5 stages of Renovation

The 5 stages of Renovation

The concept of 5 renovation stages was introduced in my previous post. So what are they? Before you start your renovation project, you need to understand that there are 5 stages involved any Renovation project.

  

1)      Initiate

This is the very first stage in any renovation project. So, what does this stage actually entail?

In order to start the project, you need to identify all the future inhabitants of your renovated home and the scope of the renovation work. These people could be your spouse, your parents, parents-in-law, children and even your pet! However, you might wonder why is this important? This is because by identifying your loved-ones, their requirements and concerns can be taken into consideration while you are doing up your place. This ensures that the needs of all parties are taken care of and you do not run into those dreaded conflicts after the renovation works are complete.  

As for scope of work, you have to decide on the extent of renovation you require for your new place. As an example, you have to decide whether if you are looking at a major over-haul or only minor reworks if you are renovating a resale flat.

After the future inhabitants are identified and the extent of renovation is decided, you can proceed with the next renovation stage – which is planning for your renovation project.

2) Plan

The importance of renovation plan was covered in my previous post. In fact this is where the renovation plan is being formulated. So, what are the areas that need to be included inside the renovation plan?

The key areas which you need to cover are briefly summarized as follows:

• Scope - how to gather the requirements and the detailed scope for the renovation;

• Time - how to develop the renovation schedule and contingency actions to take when there are delays;

• Cost - how to estimate the costs involved, the budget to be set aside and contingency actions to take when there are cost overruns;

• Quality - the acceptable quality of renovation and how these standards are determined;

• Risk - whether there are any risks that will impact the renovation  project and how to handle these risks by developing the contingency plans;

• Procurement - how to source, select and engage the people for the renovation and;

• Communication - how communication is done and the frequency of communication with the people you have engaged.

3) Executing

This is the most exciting stage of the renovation process. During this process, the renovation plan which you have painstakingly developed is put into action. You get to talk and discuss with your loved ones to find out their requirements, sit down and define the actual extent of your renovation. With this information, you can estimate the cost involved and also budget the actual amount you need for the renovation. You get to interview and then decide on the Contractor or ID who will work on your renovation project and so on.

4) Review and Monitor

After your renovation plan is set in motion, you need constantly monitor and review your renovation works to ensure that things are going according to your plan. If there are any deviations, such as any delays in renovation works or cost over runs, you can execute the contingency plans which you have developed in your renovation plan. 

5) Closing

This is the final stage in the renovation project. During this stage, you appraise the works completed and ensure that your renovation contractor or ID has met your requirements and completed the entire work of scope laid out in the contract. When the work was verified to be complete and final payment made, the renovation contractor or ID hands over the place and the renovation project is complete.

I will cover each of the renovation stages in more detail in my subsequent posts. :)

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Commonly Used Renovation Terms



To people who are new to renovation, here are some of the commonly used renovation terms. Hope you find it useful!  :)

All credits go to Whiteboard.

* Extracted for easiler reference *  

Construct Walls

The construction of walls for partitions or segregation reasons.

* Gypsum board - a type of light plasterboard used for making ceilings or walls.

* Hollow blocks - blocks laid in brick fashion using cement to join and plaster to finish off.

* Plywood (bare) - using plywood to create walls and finished with plaster.

Level-up Flooring

Usually used to level up flooring from the kitchen to living room, or from the balcony to living. The idea is to make the floor level the same height so that there is no more drop. Most of the times this is reserved for making the space look bigger by creating an extension of space from living to balcony.

Create Door Opening

When a door opening is needed, the designer will determine whether the wall needs to be hacked. If so, a door opening may be created, simply by hacking a non-load bearing wall.

Seal-up Door Opening

This means to cover up a former door opening by using either hollow blocks or other materials and finish it with plaster.

Concrete Support

Usually for kitchen or bathrooms. The concrete support is to house the sink or stove. It will be finished off with tiles or just plain cement screeding.

Cement base for kitchen / bathroom cabinets

This is also known as plinth. The plinth acts as a skirting from the flooring so that the cabinet will not be in contact with the flooring. For example, in the case of wet flooring.

Shower Kerb

(seperator placed in the bathroom on the floor)

It acts as a base for the shower screen. Otherwise it may also be used to deviate water from the shower area to the rest of the bathroom.

Water Proofing

(only when floor tiles are to be laid over kitchen or bathrooms)

A membrane known as waterproofing will be needed to apply on to the surface before tiles are laid. This is necessary as water may seep into the apartment downstairs if it is not applied.

All credits go to Construction Jagon.

* Extracted for easiler reference*

Wood flooring

Wood flooring is a type of flooring made from the timber of hardwoods, or of spruce or hard pine. There are two basic manufactured types of hardwood. Wood flooring comes unfinished, and once installed is sanded, then finished on site. More modernly, the product is pre-finished in a factory. The products that are pre-finished are often a polyurethane

finish that has added aluminium oxide, however some companies use titanium dioxide or other oxides instead. These metal oxide finishes are used in various types of floor coverings and increase the wear a hardwood floor can handle.

