“I’m crazy about reforms, but it’s a hobby ruinous,” Mar responded to the request for participation for this article. In recent years, this professional from the audiovisual world who lives in Barcelona, but was born in Palma de Mallorca, has carried out the renovations of two apartments, one in each of these cities, and recognizes that it has been an “interesting” time of his life. “There are always unforeseen events. When you open the walls you see things that were hidden in plain sight and that you have to fix. But you have no choice but to be patient and flexible,” he advises.
Mar’s case, although especially intense, is only one among many that occur each year in Spain. According to data from the National Association of Ceramic and Construction Materials Distributors (Andimac), it is estimated that during the year 2024, 1.8 million homes will have been renovated in our country, 1% more than in 2023. That is many works, many calls and many deadlines to meet, many undecided clients and many professionals from different trades involved.
Domestic reforms are, in addition to a sector that contributes millions of euros each year to the GDP of our country —bill around 20,000 million euros per year, in Andimac figures in 2021—one of the ones that causes the most feelings and headaches. Going ‘a little crazy’ when we do work on our home or future home is something very common and I’m sure many readers know it first-hand.
It is normal for a renovation to generate stress for us. This is mainly due, according to Jordi Isidro, psychologist specialized in anxiety disorders and director of the Cedipte-Psychology center, “to the feeling of loss of control and that our space is being invaded. Because it really is like that: they are touching and removing our objects.” According to the psychologist, “we are territorial animals and feeling that our surroundings are changing and altering causes interference in our emotional system and an internal struggle that ends up generating stress. Rationally, we know that it is for the good of the house and ours, but emotionally we feel invaded.”
There are always unforeseen events. When you open the walls you see things that were hidden in plain sight and that you have to fix. But you have no choice but to be patient and flexible.
Face to face with chaos
After years of living in their apartment in Barcelona, Nacho and his partner decided some time ago to give it a facelift, completely renovating the kitchen and living room. To do this, they hired a decoration studio to take care of everything, from design to construction management. A solution that is somewhat more expensive, but that, in theory, usually avoids some headaches.
“I will always remember the first day of the reform,” explains Nacho. “I went to work in the morning with the house in order. When I returned in the evening, the kitchen, which occupies the central part of the apartment, had disappeared to the foundation and most of the furniture was cornered and covered with plastic. Absolutely everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. “It was impressive.”
“For a few weeks the living part of the apartment was reduced to the bedroom and the attached bathroom,” he continues. “At first it was very overwhelming. As the days went by we got organized: we ate in bed and cooked on an electric griddle, which gave everything a certain camping feel. “I remember it as a little adventure, although at times it was hell.”
Broken promises
Nacho did well by hiring a company to take care of everything, but this is not always the case. Eloísa renovated a house in Seville and to do so she hired an architecture studio that had just opened and was managed by acquaintances. “We wanted to do a very simple renovation with the idea of updating the apartment and renting it out,” he recalls. “The studio was sold as the most modern in Seville, the most topalthough they really had no experience.”
The project they prepared was very ambitious, but that ambition did not translate into their agility to advance the works. “Everything was very slow. They took a long, long time for anything, so in the end the project ended up being done by my mother-in-law, who had been an architect, and we told them to follow that plan,” he recalls.
At first it was very overwhelming. As the days went by we got organized: we ate in bed and cooked on an electric griddle, which gave everything a certain camping feel. I remember it as a little adventure, although at times it was hell
“The fact is that it took them months to start the work and then they did not follow the plans that we had given them,” he continues. “We even had to make them tear down a wall that they had built without our consent, so I had to fire them and they even kept money that did not belong to them. In the end, with the help of a lifelong bricklayer and the supervision of my father, the work was completed.”
This house is a ruin version euskaldun
Things could get even worse. For example, in the case of Mikel, who together with his two brothers undertook the extensive renovation of the family house, located in his hometown in Euskadi, and which dates back to the 15th century. “At first things seemed simple,” he explains. “The main thing was to restore the roof and reinforce some parts of the wooden structure. As is usually done in this type of work, I asked an architect for help to take care of the technical and legal part, and a bricklayer known in town for the rest. According to him everything was going to be simple and quick: nothing could be further from the truth. While they were removing the roof, the house literally collapsed.”
