We want to renovate, but we don’t know where to start!
Can you relate to this?
In this article, we'll uncover the 3 essential steps every home renovator should know to successfully take your home from old to new.
In this article, we'll uncover the 3 essential steps every home renovator should know to successfully take your home from old to new.
‘Hey Doc, I think I’ve got a broken arm' - meet Jill
Jill goes to the doctor in a lot of pain after an ‘incident’ playing table tennis: ‘Hey doctor, I think I’ve got a broken arm and I need surgery.’ The doctor says ‘Ok Jill, we can do that surgery right now. Come into the operating room and we’ll put in a metal rod in to fix it.’
Can you see any problems with this medical approach?
For a doctor to successfully treat a medical problem that requires surgery, he doesn’t just open a patient to ‘fix the problem’ without following a proper medical procedure that had been drilled into him (no pun intended) through his extensive medical education.
Now, I’m no doctor, but you would expect the doctor to follow some kind of process that looks somewhat like the following:
How does this process apply to renovating a home?
Can you see any problems with this medical approach?
For a doctor to successfully treat a medical problem that requires surgery, he doesn’t just open a patient to ‘fix the problem’ without following a proper medical procedure that had been drilled into him (no pun intended) through his extensive medical education.
Now, I’m no doctor, but you would expect the doctor to follow some kind of process that looks somewhat like the following:
- Assessment & Diagnosis
- Treatment Plan
- Surgery
How does this process apply to renovating a home?
1 - Assessment & Diagnosis - the WHAT
To successfully know how to treat a patient with a suspected broken arm, the doctor would need to identify the key signs of the broken arm, perhaps by manipulating the arm, asking the patient to move their fingers, look for swelling etc. Once he assesses and can confirm a diagnosis that the arm may be broken, he might recommend an X-ray to visually confirm how the arm is broken before deciding how to treat it. So, the doc says ‘Ok Jill, we are going to need get an X-ray to confirm if and how badly the arm is broken, then we can work out how best to treat it.’
In a similar way, to conduct a successful renovation, we need to follow the right steps, in the right order, to get the most out of the renovation, and to get there as quickly and accurately as possible. So, what does a renovation ‘Assessment’ look like? This can be a self-assessment, or a professionally guided assessment. (This is what we do at your first design consultation with us, which you can book here if you need help).
Write down exactly how you would like to improve your home, considering the following questions:
If you want to learn more about this, watch my recent Youtube video here:
In a similar way, to conduct a successful renovation, we need to follow the right steps, in the right order, to get the most out of the renovation, and to get there as quickly and accurately as possible. So, what does a renovation ‘Assessment’ look like? This can be a self-assessment, or a professionally guided assessment. (This is what we do at your first design consultation with us, which you can book here if you need help).
Write down exactly how you would like to improve your home, considering the following questions:
- Immediate problems - What are the immediate problems with the home that need solving? These could be things like: the kitchen is falling apart, the bathrooms or roof are leaking, there are not enough rooms in the house for who lives there; next
- Friction Points - What are the major ‘friction points’ of your home – problems that cause you regular frustration – that you would like to solve. This includes layout issues (tight spaces, bathroom, kitchen, laundry layouts etc), low ceilings and physical ‘pain points’ in the current home.
- Future Needs - What are your future needs for the home? Do you have young children that will need more space as they grow? Do you have aging parents that will need to live with you in the future?
- Wants –What are your ‘wants’ for the home? These are things that you could very well live without and still have a successful and content home-life, but you would make you absolutely LOVE living in your home every day, and would bring you great joy (or put your desires to rest) on a daily basis.
- Wellbeing, Health (Physical & Mental) and Growth – We position this at the end of this list, because the more immediate needs are ever present, and in front of most people's eyes daily - these problems must be solved first. However, in solving those problems, we should also be planning for how the home will affect our health & wellbeing (light, air quality, spatial etc), and personal growth potential of themselves, and their children.
If you want to learn more about this, watch my recent Youtube video here:
After having the X-ray conducted, Jill goes back to the doctor who tells her:
‘Ok Jill, the X-ray showed us that your arm is broken in 3 places – one major break in your mid-radius, another minor fracture in your upper Ulna, with one more minor fracture of your lower Humerus.’ Jill nods and thanks the doctor for the assessment and diagnosis, but now wonders how to best treat the arm so it heals as quickly as possible so she can get back to playing table tennis.
'We're going to have to operate on your arm to fix it Jill', the doctor says.
When thinking of your renovation, once you have undertaken the above renovation assessment & diagnosis, you will have a much clearer picture of what is wrong with the home and how it needs to be improved. You can now successfully move on to working out a ‘treatment plan’.
