You might want to look into the stats and various data if you don’t believe home remodeling always carries a safety risk. Do-it-yourself home repair projects in California have seen a sharp increase in accidents in the past decade, from 2000 to 2010. It is preferable to let a home renovation business like White Remodeling handle your San Jose home renovation project for you if you can’t guarantee that you cannot control the construction risks coming your way. The company has 20 years of experience in dealing with home remodels with appropriate safety equipment.
Home Remodeling Hazards
Power Tool Injuries: Power tools are necessary for all home renovation projects to complete them efficiently. However, these tools can be harmful if not handled by experts. If the contractor’s crew doesn’t use a table saw, router, reciprocating saw, screwdriver, nail gun, drill, acetylene torch, or welding machine regularly, they might not be as competent as professional technicians.
The instruments may slip and cut, burn, or even hammer workers’ feet into the floor. A reputable renovation company’s employees rarely confront this issue due to their proven experience.
Electrical Wiring Threats: Safety can be a major issue if your home improvement project calls for rewiring any areas of the building. If your building was constructed in a previous era, being aware of modern wiring guidelines will be handy. For instance, if your house was constructed in the middle of the 20th century, you probably need to be familiar with aluminum wiring. Knowing what to anticipate and how to distinguish between various wiring system types is helpful.
Wiring experts take specific safety measures every time they work on the project site. They understand how to double-check to make sure they have turned off the electricity in the proper area of the house, and they never forget to do so. You should be careful to follow the same safety precautions if you are performing it yourself. When rewiring for your home renovation project, it’s also crucial to exercise caution near damp places.
Exposure to Construction Materials: Construction materials can pose potential risks. There will probably be a lot of sawdust in the air, which you will have to cope with. The unskilled DIY performer won’t consider using a face mask to guard his respiratory system against inhaling these wood particles. Sawdust floating in the air can be harmful to your lungs. The dust may even pose a chemical threat if you are sanding previously varnished wood.
The Need for a Professional Remodeler
In reality, the skilled home renovation contractor’s crew will be wearing all of the safety gear. Goggles are required because, without them, nails from a nail gun, splinters, paint splashes, and other substances might enter the eyes. If the eyes are hurt, the injury could be long-lasting. An expert home remodeler is aware of the risks and plans accordingly.
Protect Your Home during a Remodel
It’s crucial to protect the areas of the house that aren’t being renovated from damage and pollution. Here are some helpful tips for doing it:
Avoid Creating a Larger Mess than Necessary
Protecting the areas of the home that are left alone is one of the most critical responsibilities of any renovation project. However, that’s difficult given the numerous treks back and forth with equipment, supplies, and debris. And then there are the occasionally thrown tools, the muddy boots, the dust clouds, etc., which always tend to mark ugly impressions when falling on a finished surface.
Wrap Window Coverings
You should completely cover any window openings with a plastic material that may come in contact with dust particles. However, rather than removing the window coverings from windows that you must open, wrap them in plastic. Replacing window treatments is a hazardous undertaking.
If you can ever locate a replacement that matches your window sizes should be an added advantage. Widow parts may disappear, metal slats can bend, the fabric may tear or get soiled, and replacing these damaged elements may not be cost-effective. You need to tape plastic to the top of the shell, and then tuck it up behind and underneath it to be suitably protected. Open the window to tape the plastic on the treatment’s back and to the top of the window frame.
Enclose Registers with Furnace Filters
You can keep the dust out of the ductwork and furnace by covering the registers. Covering them in plastic is not a decent idea. The blower motor may be subjected to an excessive load if airflow to and from the furnace gets blocked. Rather, cover the registers with affordable furnace filters.
The filters will keep the air moving while holding the dust in check. Even so, it’s an excellent consideration to turn off the HVAC system entirely before undertaking extremely dusty jobs such as drywall sanding and wall demolition. Be sure to regularly inspect and replace the furnace filter when necessary throughout these unpleasant processes.
Adaptive Friction Dust Barrier
A remarkable approach to prevent dust from spreading to other areas of the house is by constructing a temporary wall made of plastic. In a finished room, follow these instructions to do it without ruining the surfaces:
- Place the bottom plate first where you would like it on the floor.
- Support the top plate with proportionate insulation on it.
- Ask the technician to push a few studs between the top and bottom plates every four to six feet gap. Trim the studs to 3-3/8″ less than the wall’s height. That leaves a 3/8-inches gap to squeeze the insulation and allows for the thickness of the plates.
- To avoid knocking the wall over, install the plastic using a staple gun instead of a hammer and nail.
- To give the plastic a stronger grip, ramp it up at the top.
Create a Wood Chip Path
Removing the mud outside of the house is difficult when renovation work is in progress since there is continuous walking back and forth across a muddy yard by the construction workers without any sign of pavement or grass. One technique to keep the mud away is to lay down temporary plywood pathways, but this approach is not foolproof, as wooden planks may soon sink into the mud and make the surrounding area dirty.
Consider putting down a walkway of wood chips rather than plywood. After finishing your work for the day, you can apply wood chips and scatter them over an unfinished yard. Moreover, you may add another layer of wood chips on top of the pathway that has become muddy.
Shield the Countertops
Even an elegant and pricey countertop will inevitably become a storage shelf or a workbench when placed in a work area. Covering surfaces with cardboard will prevent nicks and scratches. Use fresh cardboard whenever possible, and dust the counter well before settling down. You may then tape the edges to prevent movement of the countertop and block out dirt and debris.
Bathtub Protection
A big, unsightly scrape on a gorgeous bathtub is not a smart way to display a bathroom renovation. Cover a tub with a thick, durable rubber coating to protect it. Products such as this one for tub protection are brushed or rolled on, then removed once the job is through. In most cases, you’ll need at least two coats.
Guard Corners with Cardboards
The finished walls take a beating from the frequent use of tools, tool belts, and construction supplies. Even the most diligent worker will occasionally bump into something. While repairing wall blemishes is simple enough, straightening a corner bead may be a real hassle. Use cardboard strips that have been taped to protect the edges. You can either buy a box of 10 FlexCorners or cut them out of hefty shipping boxes. Make sure the cardboard is at least four feet high, and use painter’s tape to secure it so that it won’t damage the paint when it needs to be removed.
Booties Are Simple and Cheap
Wearing a pair of protective shoe covers will help you avoid tracking dirt throughout the house. When you need to quickly rush to a room in the house with no floor protection in place, it is easier to do this than to take off and put back your boots on. Moreover, booties are inexpensive and easy to purchase in bulk.
Create Pathways Everywhere
It makes sense to protect the floor that connects the workspace to the outside. But keep in mind that you need to protect the less-traveled routes, such as those leading to the bathroom or the area housing the electrical panel. It is simple to roll out a plastic floor cover. Although it doesn’t provide robust protection, it is adequate for the odd visits. Similarly, self-adhesive carpet protection film has a reasonable price per foot. For hardwood flooring, an identical level of protection can be given.
Design a Threshold Protector
All thresholds will ultimately get damaged, but why not delay the wear and tear until the project is complete? Plastic threshold protectors are included with some modern doors. Position them in their respective places until the job is finished. Use tape to cover any prevailing doors that will bear a lot of activities throughout the restoration process. Also, cover the doors that don’t come with a protector. The painter’s tape applied in layers outside will last long.
Conclusion
Safety should always come first, whether you undertake a DIY renovation project or hire a remodeling professional to complete the work for you. Be mindful of the fact that experience teaches precautions and correct methods when choosing who will perform the work. As a beginner, you can try to take precautions with your home renovation remodeling efforts, but there is no replacement for the services of a professional remodeler like us.
