Housewright's Blog

Living through a home improvement project, no matter the size, can be a challenge for both the home owner and the contractor performing the work. As a building contractor, I have seen the highs and the lows that many people suffer through while remodeling their home. For those of us that have already gone through a home improvement project, and those of us who do this professionally, we have learned the headaches that are associated with such an endeavor. For the first timer there are a lot of hard lessons to be learned.

There are a lot of issues to face when you have a contractor performing work on your home, many of the better contractors out there will speak with their clients about these issues before they start work, but, for most people, much of what they are told does not really sink in until they live through it. In a remodeling project there are two groups of people: the home owners, who want the work done with as little impact to their everyday lives as possible, and the trade’s people to whom, no matter how professional and dedicated to their trade they are, the home they are working is just a job site.

Contractors like to start work early – that means that while you are trying get ready for work and get the kids off to school you have a group of people that you really don’t know either standing in your driveway waiting for you to leave or already inside your home, trying to work around you. Almost every home remodeling project involves some demolition that means that when you get home from work there is probably going to be a dumpster sitting in your yard and inside of house there is going to be dirt and dust and a lot of it! As professionals, we try to keep our job sites as clean as possible because we do realize that people have to live there when we go home for the day. Unfortunately, there is only so much that the contractor can do. Most projects are on a fairly tight schedule, just as you didn’t want to wait forever for your project to get started; the contractor’s next scheduled customer has that same expectation. On these time frames, the contractor cannot make the time to perform serious housecleaning at the end of each day. The garbage and debris will be picked up but no matter how hard the contractor tries, dust is almost impossible to completely contain.

For the home owner with young children and house pets, children and animals are curious, we all know that. Curiosity and jobsites do not mix. Construction jobsite are dangerous places, there are piles of debris with nails, screws and busted up lumber, there are power tools setting around and there are trades people roaming around, concentrating on the task at hand who may not realize that the family dog is roaming around too. So now, on top of the large container full of garbage in your front yard and the dirt and dust throughout your home, you have to make arrangements for your children and pets. You sit back and ask yourself, “Why did I ever think that this was a good idea?

Next thing you know, your contractor is telling you that tomorrow when you get home, you will not be able to use your kitchen because tile is being laid and you cannot walk on it until the mortar cures. The stress level rises. It’s not just the home owner that getting stressed, the contractor is too. We realize that you are getting aggravated and just want to get this ordeal over with. This frustrates us, because we don’t want to look like the bad guy, but the building process takes time and there are some things that just cannot be rushed.

My tips to survive having your home remodeled: Talk to your contractor, we have families and pets too, we understand your needs. Your contractor has been through this before and can help you get through it. There will still be frustrations, you will still want to pull your hair out at times, but remember, you and your contractor are on the same team, striving towards the same goal.