Getting your home ready before the trades arrive

Short answer

Clear and protect the work area, photograph its existing condition, agree access and parking in advance, secure pets, and establish where they can put things and use facilities. Photographs taken before work starts are the single most useful thing you can do, because they settle the pre-existing damage argument before it happens.

Preparation is not hospitality. It removes the two things that most often turn a good job into a dispute: damage nobody can date, and delays nobody planned for.

Photograph first

Take wide shots and close-ups of the work area and its surroundings before anyone arrives — floors, walls, existing marks, the driveway, the garden they will walk through. It takes two minutes. It ends the pre-existing damage argument permanently, in both directions, which is as much protection for a good tradesperson as it is for you.

Clear and protect

  • Move anything breakable, valuable or sentimental out of the area entirely rather than to its edge.
  • Cover what cannot be moved. Dust travels far further than people expect, especially with any cutting or sanding.
  • Clear a path from the door to the work area, and think about what they will be carrying.
  • Lift rugs and protect flooring along the route, not just at the destination.

Agree the practicalities in advance

  1. Access: who lets them in, and what happens if you are not home.
  2. Parking, which in inner suburbs is a genuine cause of delay and should be discussed rather than discovered.
  3. Hours, particularly if you have neighbours close by, work from home, or are in strata with noise by-laws.
  4. Pets. Say what you have and where they will be. A dog that bolts through an open door is a bad afternoon for everyone.
  5. Facilities: whether they can use the bathroom, where they can fill water, and where waste goes.
  6. Power and water access, especially if either will be turned off during the work.

While the work is happening

Be available but not hovering. Ask for a heads-up before anything irreversible, and before services are shut off. If you notice something that concerns you, raise it that day rather than at the end — almost everything is easier to fix while the tradesperson is still on site, and raising it late reads as an ambush even when it is not.

At the end, walk the job with them before final payment. Take photographs again. Collect the invoice, any compliance certificate and the warranty terms while everyone is still standing there.

Common questions

Do I need to be home while the work is done?
For a short job it helps, mostly so decisions can be made quickly. For longer jobs it is often impractical. Agree access arrangements in advance and in writing, and make sure someone can be reached by phone for decisions.
Who is responsible if my property is damaged?
The tradesperson, if it resulted from their work — which is what public liability insurance is for. Proving it happened during the work is where your before-and-after photographs do their job.
Should I provide tea and coffee?
Entirely optional and nobody expects it. What is genuinely useful is clear access, somewhere to put tools, and being reachable for decisions. Preparation helps far more than hospitality.

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