How To Renovate

EP19 Seven Things You Can Do To Prep For Your Build

• Tash South • Season 1 • Episode 19

Share episode

Send us a text

Living onsite during a reno is tough!

In this episode I chat through 7 things you can do to prepare for your home reno to start onsite - including the dilemma of whether to stay put or decamp during a renovation?

It’s a big decision, because staying could save you money, 
but leaving could save your sanity!

I’m also sharing stories of living through my own renovations in a home-turned-construction site, from falling debris to washing my hair in a bucket! 😂

Join me inside the episode as I go over what you can do to prepare for the effects of your renovation on you daily routine and project momentum.

*******************


Hi I'm your host, Tash South I'm an Interior Designer and Renovation Consultant.
Each episode of How To Renovate is short, but brimming with practical advice to help you manage your renovation project with confidence and success.

Grab some more renovation advice & free resources and become part of the South Place Studio Renovation Community at
https://www.southplacestudio.com/freebies

Everything I teach about renovation falls within my Five Pillar Process for A Successful Renovation, to learn more about the process, head to
https://www.southplacestudio.com/pillars


Or if you want to get social, you can find us here:

Instagram: @southplacestudio

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/south-place-studio

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/southplacestudio

Speaker 1:

Hello everybody, tash here and welcome to episode 19 of how to Renovate. Oh my gosh, we're nearly at episode 20 and I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone. Anyhow, in this episode I want to talk about things you can do to prep for your build. So these are just kind of little practical things you can do to prep for your build. So these are just kind of little practical things you can do to prepare for those builders to turn up on your doorstep, which can in itself be a bit daunting. So I just wanted to give you some kind of prep tips to be ready for your project. So let's get into it. Be ready for your project, so let's get into it.

Speaker 1:

In my five pillar process. The information in this episode falls under pillar four, practical management. Everything I teach about renovations falls into my five pillar process, which you can learn more about at the end of this episode, the end of this episode. Okay, let's get started. So I'm going to cover seven things you can do to help prepare for your build.

Speaker 1:

So number one is decide if you're moving out or if you're going to be living through the works. So living through a renovation project is not really an easy thing to do, and it depends on a lot of factors about whether you'd rather live in the property while it's been renovated or if you'd rather move out. I find that if people have a family, if they have young children, they sometimes prefer just to move out. It's, it's quite a strain on the the family unit, with um workers in and out of the property. They arrive early, they leave late, they leave a mess, and I find that sometimes it just takes that pressure off if the family can relocate somewhere else until the project is finished. And then, of course, the other benefit of that is that the builders then are not held up by people living in the property. They don't have to work around people. They can crack on, they can do whatever they need to do, they can make mess throughout the entire house and just you know it keeps the momentum up, it keeps the speed up if everyone has vacated the property that's been renovated.

Speaker 1:

So, but it also depends on a few other things, like budget, for example, because obviously, if you don't have friends or family to live with for the duration of your build which could be anywhere, up to a year really then you need to pay for a rental or for alternative accommodation, which can be really really expensive I mean, especially in places like London where I live, and rentals are really really crazy. So it's something that if you are moving out, you need to factor into your budget. You need to factor in the size of the property you need to rent while the works are being carried out. So there's a lot to think of here, and making this decision quite early on is quite helpful because it will help to kind of set your mind at ease. Let's say, for example, you're moving out and you know that you're not going to have the extra stress, you're not going to have that extra pressure on your family of having to live through a building site and live on a building site. It just takes the pressure off a bit. But then of course that puts some pressure on the budget and on the financial side of things. So you've got to weigh up the options. You've got to kind of figure out what you are able or what, perhaps, what you're, you aren't able to do, and make your decision around that and what works for you and your family. And then also when you're whether you're moving out or staying in it's. It's an opportunity to kind of um clear the area, do a declutter, arrange storage and you know, packing up some things Just the act of packing things, clearing rooms, gives you the opportunity to kind of declutter and store everything properly so that when you eventually do move back into your new home you will feel organised and calm and sorted, because you had dealt with that at the start of the process. So benefits to both. But it really is such a personal one, this one, so you need to decide what is best for you and your family.

Speaker 1:

I remember when my husband and I were doing our very first renovations, we didn't have the option of moving out and renting somewhere else, so we lived through them and I clearly remember sleeping on a mattress on the living room floor with literally parts of the ceiling crumbling and falling onto the bed at night, and we had to tape up these black refuse sacks to try and catch the debris so it didn't fall on us while we slept at night. I mean, they weren't huge pieces, they were just kind of small renovations. I even remember one time I was doing some things on site and back in the day when my husband and I used to do a lot of the work ourselves. So I was working on the site during the day. And that evening I had a friend's hen party to go to and I didn't have anywhere to wash my hair. And I remember washing my hair in one of those builder's buckets to get ready for this hen party that I needed to go to because our bathroom had been out of order for a while and usually we've been using the gym, but that day I didn't have time to go to the gym.

