Jennifer Sheahan: Tips to get your home ready for renovation

What can you do to get a fixer-upper ready for the arrival of builders and other tradespeople and save time and money?

Mon, 07 Mar, 2022 - 12:00

Jennifer Sheahan, Home of the Year 2021 winner

Right now, it can be frustrating waiting for construction to begin on your fixer-upper — timelines are long and you just want to dive in and get going.

While you’re waiting, there are a number of things you can do — depending on your DIY competence! — to hit the ground running when the time comes.

TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBOURS

If you’re applying for planning it is always a good idea to get your neighbours onside. Call around with some baked goods, let them know that you’re planning some work and that you apologise for any disruption this will cause them.

Reassure them that your efforts will improve the neighbourhood and ultimately pay off for them too!

Ask them if they have any concerns — better that they tell you now rather than complain to the planning authority, which could set you back weeks or months.

PICK YOUR ITEMS

This sounds simple but timelines for construction and interiors supplies are lengthy at the moment. Kitchens in particular are likely to take 16 weeks.

Flooring, couches, bathroom-ware, windows, doors — best to assume anywhere from 8-16 weeks at least. The time is now to plan out what items you want and enquire about timelines, putting in orders if necessary.

Choose your items and measure everything three times, says Jennifer.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to measure everything three times to make sure you’ve ordered the right item! Y

ou don’t want to wait four months for a bed only to have to send it back and wait four more for the right size — trust me.

Use the time in your house to measure out what space you have, using masking tape on the floor, and be certain you’re placing the right order. I found there was a surprising variety of windows to choose from, and I found it difficult to know what the best option is, so take this time to visit showrooms and find what works best for you.

Smaller items like door handles, skirting, and light switches can also be chosen now. You will save time by having these decisions already made when your builder asks, rather than being caught out and potentially ending up with something you didn’t really want.

Online kitchen and wardrobe planners are useful — Ikea has easy-to-use ones on their website. They’re not perfect but you can play around with layouts, designs, and colours. Better to make all your mistakes in an online planner rather than in real life!

Lighting in the living area at Jen Sheahan's home in Rathmines which won RTE 'Home of the Year' 2021. Picture: Moya Nolan

PLAN YOUR LIGHTING

The first thing my architect said to me when I signed the contract was to start planning lighting right away.

Did I listen to him? I did not, and I regretted it because getting lighting right is both really difficult and hugely impactful to the end result of your home. I could go on about this for pages but trust me when I say start with lighting and don’t underestimate its importance.

While you’re in the space, you can plot out how much lighting you need, what kind, and where to put the light switches.

Here are some of my hard-earned tips for choosing lighting

Find out how much light you need in each space

Workspaces, such as kitchens, require more lighting and therefore LED spotlights are the best options for these spaces. You will find lighting calculators online that will guide you towards how many lights you need and how bright the bulbs should be in certain spaces, depending on your room dimensions.

Plan for both full and ambient lighting

In a living room, for instance, you may want full lighting for daytime reading or working. You may also want lower, ambient lighting for relaxing in the evenings or when you have guests around. Generally, wall or lamp lighting is more flattering than overhead lighting.

Decide where to put your switches

You don’t want to have to walk halfway across a dark room and trip over furniture to turn on the light. Perhaps you would like all your switches together, or maybe you’d prefer multiple switches at different points for the same light.

You can also install special sockets for lamps that can be controlled by wall switches. Consider smart home devices — some can be installed behind wall switches for invisible voice command options.

ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES

Depending on your appetite and competence for hard labour, you can get a head start on some DIY jobs around the house that might save precious hours or even days of build time and get you into your dream home faster. Be realistic about your abilities here — do not come after me if you electrocute yourself or knock down a supporting wall!

Pull up old carpets or flooring.

The garden, after, seen from Jennifer's living area. Picture: Moya Nolan

Sell or dump unwanted items: You may not expect that some items you would throw away are actually in demand — for instance, old fireplaces. Put them online and see what happens!

Consider what you could restore.

Maybe you have some beautiful original floors, doors, cornicing, light fixtures, or banisters that could be restored to former glory with a little TLC. Be careful with stripping any old paint as it may contain lead.

Clear your garden: Lots of fixer-uppers come with neglected gardens full of unwanted items, and often this area is ignored until after construction. Now you could use the time to clear this space out get ahead with landscape planning.