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The Secret to a Successful Home Remodel Project
A Home Remodel Project requires House
Blueprints, a Build Schedule, and a List of Key Building Materials
By: Mark J. Donovan
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A home remodel project typically
manifests itself due to a growing family or a portion of the home that is in
need of repair or modernization. Whether your home remodel project is building a
home addition, or remodeling a kitchen or bathroom, all home remodel projects
require careful planning to be successful.
Sketching House
Blueprints
Planning a home remodel project
starts with developing a set of house blueprints, or modifying the existing set
of house blueprints that were used to build the home. |
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With smaller home remodel
projects, such as updating a bathroom, a simple set of sketches may be all
that is necessary. However, for larger home remodeling projects, such as
building a home addition onto the side or back of an existing home more
significant house blueprints are typically necessary.
To create a set of house
blueprints for your home remodel project start by taking a few pictures of
the existing home and then drawing some sketches of your proposed home addition. |
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The blueprint sketches should include house
floor plans, and a number of outside finished views from different viewing
perspectives, e.g. front, back, and sides.
With pictures and sketches in hand
you can contact an architect to develop a full set of house blueprints. The
full set of house blueprints will include in addition to floor plans and outside
finished views of the addition, cross-sectional views of the construction of the
home addition. It will also show what type of materials will be used and how it
all ties together.
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The blueprints can also call out all
of the various interior finished components of the home addition if so desired,
however they are typically not necessary for pulling building permits.
If your home remodel or addition
project is relatively straight forward, (e.g. a simple roof structure and ties
in easily to the existing home), you can also include in your own sketches
cross-sectional views of the construction of the home addition. Along with
dimensional information and construction material listed, this is typically all
that is necessary to successfully pull a building permit. Consequently, if your
home remodel project is relatively simple in construction you may be able to
avoid an architect altogether.
Home Remodel Build
Plan Schedule
In addition to a set of house
blueprints, it is also necessary to develop a detail build plan schedule with
projected start and stop dates for each phase of the project. To develop a build
plan schedule first generate a list of all of the various tasks that need to be
performed to build the home addition. Some of the home remodel tasks associated
with a home addition typically include:
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Pulling Permits
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Excavation
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Foundation Installation
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Framing
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Plumbing
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Electric
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Insulation
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Drywall
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Flooring
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Cabinetry
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Landscaping
By developing this list of tasks you
can then begin to put a timeline together. Start and stop dates can be added as
you contact the various home remodeling contractors and obtain home remodeling
quotes.
Key Home
Remodeling Material List
In addition to generating house
blueprints and a home remodeling build plan, you should also generate a detailed
list of all of the key exterior and interior items that will be required. A few
of the key items to include in your home remodeling material list are:
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Doors
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Windows
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Siding
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Shingles
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Flooring
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Lighting
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Cabinetry
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Appliances
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Plumbing Fixtures
For each of these you should
determine the specific make and model you want for your home remodel or home
addition project. In addition, you should order many of these items well in
advance to ensure that they do not impact your build plan schedule. Kitchen
cabinets, for example, can take 8-10 weeks to receive after placing the order.
So with these three key home
remodeling planning components in place; a set of house blueprints, a home
remodel build plan schedule, and a list of key building materials, your chances
for an on-budget and on-schedule home remodel project are improved immensely.
For more help on building a home addition, see HomeAdditionPlus.com's
Home
Addition Bid Sheets.
Our
Home
Addition Bid Sheets
provide you with the knowledge and information on how to plan a home addition project,
and what to look for when hiring contractors. They
also include detailed cost breakdown tables and spreadsheets for estimating
your own new home addition building costs.
How to Finance your Home Remodeling Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Related Home Addition Building Articles
Additional Home Floor Plans and Home Addition Resources from Amazon.com
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Price Quotes with No Obligation!
Fill out our 3-5 minute quick and easy form, and receive a free price quote
on a house addition from one of our prescreened and licensed home addition
contractors. This process is free and there is no obligation to continue once
you receive your house addition estimate.
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