Irvine Construction Blog
How to Deal With Lead Paint in Your Historic Home Remodel
Once a staple of interior painting, we now know that lead-based paint is dangerous for anyone exposed to it for too long. Children and pets are the most vulnerable, but healthy adults and the elderly also can experience lead poisoning with enough exposure. If you’re planning a remodel of your historic home and suspect (or know) that you’ve got lead paint, here’s what you need to know about keeping everyone safe during the process. Identify Lead Paint You may know that you’ve got lead paint in an area you’re planning to remodel, or you may just suspect that you do…
How the Housing Market Is Impacting the Remodeling Market
The housing market is notorious for constantly changing. One week it’s looking up for buyers, the next it’s dominated by sellers. This contrasts with the remodeling market, which has been steadily increasing for many years now. Still, these two markets affect each other in many ways. If no one is buying new homes, they are more likely to renovate the homes they already own. And if everyone is preparing to sell, they may want to spruce up their places before they go up for sale. If you’re thinking about changing your housing situation, you may be wondering which is right…
Hidden Costs to Look Out for When Renovating Your Home
Home renovation projects can be pricey. That’s why it’s so important to create a realistic budget and stick to it. If you’re planning on doing some construction to your home, you’ve probably already considered the price for the designer, contractors, and materials. But there are a few hidden costs that many people forget to consider. These charges can add up, and if you don’t include them in your original estimation, you’ll end up way over budget. Here are 5 hidden costs to look out for when you’re renovating your home: The Land Surveyor A land surveyor is the person trained…
4 Tips for Preparing for Your Selection Meeting
Building your own custom home is an exciting process for many homeowners. Because you’re choosing where everything goes and what it will look like, this means you’ve got nearly complete control over every aspect. From the overall layout right down to the cabinet pulls, there are dozens – if not hundreds – of selections and decisions you have to make during the custom home building process. Part of the custom building process includes the selection meeting. During this meeting, you sit down and make all the final design selections for the interior and exterior of your custom home, including flooring,…
4 Ways Renovating Your Historic Home Can Be Cost-Effective
The decision to renovate your historic home may be a difficult one, especially if you’re looking solely at the price tag. However, while knowing what you can reasonably afford before you sign a contract is important, it shouldn’t be the only consideration when making your final decision. In fact, even if the cost of your renovation seems high, the benefits of your renovation may far outweigh the sticker price. Here are 4 ways that renovating your historic home can be cost-effective: Your Neighborhood Many historic homes are located in neighborhoods full of similarly historic properties, and may even be located…
6 Tips for Building & Renovating With Resale Value in Mind
Undertaking any home building project, whether you’re building new or renovating an existing home, is an expensive venture. While most homeowners make decisions on what to do and not do in their building and renovations based on what they want and need, thinking about the resale value of any design choices is a good idea. Even if you may not be planning to move any time soon, putting a bunch of money into changes that, down the line, are going to hurt your home’s resale value isn’t a sound practice. If you’re planning to build new or renovate an existing…
When to Save & When to Splurge on Your Home Renovation
Every home renovation project comes with a budget, and it’s inevitable that your budget won’t cover everything. By balancing your budget, you can maximize your home renovations while still ending up with completed projects that will last years. So, where do you save and where do you splurge on your home renovations? Splurge on Bathroom Fixtures You can find cheap faucets and shower heads easily, but the drop in quality isn’t worth saving the money. When you purchase high-end bathroom fixtures, you don’t have to worry about things such as water pressure, frequent replacements, or leaks that lead to eventual…
7 Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying an Historic Home
No one can deny that historic homes are gorgeous, but you should always be cautious before purchasing one. For every pro a historic house offers, there’s a hidden con to counteract it. The good news is you can avoid being sucked into a money vacuum purchase by becoming aware of the cons before you purchase the home. Here are some of the pitfalls of a historic home you should always keep in mind and look for: Strict Rules Homes in designated historic districts come with strict rules. Many times, historic homes are in disarray before they are purchased. You may…
4 Tips for Choosing a Site for Your New Home Construction
When most people start their home building journey, they often overlook the importance of finding the right piece of land to build on. Selecting the perfect property can be a daunting task. Here are 4 helpful tips to keep in mind. Identify Your Needs Beginning to look for a property can be overwhelming, so one of the first things you can do to help is narrow down your options. You can do this by identifying your needs and focusing on properties that fulfill those. Some questions to ask yourself are: Is there a specific state, county, town, or zip code…
One-Story or Two-Story? 6 Things to Consider
When you’re looking to build a custom home, there are a whole host of decisions that need to be made. Among one of the first – and most important – decisions you have to make is whether to build a one-story home or to go for a two-story house. There are many pros and cons to each choice, and sorting through them all can be frustrating. To help you figure out which option is best for you, here are 6 important things to consider when deciding whether to build a one-story or a two-story home: Cost This is one of…
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