Speaker 1:

So I have all these crazy stories about living through renovation projects and it is not easy. And this is all before. We had kids, so it was kind of doable, but now, with two young children, I don't think I would ever live through a renovation project if I could help it. So do what's right for you and your family, do what's right for your stage of life, but it's not an easy thing to do.

Speaker 1:

So, moving on to number two, so the second thing you can do is take photos of the current conditions of your property before the renovation start. So this is really helpful because it just kind of keeps a record of what things were like before, so you can have this amazing before and after photos, photos. But also it's just um, it's good for kind of any kind of records, um, you need to keep for insurances, for party wall agreements, for anything like that where you might need photographic evidence. So take condition, um, take photos of all the conditions of of all the rooms. If there are existing cracks, if, um, there are no cracks, just make sure you cover each room. So take a picture of each wall. If there are fireplaces, take a picture of the ceilings, coving. I mean, even if you never use these photos again, you'll be surprised how many times you need to refer back to photos. And also during the process. Take loads of pictures during as well, because those you might need to refer back to as you get further down in the process, or maybe a few years later. You're trying to remember what was put where and how. Then those are really useful to refer back to. So do take loads of photos.

Speaker 1:

Also this is quite a big one, I've fallen short here lots of times but clearly label everything you want to keep in the home, because if it's things like light fixtures and fittings that you can't quite get down yourself before the builders start fireplaces sometimes contractors have ripped out fireplaces from homes because they didn't know that the client wanted to keep them. So just clearly label everything that you want to keep, whether it's cabinetry, fireplaces, any kind of fixed mirrors or anything like that that you think might be at risk of being ripped out during the demo stage. Clearly label them on site. So obviously you would have probably told the contractor, given them a list of what you want to keep, but that message might not have gone through to the actual people doing the demo on site. So label on site everything that you want to be kept in the property. And then, along the same lines is to protect things that you want to keep in the property. So if there's anything that's not going to be ripped out or you want to retain any kind of flooring, like perhaps some original Victorian hall tiles or anything like that, just make sure the contractor knows not to take them out and ask them to protect those surfaces. Or you can put something down yourself that's got quite steadily fixed down with heavy duty tape so that it's not moving about and tripping people up. So just make sure everything's labelled, photographed, protected, and make sure that any kind of valuable items are clearly labelled or can't be moved from the property somehow. So all of these things just really practical things you can do before those builders turn up on your doorstep.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so the next one, number three. So this is if you've actually chosen to stay in the property, so perhaps you've got a big enough home where you can kind of seal off part of it whilst the other part is renovated and then kind of swap over at some stage. So if you're doing this, just make sure that you set up a plan with your contractor before they begin a designated kitchen area, a designated bathroom area, somewhere that's properly sealed off, so that you can live your lives and have your little space in the house whilst the renovations are going on elsewhere. It's really good to get this agreed with a contractor from the start so that you can get that little pod for yourselves ready. You can move anything in there that's valuable or that needs to be protected so that they can get on with what they need to do outside of that area and just kind of crack on with that. And when you're ready, when the other part's ready, you can move into that and maybe just swap over if that part needs renovating as well that you were occupying. So just make sure you've got your little setup it just. It makes such a difference to be able to come home from work or kids come home from school and you do have a little area, little pod that still feels like home, just to maintain that calm and that kind of regularity of life whilst the stressful renovation process goes on.

Speaker 1:

Moving on to number four, which is to review safety procedures. So this is actually really important, unless people don't remember to do this, but if you have any kind of insurances or, um, you agreed safety procedures with the contractor, just make sure that everything is outlined, um, that they've put notices up in the property. Sometimes, um, you need to have notices up on the door or the wall. Um, it will be items like hard hats should be worn and safety shoes should be worn and kind of how people move through the property. So just make sure that all those safety items are kind of nicely checked off before the contractors start.

Speaker 1:

And then number five is to establish access. So this is quite an important one. Especially here in London there's a lot of terrace houses which are kind of long rows of houses with no gaps in between. So access can sometimes be a real issue, and this is where also it becomes harder to stay in the property because contractors are having to move everything they need for the entire renovation through the front door, through the actual home itself. So establish access alongside the contractor, have an agreed way of kind of entering the site and exiting the site and if it's got anything to do with your neighbour's properties for example, if they need to go around the side onto some neighbour's land, onto a neighbour's path so make sure that you've spoken to your neighbor about that, that they know what's happening. You've got an agreed um document or agreement or it's in your party wall agreement that um, any shared access or any land that belongs to them can actually be used as access. So just make sure all of that's in order before you begin, because it can be a major headache if your neighbour's not happy with you walking on the land or the builders walking on their land or using their access. So just make sure that's all set up from the start and if you have your own access, just make sure that the contractor knows exactly where that is and that's how they need to get everything in and out of the site.

