Since spending so much more time at home I have come to the realisation that I wish I had spent more of my money on home improvements. My wife loves holidays, she always wants to jump on a plane to jet off somewhere sunny! So, I always had a battle when it came to prioritise the funds for projects in our home. 

But now even her attitude has changed. When your housebound for this length of time you soon wish you had made your home the best it can possibly be! You notice all the home improvement projects you have been putting off. It did not seem to matter when you had multiple weekend breaks away. But now there is no escaping those unfinished projects. 

Luckily even in lockdown you can still have workmen in your house. Companies like Bishop’s Group are still operating. They offer a range of services, like plumbing, electrical work, and property maintenance. It is quite handy being able to go to one company that can handle all your renovation needs.  Otherwise it gets tricky co-ordinating everyone. I would rather someone else manages all that and I just pay for a complete project. 

Emergency Work 

Anything that can compromise your safety you can have done in your home. Do not put off repairs that need immediate attention. The government appreciates you cannot delay in certain circumstances, “essential repairs and maintenance in people’s homes” is perfectly acceptable. Gas safety checks, boiler faults and electrical failures cannot be postponed without impacting your welfare. Just take precautions wiping down surfaces after the workmen have left. Workmen must be in good health to continue working too. If they think they have symptoms they need to self-isolate. 

Uncompleted Renovations 

It seems that if renovation work has started in your house prior to lockdown and it is not critical to your wellbeing then that work needs to be paused. Although as the lockdown continues its hard leaving projects half finished. Living in your home like that can be extremely difficult with young children, the rooms might have to be closed off. In that case it might be better having workmen in observing social distancing so the renovation can finish, and children can play safely again. If you do this make sure your house is well-ventilated, open your windows as this is thought to help. 

Empty Properties 

My brother in law has a building firm and he has continued with some work. Empty buildings are not an issue as you have no people to meet. Guidelines are mixed but the building does need to be weatherproofed otherwise it will be damaged waiting for lockdown to finish. 

I am glad we have started to tackle some of the unfinished jobs in lockdown. To be honest there will be a point the government cannot continue to support everyone. I would be happy to pay someone to complete jobs as long as they had robust COVID19 protocols in place.