9 things you must do before renovating or building: part 4/5

March 16th, 2012

Appliance News Kitchen

Research, clarifying ideas, family discussions, finding a building designer and builder are all steps along the way to renovating your existing home.

Now, at the building stage there are some more important things to bear in mind.

The most important thing to consider is natural light.

“You can move your house, but you can’t move the sun,” says heritage building designer Peter Latermore.

“Natural light makes you healthy,” he insists.

“Orientation is even more important than insulation. If it’s possible, get your living areas facing northwards. The most important room to have sun is in the kitchen. Natural light first thing in the morning is so important! You can then put secondary rooms like laundries, to the west.”

Like in any profession, the building trade uses a lot of jargon. If you want to be on the ball with what’s happening to your home, you’ll have learn some of it.

“There’s more jargon in building than any other industry.”

“It’s truly the world’s oldest profession – we left the cave and built homes!”

“So there’s a lot of language that we use and it’s better to know some of it.

“Ask friends what baffled them. There are endless terms in town planning, it’s a good idea to visit council websites and at least familiarise yourself with them.

“Or go wander the isles at a hardware shop. Check the internet and bookmark sites for later.

“If in doubt, ask, and ask again if it makes no sense.”

Latemore also says never assume anything in the whole building process. He says, for example, that people don’t realise that kitchens and bathrooms can move, that the plumbing can be moved.

“And you never really know, councils may agree to odd things.”

Read part five here.