Speaker 1:

Another thing on this is to do with access is to confirm the plan for the waste removal. I find that waste removal can be quite a big deal because it's become more and more expensive to not only remove the waste from sites so that would be skips or any kind of um trucks coming to collect the the waste from the site but also the disposal of it. It's becoming trickier and trickier and only certain places to go where they can actually dispose of the waste from the demo. So make sure that there's a plan for the waste removal. Usually if it's a big project, the contractor deals with it, with skips and licenses and so on. But maybe if your project falls in between somewhere, just make sure that your contractor has first of all allocated in their costing, in their quote for waste removal and they're not just going to leave everything on site for you to get rid of at your expense that they've done that and then also that with the access that they can actually get that waste easily off of site and away to where it needs to go.

Speaker 1:

Okay, moving on to number six, which is communicate with your neighbours. So dealing with neighbours when you're doing a renovation project can be such a tricky, tricky one I'm going to do a separate episode just on this. But before you start your building work you must communicate with your neighbours and that could be in various ways. It could be in person or by notes, by email, by text message, whatever it is. But communicate with your neighbours as much as you can. Let them know when you're starting way in advance so they can prepare, they can know there's noise coming, there's disruption coming, and they can perhaps arrange their schedules and their lives around that. Let them know the working hours so each local authority will have its own working hours for noisy works. So look into that, find out what they are. Write to your neighbours, tell them what they are. Tell your contractors that they must stick to those hours, otherwise you might you might very likely upset the neighbours. I've definitely been in situations before where the contractors have even gone over by half an hour or 15 minutes and the neighbours it's really upset the neighbours. So it's really your job to just make sure all of that communication happens.

Speaker 1:

It can be a tricky one. Building so close to people, especially after what might have been a tricky planning application process. It can be quite stressful and quite upsetting. So I would say try and keep your neighbours on side as much as you can, try and communicate wherever you can, and try and do it in advance. So do it in this prep stage, but then also do it throughout, because there'll be noisy days, there'll be less noisy days and if you can just kind of communicate with that, with your neighbours and it's difficult because not only are you probably working your full-time job but you're also managing a renovation process and then to remember to constantly update the neighbours on what might be happening on site, it can be easily forgotten. So it's one of those things to just try and check in every now and then just make sure that you're, you're doing that and you are, you are communicating with your neighbours so that you don't, you know, get their nose out of joint when, um, when it's noisy or when the contractors are maybe not behaving as they should be. So let's move on, okay? So we're on to number seven, which is stay available.

Speaker 1:

So this is the last one for this episode and it really just is about communication. So at the start, before you start, um, before you start your building, make sure that you're available. So, especially in those couple of weeks, um, before the builders actually move in, make sure that you're available. Make sure you've got some time set up if you need to take your contractor's calls, if you need to talk to neighbours, just make sure that you're there and available for that set up time, because that can be quite crucial for how your project sets off. So it's good to communicate with everybody. It's good to make sure that the builder has what they need to start the project off on a good foot.

Speaker 1:

So just make sure you're available and make sure that there's a way of communication as well. So have an agreed way of communicating with your team. I like to. In recent years, I've done a WhatsApp group and I will put everyone involved in the project on the WhatsApp group right from the start. So that would be the architect, the contractor, all the owners of the property and myself as well, and anything to do with the project will be put onto the WhatsApp group so that everyone's aware of what's happening at any one point. So that's a really great way of saying there's this group here. I'm always available on it. If there's anything urgent you need to get in touch with me about, you can call me, you can message this group. I will always be checking it. So it just sets the kind of sets the standard as you go forward that, um, you're available, you're on it, you know what you want and you're ready to get going. So I hope that you enjoyed this episode. Um, there's quite a lot there and um, but I know that if you do these things it will help you just feel prepared, be prepared for those builders to come and invade your home. So, um, I hope you enjoyed it. Please go and subscribe and like the episode on the podcast if you enjoyed it and it was helpful to you. It just helps other people find us as well. Have a great week, everyone, and I'll see you in the next one. Bye for now.

Speaker 1:

For more information on my five pillar process for successful renovation, you can go directly to southplacestudiocom forward slash pillars, where you'll find an introduction to the process, which covers each of the pillars and what they cover. We also have a number of other free renovation resources. Go now to southplacestudiocom forward slash freebies. I have created some amazing freebies for you there. There is one on the process, like we just said. There is one on planning permission. There is one on kitchen design. There is another one on lighting planning. Go and check those out. There's so much free information there to help you with your renovation.