Practical Things To Do Before Renovating Your Home

*This is a collaborative post on practical things to do before renovating your home

Over 70% of people spend £4,035 annually on home renovations in the UK, giving you a fair idea of homeowners’ interests in these projects. However, it can be a tedious and daunting task to carry out. Apart from the financial commitment, you must determine the areas that require a facelift. You can’t also forget the structural damages that require immediate attention. Therefore, if you are currently renovating your home, you need to avoid costly mistakes. That said, here are some things to note before renovating your home. 

Examine your home for rot and dampness

When water and moisture are left untreated over a long period, they aid the development of rot and dampness in your building. These can lead to the quicker deterioration of affected walls, window frames, construction timber, etc. Therefore, it’s best not to allow this damage to progress to a point where you have to dole out huge sums for treatment and repairs.

Renovating your home will be the perfect time to deal with this issue altogether. If you’re solving a dampness issue in your home, you first need to seek out the rot and damp professionals to address it. Unless you have substantial knowledge of treating rot and dampness, this is not a project you can tag as DIY. 

It’s also essential to understand how water problems can occur in your home. If your home is the unfortunate product of lousy plumbing or structural defects, you shouldn’t be surprised to see accumulated rot and dampness. Fortunately, with silicone injections and cement renders, you can stop damages from progressing.

Check for hazardous materials in your home

If your home is an old building, there is a high chance of being built with potentially hazardous materials like asbestos and lead. It’s worth noting that the UK banned the sale of brown and blue asbestos only in 1985. Brown asbestos is used to describe Amosite, while the blue represented Crocidolite. However, both types of asbestos were once widespread on the open market, mainly where construction was concerned.

Unfortunately, regulators left out white asbestos (Chrysotile) until 1999, when it was also banned. Therefore, you will not be wrong to conclude that some houses constructed in the United Kingdom before the year 2000 have some white asbestos as part of their building materials. This is why you may need to seek help from experts who specialise in removing hazardous materials. If you’re unsure about what your building materials are composed of, you can visit the local health department before starting to break down your walls for renovation.

Assess old plumbing works for rust and damages

This is another problem usually common with old structures. Indeed, plumbing materials do get old over time and begin to show signs of deterioration after serving homeowners for many years. One of the tell-tale signs to pay attention to is the colour of your water. If your water running has a brownish or yellowish discolouration, chances are the plumbing is rusting and should be replaced. Admittedly, it can be pretty tricky to conclude whether or not your plumbing pipes are in good condition.

However, there is an old trick people use to detect this, but this can only be done when the walls are broken, and pipelines are exposed. With just a feel with your palm, you will know whether to replace your galvanised copper pipelines or not. One that needs replacement will feel grainy and rough. Therefore, it’s best to budget for plumbing work to increase the overall renovation work cost. Another observation is that old plumbing parts often do not match modern types, making repair work more challenging.

Ascertain the condition of your roof

The roof is one of the essential structures of a house, as any defect can expose the interior parts of the home to the weather’s harshness. Remember that your roof is the first line of defence. So you should watch out for common roof damage like broken, missing, or chipped tiles. This justifies the essence of getting a total physical evaluation of the structure before commencing renovation. That can save you from the headache of finding out later. Then, if you need to replace the roof, you should be ready to dish out nothing below £2,200.

Home renovations can be pretty daunting, especially regarding your finances. Therefore, it’s prudent to plan what you would factor into your home renovation before proceeding with it. Hopefully, your attention to detail will pay off when it’s all completed.