Blog · Renovating
How to keep track of your renovation with an app
Keep your renovation in chat threads, emails and a spreadsheet and you will spend half of it hunting for the latest version of everything. A renovation app puts the schedule, budget and documents in one place. Here is what to track, and what to look for.
What do you need to track in a renovation?
A renovation looks like one project, but it is four at once. They run into each other, and that is usually where things go wrong.
- Schedule: which work comes after which, and when each person turns up.
- Budget: what you planned, what you ordered and what you have paid.
- Agreements: what you discussed with the builder, plumber or kitchen supplier, and what it costs extra.
- Documents: quotes, drawings, warranties and receipts.
The difficulty is that they affect each other. If the kitchen delivery slips a week, the tiler's schedule moves, and maybe a payment date too. If that lives in four places, you update four places, or you forget one.
Why a spreadsheet holds you back in the end
For a small job a spreadsheet is enough. On a bigger renovation you run into a few things:
- A schedule in Excel does not shift. Change one date and you recalculate the rest by hand.
- Quotes, emails and photos live somewhere other than your costs, so you keep gathering them again.
- Working with your partner or builder means sending around a new version every time.
- Opening a file on your phone on site is no fun.
What to look for in a renovation app
- A schedule that moves with changes. Tasks that depend on each other shift together.
- Budget and tasks together. Costs belong to a task or room, not a separate list.
- Documents next to the task. A quote or drawing sits with the work it belongs to.
- Works on your phone. You are on site or in the DIY shop when you need to look something up.
- Clear about your data. Know where it is stored and that it stays yours.
How to start
- Write down everything that has to happen, per room or per trade.
- Put them in order and add the date you want to be finished.
- Add an amount to each task, even if it is only an estimate.
- File quotes and agreements against the right task straight away.
- Look once a week at what has shifted.
In PLOTT you do that in one place: tasks, rooms, documents, products and budget, with a timeline that shifts the moment something moves.