How about remodelling your house?

Jul 02, 2010

AS life goes on, the range of items you need in the house will keep on increasing. As a result, you will experience a home environment that no longer helps, but rather hinders your activities.

By GODWIN AYESIGA

AS life goes on, the range of items you need in the house will keep on increasing. As a result, you will experience a home environment that no longer helps, but rather hinders your activities.

With time, you are likely to discover that your bedroom or kitchen has become small. In addition, you may also have acquired a car, requiring you to add a garage to your house.

Definitely, such conditions will compel you to carry out home modification. You could also have purchased land with a house in it: modifying that house to suit your taste will be cost-effective than building a new one.

However, before you start redesigning your home, it is important to consult a professional architect. Alex Muhumuza, an architect, says house modification due to change of use or the desire to have the latest design might require breaking some walls. Therefore, for safety and strength of your home, he advises that a competent contractor should be hired.

House modification has many accruing advantages such as enhancing independent living and privacy. With skyrocketing costs of both materials and labour, many people have resorted to renovating and remodelling existing structures rather than building new homes.

James Kasaija, an experienced construction foreman, says whether you are considering building a new home or planning to remodel the existing one, there are methods you can use to facelift an old house.

He adds that joining a new structure with the existing one will not give you the best results since the new part will be set at a different level, leading to a flaw. Kasaija says before you undertake house remodelling, consider the costs it involves.

Exterior remodelling, in most cases, is more expensive than interior remodelling depending on the quality of materials to be used. However, the cost of modification, may be hard to determine before starting the work due to hidden factors like foundation flaws, poor wiring and plumbing.

If the project involves water pipes or electrical wires, seek the services of a professional. You should also consider the locality of the house. If you like the area and the land is worth a lot more than if you were to sell and build somewhere else, then the house is worth remodelling.

On the other hand, some people have sentimental attachment to their homes. So remodelling their existent home is the only option for them. Building a new home will require you to go through the hassle of shifting and buying new stuff.

With a new home, you are able to start afresh since you will have to use the latest products on the market. Home modification comes with a number of disadvantages such as an unsafe and dirty environment.

One needs to take extra care since construction work can lead to injuries, especially to children. Keeping your home secure during renovation can be challenging.

It is important to keep your home secure by carrying out the most necessary modifications to avoid incurring extra costs. It is advisable that few changes are made to avoid weakening the house, which might result in future problems.

However, Muhumuza says future problems will only arise if demolition is poorly done. By and large, redesigning is cheaper than building a new home.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});