Re-modeling your home? Reasons to hire a professional.
When planning to renovate your home the question of “Do I hire a professional or try to save money and do it on my own?” is often at the forefront.
Completing a home build or re-model involves a lot of planning and an abundance of decision making. From the forefront decisions like paint, cabinets, flooring and countertops, to the less discussed but equally important items like room size and layout plumbing, electrical, heating and of course code compliance. Having to make these decisions can often turn what could be a fun and exciting time into a stressful and time consuming nightmare.
Although on the surface you may think that being your own General will save you money, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Pricing:
Contractors get preferred pricing from trades and suppliers. Contractors pay less because of the volume of business they do. Although you will be paying your contractor a fee, you may be able to re-coup some of those costs in the savings they can provide you.
Learn from someone else’s mistakes:
When completing a renovation yourself, you may have trouble finding all the appropriate trades required. Contractors on the other hand typically have a team of trades they use, blending the best mix of pricing, quality and professionalism. Hiring trades that are in experienced or do not complete work to your quality standards can be costly and stressful. Re-doing poor or improperly done work will often end up costing you double or triple the original price.
Timing:
Scheduling a job is very difficult, having it run smoothly is even harder. If you plan on doing it yourself but still have a day job be at be prepared for it to take much longer. Without having someone on site to manage those daily dilemmas, things will not be completed as quickly as you would like. If you plan on taking time off from work to manage the project yourself remember to balance that cost with the cost of hiring a professional to do it instead.
Resale:
Your Contractor should be able to help you get the most value out of your house. Their experience and the experience of their team of subtrades in design, product knowledge, innovations and trends will allow you to get maximum value for your home should you decided to sell it in the future.
Whether you decided to do it yourself or hire a contractor make sure any agreements you make are is in writing. This will assure you both understand the scope and limitations of the project and you know exactly what you are paying for.