​While designing your house, selecting the contractor, and during construction you’ll be faced with hundreds of decisions. ​From the choices of floor coverings, tiles, bathroom fixtures, kitchen cabinetry, counter tops, light fittings and much more. It’s important to always focus on costs and know what your budget allows. However, it’s also important that your focus on costs doesn’t drown out other essential factors. Just because something is on sale or much cheaper than another item should never be reason enough to choose the product. Purchasing Building Materials For Your Home Building Project

​When making your decisions you should consider:

• The quality. You should never be tempted to purchase something that’s of an inferior quality, that’s unreliable, or which is damaged already. Do you really want to include a chipped bathroom fixture or cracked tile in your bathroom? Do you really want to install an air-conditioning unit that fell off the back of a truck?
• If the product is suitable for the house? Will it match the architectural style and the other materials you purchased? Nobody should be choosing a countertop or tile solely for the reason that it’s the cheapest.
• Is it what you really want?
• Is it practical? Are you wasting money or adding value with your home renovation?
• Is it really going to be the cheapest decision after you’ve factored in all the other costs, such as transport, installation and running costs? Checking Your Contractor's Price (Quotation)

​Unfortunately, frequently owners become so focussed on costs that their new home becomes a mishmash of clashing ideas and colours which have been selected purely because they were the cheapest or the products were on sale. The vision of that dream home with your favourite colours could turn into a nightmare containing colours that nobody likes, least of all when they’re mixed together. Of course this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t purchase items that are on sale, or use second-hand items, rather that these should be appropriate and fit the house’s style and décor without compromising quality. Nor should you be so fixated on a brand or particular item that you overlook or ignore products and materials which are cheaper, but which will be just as suitable. 7 Tips for Home Renovation on a Budget
For more Read Budget your new home build and renovation project and Read This Before Selecting Your Home Renovation and Building Contractor.

​This is an extract from the author's book 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses: Volume 1 Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home'.

​Paul Netscher has written 2 easy to read books 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volumes 1 and 2'. An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses Volume 1 deals with Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home.  and Designing your ideal home Volume 2 deals with Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home. 
​("Great for those that DIY. Very helpful in home renovations!" said a Reader on Amazon.com 5*****)
These books are available from Amazon and other online bookstores in paper and ebook.

Many people start constructing their new house, or renovating their home, with great excitement, only to find that they run out of money before they can complete construction. What a disappointment to be left with a half completed house. But it is often more than disappointment. Money problems often leads to other problems. There's stress, marital problems, and in the worst case banks can seize properties which were held as surety against loans. Yes, that's right, people have even lost their partially built home, or even the house that they're currently living in.
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If you're able to survive the money issues, and the worst case the project is only delayed until your money situation improves, then their are often additional costs to complete your project. These costs could include employing another contractor to take on the half completed project. Often this could mean that warranties on work already completed is lost. During the delay your project could have been damaged by the weather or even vandalised. Then there could be additional costs of paying rent to live elsewhere, council rates, security and insurance, cost of restarting the project, etc.

Many people run out of money because they did not allow for all the costs. In  Have you allowed for all the costs of your new home build?  Part 1​ and  Have you allowed for all the costs of your new home build? Part 2. we looked at the costs to allow in your budget.

Some times people have not looked at what their contractor priced, and then are surprised to have to pay extra to get features they thought were included. See ​Checking Your Contractor's Price (Quotation)  and  Read This Before Selecting Your Home Renovation and Building Contractor. and What’s included in your builder's price (or excluded)

Sometimes projects hit unexpected snags or problems Questions to ask before starting a home renovation, or building a new house

​Then sometimes you have enough money for the project, but you don't have it right now to pay the bills. This is called cashflow problems which we look at in a future article.

Budgets involve not only what the project will cost, but also when these payments are due. It’s important to understand the construction schedule as well as the payment terms of all suppliers and subcontractors. (Read about cash flow later.) Late payment could lead to work stopping, supplies of materials being cut off, and you could incur additional costs, including losing discount provisions and incurring interest payment charges.

