The Kitchen, Bathroom and Windows: Functional Suggestions For Renovating Your Homes Most Important Rooms
Posted February 15th, 2009 by adminRemodeling your home is a realistic alternativeto simply packing up and purchasing an ideal home. However, remodeling is not always cheaper; simple planning mistakes or poor contractor selection can lead to disastrous financial and emotional results. Organization and thorough research are your two biggest weapons against the common pitfalls of home remodeling. Use them wisely.
Your garage, your kitchen, and your bathroom are three great places to begin your home remodeling project. However, before you actually begin construction, you must ask yourself several questions. The most important of these questions requires an honest answer: how much can you afford to spend? When performing a remodel, you need to be financially realistic. Unless you’re very careful during the bidding stage, your total cost will most likely run 20% to 30% higher than expected. While you have countless possibilities for your home remodel, this article will discuss only three different rooms: the kitchen, the bathroom, and the garage.
While there are limitless possibilities for remodeling your home, this article is going to focus on the remodeling of the most important rooms: your bathroom, kitchen and your garage. For most people, the bathroom is their own private sanctuary. Where else can you escape from the world and soak up a soothing bubble bath or stand under a hot shower? When you are planning your bathroom remodel, you must consider where you spend the majority of your time: looking in the mirror or soaking up the suds. The answer to that question is where you should focus your design ideas. Did you know there are such things as towel warming racks and heated flooring? And it is always advisable to indulge a little when it comes to choosing bathroom fixtures. By investing more cash on the extra bells and whistles can easily transform an everyday bathroom into a mini at-home spa.
It is a fact that over 50% of home owners do not park their car in the garage. Instead of a place to park a car, their garage has become one big storage unit. Are you one of those individuals? If so, you might want to remodel your garage. A proper garage remodel can increase your storage space, increase the usable square footage in your home, or even allow you to park your car inside it.
Outside of gaining extra storage space, a garage can be transformed into a home gym, a laundry room, an elaborate work room, or possibly an extra living space (like a kid’s play room or a spare bedroom). If you want to transform your garage into extra living space, you need to factor in the additional construction costs for heating/cooling, and electrical. Additionally, if you intend to add a bathroom or some form of water supply, you will also need to include plumbing costs which can be somewhat expensive.
Remodeling your kitchen is typically the most costly (and complicated) home remodel project you can begin. It is an enormous undertaking; don’t take it lightly. It is highly advisable to hire a qualified contractor than to try to perform your own kitchen remodel. If you accept estimates from several contractors – which is advisable, your scope of work needs to be extremely specific regarding the different materials that are to be used for the remodel (detailed proposals allow you to accurately compare estimates). Also, if you aren’t specific about construction materials, there is a strong chance you will get materials either inferior or too expensive than what you originally had in mind.
Designing the layout of your kitchen is the most important part of your new kitchen’s remodel. Every aspect of the design should meet with your enthusiastic approval before you begin construction You really must consider the down time you will experience; how long can you tolerate not having a kitchen? The more severe your remodel, the longer you will need to live without a kitchen.
Buy kitchen window treatment sets to finish the look of your new kitchen remodel. A beautiful new set of window treatments can help finish any kitchen, large or small. Of course if you are handy with the sewing machine try creating your own kitchen curtains.
Outside of hiring a state licensed, experienced contractor for your remodel, it is probably a good idea to hire an independent consultant that can oversee your chosen contractor’s work progress and overall quality of work. Most people would not be able to tell the difference between galvanized steel piping and ductile iron piping, but a professional construction consultant certainly can. He or she will notice if your contractor attempts to take any shortcuts.
Your family’s overall happiness and livelihood are closely associated with your house. Be thorough in your remodel preparation and planning and your remodeling experience will most likely be a successful one.