Category Archives: House Renovations
Mt Eden house renovations builder
A Few Questions to Ask Your House Renovations Builder Before Starting Your Project
Major house renovations are always a big project and for so many people they cause unwanted stress and often financial hardship as budgets and time plans over-run. To avoid these problems, and to keep your Mt Eden house renovations job on time and in budget, ask your builder the following questions before signing on the dotted line.
1 – The Schedule – this should be much more inclusive than a start date and a completion date. The schedule should outline the tasks and the timing to give you a large over view of the project. It should include deadlines for things like counter tops and tiles. It will also give you a clue if your project starts to run behind schedule.
Schedules are very important on even relatively small renovation jobs. Projects like kitchen renovations need to have all lead times determined in advance so that any sub-traders can be scheduled in to work at the right time.
2 – The Workers On Site – you need to determine who will be on-site each day, who will be responsible for the opening and locking up of the property at the end of each working day. You also need to know who will be responsible for supervising any subcontractors which will be used in the renovation process.
3 – How Will the Property Be Protected? – don’t wait until half of the interior walls have been knocked down before asking about protection for your furniture, fittings, artwork, delicate vases and drapes. You need to know what measures the builders will take and what measures you can take yourself to protect your most valuable objects before the building work begins. It may be necessary to remove the majority of the articles well away from the construction zone rather than risk them being dirtied and damaged.
4 – Levels Of Communication – you need to be kept fully informed about your project and these days there are plenty of ways available to communicate. Whether communication will be by e-mail, text message, telephone call or the use of social media sites, you need to discuss this before the project starts. It is a good idea to schedule in weekly meetings at specific times to make sure that everything is running on track and according to schedule.
5 – Specific Concerns About the Project – it’s always a good idea to discuss worst case scenarios and “what ifs” before starting any new house renovations projects. The chances are that your contractor will already have some idea of the potential pitfalls in your project. Ask him about them and any plans they have in order to deal with them should they arise.
6 – What If The Order Is Changed – Unexpected and expected changes of order happen very frequently on larger renovation projects. These should not cause too many problems with your renovations contract but there should be allowances made for them. It may be necessary to make changes to the schedule, just be sure that your chosen contractor has all of the necessary plans in place if needed.
7 – After-hours Contact – it is important to be able to reach your house renovations builders in an emergency situation, just as it is important for them to be able to reach you at any time of the night or day should the need arise. Make sure that you exchange all numbers including work numbers, cell phone and land lines.
8 – Decision Making – there are lots of minor decisions which will need to be made as the project advances. It is important for you to understand what decisions need to be made and when. There are many ways of dealing with this – spreadsheets are an excellent tool as well as notes or lists on a calendar. Just so long as you have clear instruction about the decisions which need to be made and when – you won’t go too far wrong. Make sure that you have a final deadline for each individual decision which you will need to make.
9 – End of Project Paperwork – before the project starts you need to clarify exactly what documentation and paperwork you will receive once the house renovation work has been completed.
Make sure that you ask the right questions and get everything up front and out in the open before starting on your home renovation project for your security and peace of mind.
For more information on Mt Eden house renovations, contact http://repairandrestore.co.nz via the website.