Even the simplest home renovation project can quickly devolve into chaos if you don’t take the time to plan some simple points in advance. With proper planning, it’s as simple as marking items off a checklist. If you want to minimize the level of disorder in the whole process, here are some important things to consider that might not have crossed your mind initially. This list will look different from one renovation project to another of course, but it should work as a general guideline.
Get in Touch with Contractors as Early as Possible
If you want to get the job done properly and work with the best contractors on the market, you will need to start searching for them and contacting them as early as possible. Most of your best options will usually be booked for weeks ahead, sometimes even months. Ensuring that you will get a reliable contractor for every part of the project will take a while. It will be even more challenging to coordinate a more complicated renovation job to ensure that everyone is available at the same time. Ideally, you should start this part of your planning months before the actual renovation itself.
Sort Out Temporary Storage and Accommodations
You might need to move out, or temporarily store your belongings somewhere else until the job is done. Get in touch with a hotel and a self-storage facility as early as possible if you can’t rely on any personal connections for this. In fact, self-storage is probably the better option even if you do have the opportunity to store your items at a friend or relative’s house. Most self-storage facilities can offer you insurance options if you ask them, which is not a bad idea if you’re planning to store a large number of valuables.
Give Your Neighbors a Heads-up
If you’re going to be doing a lot of noisy work, you should give your neighbors an advance warning as early as possible. This can give them the opportunity to take a few days off and spend some time away from the building. You never know, maybe they’d been planning a vacation over the next few weeks anyway, and you’re giving them the boost they needed to finalize their decision about the exact date. At the very least, this will show that you’re a considerate neighbor, which will go a long way towards building long-term trust with the people you live around.
As we mentioned above, you will often need to amend that list with various points unique to your situation. But taking care of the above should be a priority in most home renovation projects, especially larger ones that span several weeks or more. You will not be able to prevent every single potential problem that you’ll encounter here, but you can still do a lot to minimize any negative impact this project will have on your life, and those of people around you. This is particularly true if you live in an apartment or other tightly populated area.
