THE RENOVATOR CHECK LIST PLAN
With Renovating the more organised and pre planning you can do the better. It will make the renovating faster, cheaper and less stressful. Gathering your ideas together with catalogues, brochures, pictures from google and notes. Getting an idea on what appliances, light fittings, plumbing fittings and cabinets you might want.
NOTE: If you decide on a induction cook top check with Metro Electrical 24 Hour Electricians, because some homes can not support such a high powered appliances. This also applies to some large high powered ovens. At this stage it is a good opportunity to check if your electrical supply to your home is sufficient for the appliances like hot plates this can be done at very minimal cost.
- Kitchen
- Ovens
- Cook tops
- Microwaves
- Dishwasher
- Range hood
- Fridge
- Cabinets
- Bench tops
- Cupboard doors
- Taps
- Bathroom
- Light heat fan unit ( IXL ) NOTE: A four heat unit will require a new circuit back to the switch board
- Heated towel rail
Design
Contact a professional designer or your cabinet maker to draw up some plans, they should be in detail having all your measurement for cabinets and appliances including heights with depths or you can do it yourself with Ikea and Bunnings, below are links to help with kitchen planning online
https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/planners-and-calculators/kitchen-planner
Choose your trades
Pick reliable quality trades for your project, its a good idea to pick trades that know what they are doing and have done many renovation before. Picking the cheapest trades is never a good idea because they are cheap for a reason either inexperienced or planing on cutting corners to make a profit. Yes price is one of the things to consider but not the only thing to base your decision on.
Things to consider are:
- Has the company done this type of job before? Check their website reviews and ask the question of how many renovations have they done like this before.
- Has the company been around for a while? Some companies disappear over night leaving you with a job half done.
- Does the company have a good reputation? Check reviews to get a grasp of how the company deals with their customers and what problems have previously come up with customers.
- Check to see if the company is licensed and insured. This is a good way to tell if the company is real. We have seen it before on renovations unlicensed workers leaving a extremely bad work on jobs when the customer wants it fixed or warranty work they find that company doesn’t exist and the phone number they had disconnected. That brings us on to the subject of deposits, most real trades companies wont ask for a deposit unless something has to be made or ordered especially for them. If you have done your checks beforehand it shouldn’t be a problem giving a deposit. The last thing you want is giving a deposit for some goods then having the person disappear.
Below are the trades you will need for a renovation
- Electrician
- Plumber
- Floor and wall demolisher stripping
- Cabinet maker
- Tiler
- Painter
- Plasterer
Order of Trades
The Order of your trades is very important, getting this right will save you time, money and keep a good relationship with your trades.
Problems we have seen before are:
- Scheduling trades in the wrong order so newly completed work has to be pulled out and redone.
- Scheduling to many trades on the same day having multiple trades on the same day might seem like a good idea thinking you will get the job done faster but in reality it doesn’t work that way. When a trade puts a price on a job they expect to come to the job do their job and leave onto the next. If a Trade comes to a job expecting to work in a area and find other trades in the area most of the time they cant work in the same space safely and efficiently. You could end up with a larger bill for having the trades standing around waiting for others to finish, the more common trades will just leave and go to another job putting your scheduling out sometimes by weeks if that trade is busy and has no bookings open for you for weeks, so giving each trade their own day is a better option.
- Scheduling other trades on the day when the electrician or plumber is on site most of the time with a electrician the all the power will be off so that makes it very difficult for other trades to work. Same goes for plumbing and having the water off, having a trade having their own day is very important.
Order of the trades for a renovation
- Electrician: Disconnect any electricity to the area to be renovated so that it is safe for all other trades to work
- Plumber: Disconnect any water to the area to be renovated
- Floor and wall demolisher /stripping: Remove cabinets wall and floor tiling
- Electrician: Wire in cables, cut cables into walls, wire power points and and switches
- Plumber: Plumb pipes and cut pipes in to wallsTiler Fit tiles to walls and floor
- Cabinet maker: Install new cabinets and bench tops to kitchen or bathroom
- Tiler: Fit tiles to walls and floor
- Plumber: Fit taps, sinks, waste pipes and plumb water to the new renovation
- Electrician: Fit electrical appliances, power points, switches, lights, test and connect up electricity to the new renovation
- Painter: Patch holes final touch up and then paint.
Your new renovation is now finished just remember to put your oven on a high heat for half an hour before using it. To bake in the enamel, it will also remove any unwanted chemicals left behind during the manufacture process. The oven will become a little smokey and you might smell a slight chemical burning smell when doing this .