Mistakes to Avoid When Restoring Old Villas

 

Restoring an old villa is always a complex and involved process. Many new homeowners rush into the chance to purchase and restore an old villa in Auckland without considering all of the possible failing structural objects or outdated systems. That’s not to say the job is impossible, quite the opposite, but it’s rarely an overnight job. Restoring an old house takes planning, scheduling, builders, money, and some imagination. A true restoration will retain all of the historic value of the home, but all while updating systems and moving the home into the modern age. Below are a few common mistakes new homeowners make when restoring old homes.

 

Not Hiring A Builder.

There is a surprisingly large portion of these homeowners who attempt to restore the villas without hiring a professional builder. Very few of these projects succeed and manage to retain the historical value of the home. A team of professional contractors not only brings tools and experience to the table, they also bring time.

Using a builder to restore old houses is really the smartest choice if you are interested in finishing the renovations within the next year. There is often far more to restoring an old house than cosmetic damage. Updating electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems can take a considerable amount of time, even when working with multiple teams of contractors.

It is especially important if you want to add these modern facilities, and you should. Since the vial or bungalow was not designed with air conditioning ducting in mind, you will have to find a way to install it while maintaining the design and visual integrity of the building. This is something that requires lots of vision with the design, plenty of knowledge in the installation and years of experience in making the finished job look right. You cannot learn this from a DIY book or renovation show on TV.

 

Not Having A Plan.

Hiring teams of contractors won’t do any good if everyone is moving around without a real plan. A lot of homeowners tend to think that a plan is really unnecessary with many of these renovations, especially if it’s only replacing a part here and there. To make things worse, a lot of homeowners start in a “crisis mode” where they insist on repairing certain damaged areas without taking the big picture into consideration. Many times with villa renovation projects, the unseen work is the most important. This work can take a long time to get done and so people think there is little progress with the overall project. Yet if the basics are not carried out properly then the final result will ultimately be compromised. This greatly hinders the time spent on the restoration. When there’s no underlying plan or “big picture” the homeowner rarely gets what they were hoping for.

 

You can avoid this common mistake by taking the time to draft a serious plan for the future of the home. This is your chance to address every issue in the home at once. This will ensure that all the builders, contractors, and yourself are working in sync towards a common goal. The restoration will move faster and the end-result is more likely to be what you were hoping for.

 

Another reason to have a sound plan is to avoid having expensive tradesmen standing around idle while they wait for someone else to finish their job before they can start theirs. Labour is probably going to be the biggest cost of the whole renovation project but it is also one of the easiest to control. However, this is not easy for an amateur so hiring a competent and experienced villa restoration building company is a smart move since they will be project managing the different trades.

 

Not Thinking It Through.

New homeowners who jump into these restoration projects thinking they will quickly “flip” the house for a profit are often sadly mistaken. Old houses are not ideal candidates for short-term investments. Properly restoring the villa and maintaining value is a long-term process, meaning it usually takes upwards of a year. Many of the short-term cosmetic improvements associated with flipping homes would cause permanent damage and severely reduce the value of the old house.

 

If you are interested in restoring a villa in Auckland, then you should always approach the opportunity with realistic expectations. This is not a short-term investment and is going to require some hard work. The end result; however, is worth every second.

 

For help with finding a well-respected villa renovation company, try this link.