If you’ve not yet heard, renovations are kind of our thing and extensions are a special point of interest. We’re passionate about the transformative impact that construction and design can have on a home – from how ‘you’ it feels to how much easier a refreshed layout can make life for a growing family and the value that can be added to a property in the long-term.
We think of renovations and extensions as exciting opportunities that hold great possibilities for the future. But at the same time, we pride ourselves on being realists and we’re the first to admit that the building process itself is no walk in the park. One question that emerges time and again is how to go about it best and, in particular, is it better to approach your entire home project in one fell swoop or one room at a time.
We explore the pros and cons of both methods so you can get a better understanding of what’s best for you and your household.
The case for full-house renovations
The impatient among us may be more drawn to a full-house renovation that delivers the finished product that they’ve been dreaming about as fast as possible. While this sounds fantastic, there are a few important things to consider – read on to find out more.
Cohesive, consistent design
Achieving a polished, cohesive and consistent design style throughout your home is one of the main selling points for embarking on full-home renovation. Whether you’re planning to live in your freshly renovated space or sell up for a profit, it’s an important consideration.
Going all-in-one rather than bit-by-bit will mean it’s more likely that the materials used throughout the property are likely to be in stock and available. The effect of this is a greater sense of flow and identity of the property as a whole.
When it comes to wood furnishings or floorings, it’s not only more likely that you’ll actually be able to find the same wood if you do it all at once, laying them at the same time can reduce the risk in colour variation from sunlight bleaching or natural wear and tear over time.
Overall, if you’re looking to renovate your entire house at once, it’ll be an easier task for you (or an interior designer should you decide to hire one) to create a unique character and feel that translates effectively throughout your property as a whole than if you have to gradually redesign one room at a time.
Long term vs short term cost
If you’re able to set aside enough budget overall to upfront the costs involved with renovating your entire property at once, even though it’s a lot to invest it could end up working out as less in the long-run.
Part of the reason for this is that if you’re spending on labour costs, doing all the work at once will reduce the overall amount. This is partly because if you approach your construction and design work one room at a time, each room will have to be individually prepared and individually cleaned up and is less efficient. So, if it’s within your budget to do all your renovations at once it could be in your interest in the long run, financially.
Treat your property as a whole
Another huge benefit of ripping up your whole property and starting again is that it's a unique chance to address functional issues to do with your home such as central heating, electrics and plumbing. One issue with renovating room-by-room is that if any issues arise that could impact other parts of your property at a later date, you don’t have the holistic access to the foundations that comes with approaching everything at once.
This will be much easier for plumbers, electricians and even insulation installers to carry out their work and give your property more longevity in terms of its efficiency. And, once again, limiting the amount of visits required is a great way to keep the cost of labour low.
Think of the neighbours
Even though the mess and noise that come along with home renovations is relatively unavoidable, you can minimise the disruption that it’s likely to cause to your neighbours by opting to do your entire house in one go rather than one room after another over a long period of time.
If budget is an issue and the only way to approach the work is bit by bit as and when you find the funds over the years then we suggest keeping your neighbours in the loop, offering fair warning of works and thanking them with kind offerings of cake or wine. Failure to do so could lead to your neighbours raising a formal complaint to your local planning authority.
© Veronica Rodriguez
The case for room-by-room renovations
Whole home renovations can be extremely disruptive, the timelines can be unpredictable and it can leave your property barely habitable while works are underway. If you’re not in a position to find an alternative place to stay or a place where you can afford to live while the works are being done, it could make more sense for you to do a more gradual form of renovating. While it’ll still be likely to cause some disruption, it’ll be minimal in comparison to the chaos of doing it all in one go.
And if you are planning to live at home as your home is renovated room-by-room, check out our article about how to navigate living and working at home during a renovation project.
Overall, if you’re able to foot the bill upfront and arrange somewhere alternative to stay during the building process, whole home renovation seems to be the most logical route to go down. The pros seem to far outweigh the cons: lower costs overall, better design cohesiveness and flow throughout the property, less sustained disruption to both you and your neighbours.
If you’ve got ideas in mind for your property but you’re not sure where to start, book a free consultation with our in-house experts today.
© Veronica Rodriguez
