Without being discouraging, there’s a world of things that can go wrong when performing renovations on your home. Whether this happens because of a contractor’s or a tradie’s incompetence, or due to your terrible DIY skills, mistakes can be, and usually are, made.

Let’s look at five useful ways to avoid the most common renovation blunders that might literally save you thousands.

1. Lack of proper planning

Assessing, evaluating and most importantly, distributing thorough plans to the appropriate contractors etc. are the critical first step that must be nothing short of perfect.

Every measurement and detail has to be spot on prior to anyone lifting a tool. If plans are sorted properly from the get-go, you could find yourself in an expensive world of hurt later on. Devise a plan outlining all of your specifics and stick with it.

Call contractors earlier than required to find out if how long materials and other supplies will take to be delivered etc. This way, there’s plenty of time if you need to make slight operational amendments.

2. Failure to obtain a sufficient amount of quotes

Ensure you invest a significant part of your budget finding and keeping quality tradesmen. Always consider referrals from friends, work colleagues or other people who would recommend their services. Make sure you ring around and ask for dozens of quotes to secure the best and most reliable deal.

Also, check out online reviews of their business from real people who have dealt with them in the past. Fail to evaluate all available resources in your area, and you may as well start flushing cash down the loo.

3. A poorly estimated budget

Probably the most detrimental renovations mistakes is when people fail to allocate enough cash for what they want.

Itemise and calculate absolutely everything. Have it written down, so it’s on paper, tangibly in front of you. Never attempt to just ‘play it by ear’ or do a rough calculation in your head. Always remember to include easy to forget expenses like council approval fees and landscaping, and purposely overestimate the total project cost from the beginning.

4. Miscommunication

Never be afraid to ask as many questions as it takes to understand the details of exactly what’s happening. It’s critical to know who’s doing what, where the project’s progress is up to, and when certain tasks are expected to be started or completed.

Schedule a daily or weekly meeting to keep up to date with all of this – and so everyone consistently remains on the same page. Always be respectful and appreciative of every milestone reached by your tradies, and they’ll continue to do an outstanding job.

5. Overlooking finer details

The small things will quickly turn to big problems if they are overlooked. Again, communication is the key factor that ties the project together. Frequent discussion and assessment will ensure every detail is scoped out and accounted for. Get everyone together to make sure they all comprehend what’s going to happen, and agree that it’s going to work.

Implementing these little simple measures can save you a hell of a lot of hassle midway, or later, through your renovation.