DIY vs. Hiring: What's Best for Your Renovation?

Renovations can be a daunting process, but in the reality TV craze of home renovation shows, more and more people are taking on renovation works themselves. Unfortunately, what these shows don't tell you is that there is, in fact, a whole team of designers working for a year on the design, sourcing, and procurement for the reality stars to ensure that everything is ready for them to "design" themselves.

Your home could be uninsured and unsellable.

Attempting a home renovation in Brisbane and Gold Coast yourself, whether it be a single room, such as a bathroom or kitchen, or a whole house on your own, can result in costly mistakes and safety hazards, not to mention that it is unlikely to be up to the same professional standards when completed by qualified, experienced, and licenced professionals. Not only can this impact the value of your home, it can potentially render your home uninsured or unsellable.

Insurance and Liability

All professionals that work on your home must be qualified, licenced, and insured. Would you service your car yourself? Would you fly a plane on your own? Probably not. So why would you consider undertaking renovations on your home if you are not qualified or licensed? Hiring a professional means that your renovations are protected for 7 years under builder's insurance against fault or failure. Not to mention, there is considerably less chance of fault or failure when you hire a professional from the start.

Doing the design yourself.

Currently, Interior Design is the only area of the residential construction industry where you don't require a licence or qualification, however, there is a huge push in the industry to change this, to prevent unqualified and unlicensed designers from creating poorly designed interior spaces.

This is largely due to accessibility, waterproofing, and fire safety standards not being met in the designs of new homes and renovations. As a qualified and insured interior designer, I regularly give updates on building and construction code changes, updates on minimum design standards, and provide design-specific industry advice. This ensures that my designs keep your house insured and it can be sold in the future without any hassles. While you are able to research these yourself as a DIY designer, there is so much conflicting information out there, can you be sure that you are actually designing your bathroom or kitchen correctly? Is the cost of hiring an interior designer in Gold Coast & Brisbane worth the risk of potentially leaving your whole home Uninsured?

Case Study: An actual example of the cost of not hiring a designer.

Recently I conducted a site meeting with a potential client to discuss their bathroom renovation in Brisbane. After sending them their design proposal, with a fee of $3,000, I received an email back from them saying how much of a waste of money my service was (obviously the email was meant for their partner and not me). I promptly filed their job file in the bin and never followed up with them. A month or so later, I spoke with the builder on that project who was more than halfway through their renovation. Apparently plumbing was roughed in, waterproofing in, and everything was coming together, he gets a message to say they hate the layout and to start again. These changes were going to cost them well over $10,000. This is a prime example of the cost to the homeowner of not hiring an Interior Designer for their renovation.

Still unsure

If you want to attempt your home renovation, or now you're seriously considering hiring an interior designer in Brisbane or Gold Coast to assist? Give Inka Interiors a call today. We offer a site consultation where we can discuss all the details of your home renovation.