Why Renovate?

Increasingly, Canadians prefer to relax, socialize and work at home. As you become financially secure and build up equity in your home, your housing decisions will be motivated less by need and more by lifestyle considerations.

Renovation offers tremendous opportunities to create a home that reflects the way you like to live and contributes to your enjoyment of life. Working with a professional renovator ensures that you get the knowledge, the technical expertise and the commitment to customer satisfaction necessary to take your renovation from idea to successful completion. Lifestyle renovations often involve major renovations to create attractive, open areas that suits today's living, working and entertainment needs. Professional renovators can assess the potential of your existing space and suggest ways of enhancing its effectiveness. Small living and dining rooms may be combined or walls pushed back or eliminated to create a "great room". When extra space is desired, additions are carefully integrated into the design of your home.

The kitchen is often an informal gathering place for family and friends. Professional renovators will work with you to maximize the use of the space you have available, open it up and work it into the flow of house. Perhaps a sunny breakfast nook can be added, or the entire kitchen may be relocated to another part of the house. When it comes to the actual design of your new kitchen, trained specialists can help you to develop the layout and the features that work best for you within your budget.

One of the latest trends in renovation today is the home-based office. Canadians are opting to work out of their homes in record numbers (currently close to 15% of all households include a member who operates a business from home). Whether you want to transform an existing room or incorporate a work area in a new addition, professional renovators can help you to create an efficient and pleasant work environment.

A built in computer desk, shelving and cabinets maximize the use of the available space and help you to maintain a tidy work station, while pre-wiring for computers and faxes keeps you plugged in without a mess of wiring everywhere. Good lighting and ventilation are essential to any work environment.

Home entertainment areas are growing rapidly in popularity. Again, professional renovators can provide valuable suggestions for built-in cabinetry for your equipment and a room design that is the most conducive to your listening and viewing pleasure. Proper sound insulation ensures that family members in the rest of the home are not inconvenienced.

Like many home owners today, you may want to open up your home to the outside. Professional renovators can offer ideas that suit your home, your neighbourhood and your budget. You can enjoy the natural beauty surrounding your home by installing larger windows and glass doors and letting skylights bathe your home in natural light. Screened-in porches mean pleasant summer evenings outside, even in the height of the insect season. Sun Rooms can offer many hours of exquisite, quiet enjoyment.

When easy maintenance is important, your renovator can suggest a wealth of renovation products and materials aimed at reducing the time you spend on regular upkeep. Outside, you want to minimize painting and working on ladders. For instance, if you're old windows are drafty and require regular painting, now is the time to install new energy-efficient and low-maintenance windows. Ideally, you should be able to clean them, inside and out, from the inside of the house. The marketplace also offers an unparalleled selection of vinyl, aluminum and brick alternatives to your maintenance-intensive exterior cladding and trim. Inside, low-maintenance products are available for all areas of the house, from counter tops to flooring.

If you intend to stay in your home for many years to come, renovators suggest that you consider "renovating for a lifetime". By making a few simple changes to your plans for instance, levered handles on doors, larger light switches and wider doorways you can anticipate needs that may arise in the future. If someone in your household has special mobility challenges, contact Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for information on barrier-free housing. Call 1-800-668-CMHC for service in English, or 1-800-463-SCHL for service in French.

How Our Home Renovators Can Help You

The Starting Steps
Renovating your home is exciting and rewarding, whether you make modest changes in one or two rooms, or you transform the entire house into the dream of a lifetime.

Successful renovation is a team effort between you and the renovation professionals that you hire. For best results, you will want to involve the professionals up front, but before you call for estimates, you need to do some homework. Decide in advance what you want and how much you intend to spend. Then you will be able to give the renovators the information they need in order to provide you with the best possible advice and the most accurate estimates of cost.

Decide What You Want
- What is the main purpose of your renovation?
  (For instance, do you want to add extra space, upgrade the kitchen, improve the security of your home,
  make adaptations for health reasons, or
  generally improve your living areas?)
- What are your options?
  (For instance, do you need an addition or can you redesign existing floor space to create more room?)
- What is unique about your home (room/space) that you would like to keep?
- What do you definitely want to change?
- Get input from all members of your household. What are their needs and wants?
- Consider both the short-term and long-term implications of your decisions are your needs
  likely to change in the future?

Collect Ideas and Information
- Establish a renovation file for clippings, photos, brochures, etc.
- Study magazines and books to get an idea of the "look" that you want.
- Visit home shows, talk with renovators and manufacturers' sales representatives, examine products
  and materials, note prices and collect more ideas.
- Visit manufacturers' and suppliers' showrooms (e.g. kitchens and bathrooms).
- Talk to relatives, friends and co-workers who have renovated.
  What have they learned? / What would they recommend?
- Contact government agencies and industry associations for information on home renovation.

Determine How Much You Want To Spend
At this early point in the process, you will not know how much your renovations will cost, but you need to have some idea of what you can and want to spend.
Homeowners often finance renovations through a combination of savings, short-term loans and mortgages, taking advantage of the existing equity in their home. Talk with several financial institutions to figure out your options. Consider the following:
  - the amount of your savings
  - the costs associated with the renovation, including new furniture, fixtures and appliances
  - the amount you can, or are willing to, borrow
  - the total amount you are prepared to spend

Consult with the following. . .

The Professional Renovator
- Your final plans are the basis for getting bids from professional renovators. Going from the "ideas stage" to final plans often happens in several steps, as you explore the feasibility of getting what you want within your budget. You may wish to contact one or more professional renovators in the initial stages of your renovation planning to get a better idea of cost and how best to proceed with your project.

Professional renovators can provide "ballpark" estimates for rough ideas, advise you on the need for design or architectural services, and tell you how you can best prepare the information required to get accurate bids. They can also advise you on the kinds of work that home owners typically are able to do themselves to stretch their budget, and they can help you to develop a long-term plan if you wish to renovate your home in stages.

The Real Estate Appraiser
- If you are concerned about payback on your investment and you don't want to exceed the value of similar homes in your neighbourhood, talk to a professional real estate appraiser before you start renovating. The appraiser can establish the current value of your home, and of comparable homes in the area, and determine how the planned renovation will affect the value of your home. The appraiser will also be able to advise you on the types of renovations that offer the greatest payback value.

The Home Inspector
- A pre-renovation inspection by an independent home inspector can help you to evaluate the overall condition of your home, and to set priorities for current and future renovation projects. The inspector can identify repair work and equipment replacement that may be needed in the short or long term. A copy of the inspector's report should be provided to the professional renovators asked to bid on your project. Some major centres have a local chapter of the Canadian Home Inspectors Association, or you can contact your local government for the names of reputable home inspectors in your area.

(Text provided by the CHBA and CMHC.)

Family Home Improvements
2744 Jefferson Blvd.
Windsor, Ontario
N8T 3C7
Phone (519) 945-3000

Showroom Hours:
Monday to Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm
Saturday 9:00am to 2:00pm
Email Family Home Improvements