What to Expect When Remodeling After Water Damage

by Robert Chancellor

Water damage can happen for a variety of reasons and can be devastating to live through. You may have experienced an overflowing toilet, excessive rain, a broken appliance, or even a disgusting sewage backup. You will need to call in the professionals and need to know what it will take to remediate.  Be prepared for what water damage restoration costs in Las Vegas, for example. There’s no doubt it’s not fun, but here’s your opportunity to reclaim your home and make it better than it ever was before!

The process of remodeling after water damage restoration will definitely test you. You will find that getting your house put back together will be costly, take lots of time, and will try your patience. Damage to your house can be deep.  You might find ceilings, drywall, flooring, cabinets and more need to be completely removed from your home. The good news is, this gives you a blank slate to get your dream home designed and rebuilt.

Here’s some aspects of the process to be prepared for:

Water Damage Insurance Claims

Hopefully your water damage was from a cause that is covered by your homeowners insurance. If this is the case, it may take months to get the funds from the claim. After you know how much the insurance company will reimburse you, consider using some of your own rainy day funds to get started on the project more quickly.

Scheduling Contractors

These days, good workers can be very difficult to find. You can call a contractor, get a bid for the work, and then have to wait. Especially if multiple houses have been water damaged in your area, lining up professionals to come do your work will likely take extra time.

Living in a Construction Zone

It may be shocking what your home looks and feels like when it is stripped down to the bare bones. Depending on which rooms are affected, you may have to say good-bye to your modern amenities such as sinks, stoves, showers or even electricity for a period of time. Some solutions are to pay to stay somewhere else, but that can take much longer than you have money for. You might try staying with friends or find innovative solutions like cooking on a camp stove in your new one-room life.

Preparing Your Construction Zone

This is going to be messy. Put up plastic tarps to create a divider from the rest of your space and the work area to keep the dust and smells out. It will be important to cover the vents in order to not circulate the mess to the whole house. You can use a spare room to move all your salvaged furniture and personal items into.  Be sure to seal that door to prevent infiltration of dust as well.

Be a Mindful Decision Maker

Renovating will take some brainpower. There will be decision after decision. You will need to negotiate design decisions, material choices and upgrades. This could be the time to make the upgrades you have always wanted, but it can have a snowball effect and will likely be costly. Have fun and try to get the end result you want, but think it over and make sure your wallet is comfortable.

Perform Progress Checks

Make sure the job is being done with quality and correctly. Inspect the work being done for accuracy. You will also want to view your design choices within the lighting and space as they are being done and catch any obvious mistakes before they get fully implemented.

Through all these hurdles, just know, there is a light at the end of this long process that can be extremely rewarding. Once you are done, soak in the satisfaction of knowing that you love your new space more than you ever have before.

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