Lifting the lid on what it's like renovating a house during Covid 19

RenovatingTips

2 Apr

We asked our Instagram community “How has Covid 19 effected your renovation?” and the response was eye-opening.

It’s lifted the lid on what it’s really like renovating a house (which is challenging at the best of times) but throw into the mix the Covid 19 crisis and you start to see how it’s effecting absolutely every single industry.

Homes all across the UK that are mid-renovation have had to freeze all work – some without heating, minimal electrics, bare concrete floors, no comfort.

At a time when we need the comforts of home most to stay safe and cosy, it was really tough to read these messages coming in from you guys who are in that really tricky stage of no kitchen and rubble around you, and feeling like you have no control over your house.

We’re sharing messages below – to show other renovators in the same position – you’re not alone.

We’re experiencing issues too. Our bedroom renovation is now on hold. There’s no heating or electrics in the room and we need a floorer to put the floor down before we can order any furniture and get it liveable. We’re using this time to plan our budgets for the room, iron out the design ideas, window shop for items and get woodwork all prepped and painted.

Advice for renovators to weather the storm

Work on what you can
Like Kathy and Ian @kanditrips is doing – work on the internal woodwork and smaller, fiddly DIY jobs to keep progress happening which will keep you sane
If you’ve got heating issues order plug in electrical heaters from Amazon
Before we did our central heating installation we had to use electric plug in heaters to keep us warm. This covid situation could go on for 3 months and you need to keep sane so do what you need to do and order some plug in heaters from Amazon
Change your priorities + the order you’re working on rooms
Like Clare from @my_growing_home is doing – change your priorities and adapt. If you’ve got an ‘order’ you’re trying to do each room in, can you switch them round and work on the rooms you can DIY
Use the next few months to put important planning blocks in place
Like Sarah from @snichodon is doing – she’s using our Budgeting tool featured in our online course for renovators to scope what is affordable and getting further quotes (virtually) from trades
Keep your inspiration up
The rare occasion we need to go to Tesco to do our food shop, I stock up on interior magazines to keep me feeling inspired, hopeful, and energised on ideas.
Order supplies on Amazon
DIY supplies are hard to get hold of but online delivery like Amazon is still accessible for thinks like sandpaper, paint brushes, rollers etc. We’ve ordered things like multipack Mouse sandpaper refills, grout and more. It takes a bit longer to arrive but worth planning and ordering.
Can you pick supplies up from a supermarket?
We’re finding it impossible to get home delivery and click and collect slots so have to go into the supermarket to do our weekly shop. Asda and Tesco have a tools/DIY/Garden section that could be fruitful for smaller DIY jobs like caulking, sanding and oiling.