Children need special attention in order to stay safe when a home remodel is taking place. Working with your contractor to ensure that your home remains kid-friendly can help prevent accidents and injuries. These tips can help you and your contractor work together for a safe remodel this summer.

Tell Your Contractor You Have Little Ones in the Home

Your contractor needs to know that you have little ones in your home. This way, your contractor can make any changes that are necessary to the worksite to ensure that your children will be safe while the remodel is taking place. Your contractor should also know your kid’s names so that he or she can watch out for your kids and can address them if an urgent problem arises.

Keep the Friends Away

Having your own children at the house during a remodel can be a lot to handle. Having other children from the neighborhood also in your home is a little too much to handle. Tell your children that friends need to stay away while the remodel is taking place. Better yet, send your children to play at their friends’ houses so you can enjoy a kid-free zone while the construction is underway.

Coordinate the Schedule

During the remodel, your contractor may need to temporarily disconnect your water or shut off the electricity. On other days, you may hear loud, persistent noises all over the house. These events can disrupt naptime or make using the bathroom impossible.

On these days, you’ll probably want to find somewhere else to send your children. Talk to your contractor to find out which days are going to be the most disruptive. Explain to your contractor that you will be sending your children out of the house on these days, so you need to know when these events will be taking place. You’ll also need to know if these dates change for any reason.

Stay in close contact with your contractor throughout the remodel process so you’ll know if the timeline changes. Keep your plans for your children flexible so that if the schedule does change, you’ll be prepared.

Set Up a Safe Spot for Play

The best way to keep your children away from the contractors is to make a safe spot for them to play — away from the renovation or worksite. If the contractors are working in your yard, set up a spot in your basement or living room with toys and a television.

If the contractors are working indoors, set up a play area outside or invest in outdoor yard games that will keep your children occupied while the contractors are at work.

Focus on making play areas as entertaining as possible so that your children will stay away from the contractors. Children who get bored are likely to come see the worksite.

Have a Serious Talk With Your Kids

Have a serious talk with your kids about what to expect and how to stay safe during a remodel. Your kids may be curious about the construction going on in the house. That’s to be expected. Answer your kid’s questions to stop them from satisfying their curiosity in other ways.

If appropriate, ask the older kids to watch out for the younger kids. Set ground rules about how close to the construction site your kids can get.

Address Any Concerns With the Point of Contact

The general contractor is the person in charge of the worksite. Typically, this person is the point of contact for any issues that come up during the construction. The general contractor will disseminate information to subcontractors and employees working on the remodel.

Safety concerns, especially any concerns regarding your little ones, need to be brought up with the general contractor or other point of contact. Bringing your concerns up with the point of contact will help ensure that the information is properly disseminated to all the other workers and will help prevent confusion.

Keep your point of contact’s phone number on hand so that you can text or call him or her if something should come up while you’re away. Have the number plugged into your phone for easy access.

Write Cleanup and Safety Into the Contract

If you’re expecting your contractor to remove all tools and other safety hazards from the worksite at the end of every day, have your contractor write this information into the contract to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

You should also make sure you know what kind of safety precautions your contractor expects to take to ensure that your children are safe. Ask your contractor to write safety precautions into the contract so that you’ll have this information in writing as well.

If you have more questions about how to keep your little ones safe during a remodel this summer, contact Four Seasons Home Products. We’re happy to answer questions you might have about your upcoming remodel and safety around the worksite.