When you set a renovation budget, you always need to set a contingency or emergency fund for those just-in-case moments. Because there will always be a just-in-case. From accidental damage of materials or parts to being out of stock, prices rise, or just going over budget.
Some things should be expected to increase your budget. But when you make mistakes, this drives up costs, and it’s when you're simply throwing money away. Mistakes aren't always easy to spot or even stop, but there are certain choices you make that will do just this unnecessarily. Let's take a look.
Getting One Quote Only
This is a huge mistake to make. When it comes to choosing a company for home renovations, you need to get more than one quote; otherwise, how else will you know if you're being charged fairly or accordingly? You should be obtaining at least three quotes for the work you want carried out. This gives you something to compare and see what you're paying for, as well as getting an accurate idea of the costings of labour, parts and services rendered. Because not all builders work from the same price list, nor are costs set as an industry standard, either. The cheapest quote isn't always right, nor is the highest, so getting more quotes allows you to make a more informed decision here.Changing the Brief Once Work Has Started
Every single change you make after work begins costs you money. Because you have already paid for the plans and the materials, and changing them is just throwing money away. If you change things in the planning phase, that isn't too bad, but during ongoing work is a huge disruption to plans and the timeline and is an instant budget buster. Whether it's changing window sizes or repositioning your kitchen sink, you'll pay variation rates for changes on site, and these will typically come at a higher cost than your initial quotes.Buying Fixtures Before Knowing Lead Times
Choosing your specific bathroom suite or kitchen appliances before confirming delivery dates can create massive problems. You need to align delivery times with when the materials or appliances, etc., are needed. If the trades arrive for installation and they don't have what they need, you're paying them to delay and come back, and this has a knock-on effect on timeline and budget. If anything has a lead time of over two weeks, bespoke cabinetry or sanitaryware, for example, confirm the delivery date at the point of ordering before you commit, or you can confirm with your builder.Ignoring What's Behind Walls
Sure, you can't really truly know what's behind walls until they come down. But if you have an older property, you should assume some things before you start ripping down walls, like there being original pipework hiding behind these, uninsulated cavities or substandard previous work.Having a pre-structural survey won't catch everything, but it can catch a lot, and this can be worth every penny once you draw up plans. Simply, it removes a lot of the unknown that can disrupt plans and cost you more money than you anticipated.
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