Demolition days are a major perk for those engaging in house flipping. You get to smash kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, and living rooms to smithereens as you demolish the interior of the home you’re flipping. Unfortunately for some home flippers, this gleeful process can lead to injuries and devastating trips to the emergency room. If you want to prevent demolition day injuries during your next real estate house flip, bear the following essential tips in mind.
– Be cautious of who is in your vicinity when you start swinging a sledge hammer. Not only can you hit someone with flying debris from your hammer, you can send projectiles careening through holes in open walls.
– Safety eyewear is crucial for those demolishing the interior of a home. Small slivers of wood, plaster, insulation, and countertop material can cause permanent eye injury. Wear your safety goggles not only when your demolition crew is smashing materials, but also when you’re pulling down cabinetry or ripping down ceiling tiles.
– Speaking of ripping down ceilings, be extremely cautious of hazardous materials like asbestos when pulling down ceilings. Asbestos can be found in numerous locations including ceiling tiles and roof insulation so you want to use the utmost caution when demolishing the interior of a house you’re flipping. Know the warning signs of asbestos, and call in the experts if you suspect there may be asbestos in a home. You could be responsible for lifelong injuries to your demolition crew if they inhale harmful asbestos fibers.
– Many demolition day injuries happen when cabinets are being removed. Shelves can fall out of cabinets. Units can pitch forward when they’re no longer secured to the wall. Instead of taking a sledgehammer to cabinets, consider whether you can safely remove the cabinets from the wall and donate them to charity. Not only does this let someone else reuse your donated cabinets, it keeps excess construction materials from ending up in the landfill.
– Wear safety gloves when you’re demolishing a house you’re flipping. Safety gloves can prevent friction blisters and can help prevent slivers and major cuts too. One wrong move while you’re ripping apart cabinetry and you could end up paying a visit to your local emergency room for stitches. You’ll never regret taking an extra couple seconds to put on work gloves, but you might regret foregoing this essential safety precaution.
These are just a few of many safety tips real estate house flippers should pay attention to during demolition days. If you’re safety conscious and focused on the long-term prospects for your real estate flip, you could end up with a sizable profit for your efforts.