Skips for DIY or Home Renovations
When tackling a home renovation or DIY project, it’s easy to focus on the big tasks like knocking down walls, laying new flooring, or installing sleek countertops. However, it’s often the small, overlooked details that can throw a spanner in your plans. From unanticipated costs and managing waste, to maintaining functional living spaces and controlling dust, these forgotten elements can quickly add unnecessary stress.
In this article, we’ll cover the essential aspects of home renovations that are frequently missed, providing practical advice to help you stay organised, avoid common pitfalls, and keep your project on track.
Factors to Consider When Starting your Home Projects
Before you starting taking a hammer to the walls or making parge purchases or commitments, it is important to consider the following elements to a DIY project.
- Budget Planning: The last thing you want to do is to run out of money with an unfinished project, carefully plan the budget taking all things into account.
- Waste management: Waste quickly mounts up, have you made plans on how to get rid of this and how to get it out of your home.
- Creating Dust Free Zones and Functional Spaces: Unless your house is big enough or you have a temporary home or caravan to live in, it is important to keep some normality inside the home.
- Storing or Covering Items: Sometimes it is easier to just remove potential obstacles out of the way entirely in order to complete a project.
We will explore these in much more detail below;
Plan Your Budget
Renovations have a funny way of going over budget, so it’s important to be prepared. Costs for materials, labour, and unexpected issues can add up quickly. Make sure you set a realistic budget for each stage of your project, and always add a 10-15% buffer for any surprises along the way. This will help you manage stress if unexpected costs arise, allowing you to stay in control and make informed decisions.
Budget for extras?
Here’s two handy budget planners for DIY projects and home renovations that can at least help alleviate the financial stresses that come with home renovations, especially when you forget to consider the vast amount of purchases required to properly finish a project. From the number of fittings and screws to price-per-metre for electrical wiring, it all adds up beyond the price of the renovation.
Advanced Home Renovations Spreadsheet created by allaboutplanners.com for those of you going through a whole house renovation and need to budget absolutely everything.
Basic Home Renovation Budget more suitable for single room renovations or DIY projects where you can put your total budget for the project then calculate how much you are spending along the way.
Manage Your Waste Efficiently
One of the biggest headaches during renovations is dealing with the waste. Old cabinets, tiles, rubble, and other debris can pile up quickly. To avoid clogging your driveway or garden with rubbish, make sure you’ve organised a skip hire that suits the scale of your project. Not only will this keep your home and communal areas clutter-free, but it also speeds up the renovation process when you have a dedicated space for waste.
By using our simple Skip Hire Comparison, you can get a price straight away to add to your budget and check all sizes of skips from mini skips for small DIY projects to larger skips for whole-house renovations, ensuring you’ve got the right size to keep things moving smoothly.
The size you need will depend on the size of the project at hand. The default skip size that is useful for everyone is an 8 yard skip, it’s usually small enough to fit on a driveway or in the front garden, which makes taking the building waste out to it easiest, or if space is tight a smaller 4 yard skip fits in some smaller spots
Think About Escape Routes and Functional Spaces
Living through a renovation can be chaotic. Make sure you plan some spaces to maintain some normality. If you’re redoing the kitchen, designate a temporary cooking area where you can still make basic meals and wash dishes. If your bathroom is being renovated, ensure there’s an alternate space for showering and brushing your teeth.
Read more: How to set up a temporary kitchen, where to clean your plates when redoing the kitchen.
Also, think about communal living spaces, hallways, staircases and don’t let them become clogged with tools, materials, or waste. Keep pathways clear so everyone can move freely without tripping over tools or piles of materials.
Create Dust-Free Zones
Renovations generate dust—lots of it. To avoid dust infiltrating every corner of your home, take some time to create dust-free zones. Use dust sheets to cover doorways, and consider sealing off rooms you won’t be using during the renovation. Make sure any sensitive electronics or furniture in adjoining areas are covered or moved to avoid damage.
By maintaining dust-free areas, you can create pockets of calm within the chaos, helping you manage stress and keep your home liveable during the process. You can either simply use plastic sheeting and masking tape over doors (you can remove the door first to make this easier) or you can use a product like the one below found at Screwfix to create a handy dust barrier with a zip so you can still use the room.
Stay Organised and be Realistic with a Clear Timeline
Nothing creates more stress during a renovation than feeling like everything is happening all at once. Work with your contractors to develop a clear timeline so you know what’s happening and when. If you’re DIYing, set yourself achievable goals and try to finish one area before starting another to avoid spreading yourself too thin. This way, you can make sure there’s always one part of your home that’s functional, whether it’s the kitchen, bathroom, or living space.
Making Your Renovation Easier
Making your home renovation or DIY project to be as smooth and stress-free as possible. By planning properly, staying organised, and keeping essential spaces functional, you can reduce the stress that often accompanies renovations. And when it comes to managing waste, our range of skips for DIY projects ensures that clutter doesn’t get in your way.
Need help choosing the right skip size or looking for more tips to manage your renovation? Contact our team today—we’re here to help keep your project on track.
