There’s no doubt about it, a home renovation of any size can be stressful and bring huge amounts of considerations and to-do lists that leave you feeling exhausted and exasperated. With some planning and preparation, you can minimize the stress and frustration a home renovation can bring. Read on to find some helpful ways you can ease into your renovation process.
Evaluate and Purge
Assess your belongings and see if there is anything you could live without and is simply taking up space.
Categorize your items into groups:
- donation
- gift
- sell
- keep
This will help to remove any items you are not going to keep on hand prior to your renovation and help your home stay as organized as possible through your renovation .
Decide what items you absolutely can’t live without having on hand. For example, if you are doing a kitchen renovation and there are four people in the home, keep a set of four dish settings for each and no more. Yes, you will have to wash them after each use to be ready for the next time you need the item, but this small inconvenience will provide much needed space during your renovation and help keep the room organized and under control. You can also opt to use disposable dishes and utensils. For a bathroom renovation, it’s handy to keep the items you absolutely need in a storage caddy if you must use another bathroom or to move items of daily use out while renos are being performed.
Find Ways to Store What You Plan to Keep
A spare room or basement is perfect to keep items from the room you’re going to renovate, but if you’re home doesn’t have a suitable room to designate for storing your items, consider renting a portable storage container you can park in your driveway or even an off-site storage unit to keep your belongings safe and out of the way. We recommend a climate-controlled unit to avoid hot or cold weather damage to your belongings. Also, keep items you think you may need at the front of the unit, so you don’t have to rummage through endless boxes and items to find what you’re looking for.
Keep Ample Cleaning Supplies Stocked and On Hand
You will need items like cleaning cloths, paper towels, mops and vacuums. Make sure these items are readily available for anyone who may need them.
Prepare a Safe Place for Pets and Children
Keep little ones as far away from the workplace as possible and make sure they can’t enter the area. Safety gates and childproof door latches are some good considerations.
Plan for Out of Commission Appliances and Amenities
One of the biggest obstacles of a renovation is not having use of everyday appliances and spaces.
If you’re doing a kitchen renovation, consider getting a mini fridge and a counter-top convection oven. If you’re doing a laundry room remodel, make sure you have ample coins on hand for the laundromat if you won’t have access to a washer and dryer. If possible, when doing bathroom renovations, do one bathroom at a time so you have access to showers etc. If this isn’t possible, make arrangements with friends or family to use theirs, or consider joining a gym so you have use of their shower.
Prepare Home Items and Furnishings
Roll up area rugs to avoid excess dust, debris and dirty work boots trampling them.
Have extra bed sheets or plastic to cover furniture to prevent dust and mess.
Cover open shelving with plastic sheets to keep them as dust free as possible.
Keep doors to other rooms closed to seal off the space from dust.
If your spaces don’t have doors to dived them, you can hang plastic dividers to minimize the impact of your renovation in other areas of the home.
Notify Your Neighbours
As your home turns into a construction zone, the level of noise and traffic will inevitably increase. Telling our neighbours to prepare is a thoughtful consideration and helpful measure to reduce everyone’s stress. Additionally, informing your contractor to maintain certain working hours will help respect your community and keep the peace.
Plan for Extra Expenses
There’s always a possibility of unforeseen expenses in a renovation. Planning for this by adding an extra 10-20% of the budget will reduce stress and anxiety if an unforeseen situation occurs and ensures your project keeps moving forward as smoothly and uninterrupted as possible.
Notify Your Home Insurance Company
Home renovations may change your homes replacement value so they will want to assess the details of your reno.
If you’re going to leave your home unoccupied during a renovation for extended time periods, this may change your policy and your plan may need to be revised.
Reduce your risk for liability by repairing any potentially hazardous areas prior to starting renovations in your home.
You can reduce premiums on an older home by repairing its structural integrity with renovations.
You can also increase your homes defence against potential hazards with replacing things like a roof or plumbing for future leaks and drop your premiums more.
If you’re doing major structural renovations, you may need to change your insurance policy to incudes one that covers a building under construction.
You may want to include extra coverage for theft or vandalism to construction materials while your renovation is in progress.
Additionally, check with your contractor to make sure they also have their own insurance in place for liability, so you are protected from claims from workers on site of your home renovation.
