2 ways to prevent disruptions and delays during your renovation project
If you want to minimise the risk of your renovation project being negatively affected by delays and disruptions, you should keep the following advice in mind.
1. Test for asbestos at least a month before your renovation
If the property that you will be renovating was built during the early to late 20th century, it is possible that some parts of it (such as the cement in the foundation or the tiles in the ceiling) may feature a carcinogenic material called asbestos.
If you wait until you come across some suspicious-looking building materials during the renovation work before testing for the presence of asbestos in the property, it is very likely that the project will be disrupted and it will end up taking you much longer to complete the renovation.
The reason for this is that if halfway through the project you send off some samples to an asbestos testing lab, and the lab results confirm the presence of this substance, you will need to immediately stop performing work inside the house. Ideally, you will not be able to continue with your project until a specialist has removed all the materials within the property that are believed to be made from asbestos. This process could potentially take several weeks.
Conversely, if you test the house materials for the presence of asbestos at least a month before you plan to start renovating it, you will have plenty of time to handle the removal of this substance, if it turns out that it is present in the property. This will ensure that this material does not have an impact on the speed with which you carry out the renovation work.
2. Set up storage and refuse areas for your building materials and waste
Before your renovation team begin working in the house, you should set up a designated storage area (in a secure, sheltered part of the property) for all of your building materials, as well as a refuse area (with a generously-sized bin) for the construction waste that your renovation work will generate.
Putting all of your building materials into a sheltered, safe area will reduce the risk of them being stolen, misplaced or damaged by being exposed to humidity, wind or rain. This, in turn, will ensure that the renovation work does not grind to a halt because you don't have the items you need to carry out specific renovation tasks.
Likewise, setting up a refuse area for all of the construction waste will keep your work areas tidy and safe, as your team members will have somewhere to put the building refuse that they discard whilst working. This will minimise the risk of the project being disrupted because some of your team members have been injured as a result of stepping on discarded pieces of hazardous refuse (like shards of broken glass or rust-covered nails).