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Getting The Best Value From Your Devonport Villa Renovation

If you are thinking about a Devonport villa renovation, before even beginning the most important task is that you need to be clear about what you want to achieve at the end. If you are uncertain or you have lots of varying ideas, then you will probably spend more money than you were hoping. Perhaps worse, the finished renovation might not be what you want.

 

If people change their minds part-way through this adds more time and expense to the villa renovation. It can cause stress to customers not knowing their time or financial commitments.

 

What Is Your Vision At The End Of Your Devonport Villa Renovation?

Devonport villa renovationsThe key question people must ask themselves is what is their vision for the finished Devonport villa renovations? The answer is going to govern the amount of money and how long to allocate to the renovations.

 

Some people want to have more useable space, others want to renovate the kitchen, while others want to give their vial a modern open-plan layout. Whatever you want to achieve will need different skills, time and funding.

 

Skilled Villa Renovations Builders

There is no point in having a lovely design, good quality fixtures and fittings if the builder is not up to scratch. Always look for experienced villa renovations builders in Devonport to get the best value from first-class workmanship.

 

Managing A Villa Renovation Project

After seeing TV renovation programmes, people think they want to do the same, without the hassles. The old saying that DIY is in the Kiwi DNA, does have some basis but increasingly people have busier lives and do not have the time, nor the skills to manage a big villa renovation project.

 

Hiring different tradespeople is not an easy job especially if you don’t know what you are looking for. But that is the easy bit. You then have to make sure the right trade is on-site at the right time. In a villa renovation it is likely that you will need up to 20 different trades. Trying to manage all of those, buying the right materials and quantities for delivery at the right time can be a major logistical headache.

 

The best way to ensure a well-managed villa renovation is to have a professional project manager or to hire one renovation company acting as lead contractor. They will probably have their own tried and tested trades anyway.

 

How To Go About A Villa Renovation?

This depends on your finances and your resilience.

 

You can have one big villa renovation project including the kitchen, bathroom and living areas. This costs more at one time and will mean your home is out of commission for a while. You will probably have to find temporary accommodation for this.

 

Devonport villa renovations buildersThe other option is to renovate in stages as finances become available. For example, you may renovate your kitchen one year, and then two years later do the bathroom.  This makes renovation work more affordable, but it means that your home is regularly disrupted for a few years. It also makes it difficult to match the renovations because existing paints will age and not be the same as the second renovation.

 

Devonport villa renovations builders usually recommend doing a full renovation as a single, integrated project. The finishes and overall appearance can tie-in together which makes the finished villa look much better. It will be more pleasurable for you enjoy while you are living there, but it will also make it easier to sell in the future, being a finished product rather than a hodge-podge of different works.

 

Common Projects For Devonport Villa Renovations

Given the age of the villas in Devonport, the most common renovation projects are making open-plan rooms, major upgrades to kitchens, and replacing the old, cold bathrooms.

 

The seemingly simple task of knocking out walls to produce a single, open-plan living space can alter the apparent size of a house. The entire building will look a lot larger all within the current footprint of the villa which saves a lot of extra expense, and getting council approval.

 

What Are The Best Return On Investment Renovations Projects?

This depends a lot on the existing condition of the villa. If the building is in poor condition and needs total renovation, then that will add a huge value to the run-down building. For a villa in reasonable condition, for the large part, a kitchen renovation will add the most value and produce the best return on investment. The kitchen is usually the room that sells a house. After that upgrading a bathroom can add a lot of value. Surprisingly, landscaping the garden can also add a lot of extra value too. If you are having a major villa renovation, while your home is in turmoil, you could seriously think about landscaping at the same time to give your villa a complete make-over.

 

As previously mentioned, a full villa renovation in Devonport can add significant growth in the value of your home. Adding the latest kitchen appliances, with a luxury bathroom, and adding sustainability with more efficient heating and insulation give a total increase in the value of the home.

 

Hire The Best Devonport Villa Renovation Builder

Hiring the best villa renovations builder will incur significant labour costs but it is probably the lowest-cost option for you. You will save a lot of time, energy and stress dealing with just one company rather than 20 different ones. Plus, you know that you will be getting a first-class job at the end. Think of value, not cost.

