Home remodeling is a very exciting time. Just imagine how wonderful it will be to cook in your brand new kitchen, step into a new luxury shower, or entertain in your beautiful new family room. If you’re about to consider undertaking your very first remodel, your eye is on the prize — how your home will look once the project is complete. It’s all sunshine and roses!
If this is not your first remodel, your perspective might be a little bit different if you’ve used a contractor who didn’t consider your creature comforts during that process. You know that living through a remodel in the same space can be a bit challenging. You may also recall that dust, debris, wood and metal remnants as well as clogged air filters could easily become a part of what’s to be expected for the months during and post construction.
86% of homeowners who have completed a remodeling project cited construction dust as the #1 nuisance. — MMR research study for Illinois Tool Works
Finding a remodeling company that can build a beautiful kitchen, bathroom, or family room is the easy part in comparison to finding a company that will consider your needs as a homeowner remaining in the space. If you limit yourself to reviewing a pretty portfolio, you will miss the mark on finding a contractor you’ll be happy with in the long run. You want an experienced company with higher than average referral rates because they have thought through every step in the process, including your livability in the space.
Before you hire a remodeling company, make sure…
- There is an established process for ongoing communication between contractor and homeowner.
- Logistics are spelled out so that the work crew is clear about where to park, their on-site schedule, and more.
- You are provided with temporary living space within your home during the remodel. (If you choose to live in the house throughout construction.)
- The contractor manages the dust. If you ask a contractor what their solution is for protecting your home and valuables during construction and they tell you that their solution is to blow a fan out of the window and place covers in doorways and on belongings, you’re going to be really unhappy with the end result…
Why Dust Management Is Critical
In your home, right now, there are about 30,000 particles of dust per cubic foot. That’s the average. You cannot see most of those particles because they are so small.
During a remodeling project, the amount of debris in the air inside of your home soars to 400,000-500,000 per cubic foot. Over 10 times the amount found in everyday life.
And those small particles linger for a long, long time as they stay suspended in the air and come to rest on your blinds, your baseboards, your collectables … every horizontal and semi-horizontal surface in your home!
Wherever the air migrates on the job site, particles are carried along for the ride. That means that if air can get someplace, so can the dust … inside of closed cupboards, into the nooks and crannies of electronics and appliances … everywhere… and don’t forget, it also gets into your lungs and the lungs of your family and pets.
Needless to say, the surplus in dust can pose serious health issues. It’s also a nuisance to clean up over and over again months after the remodel ends.
Next Stage Design Controls the Dust
We know construction dust creates more than an inconvenience for our clients. It poses a health hazard to everyone exposed to the worksite. We use the BuildClean Dust Control System to mitigate dust particles, limiting 90 percent of airborne dust. The system controls the air, controlling where the air flows and capturing the dust while airborne.
According to Brian Paich, business development manager of BuildClean, Next Stage Design started using the BuildClean system about a year and a half ago.
“Next Stage Design’s use of the dust control system is a seemingly simple action, but I think a good indication of how they do business overall,” said Paich. “As a homeowner, you know hands-down that this company is proactively approaching the problem.”
“And Next Stage Design is environmentally responsible in their dust mitigation too,” said Paich. “Jim Kabel and his team are not throwing a fan in the window like most other remodelers and blowing those particles out into the environment, making it someone else’s problem. They are capturing the dust particles they created right out of the air. It’s just doing the right thing all the way around.”
Paich added, “I just cannot applaud them enough for what they are doing for their clients and the environment. Everything they are doing. Not just the dust.”
Select a remodeling contractor that considers everything: communication, logistics, quality workmanship, and the homeowner’s health and happiness from beginning to end. Yes there is disruption when your home is under construction, but we take vital steps to minimize disruption to your family to make the experience as positive an experience as possible. Schedule your remodeling consultation today.