How to Prepare for a Home Renovation

Getting ready for a home renovation can be very exciting. You have probably been looking forward to fixing problems and/or giving your abode a new style or look. Many people wait years to be able to afford the home improvements needed to make their house truly feel like home.

Along with the thrill of the end result comes the drudgery of making it through the day to day processes involved in home repair. Your daily routine will undoubtedly be interrupted, household items may be hard to find, and there is likely to be a fair amount of saw dust and paint fumes in the air.

In order to survive the duration of your home renovation, there are some things you can do to make the entire process tolerable for everyone involved.

Plan Ahead

To ensure that important household items will be accessible during the renovation, give yourself plenty of time before the project starts to be able to clear out the room(s) that will be worked on first. Move frequently needed items into another room. You may even want to set up a makeshift supply area so that you’ll never have to sort through boxes to find something.

Be Clear with the Builders

Talk with your home renovation team’s leader before demolition starts. Make sure that both of you are on the same page regarding the project’s timeline and precisely which areas of the house will be unusable during construction.

Protect Your Furnishings

Because any home renovation comes with a significant amount of dust due to sawing and sanding, it’s crucial to cover your nearby furniture with plastic. Also, if your builder doesn’t provide a plastic covering at the entryway to the construction area, put one up yourself. It will keep dust from travelling throughout the entire house.

Plan for the Unexpected

Anyone who has experienced a home renovation before will tell you that they are never without problems. Even the smoothest renovation will inevitably have some things that just don’t go as planned. Be prepared for late or damaged deliveries, hidden problems that you didn’t know about (mold, termites, asbestos), misunderstandings with your builder and more. As long as you can accept that no project is 100% without mishaps, you will be better able to handle problems as they arise without getting stressed out.

Over Budget

It goes without saying that the above “worst case scenarios” will end up costing more money that you originally budgeted. You’ll get the end result of your dreams if you have enough money to fix things that you weren’t expecting. Don’t start a home renovation project unless you have a solid 15-20% buffer in your budget set aside for the unexpected.

All in all, you will undoubtedly be thrilled with your home’s new look and feel once all of the workers have left and all of the dust has settled. Living in a house while it’s being remodeled definitely comes with a host of challenges; however, good planning will mean that the challenges won’t be insurmountable.