Personal items during renovation?

We are moving out during our renovation but storing most of our stuff in the basement. The work we are having done will be on the upper floors, but the basement will need to be accessed regularly. Should I be concerned about the potential for theft? We don’t have anything valuable…but if someone were to come after hours and steal our personal belongings/furniture, it would feel like a big loss to me. We don’t have an alarm system, but do have metal gates on the doors and windows except for one vulnerable spot. I’ve heard about people breaking into homes being renovated to steal materials but perhaps noone would bother with our boxes of books, clothes, kitchen equipment? Thanks.

clee321

in General Discussion 8 years and 8 months ago

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carrie32387 | 8 years and 7 months ago

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Great Suggestions!

yesbrooklyn | 8 years and 7 months ago

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Careful if you have lead paint too. The dust from lead paint can contaminate everything, in which case you’d have to start all over again anyways…

slopegirl | 8 years and 7 months ago

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if you’re moving out, I’d also move out anything you value or would miss. even if you had to drive it out of town to store it somewhere affordably, I would think the effort would be worth it. all our furniture is cheap and second hand, but it took me years to accumulate things I like. starting that over again would be a huge pain and cost of time, not to mention the cost of replacing items lost or stolen themselves. I think an ounce of prevention is worth it. You took the time to imagine this loss and post it to a blog. Packing your stuff is going to be worth it.

slopefarm | 8 years and 7 months ago

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LOL.

I will add that you should check in with your insurer to see what losses are covered for personal items during construction.

EJR | 8 years and 7 months ago

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@WT0406 – are you my wife? This sounds like my exact experience.

nykidden | 8 years and 7 months ago

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I stored my stuff in the basement too and gut my two upper floors. Wish I moved it all out. There was flooding and damage and small things went missing. Also, everything no
matter where it was stored was insanely dirty.

katdov | 8 years and 7 months ago

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I had 2 break ins during my renovation. They stole hundreds of dollars worth of tools from the builders on their first night. The second time there was nothing to steal, so they took work sneakers the workers left overnight. And a ladder.

reuventenam | 8 years and 7 months ago

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That is a big problem with construction in a home that is either occupied during construction or personal property stored. You should lock it up.

resident2 | 8 years and 8 months ago

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Just pack it all up and put it in storage; besides outright thefts you need to think about dust, dirt and potential plumbing issues etc during a renovation.
Your contractor will need access to mains of plumbing, electrical etc through out. Just get everything out of their way.
Storage sites Up State are much cheaper than the City.

lgwlcvqt | 8 years and 8 months ago

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Things will go missing, usually tools and materials. During our work, countless small tools, a hand truck, a shop vac, a fireplace cover, among other things were taken. So many people come in and out countless times, and it’s sometimes days or weeks by the the time you notice it’s gone.
Whatever you don’t want to loose, lock up or remove

lgwlcvqt | 8 years and 8 months ago

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Things will go missing, usually tools and materials. During our work, countless small tools, a hand truck, a shop vac, a fireplace cover, among other things were taken. So many people come in and out countless times, and it’s sometimes days or weeks by the the time you notice it’s gone.
Whatever you don’t want to loose, lock up or remove