A laundry room is a place where dirty household items turn into clean, fresh, and organized belongings. Planning a laundry room remodel may mean that you’re installing a new washer and dryer, adding shelving for extra storage space, or building a folding and ironing table to make your laundry process easy and accessible. Just like any home improvement project, your laundry room remodel is going to take time, money, and effort in order to be successful. You may have considered hiring a professional to keep you on track and take care of the technical matter that’s involved in remodeling a room in your home, but it’s important to stay on top of your project’s progress.
The cost of remodeling your laundry room can vary depending on the size of your space, the scope of the project, the number of appliances or building materials you plan on replacing, and your hired professional’s service rates. Regardless of whether you are planning an extensive remodel or a simple addition to your existing laundry room, minimize delays in your project by considering the following:
1. Set a budget
Developing a budget for all expenses that will be included in your remodel will not only help you avoid going over the amount you wish to spend on your project, but will also reduce stress when it comes to making payments on time. A personal spending plan for you laundry room remodel will help you better understand what expenses are essential and in your price range, as well as some budget-busters that rise from unexpected events such as shipping and delivering miscommunications. These unexpected events may lead to unplanned delays, but because you planned accordingly for these extra costs or occurrences, the impact will be minimal. You may have determined how much money you are willing to spend, but it’s easy to spend more than you intended to while in the process of your remodel as new ideas and products will come along. It’s important that you sit down with your hired professional and establish the project’s estimated total cost. This will help you separate your costs into payment checkpoints, which will designate when you will be paying certain amounts for specific parts of your project. Having a budget laid out for your laundry room remodel will make sure that your time is well spent while you don’t overspend.
2. Choose accessible materials
Obtaining the right materials for your laundry room remodel may mean purchasing cheaper appliances that are under your budget so you can spend more on wall finishing or installing new flooring, but it mainly depends on your taste and the availability of the materials. In order to stay on schedule with your project, it’s important to outline all ordering, shipping, and delivering of materials prior to beginning your project. Planning ahead will help you have a good idea of how long it will take to receive certain materials and whether you will need to pick up some products or appliances in your local department store or you have time to ship materials from a farther destination. If you want to install only imported goods then you can expect to pay higher prices, which should be included in your budget, as well as allot more time for the goods to be delivered. Choosing materials that are local to your city and easily attainable will lower your chances of delaying your project.
3. Be aware of required permits
Most types of remodeling done to your home, such as structural changes that may be involved in your laundry room remodel may require a permit. Having a permit to remodel your laundry room could be crucial if you’re planning to sell your home in the future. In order to not fall behind in your project, obtain all necessary permits before beginning any construction or renovations. If your professional doesn’t access permits for you, you can get a permit from your local government agency. The process of getting permits can at times take a few days to a few months, but if you ask your hired professional prior to starting your project, he or she may be able to access required permits in less time. This will help ensure that your home is up to current standards and codes to provide you, your project, and your home with the utmost protection.
4. Work with your professional, not against
Seeing your hired contractor or interior designer as a partner in your laundry room project will provide a level of trust between the two of you. Working with your professional, meaning being open to his or her ideas and staying flexible by maintaining an open mind when it comes to his or her process of construction and design, will impact the success of your remodel. It’s important to have flexibility in that you are willing to step a little out of your comfort zone because your hired professional is the expert in this field. But, the space being remodeled is an area you will be spending your time, not your professional, so it’s ok to put your foot down here and there if you feel something is extremely outside your style or taste. Having a strong line of communication between you and your professional will enable you to voice your opinion while keeping order and ultimately reflect your project’s time frame. If you and your professional stay on the same page regarding your project’s design, you will continue to agree upon your budget and schedule as well. With this agreement, you should make sure to speak with your contractor to make sure he or she has time to devote to your project due to remodelers having a great amount of work throughout the year.
5. Be prepared for forces of nature
When remodeling your home, there is always the chance of unexpected events playing a role in the success of your project. Weather impacts such as strong winds, snow, or large amounts of water can interrupt your plans of remodeling your laundry room. Although these factors occur on the exterior of your home, they also have an impact on shipping delays and your hired professional not being able to transport materials or work crew members to the job site. You should take into consideration the time of year you are planning to remodel your laundry room regarding to the source of your materials to make sure there will be no weather delays during the process. If you’re ordering materials from a place that’s most likely going to be affected by weather, then you may want to rethink your order so you don’t end up wasting time.
6. Plan around holidays
Remodeling your home around holiday seasons will end up delaying your project even more so than it would during a slower time of the year. Avoid planning your laundry room remodel around the holidays so that you won’t prolong your renovation. Because these seasons can tend to be busier for both professionals and homeowners, prices may raise, which could cause you to be working outside of your budget. Contractors may take vacation days or time off during the holiday seasons causing your work to either be put off longer or come to a halt, so make sure to communicate scheduling with your professional to ensure that his or her service will be available 100% of the time to complete your laundry room remodel on schedule. Try to plan your laundry room remodel a few months ahead of time so that you will be prepared, have adequate time to finish all aspects, and result in a smooth, successful remodel.
7. Expect the unexpected
Like most remodeling projects, there are usually unexpected things that occur during the renovation. Unexpected costs (like repairing water damaged areas or upgrading the electrical system) or unexpected delays in materials (like shipping snafus) can be frustrating. Regularly communicating with your professional as well as subcontractors can help mitigate annoyances and failures. Monitoring deliverables is the best way to ensure that your overall timeline is going as planned.
Top Image Credit: Fireclay Tile
