Renovating your home can be exciting, but it’s not always going to go as smoothly as you would prefer. It’s pretty clear that in life, unexpected issues arise, and unfortunately sometimes they come knocking when you’re midway through trying to extend or improve your home.
Sometimes, you can work through such issues and plan around them, like switching out your contractor and taking a prior provider to small claims court if they don’t make good on your contract. However, some issues may require you to pause renovating entirely until another issue is experienced.
Knowing when to take that step back can help limit those bigger problems down the road and keep your project from veering into dangerous or costly outcomes, even more than you had planned for.
A few signs are worth noting to help you decide when it’s time to pause renovations and reassess the situation. Here’s what to watch out for:
Structural Damage
If you start pulling up floors or opening walls and notice serious structural issues, that’s a sign to pause and wait until you can reinforce the house before you continue. Be thankful you found the issue now, and evacuate your family from the household as quickly as you can. That might include sagging beams, deep cracks, or any signs that a part of your house isn’t as stable as it should be.
Renovating on top of a potentially dangerous problem can lead to bigger safety risks and higher repair costs. This is when calling in a structural engineer or professional contractor is pretty mcu non-negotiable, as they can help you understand what needs fixing before you move forward. The renovation might get more costly, but you’ll be able to fix the shell before you focus on the trimmings.
Signs Of Pests
Sometimes, renovations can uncover signs of pests, like termite damage or rodent droppings, and in those cases it’s important to halt and call pest control. Continuing construction when there’s an active infestation can worsen the ifnestation, or it can lead to direct danger. Termites, for instance, can affect the structural integrity of wood, leading to a situation we laid out in the first tip of this post. Buzzing could make you uncover a wasp or hornet’s nest behind a wall, and if you’re not in a full suit, that could be a very painful mistake. Call the professionals if you’re at all concerned.
Heavy Weather Or Storms
If there’s a forecast for heavy rain, storms, or extreme weather, it’s smart to pause renovation work and try to cover the exposed ceilings if there are any. Obviously, open structures or half-completed projects can be vulnerable to water damage or other weather-related problems (snow, sleet, heavy wind) that might ruin materials or your home itself. Covering up exposed areas and waiting for the weather to pass might prolong your project, but at least you won’t have a flooded household to deal with that makes you feel annoyed you didn’t plan this project more capably.
With this advice, we hope you can learn to pause your renovations as and when you need it, but most of all stay safe in the midst of your work.
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HEY! Thanks for dropping by. xo KB