Staying at home during a renovation has its advantages. For one, you can monitor what the builders are doing and answer any queries to ensure the process goes according to plan. It also eliminates the cost of having to stay somewhere else and doesn’t invalidate your home insurance, which usually happens when you’re not on site for longer than 30 days.
That said, there are still a few considerations that you need to make as staying at home during a renovation doesn’t come without its challenges. Being mentally prepared will go a long way in ensuring that your stay is comfortable and stress-free. Here’s what you need to know.
Keep Your Kids Safe
With exposed wiring, dangerous machines, tools that can double as weapons, and unstable structures, a renovation site can turn into a kid’s dream and a parent’s nightmare. Be sure to keep your children in a separate room and inform everyone on sight that they should prevent your kids from going where work is being done.
Protect Your Interior
Construction projects are often a messy situation, with paint splatters, dust, dirt and water spills being a common sight. This can severely damage expensive parts of your home, such as your flooring. Consider putting down some heavy duty flooring paper to protect your floors, carpets, and countertops during renovations.
It’s likely that there will also be dust all over the place and no amount of vacuuming, sweeping or cleaning is going to suffice until the project is complete. To prevent dust from getting into other rooms, be sure to keep all doors and windows closed or use plastic sheeting to separate areas.
Manage Your Own Project
On a more positive note, being at home during the renovation means that you can oversee everything that’s happening, effectively making yourself the project manager. This can shave off a fair bit of money from the total cost of the renovation.
Prepare to Sleep Less
Even if work isn’t being done around bedtime, your home might be more exposed to the elements with a lack of walls or doors. Add in the stress of your home being a burglar’s dream, all the considerations and costs that come with the project and sleep won’t be something you’re getting in sufficient quantities.
Consider closing off your bedroom from external lights and sounds, reading before bed instead of looking at a screen, and stocking up on a few sleeping pills to make things easier. On the bright side, all that exhaustion and relief once the project is done will have you sleeping like a baby when everything is complete.
It Might Take Longer Than You Expected
Finally, it’s arguable that no construction project was ever finalized without the occasional hitch or delay. Keep this in mind when planning for your stay during the renovation, as it will inevitably take a few days longer than what the company promised.
Conclusion
Being at home during a renovation may sometimes seem like a nightmare, but it all pays off in the end. The valuable knowledge that you learn from the experience will prove useful in the future.