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Face it: Remodeling your home’s bathroom will be inconvenient. Maybe you’re doing the work in evenings and on weekends. Or you’ve hired a contractor to do the work during the week. The side yard will be torn up by a bulldozer clawing for access to your foundation. Or it will be stacked high with lumber, plumbing fixtures, and other expensive things. Remodeling Tips Remodelers recommend that you document your project in photographs. Not only does it illustrate progress, but it also helps you find problems later. If a leak develops in the ceiling or walls you can pull out the progress pictures and determine what might be the source—and how best to get to it. I don’t know your exact situation, what you’ll be doing in your bathroom, who is going to do the work, or how you’ll pay for it, so I can’t guess how inconvenient the job might become. But I can make an educated guess! Unless you are hiring an angelic contractor who will finish the job while you’re off to the Bahamas, chances are you will face inconvenience. The driveway will be blocked. The plumbing will be turned off for one or more days. Needed materials will be back-ordered, putting progress on hold. Remodeling Safety Living in a construction zone can be hazardous to your health—and to the health of kids, pets, and other critters. Make sure that the last job of each day—yours or your contractor’s—is to make sure that the site is safe. Otherwise, lock the door to the bathroom. Consider your project from this level: inconvenience. Think of it as not only your personal inconvenience but that of other members of your living group. Then, do what you can to minimize the inconvenience. You may decide to hire someone to help you get the job done faster. Or you may want to take a short vacation while a contractor tears up your driveway. Do whatever you can to minimize the inconvenience of remodeling to you and those with whom you share living space.
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