Safe Home Remodeling During The COVID-19 Crisis
Dreaming Of Remodeling During Your Stay-At-Home?
There could be things that are driving you crazy about your home right now as you are spending much more time there during the COVID-19 crisis. You may be wondering whether it is safe to remodel at a time like this. The good news is that it is possible to be safe and healthy while practicing social distancing and be part of the solution instead of the problem! Here are some ways that it is possible to remodel even during the COVID-19 crisis to make your life easier.
New Construction and Remodeling During The Coronavirus Outbreak
Doing outdoor projects is safe and healthy as long as your carpentry crew is careful about social distancing. A carpenter who can work solo or a pair of carpenters working on a deck, screen porch, three-season room, or other adition can work safely. The general contractor should carefully schedule trade contractors such as electricians, insulators, drywallers, and flooring installers to minimize contact and only have one of these trade contractors on-site at any given time. This working style is normal under most circumstances and will have minimal impact on the overall schedule of the job.
Completing a room addition where there is a patio door or French door that will remain in-place between the house and the new room makes it relatively easy to keep the work area isolated. There are only a handful of times where the crew will need to enter the home, such as when electrical work needs to get run back to the main panel. View this three-season room to see an example of this.
But what if you're completing a four-season room that opens into the existing house? That is where the specialized training of a company like Degnan Design-Build-Remodel comes into play. As a certified lead-safe renovator, we are skilled at isolating work areas and keeping things clean. We have specialized equipment such as plastic ZipWall construction dust barriers and the BuildClean HEPA filter, which creates negative pressure. Hence we’ll continue our work in an area that is isolated from the rest of the house.
Additionally, we stage our projects so that most of the work is completed outside of the house. This approach minimizes the amount of time that workers are present within the existing structure. A professional remodeling company should already be skilled at cleanliness and confining work areas during the remodeling process. The additional steps needed for health and safety during the COVID-19 crisis is a minimal amount of extra work.
What changes might need to be made compared to standard procedures?
The two areas that require additional consideration during a remodel are painting and flooring. During a room addition, homeowners often choose to have adjacent areas of the home painted or uniform flooring installed throughout the entire area. One way we accomplish this is to move the isolation barrier to other areas of the house while the flooring and painting will be expanding into the existing home.
There is also a new debris hauling service operating in our area that has portable toilets integrated into the framework of the debris container. We have recently hired them for one of our projects. While it is commonplace under normal circumstances for the crew members to use a designated bathroom within your home, during times like this, the isolation becomes critical.
Outdoor living projects such as creating a patio, fire pit, outdoor kitchen, pergola, or gazebo can also be accomplished safely, while protecting your family and the crew. Building a deck and performing landscaping work is also feasible. All of these things are possible during the Coronavirus pandemic. In Wisconsin, home improvements are permitted to take care of critical housing infrastructure in compliance with the safer at home order.
Getting Started On A Remodel Now
The other important thing that can be completed at times like this is planning for a renovation to take place at a future date. The design and estimating process takes several months. Top-rated professional design-build remodelers such as our company have already had a backlog of work that is months long! Now that circumstances have changed, that backlog will grow even larger while jobs slow down or are put on hold temporarily- it’s likely to be a bubble of demand soon! For many people, it will be vital to them to get in line now, starting on their design and selections process working via video chat and having a minimal number of in-person appointments. This will set people up for being ready to proceed with their project as things return to normal and the backlog of work heads for production. Waiting too long could result in several months or even a year's delay compared to what you were prior hoping for.
About Degnan Design-Build-Remodel
Would you like to speak with an expert regarding remodeling now, during Wisconsin's coronavirus stay-at-home order? Give Degnan Design-Build-Remodel a call at (608) 846-5963 or click here to schedule an appointment. We’re experienced in phone and video consultations and have been doing them for years, so you can count on making the most of your time with us. Located in DeForest, Wis., we have been providing remodeling services for homeowners throughout Greater Madison since 1981.