originally planned our renovations would take 3 months. But it’s going to have taken 4 and a half months and even then we won’t be 100% finished. We were very optimistic so just be prepared.
I’ve learnt while renovating a house that things you hadn’t prepared for will come up
Until you properly get into a renovation you’ll never truly know how much work will need doing. Once you start stripping things back or dismantling the house chances are you’ll find work to do you hadn’t banked on doing. I learnt while renovating a house quickly that we needed to be prepared for anything.
We hadn’t noted down fixing the stairs on our list but we had to do some repairs. And we hadn’t planned to get a new water tank, move it into the loft and move the door to our bathroom to make a bigger room. But we noticed these things when we got in and realised they’d make a huge difference to the end result.
Always have a good supply of unassigned money
When budgeting for a home renovation always ensure you have some spare money which isn’t assigned to a particular project like plastering or your new ensuite. Plenty of things will end up costing more than expected. But also you’ll end up having to spend money on things which doesn’t have a set place in your budget. This might be tools which may be needed for lots of projects. Or waste removal if you have a lot of building materials to get rid of.
I learnt while renovating a house that you need a little pool of extra money. Our budget ended up going a little over in some areas and a little under in others. But we’re still not done so this might change again.
By the time you get to the end all you’ll want to do is move in
At the moment I’m at the point where I just want it finished (or liveable) so I can move in. We’ve been paying a mortgage for a while now and I just want to be able to enjoy the house. There are certain things which need to be done before we move in like getting our kitchen fitted. But there are other things which aren’t messy and can be done after we move in and after we’ve enjoyed it a bit.