Ways to Minimize Mess During Home Renovation

Mitigate dust and damage to protect your home during a remodel

Discuss site prep and protection with your contractor

When planning a major renovation, it’s easy to overlook site preparation and protection. How you manage this can significantly impact your home.

Sweeten offers expert advice on protecting surfaces, containing mess, safeguarding valuables, and creating a temporary workspace. By taking proactive steps, you can minimize disruption and ensure a smoother renovation experience.

At Sweeten, we’re experts at all things general contractors — we pre-screen them for our network, carefully select the best ones for your remodeling project, and work closely with hundreds of general contractors every day. So, we’ve tapped our internal expertise to bring you this guide.

When embarking on a home renovation, it’s crucial to discuss cleanliness expectations with your contractor. While they’ll take measures to protect existing areas, dust, dirt, and grime can still infiltrate. Discuss your desired level of cleanliness, including specific areas of concern and who will be responsible for cleaning. Inquire about additional costs for cleaning services or materials and post-renovation cleaning plans. By having a clear understanding of these factors, you can minimize inconvenience and ensure a satisfactory renovation experience.

Decide whether to live in or move out

Site preparation is crucial for homeowners renovating a part of their residence, especially if they plan to stay during the project. However, living through a renovation can increase costs due to daily setup and teardown. Crews must protect the living area with barriers, which are removed at the end of each workday. This daily process can add significant time and expense to the project.

Consider factors like the project’s scope, length, budget, and personal comfort when deciding whether to stay at home or move out. By carefully considering these factors, you can make an informed decision.

For example, if you are renovating the kitchen and your only bathroom, your contractor will need to make sure you can maintain crucial access to the facilities and be able to walk through to the rest of the apartment. On the other hand, a renovation in an unoccupied home allows the crew to leave the space in relative disarray at the end of the day and pick up right where they left off the next morning. For this reason, whether or not you leave while the renovation is ongoing is usually part of the initial conversation with your contractor to determine a project estimate.

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Protect your home during a remodel: Prep and seal

If you are undertaking anything other than a complete gut renovation, you can do the following to limit the disruption and minimize the mess.

Block off rooms and spaces

 – Cordon off the renovation zone as best you can by hanging heavy-duty tarp (at least 8 millimeters thick) from the ceiling down to the floor to create a seal. Usually, this is done by applying masking tape across all sides of the tarp where it meets the ceiling, walls, and floor. Particles will fly through any and all gaps you leave, no matter how small. If you need a flap for entry and exit, consider applying an adhesive zipper to your tarp. A double layer might be a good idea if there will be a lot of sanding or if you know that dangerous particles will be released into the air.

– Seal up closet doors by applying masking tape to the gaps between the doors and the floor. Nothing more inconvenient than having to wash all your dusty clothes.

Safeguard the interiors

– Within the reno zone, protect anything that you’re keeping. If the floors are staying, then cover them with construction paper (maybe even a double layer, as insurance against tearing). If you are keeping any appliances, cover them with tarp (again, leaving no gaps).

– If the reno zone is in the center of your home, consider laying continuous paper or tarp through all the high-traffic areas so that you don’t track dirt into the rest of the space.

– Cover all furniture throughout the home (especially textile surfaces such as couches and beds) with a drop cloth or tarp while construction is ongoing during the workday. Even with the tarps up, you’d be surprised at how much dust flies around.

Clear the air

– Vacuum, preferably with a HEPA (“high efficiency particulate air”) vacuum at the end of each work day. You can rent one or discuss getting one with your contractor. HEPA vacuums are able to trap much smaller particles than normal vacuums.

– If you have one, run a HEPA air purifier on high 24/7. Change or wash the filters frequently since they will be working a lot harder than usual. If you don’t have one, consider renting a commercial-grade air scrubber for the duration of the renovation.

– Open the windows! The more air circulates, the better. 

The costs of prevention are fairly minimal with the exception of an air scrubber rental. This can cost several hundred dollars depending on how long you need it. Identify and account for the necessary materials upfront. You and your team should be on the same page about expectations. And even with excellent containment, you’ll most likely need a dedicated cleaning after the project is done. Check out our guide to clean up after a major renovation.

Additional tips:

Find endless home renovation inspiration, detailed guides, and practical cost breakdowns from our blogs. You can also post your project on Sweeten today and get matched with our vetted general contractors for free!