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| An additon can interfere with many interior spaces, and distrupt your life while under construction. |
Remodeling
Tips
Living through a remodeling project is not fun. If you
can avoid it, live somewhere else while the major work is being done. Either
way, dust control should be a major part of the set-up for any remodeling
project.
My top 11 tips:
1.
Have a clear, complete design
plan. The only way to get competitive
bids you can rely on is by an apples-to-apples comparison. You must have finishes, fixtures, appliances,
cabinetry, lighting, and budget all defined in order to get accurate bids from a
contractor.
2.
Have a realistic
budget!!!
3.
Who is in charge? Whether you hire a contractor to be the
general contractor or whether you do it yourself, decide who will be the
decision maker when you are unavailable.
You have probably underestimated how much time (and money) can be wasted
when a crew of workers has no direction.
Letting the contractor control your project or letting it “come together
on the fly” and may result in costly mistakes.
Avoid being your own general contractor if you
don’t have a flexible job or if you are a long distance from the home being
remodeled.
4.
Prevent the project area from
spreading to the rest of your space. Use
plastic, tape, plastic, carpet runners, plastic, and fans to keep air moving
from the clean space to the “dirty space” while keeping adjacent areas
clean. And be safe…throw out the plastic
when you are finished. Static
electricity will adhere hazardous material like lead dust to your plastic. Throw it out when you are
done.
5.
Stay three steps ahead of the
contractor and sub-contractors.
6.
Choose all of your fixtures and have
them on site as soon as possible. DO NOT wait until the contractor is asking for
them.
7.
Be patient and don’t panic when
things are not running smoothly or perfectly.
Building construction is only perfect on paper. On the job things nobody anticipated with
always come up. Be ready for them. Learn to go with the flow and not exactly
according to the schedule. You’ve got to be flexible. There is a lot of
balancing and coordinating.
8.
Pick your paint colors way ahead of
schedule and paint test samples to be sure of your choices. Again, DO NOT wait
until the day before the painter is coming to make your final
choices.
9.
If you have a strict budget, stick
to it by not increasing the original scope of the project. In my experience, most projects that go over
budget are due to the homeowner increasing the scope of the project, after the
project starts.
10.
If the scope of your project grows,
the longer your project will take so plan accordingly.
11.Have fun along the way and perhaps a festive drink toast
the progress (or to get you through it!)
Julie Fergus, ASID, is a nationally published interior designer. Her studio
and showroom is located in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Julie's clients are
primarily in the Lakes Region and Mount Washington Valley, however, she will
travel throughout the state and North East.
www.JulieFergus.com |
www.DesignByMail.com
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Bathroom remodels require a staging area outiside
of the the bathromm - plan accordingly |
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| This is the staging area outside the bathroom. |
