Renovations are projects initiated to change the look, function, or layout of a building. Some upgrades ensure the safety of building occupants. Other upgrades enable building owners to transform their building’s space in a way they desire.

The average homeowner who’s investing in upgrades spends thousands renovating their home. Taking photos before and after renovations is crucial in the renovation process you shouldn’t overlook for several reasons.

Photos create a visual record of the original condition of your building.

Take pictures of your building before hiring contractors, ensuring you have an accurate visual record. Over time, it’s easy to forget specific details. Photographs prevent you from relying on your memory to recall details partway through a project.

Thanks to the best cloud storage for photos on the market, it’s never been easier to store photographs. A cloud storage service enables you to upload and download photographs, files, and video files from your computer or mobile device. Unlike other cloud storage services, such as Dropbox, iCloud, or Google Drive, the best cloud storage connects directly to your Wi-Fi router. Many cloud storage services initially offer free storage but introduce fees once you’ve used their services for a predetermined period or exceeded their storage limits. The best cloud storage services don’t hook you with limited free storage before introducing fees. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars per year for storing photographs and video files, you can purchase a cloud storage device based on your storage needs.

My Cloud Storage offers at least two terabytes (2TB) of storage space, ensuring you have plenty of room to store all your photographs, video files, and documents. A single terabyte of storage space can hold approximately 250,000 photographs, and you can also opt to invest in a cloud storage with four, six, or eight TB of storage space based on your storage needs. Although some cloud storage systems, such as Google Drive, offer 15GB of free storage, it doesn’t take long before you’ll exceed that limit and have to choose to pay fees for your cloud service or move your JPEGs and PDFs. Obtaining 2TB or more of storage space from the start ensures you won’t have to worry about running out of storage space any time soon. You can also access your content at any time on your smartphone through a free mobile app.

Use your photographs and cloud storage when hiring contractors.

You can use your mobile device to access materials from your cloud storage from any location with an internet connection. Thanks to the mobile app, you can pull up photographs of the part of your building you want to renovate to ensure contractors have a clear understanding of the scope of the job. You can search for photographs by creation date, keywords, or file name, or save materials in folders, ensuring it’s easy for you to find the images you need. For example, suppose you’re hiring Residential Glass to install new windows in your home or glass doors in an office building. You can show their team images of the current state of the windows or doors, ensuring they’re aware of any factors that could affect their schedule. Their glass installation experts can review your data from your mobile app. They offer a lifetime warranty on installation and labor costs. They also offer a five-year warranty on the glass they install.

Locate appropriate parts, such as hardware and paint colors.

Whether you’re hiring a contractor or hunting for a matching door handle for your kitchen cabinets, your ability to access photographs of your building through a mobile app ensures you can access your visual images when you need them. Renovations can cause stress, but you can reduce your stress by taking and storing photographs before renovations begin because you’ll have the critical information you need at your fingertips when you’re hiring experts or purchasing supplies.

Demonstrate the quality of construction when work is complete.

Your photographs from before and after the renovations verify the quality of the work. You can use these visual images to verify you’ve taken steps to address structural issues that may have affected your property insurance costs. You’ll also ensure your insurance covers the renovations if your building’s damaged in the future. You’ll also have peace of mind, knowing you can verify the exact condition of the building after renovations. If you need to use a warranty to have work issues addressed, you’ll have a clear visual record of the building’s condition when the work was complete.

Taking photos before and after renovations ensures you have an accurate visual record of the work completed. You can use these images to order materials, hire contractors, address warranty issues, and update information with your insurance company.