Why it's important to document your home improvement project in detail! and how to do it with your smartphone!

As the real estate market continues to rebound, home improvement activity is near all time high. Whether you are hiring a professional for your home improvement project or doing it yourself(DIY), It is a good idea to document the project(s) with as much detail as possible,  because:

1. It's important to know what material is going into the project, in what shape. What is the status of the project in different stages.  After the project is complete, there is no way to collect this information, unless you do some demolition work and redo at least part of the project, which is money thrown in the drain. This is particularly useful if you encounter an issue down the road.

2. It is important to keep record of all the expense going into the project, including material, labor and other expenses. This is essential for future tax filing. For details, see this article, Turotax article on tax benefit of home renovation

3. It is important to have pictures of various steps so you can show off your nice new home feature and/or your DIY power! admit it, people show off their home improvement projects on social media(facebook/twitter/instagram/pinterest) all the time. Keep records, especially pictures, so you can help your friends and family!

Now it is a good idea to do it, here are several different ways to do it.

1. use the Handymobi app, currently available for android in the google play store(link below). You can easily store steps with pictures, text descriptions, list of materials and information for your contractors, right from your phone! snap a picture and click a few times in the app, you are done! The app is free to use!
HandyMobi in Google Play store

2. use one of the note taking apps out there, such as Apple notes, Google keep, Evernote, most of them can save pictures together with text in the note.

3. if you like the old school way to do it, grab a note book, write it down