10 Ideas for Renovating Your Guest House
As you think of home projects, do you realize it’s time to start renovating your guest house? If so, this is one of the best things you can do. Your guest house is a beautiful part of your home that you can use for overnight guests, extended stays, or even to rent out for additional income. Therefore, you must treat your guest house like any other part of your home and ensure it’s as comfortable as possible for someone to stay in for a short or long period.
1. Prevent Tiny Invaders
The last thing you need in your guest house is a bunch of tiny critters running around. Whether those insects have four, six, or eight legs, you want to keep them out of that particular space. After all, do you want your family, friends, or renters to have to deal with bed bugs, mosquito bites, roaches, or even worse, rodents? Of course, the answer is no, so the best thing you can do is to protect the house from any unwelcome tiny intruders. Take the first step by calling upon your pest control businesses to see what they can do to help you.
Just because you’ve never seen any evidence of pests in your guest house doesn’t mean they aren’t there or that they won’t be there in the future. So have pest control businesses do a thorough inspection of the place to check for any vulnerabilities such as cracks, holes, water damage, and so on. Begin by reinforcing any windows and doors by sealing the surrounding chalk. You can also waterproof your guest house to ensure the foundation won’t be damaged and make it easy for any rodents or insects to borrow in through. Check for termites that love to eat wood and are known for destroying homes and as little as 3 years, according to the CDC.
While keeping your guest house free of vermin is important for your family and friends’ comfort, it’s especially important if you plan on using it for income. The last thing you want to see on an Airbnb, booking.com, or VRBO review is that your home is a Haven for rodents roaches mosquitoes, and other things that bite. If people see your rental property as a source of a potential health hazard don’t expect them to stay there and you could lose out on your potential investment.
2. Protect Your Finances
Part of renovating your guest house means hiring contractors to do various jobs. That’s why you should look into local escrow companies that can help protect your finances. What do escrow companies have to do with renovating your guest house? Well, plenty, as these companies help real estate transactions by acting as a third party to hold and distribute funds during the process. In other words, your finances will be handled securely and contractors can rest assured they’ll be paid by you thanks to the escrow company.
Renovating your guest house involves hiring a contractor to do flooring, roofing, drywall repairs, and plumbing. So you’ll need to disperse payments to several different contractors and suppliers based on whatever terms you agree to. Some contractors may want all the money upfront. Others prefer payment in stages. Having different contractors working over some time could be a lot for one person to keep up with. Luckily having an escrow company hold your funds and handle disbursements will take some of the headache off your shoulders.
Remember these services don’t work for free. They also have their own associated fees for the services they provide. As long as you find a reliable escrow company, it’s worth the additional fee to have them act as a third party, since they are a mediator in terms of conflict resolution. If there are any disputes during the renovation process, they can help act as a mediator between you and your renovators.
3. Update Those Fixtures
When was your guest house built? Was it a guest house that came with your property’ Did you build it a few years ago, or has it been there for decades? It’s important to know because your guest house may not have the most modern plumbing fixtures that will benefit someone who’s going to be there for a long time. Have local plumbers check out and update those fixtures. When you include fixture updates during your upgrade, you’re going to save money, help the environment, and make the bathing experience for whoever staying there way more comfortable.
Do you know that a typical American toilet wastes five gallons of water with each flush, according to the EPA? When plumbers update those older toilets with more high-efficiency ones, such as dual-flush toilets, you’ll now have a system that only uses slightly more than one gallon of water per flush. Imagine how much water you’ll save with that type of fixture.
Wasting water isn’t good for the Earth and is a major problem in society. As you’re renovating your guest house, you can do your part to prevent that. In addition to updating your toilets, you can conserve water by installing better shower fixtures. Plumbers can enhance the spa experience by installing an overhead rainfall shower and other shower head attachments while still ensuring they use less water than normal. It’ll produce a better shower experience with good water pressure. You’ll also save money on your water bills. So once plumbers make these updates you won’t have to stress out so much over how much water they’re using because you’ll have the type of fixtures that can prevent water waste.
4. Get Creative With Metal
Do you by chance happen to have a bunch of scrap metal lying around your guest house or other parts of your property? If so it’s time to call on scrap metal recyclers to see what you can do with it. That scrap metal doesn’t have to go to waste or be donated somewhere. You can refurbish that scrap metal and create beautiful and functional features for your guest home. Repurpose it to create unique eye-catching elements as well as create stylish furniture such as chairs, tables, and benches.
