How to prepare for a home remodel

The short answer

To prepare for a home remodel, clear the work area, plan for dust and noise, decide where you will cook and wash up, protect pets and valuables, and settle your main selections before demolition. Then agree with your contractor on who you talk to and how often. A remodel never runs without some disruption, but good preparation keeps it to a level you can live with.

Make the early decisions first

The single best preparation is deciding things before the work begins. Layout, fixtures, appliances, cabinets, tile and flooring should be chosen, or at least narrowed to a short list, before demolition. Some items take longer to arrive than others, and a missing item can hold up everything behind it. A tile setter cannot finish a shower without the tile, and a countertop template cannot be taken until the cabinets are in.

Ask your contractor which selections are on the critical path and when each one is needed. Treat those dates as deadlines. Changes made once walls are open cost more than changes made on paper, and they are the main reason projects run long. For how changes should be priced, see what is included in a remodeling estimate.

Dust control that works

Demolition, drywall sanding and cutting tile all make fine dust, and it travels. The aim is to keep it where it is made.

• Seal the work area from the rest of the house with plastic sheeting and a zippered door.
• Close or cover vents and return grilles in and near the work area, so the heating and cooling system does not pull dust through the house.
• Lay protection on the floors along the path crews use, and keep that path as short as possible.
• Ask the crew to clean up at the end of each day, not only at the end of the job.
• Keep a window or exterior door open to the outside in the work area when the weather allows.

Drywall dust is the worst of it. Expect it, and expect that some will still get through. Cover furniture in neighboring rooms and plan to dust more often than usual.

In an older house, ask before demolition whether anything in the walls, ceilings or old finishes should be tested before it is disturbed. Older finishes and materials can contain substances that call for special handling. That is a conversation to have in the estimate stage, not on demolition day.

Access, parking and the path through the house

Crews bring in tools and materials and carry out debris all day. Make that easy. Clear the driveway or the nearest street space, agree on which door the crew uses, and open a straight path to the work area. Move furniture, rugs and anything hanging on the walls out of that path.

Decide how the house is locked and unlocked. Tell your contractor when you will be home, when you will not, and who else has a key.

Pets and children

Open doors and carried materials are a risk to a loose pet, and construction noise upsets some animals. Keep pets away from the work area and the entry path. A closed room, a sitter, or a few days at a friend's house during the loudest phases are common solutions. Let the crew know about any pet that tends to run.

Treat the work area as off limits to children. Tools, open walls, exposed nails and dust are not a place to play.

Living without a kitchen or bathroom

If you are remodeling the kitchen, set up a temporary kitchen elsewhere before demolition. A microwave, a small cooker, a kettle, a cooler or a spare refrigerator, and paper plates cover most needs. Wash dishes in a bathroom or utility sink if you have one. Pack what you will not use for the duration and keep the rest within reach.

For a bathroom project, find out whether you will have another working bathroom the whole time. If the house has only one, ask your contractor how long it will be out of service and whether there is a plan for that stretch. Bathroom work tends to involve phases when the water is off, so ask in advance rather than discovering it on the day.

Clear the room and protect what stays

Empty the work area completely, including the closets and cupboards inside it. Take down pictures in adjoining rooms, since vibration moves them. Put valuables, documents and anything fragile somewhere out of the way. If the work is on an upper floor, protect the rooms below as well.

Agree on communication

Decide up front who your contact is, how updates arrive and how often. Short, regular check-ins prevent most arguments. Ask what you will need to decide each week and what the crew will do next. At N. Abeyta Remodels, one team manages the whole project, so you are not chasing separate trades. If you are weighing contractors, our guide on how to choose a remodeler covers what to ask.

For a larger project, read the phases and sequencing of a whole-house renovation so you know what each stage will feel like in the house.

Preparing for a remodel: questions