Ideas to Create a Safer Space During Your Home Renovation

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Renovating can be exciting. It can also be hazardous, messy and disruptive. To make sure that you and your clan get through the renovation process easily, it is critical that you keep the project manageable and the mess as contained as possible.

Block Climbing Hazards

If you are using ladders, lock them up as well. If your project includes scaffolding, try not to leave it up for an overnight unless you can block it in with vehicles. Another option that can make renovating a lot easier is to schedule a campout at another location. Ask friends, aunts and uncles, or Grandma and Grandpa if they can take the kids while you are working up high or with sharp things. It takes just one water break with these hazards unattended to have terrible results.

Get a Locking Toolbox

Curious little fingers can lead to big hazards if tools are left out. Get a locking box and close it up each night. Be ready to close it up if you stop for pizza and choose to have a beer, too. Alcohol and tools are a bad combo. If anyone on your crew chooses to drink, either get them to knock off for the day or close up the project until tomorrow.

Always Work Small

If you need to tear out plaster or replace all the flooring in a house, it can be really tempting to tear everything up and get it done as quickly as possible. However, if you are living in space, the stress level of living in a torn up house will get old, fast. Do your best to address flooring before you move in, or when the weather allows you to leave the doors and windows open all day. Mask the space where you are taking up the old carpet and do your best to cut, roll and carry away the old sections with as little ripping as possible. Taking up carpet and sanding wood floors create a lot of dust. If you have to live in the space you are renovating, block off each room and work small. It will take longer, but it will be much tidier and safer.

Never Work Blind

Never stick something sharp through a hole in the wall unless you know what is back there. This includes saws, screwdrivers, and knives. If you need to tear out a wall, work small. To safely remove sheetrock with as little dust as possible, use a trim router with a shop vac to keep the dust down. If you do not have a trim router;

• mark the studs with your stud finder and mark the space where the sheetrock has to come out

• use a utility knife to score the cut line, or just cut through the top layer of paper

• use a hammer to bust the sheetrock inside the cut lines between the studs

Most studs are on 16 inch centers per code. If you can start the breaking between the studs, the sheetrock should come out in big chunks. Wear goggles and gloves. Use a box to load up the chunks of sheetrock and sweep often. Get the big stuff out before you start removing screws and nails.

Hang Plastic Sheeting

Hang sheeting to contain dust and make sure you use sticky mats as well at the plastic opening to reduce airborne dust and reduce the amount of vacuuming you have to do. Sheetrock dust may seem innocuous, but it is hard on your HVAC system and can really chew up the carpet you were hoping to save.

If you need to open windows for airflow;

• remove and label screens

• wrap any and all window treatments you want to save

• close and lock everything at night or at the end of the project

To save yourself a lot of trouble, buy heavy duty sheeting that will be easy to lay down. Lightweight plastic can be a tangling hazard and may lead to a fall, especially if you are working off a ladder or sheetrock stilts.

Final Tip

While the walls are open, take photos of electrical, phone, water and gas lines to make sure that you know what is back there before you choose to open it up again. If need be, give the photos to the new owner when you sell.