From Start to Finish: Navigating a Whole Home Remodel
Setting out to completely overhaul your Charlotte home, but don’t know where to start? You’re right to do your research. Even if you have a design in mind, getting the results you expect in your whole home remodel calls for complex preparation. A detailed plan will help you reduce the number of hiccups and surprises you face along the way.
Read on for an in-depth guide to planning for your whole home remodel!
Know the Different Aspects of the Planning Stage
Before you can start your remodeling project, there are several steps that take place during the planning stage. You’ll have to consider the following factors in designing and planning your whole home remodel.
Set Design Goals for Your Charlotte Whole Home Remodel
To begin, create a written plan for bringing your ideas to life. You might work with an architect or other contractors in designing your remodeling project. You might also follow current home remodeling trends to create a more modern look. These plans will help your contractors submit accurate estimates and proposals.
Establish Your Budget
You also need to outline your spending budget for the entire project. Setting up a budget entails deciding how much you’re willing to spend on the full remodeling project from start to finish.
Along with planning your budget, you must determine your source of funding. For Charlotte homeowners, funding might come from your savings, loans, a home equity line of credit, or a combination of multiple funding sources.
Differentiate Between DIY and Pro Tasks
Deciding which projects you can successfully complete on your own requires an honest assessment of your skills and abilities. If you know remodeling your flooring is beyond your expertise, leave that project to professional contractors. Your ultimate goal should be to get the best possible results so that you don’t have to redo work down the line.
Find a Contractor
Your next step is to find a Charlotte contractor or remodeling company capable of handling a whole home remodel. Ask for recommendations from friends and co-workers, check online reviews, and talk with someone inside of the company you choose who can answer all of your questions and talk you through their company’s process. These steps will help you select the contractor best suited to meet your needs.
If you choose ReVision as your design/build contractor, we’ll begin your whole home remodel with an initial consultation. This is when we’ll talk through all of your specific pain points, priorities for your new spaces, wish list items, and project timing. We can also discuss if you’d like to phase your project out or just tackle it all at once. We’ll rundown the pros and cons of phasing a whole home remodel and make a plan based on your decision. From there, we’ll draft a proposal for your project that consists of an initial scope of work and a budget estimate.
Then comes our initial measure. Your ReVision Designer and Project Developer will come out to measure all of the spaces and surrounding areas that we’ll be working on. In the case of a whole home remodel, we’ll typically draw up your entire home to scale in our design software.
Designing Your Project
Another important factor to keep in mind as you decide who will take on your Charlotte remodel is that not all contractors have in-house design services. You need to decide upfront how many firms you’re comfortable incorporating into your project. If you want fewer contacts and everyone aligned, choose a design/build firm that offers both in-house design and contractor services.
Whatever path you decide to take, you must have a firm set of design and construction plans before demo. Having all your details spelled out and selected beforehand will save you time and money during construction. Speaking of money, make sure you’re factoring in rental fees for living elsewhere during the course of your whole home remodel.
Design Meeting
Because ReVision is a design/build firm, we like to kickoff the design portion of your project with a meeting that is typically focused on initial layout of all of the spaces (which walls are moving/being taken away, overall flow, etc.).
We view everything in a 2D bird’s eye view as well as 3D renderings. Once you’re happy with how everything is laid out, we’ll hone in on all of our details for each of the areas in your home (cabinetry design, material/finish selections, plumbing fixture selections, etc.) By the end of our design process, all of your decisions should be firmed up, so that there are no big decisions left to be made during construction!
Permitting and Site Evaluations
It’s also important to find out about the building permits and zoning permissions your project will require. In many cases, remodeling contractors will handle these administrative tasks and include the fees in the project estimate. Talk to your contractor to see if this is the case. If not, you will have to handle these tasks individually.
At ReVision, we do a site evaluation. This is the meeting where your project team (Designer, Project Developer, and Project Manager) and our talented trade partners all meet at your home to do a site walkthrough. This allows us all to view your existing home with our proposed plans in place to come up with a proper plan for construction. We try to uncover as many potential surprises during this meeting as we can. It’s also the time where we’re able to get accurate pricing for your project.
Contract Meeting & Production: Ordering Materials and Planning
After the site evaluation, the ReVision team hosts a contract meeting. This is when you’ll review all of your contract documents with final pricing and sign so that we can start the exciting work!
We’ll then order and stage everything for your project so that you don’t have boxes of materials piling up at your home while you wait for construction to begin. During this time, we’ll also pull permits, set up your job schedule, and get everything organized behind the scenes so that your remodel can run as smoothly as possible once construction begins.
Understand the Construction Process
Once the planning stage is complete, your remodeling team can start the physical work. Knowing how the team will handle the construction will help you gauge whether your project is staying on track.
If you select ReVison for your project, we will handle everything throughout construction, from demo, to meeting county inspectors, to installing materials and overseeing our trade partners.
Demolishing the Existing Materials
The demolition of your Charlotte home’s interior is a lengthy process in itself. In addition to tearing out drywall, tiling, flooring, and cabinetry, it will involve removing or relocating plumbing, wiring, and HVAC components.
Framing the Renovation of Your Charlotte Home
At this point in the whole home remodeling process, the contractor will start rebuilding the home’s interior. This might include framing new walls in your home, replacing a rotted floor joist, or installing a support beam where a load-bearing wall is removed.
Installing Electrical, Plumbing, and HVAC Equipment
Once the framing is complete, the next stage in your whole home remodel can begin. Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC professionals will come into your home to address the needs regarding this equipment. These technicians may install new wiring, plumbing pipes, or HVAC components. Your contractor will also install insulation at this time if required.
Installing the Finishing Materials
The final step in your whole home remodel is to add the finishing materials. This includes installing drywall, flooring, moldings, cabinetry, lighting fixtures, and similar components. Your contractor will then apply stains, paint, and sealants.
The project will end with the contractor removing their equipment, supplies, and debris. A final walkthrough will allow you to ensure the renovation meets your expectations. Once you sign off on the renovation, the project is complete.
Take It One Step at a Time
While there are many decisions and processes to oversee within each step, this outline gives you a basic understanding of your project. When you work with experienced Charlotte contractors, you can rely on their expertise to guide you through the various remodeling phases.
A well-planned project will leave you with a remodeled home that you will absolutely love!