PREPPING FOR YOUR 2023 RENO
Planning a renovation can be both exciting as well as overwhelming. Whether kicking off with a small change or diving into a larger renovation, there are lots of steps in the process that you may not anticipate. But don’t worry, we’re here to help you navigate the changes to your home or business!
REALISTIC BUDGET PLANNING & MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
The biggest consideration when approaching a new renovation is – of course – the cost. Planning a budget is no easy task, and unfortunately, it’s only gotten harder in recent years. Although we’re all slowly adjusting to a post-COVID life and living with the new realities associated with it, the construction industry is still in a volatile state. Across the board, lead times (the time it takes for materials/furniture/etc. to be manufactured, and then shipped out to you or the project location) have increased substantially. Due to lockdowns, factory closures, and shortages of labour associated with the pandemic, orders have become backed up and manufacturers are still trying to catch up.
In addition to increased lead times, costs have also increased based on the balance of supply and demand. Over the last few years, we’ve seen an average increase of around 30% in the cost of furniture, finishes, fixtures, design, and labour across the board.
But fear not! We’re not trying to scare you out of a renovation, in fact it’s quite the opposite. Realistic budget planning involves some tough conversations and consideration about cost and priorities, but what we’re here to tell you is that with a little bit of pre-planning, your dream renovation is still within reach!
The overall budget of a project will depend on what’s being renovated as well as the scale and complexity of the renovation, but there are a lot of ways a good designer can value engineer a project to reach specific goals. Early on in the process, we make sure to deep dive into your goals and expectations, as well as balancing your budget alongside our knowledge of what typical design + construction costs would look like based on our history of similar projects. Your designer is there to help you, but it’s important to keep an open mind and to be prepared to have honest conversations about the cost of renovating.
BASE DRAWINGS
Now that the scary stuff is out of the way, we can go over some of the other things you can prepare ahead of time to smooth out the process of your renovation.
One of these things is obtaining base drawings of the existing building. From the designer’s side, one of the first things we typically do on new projects is a site measurement and “As-Built” drawings, which are drafted drawings of the existing space based on our real-life measurements, resulting in a digital copy of your building plan for us to work from. If we’re able to obtain existing drawings beforehand you’ll save on some design time and drawing time.
It's more likely that you’ll already have these on hand for a commercial renovation than a residential renovation, but there are a few avenues you can try to obtain these drawings.
For residential renovations, sometimes a plan of the home is provided alongside other documents associated with the sale, so you may have to dig through some old documents depending on when you bought your home. This isn’t always the case, so alternatively, you can contact the city to see if they have a recorded copy of any plans. Depending on when it was originally built, or if there have been any past renovations or changes to the home, the city’s Records Management Branch likely has a copy of any plans submitted for permit or construction. Alternatively, if you know there has been a renovation to your home or the contractors involved in building it, you can reach out to them to see if they still have a copy. The avenues for obtaining a commercial building’s plan are very similar. Another option (if applicable) would be to ask the building’s landlord/property management office. Otherwise, the city’s Records Management Branch will almost definitely have a plan for commercial spaces.
If all else fails, don’t fret! Getting your home or businesses base plan is certainly helpful and speeds up the process, but it is definitely not a necessity. As designers, we’re trained and experienced with measuring and creating floor plans of existing buildings from scratch! One way or another, we’ll have a plan to work from.
INSPIRATION IMAGES
This is one that most of our clients instinctively do anyways, and we absolutely love it! We encourage searching for inspiration images and bringing them to us when we meet, as it allows us to quickly get into your head and understand what it is about a certain aesthetic or design direction that tugs at your heartstrings. We often encourage our clients to forward us everything they have for inspiration images, as it allows us to dissect common themes and understand what works and what doesn’t. Even if you only like one element of a certain image (like a light fixture or a countertop) but hate everything else about it, it’s all useful information that we can use to tailor your project to your taste and your needs.
BEHAVIOUR STUDYING
This one is tricky, as it can take longer to assess and is something that most people don’t often think about without being prompted. Studying your own behaviour informs how you use your space, and being aware of it ahead of time allows for a deeper understanding of your functional needs.
Let’s think about a kitchen renovation for example. Being aware of your own behaviour while using your own kitchen may lead you to realizations about your own preferences and what could be improved within the space. These realizations can be large or small, such as:
“I wish the dishwasher was closer to the sink”, “I hate these types of cabinet handles because they always catch on my pants when I walk by”, “I prefer drawers to cabinets for storage”, “I need more storage / I don’t need all this storage”. The list goes on.
All these things individually are fairly trivial or inconsequential, but taken together, they create an outline for your designer to develop a space that is perfect for you, rather than proposing a cookie-cutter kitchen that has been used in a hundred other projects. Through the design process, your designer will also prompt you on questions like this (we go so far as to ask what side of your dishwasher you prefer to stand on when unloading it, and the types of garbage disposal you prefer), but it doesn’t hurt to start thinking about the nitty-gritty details in advance!
TEAM + TIMELINES
A few final considerations are to think about who you want to be involved. You may have a contractor you’ve worked with before, or someone that has been recommended to you by friends or family. In a case like that, it may be worthwhile to reach out ahead of time and see what their schedule and availability look like, that way you can coordinate to ensure the design and construction timelines make sense together. There is a large variability based on the project size and complexity, but a typical design phase can take anywhere from 3 months for smaller projects, to upwards of 6+ months for larger projects prior to moving into permit/construction. For example: a typical main floor reno could take 3-4 months.
Another consideration (particularly for residential renovations) is that depending on what you’re renovating, your space may be unusable (or difficult to use) for the duration of construction. If you’re renovating a space like your kitchen or your bedroom, you may have to set up alternate accommodations within your own home to use while they are being renovated. Even then, another consideration is the dust and debris that may accumulate throughout construction. For this reason, it’s fairly common for clients to plan their renovations for the summer, as the weather allows them to spend time elsewhere (like a cabin, or going away to visit family) while the construction takes place. Some clients have even set up an outdoor cooking space during a kitchen summer reno. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do a renovation in the summer, but it’s worthwhile to think about what alternate accommodations you will be able to make for yourself if required!
We hope this breakdown gives you the info you need to start planning that 2023 reno! If you’re ready to get started, get in touch!