5 Safety Tips While Renovating A Home

Whether you’re renovating a home yourself, or you enlisted the experts, there are some safety precautions you should be aware of.

Even the smallest home renovations require careful planning. And part of that planning should always be dedicated to safety. But when it comes to making a safety plan, where do you start? If you don’t have much experience with renovating a home, knowing your way around the safety considerations can be a challenge. That’s why our renovation experts have put together this list of safety tips for renovating a home!

Asbestos can make an appearance while renovating a home – always leave that to the experts!

Safety is absolutely paramount if there’s even a remote chance that asbestos is around. And asbestos is often around in older buildings. So what should you do if you run into it? First of all, you should not disturb it. Asbestos is at its most harmful when it is broken up. The particles of asbestos dust are released when the material is broken. These particles then become airborne, and you can end up inhaling them. That’s when they are a dangerous hazard to your health. So if you suspect that there’s some asbestos around your home, have a chat to a building inspector and contact licenced asbestos removal specialists. Remember, no home renovation is worth risking your health!

Renovating a home sometimes requires a bit of heavy lifting so know your limits

It’s not just the planning stages of renovating a home that are tough – there’s quite a bit of physical labour as well. Most of this takes the form of heavy lifting. Whether it’s tiles, timber, cement or tools, lifting things all day can take its toll on your back. So before you crack into your home renovation, think about how you’re going to move things around, and know your limits. Get help lifting things where necessary, and even think about hiring a trolley jack or lifting aid.

Like asbestos, lead paint can be a problem when renovating a home – so contact the experts

Let’s revisit harmful materials for a moment. First, we mentioned asbestos, which is pretty well recognised. But another harmful, and sometimes more hidden material is lead paint. Lead paint has been banned for decades, but there are still remnants of it in older buildings. And it can cause a lot of harm to you. So if you’re renovating a home that was built in the seventies or earlier, you should get a professional building inspector in. The professionals will be able to identify lead paint and recommend a safe way to remove it.

If you’re renovating a home with children around, be sure to keep all tools out of their reach

Safety tips are important for all of us, but they’re especially important for children. At the end of the day, children just don’t have our sense of safety and they probably won’t spot hazards like we do. So if you’re renovating around children, make sure they’re always supervised. Try and keep sharp edges to a minimum and always keep your tools out of their reach.

Stay away from electrical fitting when you’re renovating a home!

Finally, let’s talk about one of the most obvious and important hazards of renovating a home: electricity. Electricity is simply not something that you can go out and repair or alter. The only people who can do that are licenced and qualified electricians. So make sure a licenced and qualified electrician has dealt with all potential electrical hazards in your home before the renovation begins. And if you suspect that there are any electrical hazards during the process, get in touch with an electrician and stop work until they’ve looked at the problem.

For more great tips, get in touch with our team!