As a home owner, you probably know that you need to get your home inspected during home renovations and once they’re complete. After all, inspections are how you ensure that the changes you’ve made to your home don’t compromise its safety and also meet municipal building codes.
What you may not know is that it’s also strategic to get your home inspected before you begin a home renovation. It may seem odd to call in an inspector before you’ve made any changes to your home. But getting a pre-renovation inspection can reduce the stress, unexpected expenses, and surprises that often come with a renovation by allowing you to plan your renovation properly.
Still not convinced?
Check out our top 3 reasons why you should get a pre-renovation inspection:
1. It lets you avoid surprises
If you’ve talked to family members or friends who have done a home renovation, you’ve probably been told to expect surprises during the home renovation process because they’re inevitable.
However, the truth is that many of the surprises that surface during a home renovation could have been avoided. How? With a pre-renovation inspection.
During a pre-renovation inspection, an engineer examines the current state of your home to identify issues that need to be addressed or issues that will arise if you make certain changes to your space.
For example, you may have plans to install a new state-of-the-art fridge in your renovated kitchen. But what you may not realize until the end of the renovation is that you’ll need to upgrade your electrical panel to one that can supply enough power to the fridge. A pre-renovation inspection identifies these types of hidden issues before your renovation when they’re easier to address.
2. It helps you save time and money
You may have also heard that home renovations usually take longer than they’re supposed to and end up costing more than you initially thought they would. In many cases, these delays and increased costs are because of surprises that come up during the home renovation process.
By reducing these surprises and allowing you to tackle problems when it’s easier to fix them, a pre-renovation inspection can help your project remain on time and on budget.
For example, if you find out in advance that you’ll need an upgraded electrical panel to support your fridge, you can install it before your contractor installs the new drywall in your kitchen. This way, you won’t have to spend the extra time and money on ripping out drywall and reinstalling it.
In addition, a pre-renovation inspection can save you money by protecting your renovations from damage caused by existing structural issues. For example, a pre-renovation inspection can reveal that you’ll need to leakproof your basement before finishing it so your new floors don’t end up with water damage. This will save you the cost and headache of having to repair your floors soon after you install them.
3. It makes it easier to prioritize renovations
You may have a list of changes you want to make to your home based on pictures you’ve seen on Pinterest or in design magazines. But these changes may not be the changes your home needs the most. Or they may not be the changes you would choose to make if you knew that your home had larger structural issues.
For example, you may have your heart set on making cosmetic changes to your powder room and master ensuite. But your home may be in desperate need of a new roof or plumbing work. A pre-renovation inspection can help you separate the renovations you want to make from the renovations you need to make.
In addition, a renovation can help you make the best use of your budget by allowing you to prioritize changes. You may really want that new fridge for your kitchen. But if it’s going to mean spending a lot of money on upgrading your electrical panel, you may decide that it’s not worth it. A pre-renovation inspection lets you make these kinds of informed decisions before you’ve spent money on contractors and new appliances.
It pays to get a pre-renovation inspection
When you’re planning a home renovation, it can be tempting to jump right into the process so that you can enjoy your new space as soon as possible. However, although getting a pre-renovation inspection adds an extra step at the beginning of the process, it can save you time, money, and stress.
That’s because a pre-renovation inspection helps you understand exactly what you’re dealing with before you rip out your existing floor or demolish your kitchen. And it lets you plan and prioritize changes so that you end up with the renovation that makes the most sense for your family, home, and budget.
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