Preparing to renovate a listed home

Accidents happen. We know these are part of life but, when it comes to renovating your listed property, your odds of damage to personal belongings and property increase significantly. But don’t let that put you off – there’s always a way to minimise risk! You’ll want to consider these factors well before your works begin – after all, preparation is the key to success.

At Abode, we are well versed in contract works and large-scale renovations, so we have put together our checklist of things to consider before any work begins.

Small valuables

Whilst we may like to think the best of people, an increase in footfall in your house (from people you don’t know) means an increase in the chances that some of your prize possessions may go missing or get broken. So, it’s best to keep things out of harm’s way. To minimise this risk, we advise using your safe to store anything of value, from jewellery to antiques, that can fit in there..

Rugs and soft furnishings

Even if these aren’t in the immediate area of the work taking place, we’d advise storing these as far away from the site of the renovations as possible.

Art

It may seem obvious to remove any artworks from areas being worked on, but we would also recommend taking down other artwork throughout your house that may suffer as a result of the work. Vibrations can spread throughout a structure and affect hung pieces in rooms you may not expect.

Furniture

When doing any type of work, major or not, we recommend covering all furniture in harm’s way with plastic coverings or old sheets, whether that is in the work area or near a well-used walkway.. If you’re not sure if it will be affected or not, cover it just in case. If your entire property is being worked on, a short-term storage facility may be your best option for easier-to-move pieces and those you can live without temporarily.

Insurance and responsibilities

As soon as you know work will be taking place on your house, speak to your insurer. Your policy may cover what you have planned, but it may only partially cover you due to a limitation. If this is the case, a specialist broker will be able to advise you as to what steps to take to make sure your investment is protected.

You’ll also want to make sure you are clear on who is responsible for what, from builders having up-to-date liability insurance and doing background checks on their employees, to architects communicating with project managers. This is increasingly important the bigger your works are set to get.

The more prepared you are before work starts, the less stressful it should be. Ensuring your insurance is sorted ahead of schedule also eases any pressure should anything go wrong. Whilst navigating your policy may seem confusing, a specialist broker will be able to take you through the process step by step, explaining exclusions, endorsements, or factors you will need to consider.

To speak to a specialist today, please call us on 01622 476433 or complete our no-obligation enquiry contact form here.

To learn more about Abode, please click here.

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