Security Tips to consider when Remodeling
It’s that time of year when remodeling turns from dreaming into reality. Here are a few excellent tips about ensuring your security during a remodeling project from our guest blogger Sara Anderson from Five Star Locksmiths in Melbourne.
Renovating your home is exciting. You get to recreate your house to suit your personality as well as your needs, and it is well worth saving your pennies for.
However, in the excitement and rush of getting everything organized for your construction start date have you considered your homes security whilst the remodeling is being completed?
In case it has slipped your mind or outside the scope of your current planning here are our five tips for making sure your belongings are safe during your renovation.
Your Builder/Remodeler
How well do you know your contractor? Have they been recommended by a friend or a random business that you found online? Because this person and their workers will have access to your home you need to feel that they are trustworthy. Check that:
- They guarantee the quality of their work in writing;
- They will give you a fixed finish date;
- They have insurance that covers their workers as well as their work;
- They will provide references that can be checked;
- They don’t have negative feedback from clients in online forums or agencies.
- That they are members of professional organization (Editors Note: of course, we recommend you start with a licensed contractor that has joined a professional organization like ours — requiring a signed ethics statement and offering arbitration should a dispute arise. In the Twin Cities consider one of our professional remodelers.)
Household Valuables
Deciding what to do with your household valuables depends on how big the renovation is. If it is only small you may choose to lock them inside a secure part of the house that is not affected. If your remodeling is significant, you can rent lockable storage that can be located in your garden during the construction or store them in an offsite storage locker for additional security.
Keep it Neat
Builders mess out the front of your house tells everyone that renovation is happening and could signal to potential thieves that your house would be an easy target. Get the contractors to store materials out of site and put tools away at the end of every day so that your house doesn’t tempt burglars.
Video Monitoring for Peace of Mind
Set up video cameras at key points so that you can monitor your home at any time. Link them to your Smartphone and have an easy way of checking how your renovations are going whilst making sure there are no security issues.
Home Insurance
Check that your home insurance covers you during renovations. If not you may choose to take out additional insurance during the building remodeling to make sure that you are covered for the additional security concerns that renovation creates.
Sara Anderson works as a content strategist at Five Star Locksmiths (Melbourne). Five Star Locksmiths provides 24-hour locksmith services in Melbourne’s CBD and its suburbs.