Diary of a renovation — my own tips to what to expect & surviving construction

Construction is just NOT fun. Period. My first-time clients often complain about the noise, dirt, duration and general inconvenience of construction. But guess what? I go thru the same process when I do work on my own house. And it’s not fun for me AT ALL. All the disruption and frustration is nothing personal — it’s a necessary evil to get to that final beautiful end result.

However, there are things you can do to make your life a little easier during the process. So I’ve journaled my own project so you could follow along and maybe learn a thing or two about what to expect and how to survive with your sanity and marriage intact. I’ve divided my own project into 4 segments: Prepping for Construction, Actual Construction Work, Light at the End of the Tunnel and the Final Result. Here goes:

Prep tips:
1. Remove your personal belongings from the work site
I spent 6 hours on the Saturday prior to the job starting removing art from the walls, pushing furniture into the middle of the room, and emptying out closets (laundry room) and vanity tops (master bathroom). 6 freakin hours! By doing this yourself you know where everything is, you have peace of mind that it wont be broken and, most importantly, your crew will show up and get right to work. If you leave this to your tradesmen, you’ll lose half a day to them moving stuff and NOT doing the work you hired them to do..which means the project may run off timeline AND may run over budget. Unfortunately, they are not responsible for anything that is damaged just b/c you didn’t make time to move it yourself.

2. Keep necessities handy
Since we were doing work in the laundry room and master bath, we made sure our Tide and toothbrushes were handy. We also dragged a mirror in and out of the bathroom everyday so we could get ready.

3. Make accommodations for your pets
My 3 little kitties are my babies and their safety and well-being is paramount. You know your pets better than anyone – if they need to be contained in a room with their food and water so they are comfortable and not freaked out by the noise and the people running around, then do it. It is not the crew’s job to care for your animals. Every morning I moved their food from the kitchen to the guest bedroom … including water and kitty litter box. .. then ran around catching all 3 of them (not easy!) .

4. Provide a clean work space
Many people assume there is no reason to clean the house before a contractor comes in. People think: its going to get trashed so why bother. Here’s a hint: provide them with a clean work space and they’ll return it back to you the same way. If they start in a filthy unkempt space, they’ll think that’s the norm and that’s where the bar is set. Even though it’s their job to vacuum or sweep up at the end of the day, a visual cue of your expectations goes a long way.

5. No sleeping in.
Contractors start early…usually 7am. Don’t be answering the door in your pajamas. Be ready, all your shifts/moves taken care of and out of the way and let them get to work.

6. Show them the bathroom
It’s best to personally show the workers which restroom to use in your home. Make sure it’s stocked with lots of toilet paper, hand soap and towels. If you don’t, they’ll pick whatever one is closest to them at the time and be using every bathroom available. If the work is outside or if you prefer for your workers NOT to use your personal powder bath, you must provide them with a porta-potty service.

7. Refreshments make everyone happy!
Avoid having your crew make too many McD stops! Provide coffee in the morning and water, Gatorade, or whatever their drink of choice in an easily accessible cooler for the rest of the day. And if you REALLY want to make them happy, a 1pm hand-held snack is heaven (think of something this doesn’t’ bring on crumbs or sticky fingers…like a bite-size candy bar or licorice, etc). Everyone likes a sugar fix in the afternoon!