Renovating your home can be just as frustrating as it is exciting. Although you have plenty to look forward to once construction is done and dusted, the in-between phases can place your household in a state of seemingly endless chaos. From privacy concerns to kids being forced to share bedrooms, and limited functionality in bathrooms or kitchen spaces, there are plenty of things that can negatively affect your home life during any kind of renovation project.
Renovations are usually also accompanied by a greater risk of experiencing damage to your property or any of its contents. Thankfully, there are measures you can take to keep both your home and your family well-protected over the course of your next home renovation project.
Read on to unearth our top tips and tricks for protecting your property and belongings during your next home renovation.
Secure adequate insurance before commencing construction
Of course, the first step to take when looking to protect your home is making sure that you have the necessary insurance in place. Whether you’re looking into securing building or home insurance quotes or are currently in the process of amending your existing policy, you’ll want to take into consideration the increased likelihood of experiencing accidental damage during your renovation process.
Most insurance providers offer accidental damage cover as an addition to their standard home and contents insurance policies. Be sure to ask your provider about this additional cover to ensure that your insurance policy has been correctly amended to accommodate your renovation.
Make sure all your valuables are stored securely
And speaking of insurance and policy add-ons, homeowners are also advised to assess their contents insurance policy. This is just to make sure that all their more valuable items are also covered in the event that they accrue any accidental damage over the course of your home renovation project. Be sure to work out just how much you’d like your valuables to be covered for prior to finalising your policy paperwork.
We understand, however, that it is naturally difficult to put a price on items like family heirlooms. And even if you can ensure that these items are covered by insurance, the last thing you want is for them to accrue any kind of damage during your home renovation process. With that in mind, you should absolutely consider just how you’d like to store your valuables during your renovation timeline.
You should make sure that all valuables like jewellery, technological items, sentimental items, and photo albums or sensitive identity documentation (i.e. passports, birth certificates) are securely stored away from any active construction sites on your property. Consider investing in a sturdy safe to secure these items or perhaps even storing them off-site in a safe deposit box. Remember, however, that not all valuables can be stored in these security boxes.
Cover furnishings in plastic sheeting
There’s inevitably a lot of dust and loose plaster flying around during any kind of home renovation project. If you’re at all concerned about this construction debris invading your home and leaving immovable stains on your furniture, then consider investing in some sturdy plastic sheeting and furniture covers to keep these items well-protected.
You can use furniture covers for your couch, dining table, and other big furniture items, and use larger tarps to cover carpeting or flooring. We recommend taping down tarps or using adhesive coverage to make sure that there are no gaps or folds where dust, plaster or paint can potentially seep through. If you do find any stains or dust build-up in your carpeting, consider using a heavy-duty steam cleaner to try and remove these markings before consulting a carpeting professional to rectify the issue.
And if you have any area rugs, consider rolling them up and putting them in storage rather than having them covered by plastic. That way, you can effectively guarantee they won’t be subject to any paints, plaster, or other materials that could leave stains or markings.
Close off any rooms that don’t need to be accessed
You can save yourself from having to cover everything in plastic by simply closing off any rooms in your home that likely won’t need to be accessed by your contractor and their crew. Consider installing locks on the doors for these rooms as well, just to improve your home security and ensure that these spaces stay private for your family to enjoy. Make sure that you also have a bed or two in all of the rooms in your home that are closed off, just so you and your family can enjoy some quality sleep throughout the renovation process.
These rooms can also be useful for families whenever they feel they may need a break from being in the thick of their home renovation process. It can be difficult feeling like you’re living in a construction site for weeks or even months on end, so having a room in your home that’s relatively untouched by all the hubbub and construction hardware, can be a great benefit for you and your wider household’s mental health and wellbeing.
Use a house wrap to protect your exposed timber frame
It’s common for properties that are currently undergoing renovations to at some point or another, have some big gaping holes in the wall. So another benefit of closing off any rooms in your home that don’t require construction work, is that you can enjoy comfortable interiors that aren’t exposed to the elements and thus, don’t experience any draughtiness.
In all seriousness though, if your home’s timber frame is at all exposed during the renovation process, you can run the risk of the wood material being subjected to moisture. This can then potentially cause rot and impact the structural integrity of your home.
To keep your home’s timber frame as safe as possible, we recommend investing in a house wrap to keep any moisture firmly at bay. If you’re renovating with a building agency, they will likely have already applied house wrap to your construction site. Be sure to double check, however, and request that wrap be applied on the off chance that it hadn’t been applied as soon as any exposed timber was present on-site.
Invest in a reliable home security system
Finally, having sections of your home exposed to the elements raises more than just temperature control concerns. If your home is at all accessible or even visible by street view, then you run the risk of enticing prospective burglars or even just troublemakers looking to enjoy an easy home break-in experience.
Thankfully, installing CCTV cameras and other home security devices like alarm systems, can help reduce the likelihood of your home being targeted by burglars during the renovation process. Be sure to look up different home security systems online and assess their own individual features and benefits in order to find the devices that best suit your home and family.
For example, a hardwired camera system may be difficult to install if your home is currently undergoing large-scale renovations. If you’re staying in your home during the entire renovation process, then consider installing wireless cameras, as you can ensure that you’ll be around enough to keep their batteries charged up. If you’re expecting to stay elsewhere at points during your renovation, then consider using 4G-enabled camera systems or even solar-powered smart cameras to make sure that you can keep eyes on your property from your phone.
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If you can utilise any or all of these methods during your next renovation project, chances are your home and furnishings can get through all the tumult without a scratch.