From then on, Mikel found himself in a sector that greatly disappointed him. “Architects, bricklayers, everyone told me that nothing was happening. It seemed that, despite everything, things would go well. Surprise! It wasn’t like that. The bricklayer soon told us that many more guilds were needed, such as blacksmiths to make the iron beams, and they gave us a period of three years. Portable toilets and changing rooms had to be equipped for workers. As expected, the budget for the work was exhausted and my brothers and I, after a thousand arguments and sleepless nights, had to get to work on site.”
I asked an architect and a bricklayer known in town for help. According to him everything was going to be simple and quick: nothing could be further from the truth. While they were removing the roof, the house literally collapsed.
Luckily for them, this version euskaldun of This house is a ruinafter fourteen years of work, seems close to completion. “Together with my brothers we have been doing everything: electricity, plumbing, painting, masonry, gardening… A very long road accompanied by countless YouTube tutorials. In the end, we learned a lot and are very proud of all the work, but at the cost of our wallet and our health. My little brother, by the way, is now professionally dedicated to renovations thanks to everything he learned.”
Learning to live in chaos can help
Mikel’s adaptation to the problems is, to say the least, admirable. Many people would have abandoned when faced with such an adverse situation, even more so not being the main residence. But, as Jordi Isidro states, “the reaction depends on each person’s personality. There are people who adapt more easily to disorder than others, there are even people who are more comfortable in chaos than in order.”
In general, explains the psychologist, since we are little, we look for order in things. Children place their cubes in geometric order, try to create structures, put colors together… Nature has an order and people try to reproduce it, this is what is called homeostasis, which is the mechanism by which nature always seeks balance and stability. .
The effects at the family level are also important, points out the doctor. “The fact of being upset, restless, irritable, sleeping worse, has an impact on family coexistence,” he says. “They can increase conflicts, arguments and tensions with the people we live with. Also due to the practical fact that it is more difficult for us to find things, we are more disoriented and it takes us longer to do our daily activities. Everything becomes slower and more complex.”
Planning and communication
From the Guild of interior reforms of Cataloniaits president David Albert Castellví, recognizes that its sector is complex and that the existence of hidden problems, the lack of availability of certain materials, complications in the coordination between different professionals or the final finishing work once the work has been executed, usually be the most common problems. In his opinion, the key to managing these problems is “constant and transparent communication,” he explains. “It is important to keep clients informed from the beginning of the reform about the evolution and possible setbacks and, if they arise, clearly explain the reason and the available alternatives.”
According to Castellví, to avoid problems it is essential to “do good planning before starting any work, work with trusted suppliers and have qualified professionals in all areas.” Something, the latter, that is not always simple. “It was very difficult for me to find good professionals in Mallorca,” explains Mar. “Because they obviously prioritize major renovations in caseplones (almost always from Germans) and for small works they give you a waiting period of one year.”
It was very difficult for me to find good professionals in Mallorca because they obviously prioritize large renovations in mansions (almost always German) and for small works they give you a waiting period of one year.
A personal project
“Patience, patience and patience,” Mar recommends to people who are thinking about undertaking a renovation. “In the end, it’s worth it, but you have to be aware that there will be a lot of unforeseen events and be able to find other options if we can’t make our initial idea.”
Mikel agrees with this, and also emphasizes the importance of finding good professionals. “Ask for recommendations, search, compare… Surely they will be very busy and will give you long deadlines, but perhaps it is better to wait,” he points out.
From the psychologist’s point of view, to manage the frustration and tension of a work “we have to accept that unforeseen events are part of life and even more so in a renovation,” he explains. “As a mechanism to better manage stress, it would be very healthy to extend the days that hired professionals promise us. For example, if they tell us that it will take two months, expect it to be three, this way we will avoid seeing the delays as a failure.” Isidro also recommends “taking the work as a personal and family group challenge, as an adventure. Also be patient and take it with humor, which will help us put the problems that arise into perspective,” he concludes.
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