The holidays are fast approaching and that means many homeowners start looking at their old, cluttered kitchens and other tired living spaces wondering what they can do to renovate them. While many homeowners prefer to leave the house during renovations, it’s not always cost-effective to live out of a hotel for an undetermined amount of time—or sometimes possible at all given the circumstances.
As stressful as it may seem, sometimes it’s easiest to stay put during renovations. To help, we’ve put together this list of tips to help when renovating with a full house.
Expect Disruptions to Your Daily Schedule
Because most contractors like to start early in the morning, don’t expect to sleep in. Be sure to ask your contractor for a tentative schedule, but also understand that this schedule will likely change often. Good communication is key when renovating with a full house to ensure that you aren’t caught off-guard by last-minute surprises, such as water being shut off or not being able to cook on your stove.
Make arrangements in advance for meals if you’re having a kitchen renovation. Use an outdoor grill for cooking or prepare homemade frozen meals that you have cooked before the renovation that you can easily reheat in the microwave.
Delays will happen—especially when renovating with a full house of people. Whether it involves supplies not arriving on time, workers calling in sick or something else, most renovations rarely finish on time. Plan for delays and schedule your renovation well enough in advance of important events so you’re not sidestepping workers, rescheduling events, or worse yet, canceling them.
Keeping Family Members and Pets Out of Danger
One of the most difficult things about renovating with a full house is staying out of the way of workers. Although children may be interested in what workers are doing, you should keep them away from the construction zone—especially when contractors are working with hazards like gas, electricity or power tools. Also, children can distract workers and slow down progress dramatically.
Likewise, keep all pets away from the construction area. Confine dogs and cats to areas in your home that are well away from the construction so they don’t cause any disruption or get harmed.
Minimizing Dust and Dirt During Renovation
It’s a given that your home will become dustier and messier than usual when renovating with a full house, but there are things that both you and your contractor can do during the process.
Turn off your HVAC system whenever possible. Your HVAC system circulates air through the house and will distribute construction dust. Obviously, if it’s too hot or too cold outside, you’ll have to have the system on, but try to minimize the amount of time it’s on when contractors are working.
Keep doors to other areas of the house closed.
Ask your contractor to set up a containment zone, usually comprised of sheets of heavy plastic, to help keep construction dust contained in one area.
Also ask your contractor if he uses an air scrubber while working to remove harmful particles from the air. Alternately, you can rent one to keep your interior air cleaner.
Get used to the fact that your home will be dirtier and messier than usual and don’t fret over it. No amount of dusting or vacuuming will completely rid your home of construction debris until the contractors have finished and left the premises.
Look to Doug Ashy for Whatever Help You Need
No matter what you encounter, the staff at Doug Ashy is ready to be your trusted partner for all facets of your home renovation project. No matter how big or how small your project is, we’re here to help.