Remodeling your home should be both fun and exciting, but sometimes the vision of a remodel differs from the reality of tearing down and rebuilding parts of your property. Have fun with your renovation by knowing what’s in store for you during the process. When you know what to expect, you can put aside your anxiety and enjoy watching the transformation.
How Remodeling Affects Living Space
One aspect of remodeling that might surprise homeowners is the amount of dust that will cover your space. Even with protective tools, a fine layer of dust will likely cover places in your home during the remodel. Here a few ways to combat this issue:
- Close off the area being remodeled with a temporary compression-fit wall.
- Run air handlers. These filtering systems pull dust away from the part of your house not being worked on.
- Use alternative heat sources rather than the furnace. Blocking the warm-air returns in that part of the home can also be effective, but an HVAC company should be consulted first.
Along with dust, be prepared for the noise of construction. There will be whining saws, loud sanders, popping nail guns, and thundering compressors. If you work from home, consider an alternative schedule during the construction or retain another temporary place to telecommute.
How Remodeling Affects Your Mind
Expect days of immense joy where everything planned gets done on time without any hiccups. Expect just as often that the opposite will happen. Remodeling takes a great deal of patience. It can be exhilarating when the wall you hate finally comes down, but the process of installing the new hardwood floors may seem like it’s taking forever. Take a breath and know that each change is a step toward a beautiful remodel you’ve been waiting for.
How to Prepare Your Space and Your Head
Be proactive once the crew arrives by making sure any electronics that may be affected by dust are put away far away from work areas. Consider keeping a set of earplugs in all the rooms adjacent to the construction work. They won’t block out all the noise, but they can dull the sounds when you have to be in your home during the workday.
Be prepared to make decisions. Probably, you feel all your decisions are made by the time the remodel starts, but there’s always a question about how high to place an outlet or whether the cabinet hardware should be matte or polished silver. These should be fun choices, as long as you’re ready to make them.
As with any major project, there are bound to be big surprises – some not so pleasant. Sheetrock used under flooring, asbestos in the basement, jerry-rigged wiring; anything is possible when your contractor starts construction. Once you know to anticipate what you can’t predict, it might be less shocking for you and your pocketbook.
The company you work with can prepare you for the ups and downs of the process. A remodel can be less stressful and more fun once you know what to expect. Contact RH Homes to give you more information on what to expect in your renovation project.