‘Ok Jill, the X-ray showed us that your arm is broken in 3 places – one major break in your mid-radius, another minor fracture in your upper Ulna, with one more minor fracture of your lower Humerus.’ Jill nods and thanks the doctor for the assessment and diagnosis, but now wonders how to best treat the arm so it heals as quickly as possible so she can get back to playing table tennis.
'We're going to have to operate on your arm to fix it Jill', the doctor says.
When thinking of your renovation, once you have undertaken the above renovation assessment & diagnosis, you will have a much clearer picture of what is wrong with the home and how it needs to be improved. You can now successfully move on to working out a ‘treatment plan’.
2 - Treatment Plan – The HOW
After explaining the diagnosis to Jill, the doctor then outlines the best course of action to take, in the form of a treatment plan, to make sure bones can heal as quickly as possible. He includes what actions he will perform to set the bones up right for healing (eg. Surgery, plates etc.) what actions Jill should perform (eg. physiotherapy) and what actions to avoid (eg. table tennis, baseball, lifting heavy things etc.).
Once you know WHAT in your home needs to be improved, we can then start to look at the HOW, or the ‘Treatment Plan’ for it – How we are going to solve the problems, needs, wants and improvements in wellbeing.
What does that step look like?
Once you know WHAT in your home needs to be improved, we can then start to look at the HOW, or the ‘Treatment Plan’ for it – How we are going to solve the problems, needs, wants and improvements in wellbeing.
What does that step look like?
This step generally involves:
1.Deciding HOW best to solve the problems.
This will likely include:
2. The Wants – How could we incorporate some or all of the ‘wants’ into a design solution?
3. Wellbeing, health & growth – What design methodologies or wellbeing & growth design aspects could we incorporate without breaking the bank?
1.Deciding HOW best to solve the problems.
This will likely include:
- Solution Discovery & Decision-Making - Defining construction methods to rectify major problems, and whether the rectification should be part of the larger scale renovation. This discussion should be had with a designer, builder or contractor to avoid any confusion if you are unfamiliar with residential home construction & rectification.
- Exploring options on how best to solve the ‘friction points’.
- Deciding whether ‘Future Needs’ are to be factored into the solutions, and how you might define those needs being met.
2. The Wants – How could we incorporate some or all of the ‘wants’ into a design solution?
3. Wellbeing, health & growth – What design methodologies or wellbeing & growth design aspects could we incorporate without breaking the bank?
Budget – You may have noticed that we have not discussed budget yet. If you are surprised at this, let me explain.
Everything up until this point has cost you nothing – ideas are free.
We have simply identified problems and explored possible solutions. This is important to explore, because your total available budget today, may not be the ONLY renovation investment you make in the home. Exploring what the ‘ideal solutions’ are to the larger problems first is important. So that, in the future, if you have more budget available for more renovations, there are no conflicts between the immediate quick solutions for the home, and any ‘Stage 2, 3 or 4’ renovations in the future.
This way, you never double up on work, and you don’t ‘shoot yourself in the foot’ solving immediate problems which will actually affect the ultimate best design outcome for the home which could be achieved if and when more budget is available down the road a bit. Explore ideal outcomes first (its free) and plan for the future.
House plans & Building Approvals – Most renovations will require some kind of plans to be developed, and many will require some type of development or building approval.
(See our article – What is the difference between a development approval and a building approval?).
What kind of plans you will need usually falls into 3 categories, which will depend on the extent of renovations you are undertaking:
Everything up until this point has cost you nothing – ideas are free.
We have simply identified problems and explored possible solutions. This is important to explore, because your total available budget today, may not be the ONLY renovation investment you make in the home. Exploring what the ‘ideal solutions’ are to the larger problems first is important. So that, in the future, if you have more budget available for more renovations, there are no conflicts between the immediate quick solutions for the home, and any ‘Stage 2, 3 or 4’ renovations in the future.
This way, you never double up on work, and you don’t ‘shoot yourself in the foot’ solving immediate problems which will actually affect the ultimate best design outcome for the home which could be achieved if and when more budget is available down the road a bit. Explore ideal outcomes first (its free) and plan for the future.
House plans & Building Approvals – Most renovations will require some kind of plans to be developed, and many will require some type of development or building approval.
(See our article – What is the difference between a development approval and a building approval?).
What kind of plans you will need usually falls into 3 categories, which will depend on the extent of renovations you are undertaking:
- DIY - If it is simple renovations you are contemplating that don’t require a building approval, and you are a ‘do-it-yourselfer’ you may be able to draw some simple plans up yourself, or have a friend draft them up for you. It could even be as simple as a detailed written list of the renovations you will make.
