Your top renovating tips!

[little_O]

So we have bought a house we need to renovate...

I've only ever built new so renovating is a whole new ball game for me.

What is your top renovating tips? What do you wish you knew before you started the first time? What have you learnt from your experience?

Thanks!

X

[MLR1901]

I haven't personally renovated but a few friends have - theirs are period homes too. They have always sworn by Plan plan and plan!!
And try to keep consistency in the rooms.
One real estate agent told my friends he had seen way too many disasters as people tried to tackle room by room and design wise they don't match.
And a mood board or Pinterest would help keep your ideas in one spot!

[Amity]

Don't live in the house while you're renovating. My top tip

[Floweryfields]

Go to a vaccuum shop and buy yourselves a cheapie to use for cleaning up so you don't wreck your good one!
Get a lead test kit and test paint before doing anything with it!
When working out your budget - add at least 10-20% for unexpected expenses.
And what Divvy said!!

[Mildez]

We are tackling room by room except when it comes to the floors we will have them all done together.
We have renovated a few times and are currently doing it to our 3rd home. I am very fortunate that DH is a tiler and plasterer however and been in the trade has alot of contacts so we can reduce costs alot compared to what it would be if you were paying someone to do everything.
We are big on not over capatalising so unless its a dream home we don't want to put more money into it then we stand to get back. As this is a house we plan on staying a forever cost isn't such an issue as we dont want to look back and wish we things differently.
I agree with a theme in the house but I dont think that needs to be done all at once. My DH does mostly renovation work now and has regular clients he goes back to every few months or year to do another room for them and eventually they get there and there rooms match if that makes sense.

[Pholi]

If you're getting tradies in to do various jobs, get definite quotes from several of them for each job, and consider the type of person they are as the price, ie, did they listen to what you want, including your areas of concern? Did they explain things to your satisfaction? (Like, 'how would you deal with this tricky little bit here?') You might not be happy with the standard of work they do if they say, 'oh, don't worry about that, you'll never notice it' or, 'we'll think of something when the time comes.' I also spoke about future plans, to get a feel for them - like, 'we want to gyprock these two walls, and then sometime later we might do this one once the new kitchen goes in... do you think it'll look funny with only 3 walls done in the meantime?' I chose the guy who said, 'Nah I've seen heaps of places with one part of the face brick left exposed - it's a feature', and not the guy who said, 'If it were my place, i wouldn't cover up the facebrick at all.' If the second guy thinks it's going to look worse once he's finished, he's less likely to take pride in doing a good job!

And ask if it will be them personally who will do the job, or if they have subbies who will do the job for them - the standard may be different with subbies.

Remember that you're going to have this relative stranger in your home for a day or several days, and you want to feel safe around them. And if you find someone you like, who does a good job and charged a price you're happy with, don't be afraid to ask for recommendations for other trades - my gyprock guy put me in touch with the cabinet maker who did the dishwasher cabinet, who uses a plumber whom we later got back for the kitchen sink, etc...

[veus]

Subbing.

[little_O]

Go to a vaccuum shop and buy yourselves a cheapie to use for cleaning up so you don't wreck your good one!
Get a lead test kit and test paint before doing anything with it!
When working out your budget - add at least 10-20% for unexpected expenses.
And what Divvy said!!

If there is lead paint what can you do? What era home was lead paint more often in?

Such good points ladies! Thanks so much.

Keep them coming!!

[LimeSlice]

Late 1970s and earlier and you are likely to encounter lead based paint, especially in anything pre-1965. There are regulation about how you can dispose of it too and some safety issues for pregnant women, children, etc.
Best to get some professional advice once you do encounter it, but you need to test for it. Things like dry sanding and scraping are going to be extremely hazardous, so do your homework.

[little_O]

Bought a lead test kit and the windows, skirting and architraves are all positive, but not the walls.

Thanks!

Anyone have experience with electrical and solid brick homes. Will trades charge an arm and a leg??

[Floweryfields]

I had lead in some areas of my house. Basically what it meant for me was that I didn't sand anything prior to painting. I purchased a product - which I can't recall now, (it was nearly 11 years ago) that I applied to the walls with a squeeze mop after cleaning with sugar soap. This made the paint adhere to the old paint surface. It came in a big rectangular metal tin.

[*Ang*]

I am joining this thread too. We have just bought a duplex pair which we are going to renovate, subdivide and then sell. I am so excited and can't wait to get the keys!