Home renovations are the definitive way to actively increase the equity you have in your home, and a must for homeowners not content with trusting the volatile housing market with their home’s value. Renovations have also seen a marked increase in interest in recent years – though even more recent concerns about the cost of living have affected the plans of many. However, the DIY approach represents a simple and cost-effective way to tackle home improvements – and if targeted correctly, could even affect house value. But how? And what would you need to start?
Sourcing the Right Equipment
Having the correct tools and resources for any given DIY job, from renovations to repairs, is absolutely crucial to a successful outcome. Have you ever tried mounting a shelf with just a screwdriver? Before you embark on your home improvement journey, gather the equipment you’ll need. Power tools are a must, for both destructive and constructive jobs; you should have a cordless drill at the very least, ideally with a hammer drill setting for drilling into masonry, while Jigsaws make cutting lumber for stud walls or fitted cabinet construction a breeze.
You’ll also benefit from having immediate access to consumable supplies, that would find regular use over the course of any number of DIY projects. Screws, nuts and bolts are a key example, but adhesives can play a crucial part in any work you undertake – whether sealant-adhesive hybrids for fitting coving and sealing skirting board gaps, spray adhesive for fixing rooked carpet or even superglue for shelving and small woodwork fixes. Build up your stock of useful items, and be rewarded when you find yourself needing one!
DIY Skills You’ll Need
It’s an admirable thing to be considering a DIY approach to improving your home, but you can do more harm than good without proper understanding of some basic skills, and specific principles when it comes to certain jobs. For starters, understanding how to properly operate your power tools will ensure clean results and minimised injury risk.
For specific tasks such as bathroom re-tiling, there are numerous online resources that can show you how to carry out the work properly, e.g.: how to use a plumbline to ensure straight tiles every time. By researching each major job before you get started, you can maintain control over the quality of your results – and the resulting impact on your property’s value.
Simple DIY Tasks to Improve Your Home
With all that said, what DIY tasks could actually create a measurable increase in your property’s value? This is hard to quantitively answer without professional valuation – and many aesthetic decisions can have unpredictable effects on house prices, depending on the tastes of the demographic – but there are some key upgrades you can make that will have an impact on any valuation.
Upgrading kitchen and bathroom tiles is an excellent place to start, as new tiles and clean grouting can give a renewed feel to any spaces. By that same token, replacing kitchen cabinets can refresh your kitchen space, providing new utility and adding that “wow” factor to boot. Creating your own fitted wardrobes and cupboards is a brilliant way to utilise awkward spaces, increase the perceived size of rooms and create more storage all in one – an absolute winner for any valuation – while re-carpeting, or even adding in a new hardwood floor can increase both value and appeal.