There are already countless things that you have to think about when you are planning on renovating a house. There are expenses, contractors, and everything in between that you have to factor in and talk through, so you can ensure that your home turns out as good as possible. It is a long and troublesome process to get through doing this but in the end, you can have a house that looks exactly the way you want it to.
While you are working on home renovations, there are many common mistakes that you will learn how to avoid over time. While many of these rules are easy to work with, there are some situations where there are other rules that you will need to pay attention to. For example, if you are working with a heritage home, you will need to be aware of some other rules so that you can preserve the historic value of the house. Here are seven areas to consider.
1. Not Having a Good Plan
One of the biggest mistakes that you could make when you are renovating a heritage home is that you may not have a solid plan to give to the house builders before you start a renovation. If a plan is necessary for renovating a standard house, then a plan is going to be even more necessary for a home that has its roots in history and needs to be kept the same way. Heritage homes need to have a solid, well-defined plan for the home builders to rely on, to ensure that any part of the house that you want to protect can be protected.
2. Not Having the Right Paint
While not having the exact match for paint in a standard home renovation can be problematic, it is often very easy to fix. However, when you are working with heritage homes, the problem can be significantly worse. When you use the wrong type of paint, whether it is the wrong colour or lacking in quality, it will show up very poorly and leave much to be desired from the walls of your home. Not only should you spend time and research determining what the right paint for your house should be but you should also prepare the surface properly so that the paint can stick as it should. This will ensure that your heritage home will look as good as new without noticeable paint differences.
3. Not Having the Right Permissions
Under various laws, carrying out a renovation that could disturb a protected species of animal or plant (and consequently its habitat) can be a criminal offence. This means that if you are even the slightest bit unsure about whether or not your heritage home is in one of those areas, you should consider getting in touch with an agency that will survey the property to determine whether or not a renovation could become a potential criminal offence. Subsequently, a survey will also be necessary to obtain a permit. The permit will then allow you to follow through with your renovation without the threat of a criminal record looming over your head.
4. Not Investing in a Proper Waterproof Coating
For your standard home renovation, waterproof coating is often smart but it is not necessary. It comes with the caveat that you run the risk of needing to replace the paint or get repairs done if you get too much rain in a specific area. With heritage homes, getting good waterproof coating is not just an optional choice. If you want to protect the structure of the home, you will need to get waterproof coating. With this being said, you will need to do some research into what coatings will not damage the building as many historic homes are more susceptible to the modern chemicals used in today’s waterproof coatings.
5. Not Keeping Current Windows
Unless the windows of your current heritage home are completely broken and causing a draft, you should think against replacing them. Replacing these windows, which will involve tearing the window frame and glass out of the original structure of the home, can drastically take away from the architectural character of your house. The cut-off for what is considered an “old” window is typically in the 1950s as this is the last period before people began making the more modern windows. Replacing the windows in a heritage home can cost you money in the moment as well as pave the way for repairs down the line.
6. Not Having Enough Materials (or the Right Ones)
One might think that it would be easy to get the materials needed to renovate a heritage home. While this may be true in some regards, there are certainly other aspects you need to consider. For instance, to preserve the condition of a heritage home, you may only be able to use a specific and hard-to-find type of wood. Not having this wood ready can leady to extra costs and delays, which is something that nobody wants to deal with. When planning to renovate one of these homes, you will need to research and plan for obtaining the rare materials.
7. Not Setting Realistic Expectations
Often, when people plan on renovating their heritage homes, they are hoping to flip the home and make a profit from it. The idea of selling historic real estate may even sound lucrative but it is not something that you should expect to make a quick bit of money from. Historic older buildings require planning, restoration, and even some degree of agreement between parties, making it something that you will not flip quickly. You can expect it to take a fair bit to flip a heritage home.
Taking on the project of renovating a heritage home can be a fun and exhilarating task but it is one that you will need to be thoroughly prepared for. For instance, you may need to prepare for obtaining permits, sourcing obscure materials, and also making sure that you have a detailed plan for the builders to rely on, among other aspects.
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