A step-by-step guide to beginning a facade renovation

When planning a renovation it’s important to work out what exactly what you want to change about your home. Once you’ve worked this out, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty details of organising what order you are going to do it in and how to allocate a budget for it.    

Write out a definitive list

This might include things that you want to do immediately and those that can wait a bit longer. Include big-ticket items like painting, landscaping, replacing windows, guttering or roofing as well as smaller things like tidying garden beds, adding pot plants, repainting a door or changing door handles.

Divide the list 

Now you have a clear list of everything that needs to be done, divide the list into aesthetic changes and maintenance issues. (Some might crossover into both categories.) If you start with aesthetics, you might run out of money and be unable to rectify things that really need fixing, so begin planning the makeover by looking at your maintenance list.

Identify which items you are keeping and which you are replacing or changing. For example, you might have put guttering on the maintenance list. Are you just fixing sections of the guttering or are you changing the colour or the shape? At the top of the list, put maintenance items that only fall into the maintenance category and won’t be affected by aesthetic changes so these can be done first.

Cost estimates

Find out costs by doing some research online, talking to friends who have renovated and ringing tradies and hardware stores. You don’t need to get estimates that are correct to the last cent; ballpark figures will do at this stage. This will give you an idea of what is possible on your budget and help you to refine your ideas.

Plan the aesthetic side

Just as you did with the maintenance side of the list, start by getting costings and prioritising jobs to be done on the aesthetic side of the list. Which items can be done now and which can wait? What areas overlap? For example, if you’re changing the colour of the house and adding a new portico, it makes sense to get the portico in place before painting or rendering begins.

Budgeting

After

Before

Whether you are planning on just painting trims and window frames or doing significant changes like rendering or adding a portico, it’s quite important to consider where your house is and what it is worth before committing to a renovation budget.

If you have a $2 million house and you only plan on spending $3000 on the renovation, it’s probably not going to make a noticeable difference. Likewise, if you have a $300,000 house, you will probably over-capitalise if you spend $50,000 on a renovation. Of course, if it’s your forever home, you might spend a bit more than if you intend to sell sometime down the track.

Jane Eyles-Bennett is one of Australia’s top exterior designers and owner of design firm Hotspace Consultants. Join Jane in her Facebook group Home Renovators Network Australia for design and renovation inspiration and insider tips for your home improvement project.