Home renovations are inherently noisy. With hammers hammering, drills drilling and workers scurrying in and out of your space, the noise, hustle and bustle of it all can be overwhelming. During a home reno, your first instinct is probably to find a different place to stay, but, this may not be necessary. In certain situations, staying at home is the best choice. Plus, you get to avoid costs associated with finding temporary accommodation. Here are a few things to consider when deciding whether or not to stay at home during your renovation:
1. Safety
There are different types of home renovations – some safer than others. The safety level of your renovation is a huge factor when deciding whether to stay put or move out for the time being. Major roof remodeling, wood floor refinishing and asbestos or mold removal are examples of projects that definitely require moving due to health and safety concerns. In cases like these, there’s really no decision to make. Always prioritize your health and safety above anything else.
2. Timeline
Before packing your bags and hurrying into a hotel, you want to consider the timeline of your renovation. Some projects can be completed in less than a month, so you’ll be able to have your space to yourself in no time. However, for bigger renovations like kitchen remodels which take over a month to complete, you may want to look into housing options as it can be difficult dealing with the noise and clutter for an extended period of time.
3. Project scale
It’s important to think about the scale of your renovations. Some projects like a complete home remodel, make it practically impossible to live at home while they’re being worked on, while others only place little restrictions on your movement within the home.
4. Access to necessities
Regardless of the scale of your renovation, you have to consider the access you have to necessities such as your bathroom, kitchen or even your home office. As a general rule of thumb, when a home reno restricts access to any part of the home you consider an integral part of your day-to-day routine, it’s probably best to live elsewhere for the time being.
5. Effects on project outcome
Some homeowners choose to stay at home during a renovation to avoid excess costs. However, in some cases, trying to avoid these costs can actually affect the project outcome. Living at home could extend the timeline of your renovation as workers have to adjust their schedules to accommodate your daily routine – and the longer the timeline, the higher your budget. If your presence in the home stops workers from doing their work efficiently, moving out may be a better choice. Your bank account will thank you for it!
6. Personal boundaries
As previously mentioned, renovations come with a lot of noise. Depending on the project, you may have restricted access to various parts of your home. Also, different tradesmen coming in and out of your space could impact your privacy. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you can deal with the impacts of a home reno on your day-to-day life. This may even be the biggest factor to consider.
Deciding where to stay during a home renovation isn’t as cut and dry as it seems. However, if your project has a short timeline, is small in scale and affects small unintegral parts of your home, then it’s okay to live in while renovations occur.
Thinking of renovating your home? Get in touch with us today!
Renovating your kitchen can be exciting – after many months (or years!) of imagining and planning, you’ve decided to move forward with building your dream kitchen. However, even when everything goes smoothly during construction, it can feel like a nightmare when your regular routine is disrupted. Your house is a construction zone, there will be noise and dust, and you won’t have access to all your usual amenities. To help you through this, we’ve made a list of 6 tips to help you survive your kitchen renovation with ease.
Set up a temporary kitchen
While it’s inconvenient to not have access to everything in your kitchen, a lot can be done with just two electric burners. Think stir fries, pastas, breakfast foods, and one-pot dinner recipes. If possible, renovate your kitchen during the summer months so you can use your barbeque, and set up near a sink for easy cleaning if you can. And on those days where you just can’t face cooking a meal in your makeshift kitchen, have easy snacks on hand. Dried fruit, trail mix, and classic peanut butter and jam can be filling!
Buy paper plates and plastic utensils
Altering how you eat can be challenging enough, especially when there are dishes to wash by hand in a limited space. For easy cleanup, you can buy a pack of 100 paper plates for under $6 and a set of 120 plastic forks, knives, and spoons for under $20. And if the thought of throwing out that much waste doesn’t sit right, there are also compostable options that are made from recycled materials to minimize environmental impact.
Create a budget for eating out more often
While you can certainly make do with a makeshift kitchen, it’s understandable if you get sick of stir fries and pastas. Also, it’s nice to sometimes get away from the mess of a renovation. While eating out may not be a regular part of your family budget, it may likely become a bigger portion of your expenses when you don’t have access to a kitchen. So before your renovation even begins, anticipate how many times per week you’ll go out, multiplied by the timeline of the remodel to keep your budget in check.
Protect your valuables from dust
While we do our very best to minimize dust in your home during the renovation process, we can’t eliminate all dust and it can travel through the vents. Be sure to cover up your furniture and other valuable items to keep your home as dust-proof as possible.
Order as much as possible before the job starts
One of the frustrations that many people fear during a remodel is a delay in the timeline. The construction phase of a kitchen renovation takes an average of 6 weeks, sometimes longer depending on the extent of the remodel. Don’t forget the complete timeline – it can take weeks or months to plan and order supplies before construction even starts. Things like faucets, cabinets, handles, and lighting fixtures can take weeks to arrive, so it’s best to have these items on hand once the remodeling begins to minimize delays in construction.
Remember the big picture
While the noise, dust, and inconvenience can be frustrating, just remember that this a very short period of time in the grand scheme of home ownership. The temporary hassles of a kitchen renovation will be a blip on the radar when you look back on those times from your beautiful new kitchen!
If you are ready to remodel your kitchen, or have questions about the kitchen remodel process, schedule a conversation with us today!
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