* Solid Wood Flooring

Solid hardwoods are typically 3/4" or 19mm thick, although some do come in 3/8" (10mm) or 5/16" (8mm) thicknesses. Typically the wearing thickness, i.e., the thickness that can be sanded over the lifetime of the floor, above the tongue-and-groove portion, is approximately 7/32" approaching 1/4". This type of hardwood flooring can be installed with a nail-down installation method over wood subfloors. This type of hardwood is also very susceptible to the effects of moisture and temperature, because hardwoods expand and contract with moisture and temperature changes in the atmosphere. Since hardwoods expand and contract in the width of the grain, this type of hardwood flooring is not recommended to be installed over a concrete slab, unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer. There are some instances where 3/8"-thick solid hardwood can be installed on a concrete slab.

* Engineered Wood Flooring

Rather than having one solid piece of hardwood, the engineered hardwood method uses layers of hardwood veneer to create a product that can range in thickness from 3/8" or 8mm up to 9/16" or 14mm thick. The wood veneer can range in thickness depending on the manufacturer, as will the top wearing thickness. In order to create an engineered hardwood, these veneer layers are stacked one on top of the other with the grain of adjacent layers oriented perpendicular to one other. Once the desired thickness is achieved, the boards are then cut into the correct board width. From there, the boards are then manufactured to have a tongue or groove on the edges. The final step is to add stain if necessary, and add a finish. By doing this, the engineered hardwood becomes less susceptible to the effects of moisture and temperature change, because wood expands and contracts in the width of the grain direction. Therefore engineered hardwood is referred to as being dimensionally stable. Solid hardwood does not have dimensional stability because all of the grain runs in the same direction. Because of its dimensional stability, engineered hardwood can be glued directly to concrete above or below grade, as opposed to solid hardwood which cannot.

All credits go to expert realestate.

* Extracted for easiler reference*

Click here for the entire list*.

*Note: The renovate glossary provided covers everything from simple building and carpentry terms, words used in contracts, home automation jargon and design terms.

homebuildingmanual.com

homebuildingmanual provides a comprehensive list of commonly used terms during home construction. You can make reference to them if you do not understand certain "big" or chiem (Singaporean Slang) terms your ID or Contractor is using. 

sherlockhomeinspectors.com

sherlockhomeinspectors provides a visual representation of some commonly used home construction terms.

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Why do you need a Renovation Plan?

Why do we start with a Plan?

Many people, in their over enthusiasm to jump start the renovation, plunged head on into the process without a proper plan. This is hardly recommended, especially for people who are new to renovation.

“Why?” Some of you might wonder, “So what is the big deal of having a renovation plan?”

Well, a good renovation plan prevents cost over-run and delays. It even makes sure that the renovation work delivered by the Contractor or ID is of certain quality standards.

On the other hand, some of you do believe in having a renovation plan, but have mistakenly thought that the contractor or ID whom you have employed, will have a renovation plan.

Unfortunately, most contractors or IDs' idea of a renovation plan is very loosely defined, with them paying more attention to their payment milestones instead of ensuring that their work will be completed within the given budget, quality standards or on time. This is simply because Contractors and ID firms are profit driven. In fact, they are most certainly glad to persuade you to spend more on additional fixtures and renovation works which you have not planned for.

Furthermore, some unscrupulous Contractors or IDs might even “accidentally” leave out certain scope of work so as to “meet” your budget during the initial contract discussion, only to have them discretely added into the renovation works much later on.

On other hand, popular contractors and ID firms might have to extend the given renovation timeline due to the over-whelming number of renovation projects at hand.

Thus, a well thought out renovation plan should be able to help to prevent cost over-runs and delays.

In actual fact, it is interesting to note that renovation contractor and ID firms love to highlight the design skills that their contractors and IDs are capable of producing. Just take a walk around and you will notice a thick catalog full of photos and pictures depicting home design belonging to their past clients.  

Some companies went as far as saying that their company is ISO 9000/9001 certified; which by the way simply means that their company has been audited that they have the proper paper work and procedures in place. This has very little or no relation to whatever they are capable of completing the renovation works to your satisfaction. However, you can take comfort that at least companies with ISO 9001 certification will have a proper complaint procedure.

In addition, I observed none of the Contractor or ID forms highlight that they are capable of deploying successful renovation projects; which means meeting the key performance indicators (K.P.I). These targets should include completing the renovation project:

1)      Within budget;

2)      Within timeline;

3)      Meeting the Requirements and Scope (i.e. design, look and feel of the home interiors);

4)      Meeting Quality Standards and

5)      Meeting Customer Expectations and Satisfaction.

 

These are essential key indicators of a successful renovation project deployment.

In the IT industry, people handing IT projects are expected to be PMI PMP (Project Management Process) certified. Unfortunately, in the Renovation industry these Contractors and IDs are not expected to undergo similar certification. So, how do they learn to manage a renovation project? The more fortunate ones have an experienced “Shi-fu” aka Master whom they can learn from while the rest learn through trial and errors on their own.  

However fret not, there are some good project management practices which you can use in managing your renovation project and ensure that your contractor and ID are on the right track.

I will cover these practices in my subsequent posts. :)

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iRobot - Auto Vacuum and Floor Washing Robot!

Auto Vacuum and Floor Washing Robot.

Roomba & Scooba

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