Remodeling your home can be an exciting yet daunting process, especially in a unique city like Portland. Whether updating a historic Craftsman bungalow or modernizing a mid-century ranch, understanding the local nuances and what to expect when remodeling can make your renovation journey smoother. In this post, we’ll guide you through the essential steps of home remodeling in Portland, from planning and permits to choosing materials and contractors.
Planning Ahead
During any home remodel, you can expect to invest a fair amount of time in the beginning to plan. You’ll need to set a budget and figure out how you’re going to finance your renovation. It’s highly recommended to make sure you have enough to cover the project, plus an additional 10% or more for unexpected issues that may arise.
Another part of the planning process that you may expect to have to deal with is permits. However, when you work with a reputable Portland contractor like ReCraft, we’ll take care of everything for you. We are a member of the Field Issuance Remodel (FIR) program, which means that for every project we undertake, we are assigned a dedicated inspector from start to finish, providing expediency and consistency for us and peace of mind for you.
A thorough planning process will help make your home remodel go smoothly and help you avoid surprise issues that could knock your project off track.
Preparing Your Home
The amount of preparation you’ll have to do for your home depends on the scope of your project. It also depends on whether you’re having interior renovations, exterior renovations, or a combination of the two.
You’ll need to take time to declutter areas where work will be done, which may mean you need to rent a storage unit or temporarily place your furniture and other belongings in a different area of the house.
It’s also wise to take measures to keep your kids and pets safe during home renovations. Once the work is underway, you can expect some degree of noise and likely a good deal of dust in your living space. When you work with us, we’ll give you tips on how to protect your belongings and keep your air quality as high as possible throughout your project.
Understanding The Work That’s Being Done
You can’t know what to expect during a home remodel in Portland without understanding the type of work that’s going to be done. Trying to DIY a home renovation project can be challenging, to know where to begin and in which order to tackle the various components of the project. Working with a team of professionals means your remodel will be far more organized and streamlined, not to mention done right!
Here are some common elements to expect during most home renovations:
Demolition – The first phase of any remodeling project is removing old materials to make way for your upgrades. The demolition may be loud and intrusive, but it’s only temporary and just the first step to your new living space.
New Structural Components – Whether it’s creating the framework for new walls, moving current walls to different locations, adding support beams, adding or removing doors and windows, or other structural changes, you can expect new building work to be done during your project, especially if it’s a whole home remodel. However, even partial renos like kitchens and bathrooms may include some form of structural work inside your house.
Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing – These are the guts of your home and most remodels mean reworking some aspect of one or all of these infrastructure pieces. Depending on the age of the home and scope of the project this could mean minor changes within the space, or it could be fairly major in scope and expand beyond the room that is getting remodeled.
Hanging Drywall – Many home remodels include creating new walls made of drywall. Installing drywall is a major milestone of any home remodel project as it means we can now get to the fun part of the remodel, which is installing the finishes. It also happens to be one of the messiest phases of the process.
Flooring – Whether you end up choosing hardwood, carpeting, tile, or linoleum, there’s a high likelihood that installing new flooring will be part of your home remodel. Once the walls and flooring are complete, you can also expect trim and cosmetic work to be done, such as baseboards, molding, and similar finishing touches.
Painting – Once all of the main components of your home remodel have been completed, walls, ceilings and woodwork will need to be painted. Typically the painters take over the space, taking time to prepare the surfaces for the final coats of finish.
Clean-Up and Removal – After all the work is done and it’s time to pack up and leave, you can expect an extensive cleanup and removal of equipment, leftover materials, and anything else that doesn’t belong inside your home. We even hire a professional cleaning crew to clean all areas of the home affected by dust — not just the rooms being worked on.
Working With Our Team At Recraft Home Remodeling
Choosing the right home remodeling contractor for the job is a crucial step that many homeowners stress over. At ReCraft Home Remodeling, we follow a proven process and provide a range of renovation services that include whole house remodeling, kitchens, basements, bathrooms, and more.
Call us today at 503-939-9782 or click here to submit your remodeling project details: