Archive for House renovations

Findng a good house renovation builder in Auckland

Tips On Choosing A Good House Renovation Builder For You.

Auckland house renovation buildersYou must have come across the saying that says “old is gold.” This saying is true as seen with old houses. Old houses are very valuable things, and you should not write them off. Houses are made to last for a good number of years, and you should not let an old home go to rack and ruin becoming useless. Old houses need renovations so that they can be able to carry on and continue giving you the desired shelter. There are several house builders that renovate old houses today. If you want to renovate an old house, you should ensure that you go for the right house builder so that your house gets the best renovation. Below are some of the tips that will help you choose the best house builder for your old home renovations.

Check Out The Work Of The House Renovation Builder.

Auckland house renovationsAfter checking around for house builders in your area, it is obvious that you will have a list of them from which you are supposed to pick on one. It is important that you go for a house builder that delivers the best quality, and you need to have a way of verifying this. The best way you can be sure of the quality delivered by a house builder is by checking out the houses that have been worked on by the builders in question. All builders will shower you with millions of words about how good they are, but you should know that they only want to convince you to go for their services. Also check if they are accredited to the NZ government Licensed Builders Practitioners which ensures the builder stays up-to-date with training and best practice. Make it a point to visit the old houses they have renovated so that you can see for yourself the quality in question. Quality is very important when conducting renovations since you don’t want to be renovating your house after every week or so. It is important that you choose a house builder offering the best quality so that the renovations last for long.

Check Out The Specialisation Areas Of The Builder.

Different house renovation builders are known for different specialties, and this information is very important in choosing a good house builder for you. Before you get to know this, you should first find out which areas of your old house need critical renovations. After you know this, you can then filter out the house builders you have at your disposal and settle on the one that is good in the area you want to be worked on thoroughly. However, if your old home needs serious renovations in almost every part, you should go for the house builders that are good in almost every aspect of house renovations. Some Auckland house renovation builders like Repair and Restore have vast experience renovating villas or older homes. The testimonial video on here gives you some insight into their capability.

Check On The Prices.

Price is a very important factor in determining a good house builder for you. Ideally, a good house builder should be favourable in every aspect and price is also a very important thing. Most people operate on limited funds, and you wouldn’t want to spend a lot of money on the renovations of an old house as this may dent your budget. You should be careful when looking at the prices charged by house builders as in most cases this is quite connected to the quality being offered. As discussed in the first tip, quality should not be compromised in any way.

The most advisable thing you can do is to weigh the price of the services and the quality at stake. If a house builder charges a lot of money and the quality is good, then you should not hesitate and go for them. However, you should be careful to choose a house builder whose prices fall within your financial capabilities.

Finding The Best House Renovation Contractors For The Job

Are you planning on a new renovation project in your home? Do you plan on breaking down that separating wall to create more space? Or create a completely new sun room or patio? Well, the husband being the handyman that he is, might decide to do all the renovation on his own.

However, wouldn’t it be more reassuring if you hired qualified house renovations contractors for the job? Yes, that might be the best move in such a situation. If you have never gone through the hiring process before, below are some tips you should look into when hiring house renovation contractors.

House renovation AucklandReferrals

In the service industry, most contractors can attest to the fact that word of mouth is one of the best marketing tools. Therefore, when looking for the best house renovating contractors, you should start by asking for referrals from people you trust. Ask your neighbours, friends or family for contacts for the best renovating contractors in your locality. While doing so, you should ask whether their experience with the particular contractor was positive or whether the maintenance issues were handled perfectly. If you land an exceptional contractor at this stage, well and good!

Credentials

You might have the best referrals from people close to you but you must also check the credentials. Start by visiting the contractor’s website or contacting them to ask for specific certificates or licenses that indicate their qualifications to handle your home renovation project. Expert house renovation contractors should have the required licenses to offer their services in a particular locality with continued memberships in different associations in their service industry.

There are a few contractors who take the extra mile to engage in course work and tests that award extra certifications. However, all the certifications awarded to specific contractors might not be similar. Therefore, it’s imperative to do some research to identify the requirements for each certification before making your hire.

Auckland house renovationInterviewing Prospective Candidates

From your prior research or referrals awarded to you, it’s possible your list of prospective contractors might be longer than usual. However, try doing an elimination procedure to narrow it down as much as possible. If you don’t require a large renovation project that might take some time, you definitely don’t need too many prospective contractors. With a list of 3 exceptional contractors, you can arrange for interviews and determine the best person for the job. However if you have a big renovation such as a new extensions, altering the indoor floor plan or combining the kitchen and lounge into a big open plan space, then you definitely need to hire expert Auckland house renovations building contractors.

References

Once you have narrowed down the list, you should ask each contractor to provide references for previous jobs. Most contractors will always have a list of 3 references ready upfront. These might be the 3 best contractors who have had the best experience with the contractor. It’s a guarantee that contractors might try to hide their worst clients. Therefore, to prevent any bias, ask for the 3 recent clients and 3 earlier ones. The recent clients will help you determine how the house renovations contractor handles himself during a job. The 3 earlier clients will help you assess whether the contractor handles follow up issues that regard to maintenance.

Service Management and Experience

An exceptional contractor usually has the following:

  • A permanent physical address and contact address (email, fax, phone number etc.)
  • Insurance to protect the client against any liability issues that might arise during the job. There are many accidents that might happen during a normal renovation job. As such, the contractor should have insurance policy in place to guarantee that the client is protected from such incidents.
  • Good reputation and presence in the community. Naturally, this comes from experience and quality service. Therefore, ask the contractor how long he/she has been in business to determine the level of experience.

Prices And Renovation Costs

Renovating a house can be very expensive for many homeowners. If you are working on a budget, ask the contractor to reveal the estimates and complete breakdown of all the figures. This site gives you some ball-park ideas of renovating houses. This way, it will be easy to determine what to avoid or include in the whole renovation. It’s common for contractors to incur extra costs when handling the project. Be prepared for these by stretching your budget a little.

If you want your home renovation project to be handled as easily as possible, use these tips to hire the best Auckland house renovation contractors.

This article was brought to you by Repair and Restore Ltd, a top Auckland house renovating contractor. See the video testimonial on this page. Click for more details.