 

If you have an old villa in Devonport and want to upgrade it or create some extra space, seriously consider a major villa renovation. You will add significant value to your home, far in excess of the cost, plus you will be living in a much more desirable home, with more efficient energy consumption, greater comfort, and more usable space.

 

If you have a villa like this, look at Cain Built, an experienced Devonport villa renovation builder.

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Renovating Auckland Villas – Mistakes You Want To Avoid

Renovating Auckland VillasIf you have made the decision to renovate your home, you have to be particularly careful if it is an older one. There are many mistakes people make when renovating villas in Auckland and you do not want to do something you will regret. This article notes some of the more common mistakes. Here is a list of things you do not want to do while trying to fix up your home.

 

Going For A Look That Is Too Modern

There is nothing wrong with making your home ultra-modern if you plan to do this to all parts of the house. It is a big mistake to make one room look like a scene straight from 2025 and the rest of the place is from 1925. Try making subtle changes that will mix the old with the new. This will look much better than having a home with different styles that do not mesh.

Not Budgeting Enough Money

One thing that you should understand is that renovating a very old home is usually more costly than working on more modern houses. Things like older plumbing and wiring may have to be removed or replaced, and this can be very costly. The costs are not just in the plumbing or wiring themselves but as these services are hidden away behind the walls, the workers will have to take out and then replace a lot of the walling. Plus of course, you will then have decorating costs on top of that.

Many people make the mistake of getting started without making sure that they have enough money to complete the entire project. This is not something that you want to do, so be very careful when planning financially for a renovation project. Talk to a number of builders or trades people to get some ball-park ideas on costs, add them up and add 25%. Yes, every renovation project goes over budget so to avoid major stress and disappointment, build in a hefty contingency before you start. If you cannot afford the contingency, then seriously, gold off doing the project until you have the extra money saved. In all probability you will need that extra but if at the end it has not all been spent, then you can pay off some of your mortgage.

Forgetting To Replace The Foundation

It is often said that older homes were built more solidly than modern ones but this does not mean that they are built to last forever. One thing that you should know is that foundations start to wear out over the years. In some cases, this can make your home structurally unsafe.  Also, modern building codes require deeper foundations than in the past. With moving and settling of land, it is a good idea to think about this aspect. If you are planning to do major renovations to your home, it would be a big mistake to forget about the foundation.

Not Considering Resale Value

You may look around your home and have this feeling that all it needs is some new and modern renovations to really make it look nice, but you have to consider the fact that you may want to sell your home one day. People who purchase older homes do so because they are a fan of the classic look and feel. They may not be too happy to take a look at an older home that had too many modern conveniences

Another common problem with major renovations is that people over-capitalise. This means that they build a house that is too big for their area. While a five bedroom house might seem like a good idea, if all the others in your road are only three bedrooms, you will find it hard to get a buyer. When you are doing renovations, make sure that you don’t do so much work that it removes all of the character from the place.

Failing To Set Aside Money For Asbestos Removal

Asbestos is not used when building houses these days, but it used to be very common to find them in all kinds of building materials. If you are living in an older home it does not necessarily cause a threat if it is not moving often and releasing particles into the air. Once you start removing walls and that type of thing, it is common to find asbestos. You will need to have the asbestos disposed of before the job can continue. It is important for you to have money set aside for this since you never know what lies behind the walls in your home.

Finish Renovating Auckland Villas

Clearly the renovation tasks outlined above are not for the average DIY-er. These are serious jobs which require a lot of experience and equipment to carry them out. They are definitely tasks for a professional builder, preferably a Master Builder who has the correct insurances and training.

There is nothing like making a solid plan for renovating villas in Auckland to make it look like new. While this is the result you are looking for, there are several things that can happen along the way to make things turn out very differently than you had hoped for. As long as you follow all of the advice given here, your project should be a complete success.

For more details on renovating villas in Auckland contact Repair and Restore.

Video about renovating villas in Auckland