Home Renovation during COVID-19
As we journey through week seven of lockdown in the UK, it feels very much like we have turned the corner. Do you feel that way, too? Some of you may have been planning to renovate your home, have paused facing the lockdown, and are wondering what this means to you.
The situation is changing every day and the government hasn’t announced yet a relaxation of the guidelines. I would like to share what we’ve experienced so far, which might give you a hint on what things might look like in the next 12 months.
Technically, the government didn’t restrict construction works in England and Wales as long as workers adhere to guidelines such as social distancing. Although many contractors paused their works, many others put special measures (*) in place and kept working.
* If you would like to know more about what measures should be in place on site, Construction Leadership Council published the Site Operating Procedures during COVID-19. You can download the document from the link here.
Although the contractors that we work with didn’t pause operation, we faced mainly two areas of challenges – 1. social distancing on site and 2. supply chain disruption.
1. Social distancing on site
Protecting clients and workers on site has been a priority. This means fewer workers on site, quite often one trade at a time. Works took longer than planned but they did get done as long as they had materials they needed.
2. Supply chain disruption
Even during the lockdown, we could get hold of commodity, off-the-shelf materials such as paints, tile adhesives, etc. The problem was specialist finishes and products such as kitchens, decorative lightings, furniture etc. Most of the factories in Europe and China paused operation at some point in the past 3 months.
As a result, one of our projects in Putney managed to complete even during the lockdown and one month later than planned(**). Most of the specialist materials and products were already on site when the UK went into the lockdown. However, our other projects were earlier in their projects and unluckily have been delayed due to the supply chain disruption – kitchens in our cases.
** You can follow the site progress on our Instagram Stories and Highlights.
What does this mean to you if you are planning to do works in the next 12 months?
Some level of social distancing will remain but trades will adapt to it and will keep working under the new guidelines.
Supply chain will come back but you might want to choose materials and products that are manufactured closer to home, are in stock. Allow plenty of time to order.
One area that hasn’t stopped during the lockdown and there may never be a better time to do is planning and designing. Almost all of the design process can be done through zoom meetings, calls and emails. We can get CAD drawings and sketches done, get finish materials posted to you, and issue tender documents out, all while working from home.
Why there may never be a better time? Because we expect all the suppliers and builders will have a long backlog of orders and projects when things come back to a new form of normality. The design process takes longer than most first-time renovators think. Good builders usually have a long wait list and you will end up at the very bottom of an even longer list if you wait until everyone else starts moving.
Get in touch with us from here if you would like to start a discussion.
Stay safe and keep well.
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