The past year has shown us that our greatest plans can fall apart in an instant. People who’d been saving up to travel for years had to cancel their dream trips. Artists had to cancel their big gallery exhibitions, while musicians had to cancel local or world tours. Meanwhile, many solvent Americans suddenly had to hold onto money intended for home improvements.
There is a similar type of fear that people have when making expensive renovations to your home. What would happen if we spent tens of thousands of dollars on our home, only for it to catch fire or fall victim to another kind of disaster?
The good news is that these kinds of accidents are few and far between, especially if you are being cautious in your decisions. However, it is important to take steps so as not to let anything catastrophic happen.
Here are the steps you can take to safeguard your expensive renovations.
Slab jacking for Foundation Repair
The process consists of simply placing a piece of plywood or wood directly below the damaged area. The plywood or timber will serve as a foundation for the repaired area and help keep the concrete slab level. Before you start the jacking repair method, you should ensure that you have placed an absorbent mat beneath the damaged area to prevent moisture from entering the damaged area and soaking up the repaired area.
Update your insurance
Let’s speak about insurance cover before getting into the protective measures you can take. When you make expensive renovations to your home, the value should rise accordingly. The general goal with renovations is that your home’s value is increased significantly more than what you’ve spent on renovations.
You need to make sure to update your homeowners insurance so that your insurers know the value of your home is increasing. The last thing you want is to receive a payout that only covers what your home was worth before you put in the money and work.
If you are renting your newly renovated home out, ask your tenants to get renters insurance. Renters insurance covers their possessions, but it can also cover personal liability. This means that if they cause you damages, their insurance pays out. Click through to find out more info about the cost of renters insurance and what it covers.
Speak to contractors about warranties and other protections
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when renovating your home is, unfortunately, trusting the wrong contractors. There are all-too-many companies that are more than willing to take your money to do a substandard job. Then, when you have future problems with their work, they ask for more money to fix it.
Always ask them about warranties in advance. You should only hire contractors who will agree in writing to see to anything that goes wrong (within reason). Also ask them about what their own insurance covers if something they did causes damage to your home.
Find out about maintenance
Renovations may be permanent, but that doesn't mean you can forget about them once they’re done. They will require maintenance and repairs over time, just like any aspect of your house. However, certain renovations can be kept in good shape with the right kind of maintenance.
When the renovations are done, find out exactly what kind of maintenance is going to be ideal for them to last as long as possible. Then create a maintenance schedule. You should already have a maintenance schedule for your home, and this should just be an extra entry.
Create relationships with contractors
The reality is that something will always go wrong down the line when you are doing renovations. You will probably have to call contractors back to make repairs and see to new problems that arise. While taking care of warranties upfront is important, you should try your best to create good relationships with the contractors.
The better your relationship with a contractor is, the more invested they are going to be in the state of your home. They will be transparent about everything they are doing and will give you the best possible prices, knowing that it is worth preserving a relationship that benefits them rather than trying to squeeze as much money as they can from you right now.
This does not mean you shouldn’t be clear about your expectations. Creating a relationship with a contractor is more about honest communication than trying to appease them. They will appreciate it when you share your feedback with them in a fair way, giving them the opportunity to repair any mistakes or explain what more you might need.
Safeguarding your expensive renovations should be a consideration before you get started. Get the contractors on your side and engage with them about what they need from you.