When it comes to renovating a house, there is the house owner and the contractor — two completely opposite sides in terms of expectations and responsibility.

For the homeowner, renovating a property is a significant undertaking, but by getting advice and help from contractors, it can be done swiftly and accurately. Additionally, you will need to do a lot of planning.

For the contractor, it is their job to execute the renovation, yes, but it can be a tedious task when dealing with demanding clients.

There are also some aspects that come into play which are unpredictable, many of which the homeowner usually doesn’t understand or hasn’t gone through before.

So, home renovation apps, do they really work? We can answer this by looking at some of the issues that both the homeowner and contractor experience — and then analyzing how an app can help.

Here are some issues that are commonly experienced, which can be a problem for both parties:

Inadequate Cost Control

Inadequate cost control is a prevalent issue and challenge when implementing a home renovation, especially on the homeowner’s side. To avoid poor cost control, refrain from the following:

• Avoid wasting money on unnecessary treatments such as damp proofing
• Replacing everything as opposed to mending and repairing certain elements
• Overcomplicating the design
• Disregarding Rules & Regulations
• Impulse purchases or design changes once a plan has been agreed and quoted
• Failing to keep a contingency sum of at least 15% of the overall budget
• Try not to spend money on extravagant furnishings or materials, unless you can genuinely afford it

Before starting any work on a home, both the contractor and homeowner need to discuss the following crucial rules & regulations:

• Is planning permission required for the new build?
• Is building regulations approval required for the home renovation?
• Does the party wall act need to be consulted, and have neighbours been made aware of the home renovation?
• Have the deeds been checked for restrictive covenants, leases or other overriding interests in the land the home renovation is being executed on?

Sticking to the plan and timeline

Failing to stick to the project plan or schedule is very common with home renovations, a mistake that both the homeowner and contractor can be guilty of. From the homeowner’s side, this includes the following:

• Changing their mind on certain features
• Deciding to add specific features that weren’t in the original plan
• For the contractor, it is usually the following:
• Mismanaging the expectations of the client
• Not delivering on certain checkpoints timeously
• Overpromising
• Using unreliable sources for materials

How do both the homeowner and contractor avoid the above issues? Through good communication. Maintaining excellent communication for both parties can be achieved through one of two ways:

• Scheduling and sticking to regular contractor-client site meetings
• Agreeing on every aspect of the build before it commences
• Using a home renovation app to set milestones on a home renovation and view daily updates
• Using good quality materials from reliable sources

Using a home renovation app

Regular check-ins prevent any misunderstandings over small details which may evolve into disputes that could either end up costing both parties, or prolong the completion of the project.

Due to time being limited, we do recommend using a home renovation app because before the build starts; you can start a new project plan. With this project plan, you can set milestones or checkpoints for the job that can be checked off as the project progresses.

With a home renovation app, you can upload all of the requirements and keep track of the following:

• Know what has been paid and what still needs to be paid
• View the budget and how much is left of it as the home renovation progresses
• Communicate with your tradesperson in real-time in a centralized place, resulting in prompt responses and a communication history
• Know ongoing renovation progress and home improvement status, every step of the way, all the way to completion

So, there you have it. By avoiding the above issues, your home renovation project should be more seamless – just remember that communication is vital!