Tips for Living on Site During a Renovation
Before I decided to move out of home, my parents were renovating their entire house (and still are). It has been a huge project and as they have been working through it and are making huge steps, I wanted to reflect on my time living there and some tips that could help you live during a renovation.
If anyone tells you home renovations are easy, they are just straight up lying – there’s nothing easy about them on you or the family. Our lives are busy enough as it is and when you throw in demolition, bank-breaking, power tools and a dust fueled warzone – curse the concrete dust (and RIP my socks!).
Protect everything with sheets
Dust (and in my experience, concrete dust) will be your number one enemy. No matter how hard you try to keep the place clean, dust always manages to find its way onto every surface. To avoid vacuuming, sweeping, and cleaning every minute of the day – save your efforts and cover everything with plastic or bed sheets. You should also keep the doors of rooms not being worked on, closed as much as possible while work is being completed.
Make sure there’s a place for kids to spend time in
Safety is going to be an issue for kids – I remember very clearly the time my brother got a nail through the foot one afternoon. With power tools, exposed wires, unstable structures, and materials lying about, you need to make sure there’s an area for kids to safely spend time in and play while you’re busy with the renovation.
This tip also goes for pets should you need to leave them unsupervised at any point during the day.
Create a storage area for materials and tools
Nobody wants to spend half the day running an obstacle course, stepping, hopping, and jumping over materials and tools left lying around the house. By allocating an area as a dedicated storage room, you’ll save time looking for things or even buying doubles of expensive items while keeping the main living areas tidy. Fitting the storage area with a lock is also important to keep your belongings, tools, and materials secure while renovating.
Not everything goes to plan, expect the unexpected
A renovation that goes exactly to plan with no upsets or disruptions is rare and most people won’t ever encounter. There are so many parts to a reno that it’s almost impossible to cater for everything to expect delays, have contingency plans, and emergency funds to keep the job moving forward.
This particular step I wish someone had warned me about when I was younger as our family reno definitely didn’t go to plan and I struggled with feeling out of place and a lost of control in my home environment. Things have definitely improved but as someone who gets easily stressed by my physical environment having some coping skills to deal with unexpected reno changes would have made a huge difference!
Relish every milestone
Don’t forget to celebrate the wins! No matter how small and insignificant they may seem, you need to take them. Take lots of before and after pics to stay on track and be reminded of your successes so far. You’ll be able to appreciate it more as everything starts to come together and look like an actual living space.