Neuigkeiten rund ums Einlagern

09.10.2018

Temporary storage during renovations

Renovating a house or apartment can be nerve-wracking. Nevertheless, renovation is one of the most important value-preservation tasks for a homeowner. A refurbishment can even add value if, for example, an extension is built or more effective insulation is installed.

The preservation of the property is in the foreground

Homeowners don’t always have it easy: you have to take care of the maintenance of the property, you have to carry out minor repairs almost constantly, you sometimes pay more taxes, and last but not least you have a certain responsibility towards the neighbors and the community.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were 1.73 million residential buildings in Switzerland in 2016. The housing stock was 4.42 million. The home ownership rate was 38.2% – i.e. 1.69 million residential units are owned.

There is no usable data on the proportion of apartments in need of renovation. However, one can cautiously estimate that about 1/3 to half of all homes are in need of renovation.

Many condominiums have their “need for renovation” primarily on the inside of the apartment. This is due to the fact that a large part of the apartments can be found in apartment buildings. The community of owners of the apartment building has to take care of the renovation of the facade, the heating system and the roof. An ecologically and economically thinking community of owners will renovate the outside of their property if necessary, because these factors are central to the use of the building.

The situation is different with an own house. There the owner has to take care of both the exterior and the interior himself.

Habitability is the key factor

If the outer parts of the house, such as the roof or facade, are renovated, this usually only has a small impact on the livability of the apartment or house. If, on the other hand, interior renovations are necessary, the question must be asked whether to renovate in stages or tackle all parts in need of renovation at the same time. A rough estimate of the components that should be renovated can be done with your own senses. When the parquet floor starts to lift, you can see it. When the windows are untight, you can feel it with your hands. If the deposits can no longer be removed from the bathtub, you get annoyed every time you use the sponge and can’t get the dirt off. But do you really see or feel all the weak points? Hardly likely. Leaks in the window frames are often so small that you don’t feel them. Pipelines are rarely seen lying open. Mold growth under floors or behind cupboards can usually only be guessed at, you can’t see behind it. A tool for this can be general durability principles. Only roughly, of course, since different qualities have different lifespans.

The homepage of the Swiss Tenants’ Association, for example, provides a lot of valuable information on the lifespan. Under the link https://www.mieterverband.ch/mv/mietrecht-beratung/ratgeber-mietrecht/dokumenten-tools/lebensdauertabelle.html you will find a tool with which you can examine all components for their estimated service life. Here is a short excerpt:

acrylic bathtubs	25 years
bathroom joint seals	8 years
bathroom ceramics	35 years
laminate floor medium quality	15 years
multi-layer parquet	30 years
fitted carpets medium quality	10 years
metal door frame	30 years
ceramic stove top	15 years

Which components affect habitability the most?

The bathroom / toilet must be listed first. If this is not usable, the apartment / house can no longer be inhabited. Secondly, the kitchen should be mentioned. In third place are the windows, although depending on the season, you can live without a window for a few days. Fourth the floor and fifth the interior walls .

Regardless of the habitability, you also have to think about whether the craft work will affect the quality of living. If the painter repaints the walls, you don’t have a very big impact on habitability, but the painter has to cover all the furniture, which involves additional work, and the smell of the paint in the first few days is not always reasonable. Or the windows are replaced and there is a significant amount of dust, even if the craftsmen pull up dirtcurtains.

Advantages and disadvantages of renovating in stages or as a whole

If you renovate in stages, you have the following advantages and disadvantages:

advantages	disadvantages
Your budget is not used up all at once. You can plan when to make which investments in terms of cash flows	The quality of living is usually severely affected by dust and dirt
You can stay in your own home and don’t have to look for a temporary place to stay	It can happen that the renovation work takes longer than planned, which can get on your nerves
	There is a risk that after the first renovation work you will have “enough” and delay the remaining work

If you completely renovate right away, you have the following advantages and disadvantages:

advantages	disadvantages
You save yourself construction noise, dirt and trouble	You need to find temporary housing, which can sometimes be difficult for a family
The craftsmen can work faster, which ultimately has a positive effect on the budget	You must have a high enough budget as all the work will be done at the same time and the bills will therefore need to be paid at the same time
Everything is done in one go instead of an eternal construction site	You have to clear your belongings out of your home and store them temporarily
The individual craftsmen can adjust to each other and coordinate, which again allows more expeditious work

In summary, one can say that there are advantages and disadvantages for both renovation variants. Last but not least, the existing budget is an important factor in deciding whether you want to renovate in stages or completely.

It can be said that renovation in one piece is a bit easier than renovation in stages. Everything is done in one go and you can quickly return to normal. Last but not least, it saves aggravation, nerves and health problems if you renovate as a whole.

A few tips at the end: how can I prepare for the upcoming renovation:

Budget: as a homeowner, it is your responsibility to have enough money set aside to pay for upcoming renovations. The durability of the components is usually relatively long and at least more than 10 years. This gives them a lot of time to always put something aside – a sensible savings plan helps here.
Obtain offers from the companies early on and compare the prices.
Clarify your temporary housing situation at an early stage. There are more and more providers of furnished apartments for temporary use these days. Take advantage of these offers.
Clarify the storage of your belongings at an early stage. There are more and more self-storage warehouses throughout Switzerland where you can temporarily store household items.
Allow enough time during the remediation work to monitor the progress of the work. This is very important, especially when it comes to the overall refurbishment.

And last but not least: look forward to the renovation. It can be stressful at times, but you will be glad to have the fresh smell in your nose after renovation. And don’t forget: Homeowners save themselves the payment of rent, but they still pay “rent” in the form of reserves for upcoming renovation work.

zurück zur Übersicht