The construction and other project costs are paid from money you have in the bank, money from the sale of assets (like another home) and payments from bank loans. It’s important to understand when these funds will be received. Funds from the sale of assets can take time to be received and these transactions frequently take longer than envisaged. Of course, there’re often pitfalls along the way, for instance sales could fall through even after everything appears settled. Banks seldom pay loan funds out as a lump sum at the start of the project. The release of funds usually depend on the project reaching particular milestones and on the quality and progress of the project being checked by the bank’s representative. Banks may also require to see copies of insurances, invoices, permits and contract documents before releasing funds. It’s important to understand all the conditions relating to the loan. Inevitably there will be delays in the process and bank holidays can play havoc with your best laid plans.

But equally, it’s important to understand what other costs will be incurred. There are the usual costs of managing your monthly household bills, but invariably there’ll be unexpected costs, such as illness, cars breaking down, unexpectedly high bills, and certainly your monthly costs will increase with time.

In addition, there’ll be additional project costs that weren’t allowed. There will be some changes and variations.
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It’s important to accurately calculate the project costs, including all the items discussed in the next section. These costs should be regularly checked and as the actual costs come in the numbers should be updated. Once the project starts it is good practice to update the budget every week. This involves ensuring that all suppliers and contractors submit their invoices and variations regularly and that you make allowances for those invoices and variations which you haven’t received.

Preparing an accurate budget at the start of your home renovation or construction project, a budget that allows all the costs, will help ensure you don't run out of money before your house is completed. But, more than a good budget is needed. You must continually update your budget as the project proceeds. There will always be unexpected costs, both additional construction costs, and your daily living costs. Regrettably things do go wrong and circumstances can change. Continually updating your budget will allow you to make timely changes should it become apparent that you could run out of money before the project is completed.

​This is an extract from the author's book 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses: Volume 1 Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home'.

​Paul Netscher has written 2 easy to read books 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volumes 1 and 2'. An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses Volume 1 deals with Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home.  and Designing your ideal home Volume 2 deals with Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home. 
​("Great for those that DIY. Very helpful in home renovations!" said a Reader on Amazon.com 5*****)
These books are available from Amazon and other online bookstores in paper and ebook.

Adding on new structures to an existing house poses a number of challenges.

• Floor levels should preferably match. Where there are steps between the new addition and the original house these need to be planned so that the size of the stair treads and risers are a consistent size that match the recommended comfortable and legal stair sizes. See Ensure the steps in your house are not a hazard or a nuisance and Designing stairs in your new home
• It’s often difficult to match the existing finishes – particularly face bricks, textured or coloured render work, floor tiles and timber flooring. The problem of matching finishes often results in a permanent mismatch and the new work always appears different from the original building. The alternative is to change the existing finishes and materials to match the new work, which can add significant extra expense which wasn’t foreseen when the budget was prepared.
• Tying in a roof structure poses many challenges, the most obvious being to ensure that there are no leaks. But even getting the same materials of the same colour can be a problem.
• Where floor finishes are carried through from one room to another, such as ceramic tiles or timber, it’s difficult to find the same matching materials and colours. In fact, even when the exact colour is found you’ll frequently find that the existing material in the house has faded with time and use.

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• Existing floor levels may dictate the type of materials used on the new floor. Generally we don’t want small steps between different rooms in the house. So, if you’re chopping up the floor tiles in the bathroom and re-tiling it you’re often restricted to use a product of similar thickness, or thinner. Using a thicker tile or product will mean the top surface is probably higher than the finished level in the adjoining room. It’s not recommended to reduce the top level of the existing concrete slab to accommodate a thicker tile because this is expensive and it will weaken the slab. Using a thinner tile will necessitate using more glue, or applying a layer of grout under the tile to ensure the top of the new tile is level with the adjoining room. In addition, changing the floor level will impact the doors. If floor levels increase doors may scrape on the floor so they’ll need to be cut shorter – not usually a major problem. But if the new floor level is lower, then the doors may have a large gap underneath which could be unsightly and allow noise and light to enter from the adjoining room. You may have to install new doors of the correct length. Sometimes door frames and architraves end at the top of the finished floor. Installing a floor finish which is thinner than the existing floor will mean that the bottom of the frame is now raised above the new floor level. This is unsightly and is a place for dirt to be trapped and it could even be a hazard that cut people’s feet.
• Sometimes, simply moving a wall, or even a kitchen cupboard may seem simple, but often timber and tile floors have been laid around the existing wall or cupboard. Moving the wall or cupboard exposes a bare piece of floor. Patching the timber or tile often results in colour differences (assuming the product is still available). Before removing an internal wall for your house renovation consider this

