You love your home in Northern Virginia, but there are a few things you would like to change. Or maybe more than a few, which brings up the question, is it better to remodel the whole house at one time, or tackle a major home makeover in pieces?
While rewarding in the end, remodeling is a significant undertaking that can throw your daily routine for a loop during the several months of onsite construction. If there are several spaces on your property that need upgrades, it may seem preferable to knock them out at one time so that you can get back to normal life in your new and improved house.
However, there are pros and cons to remodeling an entire house in one fell swoop, as well as taking it slow. Here are a few things to consider before starting on plans for your next home improvement project in Northern Virginia.
A Northern Virginia home remodel involves a lot of moving parts, including planning and design, demolition, framing, electrical and plumbing work, and installing new materials and appliances. Doing your whole house—or all the spaces you plan to renovate—at one time is more efficient for both the design and construction phases. You are able to address all these moving parts in the right sequence and one time only.
For example, every project requires setup and preparation, such as covering the floors and walls that you aren’t replacing and sealing your ventilation system so it doesn't get infiltrated with dust and debris. Your team will need to bring on equipment, set up dumpsters and make arrangements for debris disposal. The same goes for cleanup. It’s a process, and it’s more cost-efficient to only have to do it once.
You also can create a more cohesive design that plans for how each remodeled space will flow into the other. This is especially helpful as you select materials or finishes options from our suppliers that you want to incorporate into numerous areas. Some materials can be difficult to match if you purchase them months or years apart. If you have already developed a comprehensive design for your whole home remodel in Northern Virginia, you can get all you need of a particular material from the same manufacturer and the same stock, ensuring its consistency. You also will only have to apply for permits or get approval from your local homeowners association one time, rather than going through the process multiple times.
Barring any major shifts in the construction industry or unexpected national events, renovating your whole home will require a bigger one-time investment, but should end up costing less than breaking your project into pieces.
On the downside, the disruption to your family’s regular routine may feel more intense. Instead of only having your kitchen or a single bathroom out of commission, suddenly there may be several spaces that are under construction for several months.
As a result, most homeowners in Northern Virginia choose to move out during a whole house renovation. However, if that would be helpful, you have to first determine if you have enough of a budget to temporarily rent a house or apartment elsewhere, or if you have friends and family who could put you up during your renovation. Also, you need to have a contingency plan in case something goes wrong or your project gets delayed.
Applying a piecemeal approach to home remodeling in the Northern Virginia area has some perks. First, whether you are banking on home equity or applying for private loans from your bank or a credit union, you might not be able to procure all the funds you need up front for a major home renovation. Stretching out the process over a year or two gives you time to save up or acquire the right financing for each room renovation or upgrade. You can seek out loans from different agencies. Plus, with each individual renovation project, your home’s value should increase.
Additionally, doing smaller projects every couple months or so may work better for your family’s schedule. You can pick certain months or periods of the year when you know the remodeling will be less of an inconvenience.
However, using this approach could cause stress and weariness, as your house starts to feel like a never-ending project, instead of the safe, comfortable haven you wish it to be. With all the dust, debris and noise that come along with home remodeling in Northern Virginia, you may want to relocate for the duration of each individual project, or at least the major ones, like your kitchen makeover or master suite addition. Your neighbors also may not appreciate having to endure your home being a constant work-in-progress, or one project after another, so it’s courteous to loop them into your plans.
If you do choose to take on your residential renovation in stages, make sure you’ve clearly identified your priority rooms or spaces, and then go in that order. If your budget allows, you can try to do a couple of spaces at one time, such as all the bathrooms you want to remodel or your kitchen and living room that you’re opening up into one space. This still gives you the opportunity to plan a more efficient process that maximizes the labor of specialists and produces a more cohesive design.
Whether you choose to break your whole home makeover into stages or get it done all at once, it’s important to choose the right contractor. They can help you plan out the most efficient timeline and order of home renovations to meet your overarching goals and expectations. At Silva Construction Group, our design-build remodeling team can help you with projects of varying scope, from small repairs to whole home makeovers, enabling you to tackle the items on your to-do list in the most efficient way possible.