- Draftsperson or Builder-direct – If your renovations are more significant, such as wall, window or door demolition, bathroom, kitchen, laundry renovations etc. you may be able to go to a draftsperson to have some simple plans drawn up, or direct to a licensed builder, being guided by them for the project requirements and outcome.
- Building Designer or Architect – If your project requires a building approval (see our article ‘Does my project require a building approval’), then you will likely need to go to a licensed Building Designer or Architect to have professional design guidance, and to have a higher level of house plans developed for your project. If you know you will need one of these, get them involved as early as possible, and we guarantee if will save you much confusion, arguments, stress and time. Your designer will be able to help you through all the stages of a typical design process right through to helping you get your building approval, where the builder will commence construction.
3 - Surgery - Construction
Once Jill’s treatment plan was finalized she understood it completely, and she was confident to move forward the surgery, a date was locked in and, while nervous, Jill felt great that everything was coming together, her broken arm would be resolved, and she could continue living her action-packed life in better health again.
In a renovation, this is the stage where all the planning turns into action. Things get noisy. The professionals you have already engaged and been working with to produce the plans for the design vision can guide you into this stage, and may be involved during construction also if required.
In a renovation, this is the stage where all the planning turns into action. Things get noisy. The professionals you have already engaged and been working with to produce the plans for the design vision can guide you into this stage, and may be involved during construction also if required.
Choosing a Builder
The Builder is the one who will execute on the vision. So, while a clear and detailed set of construction plans are vital to a successful project, the builder is the one who will perform the ‘surgery’ on your home.
Just as a surgeon must have certain skills and qualities to reassure the patient, plan the surgery procedure, and manage the surgery room - your builder must also be easy to work with, have a patient approach, and strong communication and management skills.
Ideally, your builder will be involved in a project as early as possible, including during the concept design stage of a project. So don’t be afraid to start meeting a few builders earlier rather than later. This will give you time to consider their past projects, their referrals or recommendations, their personality and people management skills as well.
The Builder is the one who will execute on the vision. So, while a clear and detailed set of construction plans are vital to a successful project, the builder is the one who will perform the ‘surgery’ on your home.
Just as a surgeon must have certain skills and qualities to reassure the patient, plan the surgery procedure, and manage the surgery room - your builder must also be easy to work with, have a patient approach, and strong communication and management skills.
Ideally, your builder will be involved in a project as early as possible, including during the concept design stage of a project. So don’t be afraid to start meeting a few builders earlier rather than later. This will give you time to consider their past projects, their referrals or recommendations, their personality and people management skills as well.
Flexibility During ‘Surgery
Just as a surgeon may encounter unexpected issues during an operation, renovations can sometimes reveal surprises, such as previously hidden structural, electrical or plumbing problems - being flexible (trying not to freak out), trusting your team and having a some contingency worked into your budget will help you adapt to keep the project on track.
Just as a surgeon may encounter unexpected issues during an operation, renovations can sometimes reveal surprises, such as previously hidden structural, electrical or plumbing problems - being flexible (trying not to freak out), trusting your team and having a some contingency worked into your budget will help you adapt to keep the project on track.
Wrapping up: Living Your Better Home Life
Jill is now on track to a full recovery, and is already feeling the benefits of the surgery. She is already feeling stronger, happier and healthier than before, and is aiming to compete in an upcoming national table tennis tournament! Although the surgery was something she wasn't particularly looking forward to, she is so happy that she did it, got through it, and can now enjoy the benefits every day.
Similarly, once your renovation is finished, you will have a transformed home tailored to your needs, lifestyle and goals. The journey may involve a lot of planning and patience, but the result will be worth it – a home that solves the immediate problems, design ‘friction points’, future needs, wants, and enhances and facilitates wellbeing, health and personal growth.
Could your home benefit from some 'renovation surgery’?
Contact us today to book a FREE design consultation to take the first step in improving your home life. Let’s design a home that solves your problems, that you will love for years to come.
- Sam, QDH
Similarly, once your renovation is finished, you will have a transformed home tailored to your needs, lifestyle and goals. The journey may involve a lot of planning and patience, but the result will be worth it – a home that solves the immediate problems, design ‘friction points’, future needs, wants, and enhances and facilitates wellbeing, health and personal growth.
Could your home benefit from some 'renovation surgery’?
Contact us today to book a FREE design consultation to take the first step in improving your home life. Let’s design a home that solves your problems, that you will love for years to come.
- Sam, QDH
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