My next door neighbors tore down their home on December 31, 2005 with the intention of building a new one starting spring of 2006. It’s now April 2009 and they’re still not in! The hole from the old house was there until March of ’07 and construction has been going on ever since. Not a good way to make friends and influence people. In fact, our neighbor across the street may never talk to them again.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a remodeling project or a new home, proper planning is the first step toward making sure your job goes smoothly and quickly and that will make your neighbors happy.
Here are some more tips I can give you to keep them happy during your project.
- Let them know what you are up to before the trucks pull up!
- Share the time line with them so they have an idea what to expect and when.
- Make sure they have the contact information of your contractor so in the event there is a problem, they can call and get it resolved quickly. It may not necessarily be the phone number on his sign, but the cell phone number of your project manager.
- Keep your project site clean and orderly! There is nothing worse than having your neighbors picking up wind blown trash from your construction site or driving by each morning and evening to a messy, disorganized site.
- Have your contractor make sure every trade parks on the same side of the street. Trying to squeeze your car in between two pickups with side mount mirrors can be a real aggravation.
- Never have deliveries made prior to 7:00 AM. The sound of the backup alarm on a delivery truck is not very pleasant at 6:00 in the morning.
- Make sure your contractor follows all OSHA safety rules so that when you invite your neighbors over to get a sneak preview during construction, no one gets hurt. (You will invite them over, won’t you? Everyone is curious!)
- Make sure the Port-a-potty get cleaned weekly.
Of course, if you hire the right contractor, he/she will make sure all of these systems and etiquette rules are in place; so you don’t have to…
