Living in your home during construction may not be an option if the work is widespread or if there are significant hazards. But when it is an option, some choose to stay at home during active renovations. We understand that avoiding hotel costs, having your possessions accessible, and staying close to schools or work can make life easier. At Habermehl Contracting, we make every effort to ensure you feel comfortable in your home during the renovation process. “Where there’s an inconvenience, we try to minimize it the best we can”, says Dwight Habermehl, CEO of Habermehl Contracting. However, some inconveniences are just unavoidable: there will be noise; there will be people; there will be a mess.
Here are five survival tips for living in a home that is under construction from our team of experienced experts…
- Set up an independent kitchen
If your kitchen, a connected room, or any area en route to the kitchen is under renovation, our Assistant Contractor, Adam Greeley, recommends being prepared. Consider setting up a temporary kitchen in a room that is far from the noise and dust. Equip it with a mini fridge or plug-in cooler for food, stock drinking water, and include helpful kitchen supplies like a hotplate, microwave, or kettle. Equip your survival kitchen according to how long the construction will last. If you want to be extra-organized, consider meal planning so you can stock your kitchen with the right tools and ingredients ahead of time, to avoid trips to your construction-zoned kitchen.
- Utilize dust barriers
At Habermehl Contracting, we respect your home: we always use zippered dust barriers to separate areas under construction from areas that are not. To keep the mess and dust from spreading, ensure your home is equipped with barriers at any exit where dust might escape. This will ensure that the rest of your house’s interior stays tidy when construction becomes messy.
- Have headphones
“Have headphones to block out the noise”, Adam suggests. Headphones or earbuds may be a simple but powerful tool to combat construction noise during renovations. Remember that choosing to live in a house under construction means living amidst temporary chaos. When you do not have control over noise levels, headphones allow you to choose what you are listening to and cancel the background noise.
- Plan for Your Lifestyle
It is important to think ahead about what you will and will not be able to do during construction. For instance, if you work from home, is there a clean dust-free zone in which you can set up your workspace? Can your shower routine be interrupted if the water is turned off for a period? If you spend time on phone calls, is there a room that will be far enough away from the noise? Sometimes there are easy solutions. For instance, if you are binge-watching a new Netflix series, ensure your TV is moved to a comfortable viewing space, either far from the noise or equipped with headphones.
Your project manager can be a great resource to help you plan how to minimize the impact of the project on your lifestyle. But sometimes the interruptions of construction are unavoidable and too inconvenient. If reflecting on your lifestyle leads you to decide against living in a construction zone, consider alternative housing like a hotel, staying with family, or parking an RV on your property.
- Find a Contractor You Can Trust
Hiring a reliable and experienced contracting service, like Habermehl, means that you always have experts looking out for you. Dwight says that “As the contractor, we try to guide you through the renovation process.” Habermehl uses tools like BuilderTrend ™ to make the process straightforward for homeowners. Although we cannot renovate without some noise and dust, we approach each project with consideration for your comfort and peace of mind.
Book a consultation with Habermehl Contracting today and we will make your home renovation as simple and seamless as possible.
- Rachel Habermehl, March 5, 2023