Remodeling your house is a big undertaking. You spend months looking forward to it. You’ve imagined yourself in your renovated home, you’ve done months and months of research. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone as planned. The world is currently dealing with COVID-19; a pandemic that has brought the world to a standstill.
Many homeowners like you are facing the same dilemma. Should we still go ahead with the remodeling? The answer is not a simple one. Thankfully, most states consider construction as an “essential sector”. Hence, if you do wish to go ahead with remodeling your house — you can. However, it is best if you check your state laws as well as your local district/county laws to ensure you are in the right.
As a homeowner, you have to do your due diligence. There are some questions that you should ask your remodeler during this COVID-19 period. The situation is changing rapidly. Any precaution that you take will help keep you and your family safe. Here are some critical questions that you must ask your remodeler.
What Coronavirus Precautions Are They Taking?
We’ve reached this stage where every professional should be aware of the necessary safety precautions regarding COVID-19. One has to ensure that the remodeler is maintaining prescribed security guidelines. After all, the health of your family and your community is at stake. To ensure that they are, you should ask them the following questions:
- How are you assessing your contractors’/sub-contractor’s health?
- Has anyone on your crew—or anyone with whom they’re in close contact—experienced flu-like symptoms in the past 14 days?
- How are you keeping your service trucks, equipment, and supplies sanitized?
- What do you expect from your technicians in terms of handwashing, gloves, eye protection, and masks?
- What special adjustments are you asking homeowners to make?
You must be as well-informed as possible. By asking the questions listed above, you are ensuring a thorough check with your contractor. These questions tackle all the vital safety parameters that you need to be aware of. It’s not all on the contractor. As a homeowner; you too need to make some arrangements.
For instance, you will need to ensure that there is a designated area for workers to sanitize their hands before and after a job. This can only happen once you understand the scalability and for this, you need to ask them what is expected of you, as a homeowner. Before you proceed, you must understand how to do all aspects of a remodeling project as safely as possible
How to Complete a Design Layout during Covid-19?
Remodeling is not just about construction. Homeowners need to sit with the remodeler and discuss various design options as well as layout instructions. The answer will give you a good idea about the way forward.
The design process should be done remotely. The crucial point here is to minimize incidents of contact. If your remodeler has a setup that allows for a remote design discussion, they should be good to go for the next steps.
What is the Timeline You Can Expect for the Completion of Your Project?
Whether you are remodeling your kitchen, bathroom or your entire home — remodeling your house is a time consuming process. Even under normal circumstances, there are unexpected delays. In situations as extreme as the current COVID-19 crisis — you need to be especially aware of the timeline for safety reasons.
Not only will it help you set realistic expectations but it will also help you analyze the readiness of your remodeler. Of course, there can still be delays. However, this will help you be ready for them and other unexpected circumstances that may come up due to the ongoing pandemic.
Does Your Remodeler Have a Valid License?
Even though you should check these even under normal circumstances, it is even more crucial to do so at times like these. An unlicensed contractor is more likely to mess up the job. Not only will this result in a delayed remodel but you will also have to bring someone else in to fix the situation.
When social distancing is the name of the game, it is not an ideal scenario to expose your family to an additional person. This situation is avoidable. All you have to do is ensure that you’re working with licensed professionals during the remodeling phase. Apart from this, a licensed remodeler is likely to follow all safety protocols and that should be a topmost priority for you.
Why Should You Ask These Questions?
COVID-19 has brought a new wave of uncertainty. The ever-changing situation has put us on the backfoot. The most important thing right now is to keep ourselves as safe as possible. The only way to do that is to be well-informed. The government and other regulatory bodies have released specific guidelines that are to be followed by everyone.
During remodeling, you are exposing your house to many external elements. Hence, you need to be as safe as possible. Certain things are out of your control. By asking these questions to your remodeler, you are ensuring that you are safe. A responsible remodeler will have the answers to these questions. They will follow all the prescribed safety regulations to keep their team and you safe during the whole process.
In Conclusion
These are tough times for everyone. If you choose to remodel your house, you should do so with all the safety precautions in mind. The most effective way to do so is to ensure that you work with a safe and responsible remodeler. By asking these questions, you can get an idea about the safety measures and professional behavior of the remodeler. After you ask these questions and receive satisfactory answers; the only thing you will have to be worried about is what color to choose for your swanky new kitchen countertop…and not your safety.
