Make the Best of Your Renovation

The key to any renovation or restoration project is research.

Whatever you are trying to achieve in life preparation is everything. On tasks that you have completed before the subconscious will kick in and give you much of the information, on tasks that are new to you research or having an experienced adviser will provide you with the information and the tools to complete the task in hand.

Poor preparation = poor performance

Whether a renovation or restoration project it is important to be able to visualise the finished result. With restoration this is often easier as you are repairing or maintaining what is already there, however you do need to make sure that if this is part of your home that it will be practical for the purpose going forward e.g. a stone floor in the kitchen of a listed property. Not only will it need to be cleaned, repaired and restored correctly, but that it will take the impact of hot fat, red wine, ketchup and other spillages in the future without creating another huge cleaning and repair bill.

With renovation the vision can be changed to your vision and dream of how the property can be. For this you will need to look at what is already there from both a micro and macro scenario. Macro, what services does the property have e.g. gas, mains sewage etc. and what will be the impact if adding or increasing such services? Micro, what features and intricacies would you like to keep and what will their impact be on the budget, they may need to be restored, and the overall vision and modern systems?

Part of the vision also needs to include usage of the property. If this is a long term project, not just an investment ‘quick fix and sell on' then you will need to look at a PEST analysis, political, environmental, social and technological changes that may impact you e.g. council tax, water shortage, home working and future systems. By taking this information on board at the beginning the home environment that you achieve at the end will be more suited to your long term needs and budget, and will make moving less of a necessity in the future. Don't forget that moving is one of the highest stress causers.

So far, we have established what you would like to keep in the property in terms of existing features etc. You have looked at future usage. Now you need to know what is available. Did you know that your bathroom mirror can double as a TV screen and that your home can be controlled from your mobile phone? Are you aware that the latest lighting systems can cut the power usage by 25% or more and that your water bill could significantly be reduced by recycling rainwater? Lots of this information can be found on the web, but sometimes you need to have some idea of what is out there before you can start the searching.

Wouldn't it be good if someone could work with you just on this first part of the equation? Someone who is totally independent who just wants to help you to achieve your living dream and gather some initial idea of costs ready to form a budget. At this point you may not know whether an Architect or a Structural Engineer is needed or indeed which trades are required.

At this point, I might add, I am assuming that you started with a detailed surveyors report and any ancillary reports, such as Structural Engineers report for any structural defects identified and that these are in the process of being rectified whilst we are playing with the dreams! Or better still you are in the process of looking for a property. That way you will be in an even better position to control any structural defects or repair costs that may be incurred and will be able to incorporate this into the overall project plan e.g. you identify that a light bubble is needed to throw light into a dark area of the house but the roof is in need of repair. Both tasks undertaken simultaneously will save time, labour and scaffolding costs.

Once the scope of the project has been decided, then the work commences. No, no, no. That's not getting the builders in!!!! Its look if planning permission is needed, speak to informed tradesmen about the tasks in hand and their impact on other tasks, you will need this information to produce your project plan (if a rooms been plastered ‘the just an extra socket becomes expensive and messy), introduce yourself to the local buildings inspector and ask if there is anything peculiar to your area that you should know about. Look at the impact on other parts of the building e.g. underfloor heating and floor finishes.

You know what you want; you just need to know the difference, pro's and con's, between the various options,

· Product choice e.g. heating systems oil, gas, solar, electric, other

· Suitability

· Complimentary

· Compatibility

· Price, short term long term

· Time scales for delivery

· How delivery will take place - if the lorry is too big for the drive it's a lot of hard work!!!

· Long and short term maintenance

· Guarantees

· The impact of removal - fashions change, removing tiles from a floor that is underfloor heated may be difficult.

Better still you would like to get someone to do this immensely time consuming task and present you with the information in the form that you are used to. Tsarine does exactly this.

Finally, we help you to facilitate the project. We look at your work commitments, budget and the tasks in hand and help you to schedule the works in a way that suits you and your working time and practice. We can talk to your choice of trades people and suppliers to obtain their buy-in to the project plan to enable to works to run smoothly, on time and to your budget.

by Peter Wagstaff