7 minute read
Rebuilding Your Sanctuary
A guide to renovating your home after water damage, and what to expect
By Mary Taylor
Toward the end of 2017, we purchased a 1970’s home that was in desperate need of updating. At that time, my children were three and seven, I was knee-deep in growing my publication, and my husband was working two jobs: shift work for his day job and also traveling around the world, weeks at a time, for a private company. Our life was busy, funds were tight, and we knew that updating our home would take a minimum of five to seven years to accomplish. Fortunately, we weren’t in a rush and welcomed the challenge.
Knowing that the house wouldn’t be finished anytime soon, we made an effort to decorate with several temporary, budget-friendly options, that way, we could feel settled rather than having to tiptoe around in that limbo phase we found ourselves in. This helped us in two ways: first, we saved money by not purchasing items that we hadn’t quite decided on so that we could focus our budget on more permanent decisions like scraping the popcorn ceilings, fixing electrical issues, putting in new floors, and installing new doors and trim throughout the house; second, we gave ourselves enough time to live in the space and figure out what worked best for our family so we would feel less guilty when the time came to remove and renovate the stuff we hadn’t personally invested in.
As the years passed, we continued to make small improvements everywhere throughout the house except the kitchen. The kitchen was the one space within our home that had been remodeled in the 1990’s, and it worked, so we gave it a minor facelift by painting the cabinetry and popping in a new backsplash, but we otherwise left it alone knowing that it would be an expensive and large undertaking down the road. We had no idea that our 1990’s kitchen sink had a lifespan of only twenty years, and that the valves were living on borrowed time.
Unbeknownst to us, that rug had hidden a slow kitchen sink leak that grew over a short period of time and eventually gave out, damaging the new flooring that we had put in just a few years earlier.
On a dark and cold December morning, at around three-thirty a.m. my husband was getting ready to go to work when he walked into the kitchen only to find a river of water flowing from under the sink, across the kitchen floor, and puddling up under the refrigerator across the way. An area rug that covered a majority of the kitchen floor was drenched! Unbeknownst to us, that rug had hidden a slow kitchen sink leak that grew over a short period of time and eventually gave out, damaging the new flooring that we had put in just a few years earlier.
This started a chain of events for us that included filing a claim with our insurance, working with a restoration company, and learning how to open up our home to strangers for an extended period of time, all of which I never had to experience before. Because of this, I didn’t know what questions to ask or how to navigate the nine-month process that ensued. It was truly an ordeal, but here are a few things I learned that would have been helpful to know from the start:
You want an insurance agent that's also a friend.
Make sure that you have a good relationship with your insurance agent. You don’t have to be best friends, but you need to find someone that will let you call, text, or message them at any hour. They might not answer right away, but they should never make you feel like you’re an inconvenience. If you can’t regularly and freely communicate with your insurance agent as if they were a friend, it’s time to find a new agent.
There are no dumb questions.
If you’re wondering it, chances are that someone else at some point in time was wondering it too. Purchase a notepad specifically for the restoration project, and as questions come up, write them down so that you can make the most of your time and the contractor’s time by getting answers to all of the questions that are on your mind.
You get what you accept.
Although you will typically work with one contractor who is responsible for managing the job and quality of work, as the homeowner you aren’t off the hook. It’s your job to manage the manager and make sure that the services that you are receiving are acceptable. If they aren’t, speak up and tell your contractor immediately! Never assume that things will get “touched up” or fixed at a later date. Even the best contractors can’t read minds, and they might have missed something. It’s always easier and more efficient to right a mistake while everyone is in the house working rather than at the conclusion of the project.
There is a fine line between public & private.
Figure out a way to wrap your mind around opening up your home to the public in order to finish the renovation expeditiously. Create a few simple rules for your family and your children to follow while workers are in your home. Because of the extended work necessary to complete larger jobs, there is likely going to be overlap when you have to live in the home while it’s getting worked on. Some challenges that will occur include parenting your children in private, speaking freely, and allowing yourself to let your guard down. Create safe and private spaces within your home, and intentionally use them for private matters.
Hospitality is for your guests, not contractors.
I might get a little flack for this, but hear me out: you can be nice without being too accommodating. Workers are in your home to get a job done, do it efficiently, and get paid. Feel free to offer water if it’s hot out and they don’t have any, but you shouldn’t be waiting on them. They should be comfortable enough to work freely, and just uncomfortable enough that they want to complete their job and move on.
Other Useful Tips and Tricks
1. Get a security system for your front door. It’s nice to know when workers are entering your home when you can’t be there to let them in.
2. Take pictures and video of everything! If you can take a video and show damage in real time, this will be helpful with your insurance adjuster. Also, continue to document the restoration progress and final product. You’ll kick yourself if you don’t have before and after photos to look back on!
3. Save your receipts! Not all insurance covers eating out or increased utility bills, but some does. Ask your insurance agent if cost-of-living increases during your claim period are covered. If they are, you will need to keep every physical receipt you can. At the end of the claim, your insurance adjustor will require physical receipts for every expenditure claimed.
As you work through your renovation, try to remember that things rarely go according to plan. Your home is your sanctuary and it’s easy to let emotions take over, especially when you have to trust a stranger to take as much thought and care in the restoration of your home as you would. However, if you think of the project as a business transaction and you use a few of these tips I promise that the entire process will go smoother and you’ll find yourself a little less emotional along the way.
