How To Keep Your Kids Safe During An Outdoor Living Space Renovation Project
Some homeowners might want to do renovation projects in their outdoor living space. For instance, you might want to build a new pool or a deck as an addition to your home. Whether you are doing this as a DIY project or are working with a contractor to get it done, one of the important considerations you will need to make is how to keep the construction site as safe as possible. This is especially so if you happen to have kids around the house.
Why this is important
Children are usually very inquisitive, and are likely to wander to the construction site. This is usually very risky, since there are many things that could hurt them including sharp machines. If you are handling the project as a DIY project, you might not even realize that they are there. This is especially so if you use very loud equipment such as a drill which can make you oblivious of your environment.
This does not only apply to kids. If you happen to have pets or even other adults in the household, it might be a good idea to put in place a few protective measures to avoid such an occurrence. It is usually cheaper and more convenient to do this rather than waiting for disaster to strike and then dealing with it.
How a temporary fence can help
One of the most effective ways of improving the safety of the construction site is by investing in a temporary fence. You can then use this to create a barrier around the construction site, so that your kids and pets won’t be able to get anywhere near it. This is a solution that most people don’t think about when handling domestic construction jobs, but it has a lot of potential to help in improving security.
Is this not very expensive?
Most people associate temporary fences with commercial construction projects. For this reason, they might think that renting one will be too expensive for them. However, if you shop for one today, you are likely to find that it’s not as expensive as you expected it to be. Some of the ways of minimizing the cost of getting one include:
• Buying just enough of the fencing: You should find out the dimensions of the area you are trying to cordon off, and then buy fencing that is just enough to completely surround it. This way, you will buy a length of fencing that is just enough, and this in turn means that you will spend the minimum amount of money on the fencing.
• Shop around: This gives you an opportunity to sample prices from different vendors.
• Rent everything you need from one source: Firms that rent out the temporary fences tend to provide other items including builder’s poles. If you intend to use any of these, consider renting everything from one vendor to get a lower overall price.
• Rent rather than buy: You don’t need to buy the temporary fencing; you can simply rent it for the duration of time you need it. This is cheaper than buying particularly if you use it for a short time only.
The things you need to do to make the fence more secure
Once you decide to rent a temporary fence for this application, there are a few things you can do to increase the safety that it confers on the construction site. Some of these include:
• Make sure that the fence is properly installed. Errors in installation are likely to lead to reduced reliability of the fence, and this means that your kids are likely to gain access to the site after all.
• Buy a fence that your kids will not be able to find a way through. Features such as having vertical bars that are widen enough to let a child pass through or having cross bars that can be used as ladders all reduce the effectiveness of the fence as a security feature.
Other safety measures you can put in place
In addition to creating a barrier around the construction site, there are other things you can do to keep it safer for kids and the other members of your household. These include keeping them away from all the dangerous machines used for the home improvement project, and covering up any large holes that might pose a risk to someone who might not know that they are there. It’s also a good idea to have the construction site lit up at night, so that people don’t end up stumbling through the site and harming themselves in the process in darkness.
In summary, making sure that you keep such a construction site fenced up should be one of your main goals to keep your kids and other family members safe. By following the above tips, you should be able to achieve this with ease.