Are you into wall hangings? Use some scrap metal to create amazing wall pieces that will stun anyone in your guest house. You can even incorporate scrap metal into door knobs, cabinet handles, and light fixtures to add an industrial feel to your guest house. Kick it up a notch by creating room dividers and wall panels as a way of updating the layout in your guest space.
You have the opportunity to show your creativity by creating relevant art projects or you could take that as an opportunity to hire local artists and see what they can do. There are trained artists and metalsmiths who can do amazing things with scrap metal that you may not even imagine.
5. Assess the Trees Nearby
Are your trees on your guest house landscape? This could be a good or a bad thing depending on the condition of the trees. If you haven’t kept up with regular tree upkeep, now’s the time to do so, both for you and your guests. Any trees on your property should have regular care by way of trimming and pruning from your local arborist. Doing so prevents trees from getting sick or spreading disease to other trees. By keeping them healthy and disease free you can also prevent premature tree death. After all, the last thing you want on your residential property is a bunch of dead wood. If you’re in a situation where a tree is diseased, dying, injured by a lightning strike, or has been weakened by bad weather, you may need to call a local tree removal service. If you have a weak tree too close to your guest house removing it can prevent it from falling on the structure and being a safety hazard.
6. Consider Your Funding Alternatives
Are you a homeowner who has dealt with bankruptcy? Well, bankruptcy can certainly affect your finances and will stay on your credit report for up to 7 years, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of renovating your guest house. If you’re unsure about your bankruptcy situation, consult with bankruptcy law firms to see where you stand in terms of gaining additional funding.
Depending on your situation you may qualify for home equity lines of credit or equity loans. You may also be able to find alternative personal loans depending on your collateral available. You also have to check the type of bankruptcy you filed. Plus refinancing your home isn’t completely out of the question after bankruptcy. Consult with a legal professional to see what your rights are in the situation.
7. Do a Major Clean Up
Is your guest house looking dirty? If so it may be time to call professional cleaners to see what they can do. You can use sandblasting services to remove old paint and rust from surfaces. Do you have any masonry areas in your guest house space? They can clean things made of brick or stone and remove any grime and dirt that’s covering up natural beauty. If you’re thinking of having your guest house painted sandblasting it is a great way to clean those walls and prepare the surface for new paint to make your home look new again.
Professional cleaners can also come in and vacuum and sanitize the home as much as possible. If your guest house has carpeting, they can do a deep cleaning that regular vacuuming can’t match. If there are wooden floors, they can polish them, wax them, and make them look new again.
8. Make it Feel Cozy
Is your residential property in an area that has seasonal weather, in particular harsh winters? If so, make sure that there’s enough heating so that anybody staying over in your guest house feels comfortable. If your guest house is directly attached to your main home, it may be connected to your system, but there’s no guarantee that it is. So make sure that whatever heating system you use in your guest house is functioning well. You may want to call a local propane company to fill the furnace before winter sets in.
9. Prevent Sewer Problems
Can you imagine someone staying in your guest home and instead of being impressed by the smell of flower beds out front or the clean smell of Pine-Sol after a thorough clean, but instead being disgusted by the smell of sewage? Well, that embarrassing moment can happen if you have a clogged sewers. According to Bob Vila, your septic tank should be pumped at least once every 3 years. However, if there are signs of an overflowing tank before then, have inspectors come and clean it out ASAP.
10. Start Recycling
Renovating your guest house should involve recycling whatever you can. As mentioned, there’s much you can do with scrap metal but that’s not the only thing you can recycle. Is there anything in your guest house that’s run by battery? Check those batteries to see if they’re still functioning. If not, check out a battery recycling service near you and take those batteries in. Recycling your old household batteries helps to protect the environment and prevent any hazardous materials from leaking into landfills or garbage trucks. You’re not supposed to throw out any type of batteries, no matter how small they are. Recycle them at the proper place depending on the battery you have.
Renovating your guest house can be a fun and exhilarating experience. After all, you’re not only creating a more livable space for family, friends, and potential renters. You’re also increasing the value of your home. A guest house is an addition you should value and take seriously whether people are using it frequently or not. After all, you may put your home on the market one day, and having a finished renovated guest spot can go a long way in having a better resale value. Use the tips above to create a guest house that other people will envy and never want to leave.
