6 Areas of Your Home That Need Protection During Remodeling
The purpose of remodeling your home is to make it better than it was before. However, some areas are vulnerable to damage during the home construction process. Whether you intend to tackle the renovation project yourself or hire a contractor to handle the work, there are steps you can take now to protect certain areas of your home.
1. Floors
During a construction project, your floors are vulnerable to dents, scratches, and filth tracked around by shoes. You can avoid the former with protective coverings such as x-paper, and guard against the latter by wearing disposable booties over your shoes, a cheap and effective solution.
2. Air Ducts
Prevent dust from the construction project from getting pulled into the return air ducts by covering them with tape and plastic. Be sure that you turn off the heating and cooling system first, and only turn it back on once the ducts are uncovered. Dust in your air ducts can cover your home’s interior and clog your furnace filter, but damage can result from operating the system while airflow is restricted.
3. Window Screens
It is very easy for the mesh of a window screen to become punctured or torn during a construction project. To protect them, you should remove them completely, label them for identification later, and store them in a safe place where they won’t be at risk for damage. This is one of the first things you should do before beginning a construction project.
4. Bathtubs
The finish on a bathtub is prone to scratching. Repairing a scratch on a bathtub is not an easy task, so it’s much better to prevent the damage from occurring in the first place. You can use a paint-on tub protection product to form a thick, rubbery coating over the tub’s surface before construction begins, and when the project is complete, just peel it away.
5. Corners and Baseboards
Despite your best efforts, it is almost inevitable that you will bump into walls with construction equipment at least once during your project, which can cause corners and baseboards to get banged up. Fortunately, it is a relatively simple matter to tape cardboard over them for protection.
6. Thresholds
If you’re installing a new door, it may come with a plastic threshold protector already in place. If so, leave it where it is until the project is over. Otherwise, you can apply exterior painter’s tape over the threshold to protect it.
Remodeling or renovating your home can be an intense project, and there is always the potential for things to go wrong. Taking steps to protect certain areas of your home can help ensure you end up with something better than when you started.