You have just bought a new home, and you will be moving soon. You are already making plans for the move day, organizing your belongings. You have hired a professional moving company and now you have an endless list of pre-move tasks to do. Renovating your new place can be the last thing that you have on mind right now, but it should not be. Some home improvements can be done after relocation but there are several projects that you will want to finish while the home is still empty. We have prepared the list of 10 home improvement projects that you will want to finish before you move in.
1. Major Renovations
If you already know that some room requires major renovations, you should work on them before you move in. There is no need for you to move all your furniture in your new home only to have to move it out and in again. Bathroom and kitchen renovations are the most common projects that will occur before the move, and you definitely want to have a functioning bathroom and kitchen before you start living in your new house. Those are big projects that will require a lot of time, you will need to make preparations and there will be a lot of cleaning up to do after they are finished, so it will be much easier to work on them while your home is free from furniture and family members.
2. Remove the “Popcorn” Ceiling and Walls
The heavily-textured ceiling and walls treatment is otherwise known as “popcorn” treatment usually contains asbestos. You can test it and if it contains this toxic material you will need to remove it, you will need to hire licensed professionals for this task due to the toxicity. This is one of the most important tasks to finish before the moving day. You don’t want to start a new life in a toxic environment. This is an easy project but it can be really messy and you will need to clean up after it is finished, it is much easier to do so when there is no furniture.
3. Replace All Major Appliances
All major appliances like heating and cooling systems that need to be replaced can be replaced after the move but it will be much easier if you do it before. Some of the appliances can be replaced easily, but some of them may require additional ducting, ventilation or plumbing works. Stand-alone appliances, like washing machines or dryers, can be replaced once you move in.
4. Painting
If you are a homeowner, you know that it is much easier to paint the walls and ceilings of a room that has no furniture in it.
5. Closet Shelving Upgrades
If your new home has one of those big closets that are already installed you need to redo the shelves and upgrade them before you transfer your items. Closest are the first things that will be filled with your stuff on your moving day. You don’t want to work on that on the day of the move. You will have too many tasks on moving day.
6. Baby-Proof Your New Home
All of the home improvement projects are even more tricky if you have toddlers. You will want to baby-proof your home before you move in. You will need to work on this after the move too, you will need to baby-proof your furniture, but you can child-proof locks, windows, closets and set up baby-gates before you move in.
7. Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are two things that are often forgotten. You will want to put fresh batteries and services the alarms in order to make sure that they are working before the day of the move.
8. Exterior Locks Replacement
You need to make sure that your new home is safe, and you can never be sure who the previous owner gave keys to. Replace all the locks and alarm systems codes before you move in.
9. Securing the Mailbox
It may even be easier to purchase and install a new mailbox for your home, and you shod do so before you move in, you will organize address transfer before you move in and there is a chance that some mail will be delivered before your moving day.
The last one you will want to do twice, once before you move in and once after the moving day.
10. Cleaning Your New Home Inside-out
After all of the renovation and home improvement projects are done you will want to clean your house completely, you don’t want to clean on your moving day, you will be exhausted from the travel, loading and unloading your furniture and setting up your new home. You should repeat this task after the move to, your home will get dirty during the unpacking process but it will be a lot less work if you have already cleaned it before the moving day.