Millions of homeowners are spending most of their time within the confines of their own house now that the coronavirus has demonstrated it’s not going to stop spreading anytime soon. For many of these homeowners, the era of social distancing provides the perfect opportunity to embark upon home renovation projects which have been put off for years. While many people are doubtlessly spending their time in lockdown wisely by improving the overall value of their home, others are haphazardly embarking upon dubious renovation projects which could lead to personal injury or a devaluation in your property’s price.
Be careful when embarking upon COVID-19 induced home renovation projects, and read up on these common mistakes if you want to avoid the worst of the accidents which have beset others.
Why do people renovate their homes?
For the most part, people claim to renovate their homes for a wide variety of reasons, most of which have to do with the fact that they soon intend to sell their home or simply want to enjoy a new look. Indeed, according to one poll, wanting a new look is the most commonly cited reason that home renovators give in every region across the country. Now that COVID-19 has induced a nationwide lockdown that sees most of us spending the majority of our days indoors, these reasons are likely joined by newcomers like “I have nothing better to do” or “it’s now or never.” If you’ve been a homeowner putting off a certain renovation because it was too costly or timely to embark upon, this could be a great time to improve the value of your house.
Nevertheless, you must be careful, as home renovation projects carry with them a number of serious risks. First and foremost, you could accidentally injure yourself by embarking upon a difficult construction task that you lack the expertise to properly manage. This is a uniquely bad time to get injured, as our healthcare system is already at max-capacity, and a renovation-related incident that lands you in the hospital could lead you to contract COVID-19 or simply end up denying a hospital bed to someone who has the disease and may need it more than you.In addition to potentially harming yourself, home renovation projects can also actually diminish the value of your house if you don’t know what you’re doing. According to one survey recently forwarded by Fox, about 1 in 10 people who spent some of their lockdown time on a home renovation project actually diminished the condition and value of their home. Those may seem like good odds to some, but embarking haphazardly on a construction project is much more likely to end up in disaster if you lack experience or are going stir-crazy from spending too much time indoors.
By all means, know that investing in some good legacy countertops or a new backyard is likely to lead to long-term value improvements for your property. Just be sure to read up on common home renovation mistakes first to avoid the worst possible outcome. Before very long, you’ll have improved the look and value of your home without having succumbed to injury or accident that you’d otherwise seriously regret.
Stephen Holm is a professional business consultant who has experience starting and building a business from the ground up.