Renovating a building can be a fun experience – out with the old, in with the new! This experience can quickly change into a disaster that leaves you in mountains of debt; all this horror can be avoided with a budget, and creating one is simple. Here is a quick guide to creating a budget for your building renovation;
What needs to be fixed?
The first step in creating a budget for your building renovation is knowing what needs to be fixed. The easiest way to do this is to create a full list of the needed repairs, and this can be done in three steps;
- Major Fixes – major fixes are essentially the biggest things that need to be repaired. Things like roofs, ceilings, walls, and floors should be the first items on your list because they are major organs in your body and are critical to your building’s overall quality.
- Medium Fixes – medium fixes are the things like pipes, electrical and waterworks, windows, and doors. Although rarely the focal point of lists, a small faulty wire can black your entire building out, and one clogged drain could cause flooding, and both of these instances can result in the loss of property.
- Minor Fixes – minor fixes refer to everything else that is not major or medium. This could be toilet roll holders, doorknobs, or tiles – minor fixes are the little things that normally go completely unnoticed.
What would you like to add, remove or change?
A renovation is, for the most part, adding, removing, and changing certain if not all aspects of a building. Now that you have figured out what you need to repair, the next step is to decide what you would like to restore or completely get rid of.
If you are adding on to what is already in your building, a rough estimate of what you can afford helps know what and how much to add. Additions such as structural ones will cost you, but others, such as paints, décor, and furniture, will depend on what you choose.
Removing parts of the interior or exterior of a building is relatively cheaper than adding on. Since you would be getting rid of something, making a conscious and sober decision is paramount as the last thing you want to do is get rid of a whole chunk of something only to want it back and end up spending twice what you would have.
Changing things up is probably the easiest method of renovation; since you already know what you want, what’s left is either upgrading or downgrading and the cost of the change depends on these two factors.
Overall Costs
Once you have written a list of both what needs to be repaired and what needs to be done after, the next step is to calculate the renovation’s overall cost. Contacting professionals such as; builders, interior decorators, plumbers and electricians, e.t.c. and getting quotations from them for your desired renovations will help you come to the overall cost of the renovation. Alternatively, you can contact a renovation company to help with the figures for the total.
How much can you afford?
With the overall renovation cost in your possession, you now want to ask yourself how much of it you can afford to renovate. Some may choose to finance the renovations out of their own pocket, while others may want to take a loan to do so. Whichever you choose, ensure that you can indeed afford it and if not, prioritize by doing the most critical repairs and ensure that your building is strong first.
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