While some people prefer assigning their house refurbishment project to an expert, others prefer to embark on the same as a DIY home refurbishment project. Irrespective of whichever category you fall under, drawing up a rough blueprint of your house refurbishment plan is advisable, and trust us, there’s no rocket science involved here too! GharPedia brings you a guide to draw your own house refurbishment plan. But first, let’s understand what refurbishment is.
What is Refurbishment?
A refurbishment simply refreshes the image or appearance of a building. Cleaning, re-equipping, and retrofitting are the major parts of the refurbishment process. One of its goals is to make the building more sustainable and energy efficient. According to Camila Milleto et al. (Authors of the article – A Sustainable Approach for the Refurbishment Process of Vernacular Heritage: The Sesga House Case Study), refurbishment helps to make a structure more sustainable by replacing the various elements of the structure with more sustainable alternatives alongside preserving its architectural style.
Refurbishment is strongly related to renovation and restoration because they all aim to return a building to its original condition.
In terms of building, refurbishment means giving a facelift to the property and making it look appealing. It focuses more on aesthetics and minor changes like replacing openings, changing roof tiles, etc. Refurbishment generally refers to various works that involve transforming something, such as ‘cosmetic’ renovations (painting and decorating), upgrading, major repair work, modifications, conversions, extensions, and modernisations. Effective property refurbishment considers a building’s uniqueness in terms of structure and type, as well as the building’s local setting and circumstance. It is possible for refurbishment to significantly extend a building’s lifetime if the correct approach to refurbishment is taken from the initial planning phase through to execution. Hence house refurbishment planning is essential.
Before starting the refurbishment of your house, you need to make your house refurbishment plan in advance to complete the work smoothly and with better clarity. Now that we understand what refurbishment is, let’s know how to make a house refurbishment plan and why it is essential.
Why Draw Up a House Refurbishment Plan?
With the plethora of professional agencies available, why should one take the trouble and the time to draw up a basic plan! Firstly, putting things on paper will bring in clarity; secondly, it’s YOUR house buddy, so YOU and YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS know the best regarding what modifications you’d like to have in your home sweet home; and thirdly, drawing up a plan is quite a creative and unbelievably easy task. Drawing up a house refurbishment plan will help you determine the course of your refurbishment process.
Whether your plan is complex or simple at this stage, whether you intend to divide up a room space or merely paint a floor, you will find a detailed plan on paper, making life a much easier. It doesn’t have to be a work of art. If you have a computer with suitable software, you can draw up your plans and alter them using a grid system. You can even put together a three-dimensional drawing.
So let’s begin to draw up a home refurbishment plan, but first, gather all the tools required.
Tools Needed for House Refurbishment Plan
The essential tools required for making a house refurbishment plan are as follows:
- Graph paper
- Some coloured pencils
- Notepad and pen
- Clear plastic ruler
- Pair of scissors
- Retractable steel measure
- Calculator
How to Make a House Refurbishment Plan
Effective planning of property refurbishment is the first step to start with. A house refurbishment plan should include the following:
- Blueprints or sketches of your finished project.
- A list of your needs or what you want for your house.
- Project division into DIY and steps that will require professionals.
Steps to Draw a House Refurbishment Plan
Follow the below steps to draw your own house refurbishment plan:
Step – 1: Measuring Up a Room
To measure up a room, use a retractable steel measure of at least 5m/16-and-a-half-feet total length, with a lever to lock the tape at any given distance. Adding distances from shorter tape measures or using cloth tapes prone to sag leads to inaccurate figures. Measure the basic dimensions of the room first – the wall height and length. Measure the room from corner to corner. This will confirm that it is square, or at least square enough for your purposes. Add on any bay window and alcove areas where necessary, and note down the sizes of the chimney breast, all built-in cupboards, window areas and doors, marking on your plan which way the doors open.
You will find it easier to write initial measurements on a rough sketch. You can also add items that cannot be easily changed, such as radiator positions and pipe runs, electric outlets and light fittings, to this first drawing, even if they are not relevant to the final scheme.
Step – 2: Transferring House Refurbishment Plan to Graph Paper
With the help of a pencil, transfer your house refurbishment plan from a rough sketch to graph paper and scale the area to size using squares. Include only the items that you consider relevant from your comprehensive measurements. Simplify the plan as much as possible to reduce the risk of errors. If your room is furnished or if you know what items of furniture will eventually be included, then represent those objects with small pieces of card cut to scale. You will be able to rearrange furniture items at will, establish their best position, and make maximum use of the available space. Draw in shelving systems or new cupboards to go in alcoves, change access doors and so on until you are happy that the plan is complete.
Speaking of floor plans, make sure to check out mistakes to avoid in floor plans:
Keep in mind the below points as you draw your house refurbishment plan.
Points to Keep in Mind
- To mark on the plan, note down the room’s basic dimensions, particularly any unusual shapes that distort the room’s appearance and all the doors, windows and other features such as cupboards.
- A plan comes to life when the furniture items are coloured, and you can see how they relate to one another and how they fill the space. Try moving them around to ascertain the ideal configuration.
- Due to the positions of doors, windows and chimney breasts, only so many combinations will work in any given space. With trial and error, you should finally arrive at the perfect solution.
Takeaway
Property refurbishment changes the whole décor and aesthetics of the house. In some cases, refurbishment helps in making the old structure more sustainable and energy efficient by reequipping its elements. Successful house refurbishment planning is the first step to start with. So are you planning to do a home refurbishment? Then, try drawing up a basic house refurbishment plan this weekend: trust us it’ll rejuvenate you and set your creative juices rolling!
Before you leave, check out our other articles:
House Renovation: 8 Signs That Your Home Needs a Revamp!
Author Bio
Huta Raval – An English Literature and Journalism Topper, Huta Raval has graduated from the L D Arts College, Ahmedabad. Post serving for 23 years in the NBFC and Public Library Sectors her desire for ‘writing the unwritten’ brought her to the creative field of content writing. Her clientele comprises of NGOs, Blogging Platforms, Newspapers, Academic Institutions, et al.