How to brave through a winter renovation project

It’s cold and wet, but that’s the least of your problems when it comes to a winter renovation project.

Like it or not, these are the projects which are riddled with delays. The weather tends to be the main culprit, mainly due to the increased time it takes some materials to set, or just the logistics of traveling in such treacherous conditions.

Unfortunately, there’s little we can do in relation to the weather. What we can do is offer some hard and fast advice on how to make the most of a project this winter, which is what we will focus on for the remainder of today’s article.

Plan your renovation works accordingly

OK, in an ideal world you wouldn’t be working through winter, but that is what it is.

Instead, this first point is all about planning the type of work appropriately. As any experienced contractor will testify, some tasks are more suited to the colder climates than others. For example, anything that deals with cement is hardly suitable and will wreak havoc with your deadlines.

However, if you can instead concentrate on the interior of your home, you’ll find that things move much more smoothly.

Pay extra attention to your contractors’ wellbeing

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget the wellbeing of those who are working on-site – particularly if delays seem to be cropping up left, right and center.

However, in the interests of a successful project, this is something that you absolutely have to be invested in. Sometimes, it might be understanding that they can’t make it across snowy conditions, while on other occasions it might be about supplying the correct gloves for those bitter cold evenings. Regardless, a lot of projects grind to a halt due to contractor inefficiency, so ensuring that your team is at the top of their game is crucial for long-term success in winter.

Don’t commit to tight deadlines

We are all for deadlines – they are part and parcel of every industry. When it comes to winter, you definitely need to add a little more flex to them though. As we have already alluded to, the chances of delays increases to such an extent that sticking to deadlines is increasingly difficult, and if you opt for this approach you are probably going to be disappointed.

Instead, have deadlines, but don’t have anything riding on them. In other words, make sure that you’re not going to be homeless or suffer any other disastrous knock-on effects if a project isn’t delivered on-time.

Ensure that the site is secured appropriately

Again, we’ve already talked about contractors and how it can sometimes be less likely that they show up to work during winter, for a whole host of reasons.

This is why having adequate security is paramount. This doesn’t have to be a live team (although this naturally helps), but you can instead turn to just having the right storage solutions. Winter is the prime time for thieves to prosper, particularly if a site is empty and expensive machinery is left outside.