Preparing Yourself and Your House to Survive a Renovation
Whether you have lived in your house for a while or have just moved into a fixer-upper, deciding on an upgrade to make it into your dream home can be exciting and rewarding. Renovating your home gives you the opportunity to remodel it to suit your needs. Even redoing a bathroom or upgrading your kitchen can transform your home completely. But what about the storage of your belongings during renovation?
Renovating is a wonderful opportunity to change the look of your home by transforming it into something that is exactly what you want. The path to achieving your perfect home will rarely be without speedbumps though. But there are ways of surviving a home renovation and coming out at the other end in one piece!
- Decide on an outline of what work you need to do. This will include consulting a designer or an architect for plans and sketches for your contractor to follow. This will also include any planning permission and permits you may need from the local authorities. You want these permits in place before you hire a team and work on a project timeline.
- While you wait for the necessary permits to be given start looking out for your finishes like tiles, flooring, and paint colours.
- Set your budget. Remember to include the costs for permits, building materials, labour costs, and finishes. Add about 10% to this for unexpected costs so that you are covered for any extra work that needs to be done. If you are renovating an old house you are more likely to run into problems due to the age of the wiring, plumbing, roofing, etc.
- Start looking for your contractors and check out their references. This is an important step as the contractor will make or break your reno. Don’t always go for the cheapest quote, but rather base your choice on the experience the contractor has, and how long they have been in business.
- Agree with your contractor on the payment schedule. This is really important as disagreements about money can derail your project and cause problems during the build. Rather work with someone you are comfortable dealing with, so talk about money upfront.
- If there are multiple contractors it is imperative to make sure that everyone concerned knows who is responsible for what, and how long each of their projects will take. If there is a disagreement down the road, each contractor will know whose responsibility it is instead of shrugging their shoulders and blaming the next one.
- Work on your timeline. Decide on a starting date, and when you wish to have it completed. Consult with your contractors to ensure that your timeline is realistic. This needs to be a bit flexible as unexpected issues will definitely crop up. But a timeline is important as it also helps you to stay within your budget.
- Get quotes for building materials. You can shop around yourself, but if you have a project manager they may help you with this
Once you have planned your renovation project and you have a timeline in place, you need to begin preparing your home for the renovations.
- You may choose to move out of your home to avoid the noise, dust, and general mayhem of a renovation, but if it only involves a room or two, you could move into a part of the house that will not be affected. If your kitchen is being remodeled, set up a makeshift kitchen in another part of the house if possible.
- Bear in mind that a renovation is a dusty business and that builders’ dust gets into every nook and cranny. Use drop sheets to close off the area where the builders are busy.
- You will need to pack up and store some of your smaller belongings and furniture items. Bear in mind that whatever is left in your home could get damaged if it is left in the path of the contractors. Besides, builders operate more efficiently if they have space to work in without dodging items of your furniture.
- This is where hiring a self storage unit for the duration of your renovation or the build would solve the problem of what to do with your belongings. They would be out of harm’s way. Also with so many different contractors that you may not be familiar with in and out of your home, there is a danger of your items going missing. So rather put them in a secure self storage unit during the renovation process than risk the chance of something precious going missing.
Living through a renovation project not only takes organisation and the discipline of sticking to a budget, dealing with unexpected hiccups such as replacing old electrical wiring, and dealing with contractors, but it also requires that mentally you deal with the disruption in your life, the lack of privacy when the contractors seem around every corner, and the mess and dust!
It is important to remember that in a few months, you will have your dream home. So try and have fun with this, and keep in mind that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and you will soon have your dream home.
Why Rent a Self Storage Unit from Stop&Store During Renovation
Once you have decided on renting a self storage unit for the short term while carrying out your renovations, here are some very good reasons to rent one from our storage facility.
- Our security is top-notch, with monitored CCTV, intruder alarms, fully fenced, and strict access control at the gate.
- We have storage units in a variety of sizes, so whether you need to store a few boxes from the room you are working on, or the entire contents of your house because you needed to vacate your house during the renovations, you will find a unit to suit you.
- Our storage units are easily accessible for loading and offloading, and we even have a trolley to make your job easier.
- Our state-of-the-art booking system is easy to use. Book and pay, and once we have received your payment, you can access your unit.
- We offer discounts for certain sized self storage units, so please check our website for these.
- We have reviews from past clients for your information. Please have a look at these on our website.
- Please contact us on Tel: 01329 556174