As we have previously discussed always be careful when cutting new openings in existing walls or removing existing walls you do not want to damage your home like in this example House collapses during renovations so see these important tips  Before removing walls or adding new windows and doors check your house will not fall down and ​Restrictions which could impact your home renovation plans
There are often potential problems which are hidden, additional costs which you only see when you connect the additions and new portions to your existing house. Proper planning and thought can help avoid some problems. Sometimes you must allow for the additional costs of altering existing floor finishes and repainting roofs and walls.

​This is an extract from the author's book 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses: Volume 1 Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home'.

​Paul Netscher has written 2 easy to read books 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volumes 1 and 2'. An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses Volume 1 deals with Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home.  and Designing your ideal home Volume 2 deals with Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home. 
​("Great for those that DIY. Very helpful in home renovations!" said a Reader on Amazon.com 5*****)
These books are available from Amazon and other online bookstores in paper and ebook.

​I am sure you have all done a spot of painting in your home and then spent several hours afterwards cleaning up paint spills and splashes where paint should not have been. Those of you who are less handy may have attempted a small repair job, only to end with a bigger mess than there was before you started.

Renovating portions of an existing house can result in damage to the rest of the house. This damage results in additional costs. Even supposed competent building contractors have been known to damage existing homes because a workman was careless or the work was left unsupervised.
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Unfortunately damage can often be easily caused. Some damage might not even be immediately visible and only discovered after the contractor has moved off site.

Typical causes of damage and additional costs incurred during renovation and building work to your home includes.

• Dust from construction works can penetrate the whole house. Not only does this result in additional cleaning bills, but it could even result in requirements to repaint walls and replace carpets. Dust can damage equipment and appliances. To limit the spread of dust:
  • Consider hoarding (barricading) off the areas where renovations are taking place and ensure these hoardings are as airtight as possible.
  • Cover areas with plastic dust sheets – these could include light fixtures, carpets, furniture and walls.
  • Remove fixtures and fittings, curtains, blinds and furniture that could get dust on them.
  • Lightly wet down dust making activities.
  • Regularly remove building rubble and clean the work areas.
• Dirt is brought into areas on shoes and equipment. Limit the spread of dirt by covering and protecting floors and providing alternative access for construction workers so they don’t have to go through unaffected areas.
• Scuffing, chipping and scratching.
  • Floors – particularly timber, tiles and carpets can be damaged when workmen move equipment and materials through and over areas not being renovated. Consider covering floors with heavy duty cardboard which should be stuck down so that dust and grit can’t get under the cardboard between the floor and the cardboard which will cause scratches. Where walls are being demolished place timber boards to protect the floors from falling debris.
  • Doors – consider removing and storing doors from doorways that will have construction traffic passing through. Also protect the door frames by taping heavy duty cardboard or timber to areas which could be scuffed and damaged.

Taking a few extra precautions will prevent many of the causes of damage. Important is to keep an eye on your contractor. Do not be afraid to remind them to be careful, and immediately point out things that concern you. Good communication with your building contractors is vital
If your contractor knows that you are watching they will usually take a little extra care.
How to Make Your Home Secure When Remodeling and Renovating your Home

Repairing damage to areas which are not being renovated results in additional costs, it sometimes leaves a permanent scar which can't be repaired, it's annoying, and it can cause further inconvenience to you. Of course you also would not want a precious heirloom or most loved possession to  be damaged by careless workers - something that is irreplaceable to you. Before starting your home building project check your insurance

​Paul Netscher has written 2 easy to read books 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volumes 1 and 2'. An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses Volume 1 deals with Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home.  and Designing your ideal home Volume 2 deals with Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home. 
​("Great for those that DIY. Very helpful in home renovations!" said a Reader on Amazon.com 5*****)
These books are available from Amazon and other online bookstores in paper and ebook.