Living in a home during renovation

[AustinTink]

We’re about to embark on a renovation of our primary bathroom. Major changes, tearing everything down to the studs. I’m looking for tips on living in the home during renovation. Tips for keeping the rest of the house manageable during all that demo and hauling in and out of building materials. I’m a tidy person and I have lots of environmental allergies to things like dust and mold. I’m getting a little freaked about being in the home during renovations.

 

[luvthatduke]

We had work done when DS was younger and suffered terribly from asthma & triggers.
First, of course, make sure you have another bathroom w/shower or tub available!

Since you have problems w/allergens, etc. you will have to make sure the workers
seal any area they are working in, while also running fans w/filters that will
effectually suck the dust/debri from the air as they tear down.
This will also have to be done when they start the rebuild w/sanding, painting, etc.
This MUST be written into the contract(s).

I hope it goes well for you!

 

[msmayor]

A few years ago we had two full bathrooms in our house remodeled...down to the studs...and for us the key to keeping the home spaces neat was a good contractor.

We gave them the garage to stage materials and keep all of their tools, both while they worked and overnight so they didn't have to pack up everything at the end of every day. They draped plastic to keep as much dust out of the main living spaces, and laid heavy duty drop-cloths along their entire route in/out of the house to the bathrooms to contain anything they might track into the house. At the end of every workday their shop-vac cleaned up the work area and they ran my own vacuum on carpeted spaces.

This was all part of their description of how they worked - I didn't have to ask them to do any of this.

 

[Meriweather]

DS and his family stayed with us for the 2 weeks their floors were getting redone.
We would probably go stay with them for something take creates a lot of dust because DH has asthma and a lot of allergies.

 

[slo]

Good luck - it’s so stressful.
I live in a quad level house and we had a water situation one year that affected the basement, family room (3rd level) and kitchen (main level) all at the same time - it was a nightmare. The house was a disaster.

My advice is to just keep telling yourself - it’s just temporary and how nice that bathroom will look when it’s done (I had to constantly remind myself this to keep myself from going crazy).

I hope your renovation goes smooth and show us some pictures when it’s done.

 

[Christine]

In 2019, I had 4 of my bathrooms remodeled. The contractor did an excellent job of keeping the dust at bay by handing lots of plastic curtains. He also timed everything so that I had one full working bathroom at all times. I was really nervous about it, but the contractor did such a great job it wasn't that awful.

 

[MICKIMINI]

A few years ago we had two full bathrooms in our house remodeled...down to the studs...and for us the key to keeping the home spaces neat was a good contractor.

We gave them the garage to stage materials and keep all of their tools, both while they worked and overnight so they didn't have to pack up everything at the end of every day. They draped plastic to keep as much dust out of the main living spaces, and laid heavy duty drop-cloths along their entire route in/out of the house to the bathrooms to contain anything they might track into the house. At the end of every workday their shop-vac cleaned up the work area and they ran my own vacuum on carpeted spaces.

This was all part of their description of how they worked - I didn't have to ask them to do any of this.

Great contractors! That is how it should be done!

 

[Travel60]

Twenty years ago we had our kitchen redone down to the studs, including floor down to joists. At the same time, the contractor added a room onto the back of the adjacent family room and put matching cabinets on each side of the fireplace. The back of our downstairs was inaccessible for 2-3 months. But as PP said, our contractor walled everything off with plastic, came in and out through garage, and cleaned up meticulously every night.

We lived in the upstairs bedrooms and the basement playroom which has a restroom and access to the back yard. There was a refrigerator and microwave down there and we moved gas grill to the little patio. Not problem with dust/allergies. After it was all over, we did have air ducts professionally cleaned.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Be prepared for unannounced all day water turnoffs by filling large containers in advance. Keep calm when worst case scenarios happen by ensuring a space away from the hustle and bustle is ready for you to collapse in a heap. Stocking my hidey hole with tea and an electric kettle was a true boon.

Given your allergen history make sure you keep K 95 masks on hand for daily use.

GL and best wishes. You will have the bathroom of your dreams when it’s completed.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

When we got married in 1981 our house was recently gutted and we had plywood floors, plastic covered insulation walls. No kitchen sink or cabinets and our living area was in the kitchen with a couch, coffee table, and the tv was on the kitchen table. I’ve lived through it all.

 

[_19disnA]

When we had some repairs/remodeling done we discussed ahead of time with the contractor how things would work. Will they clean-up daily or when certain tasks are completed?.....where will they store tools/supplies/etc. Depends on what exactly they are doing and if you have access to other bathrooms/etc. This avoids surprises later on. Heavy plastic they put up is good to contain the general dust associated with any remodeling. When they sand the new drywall seams a very fine dust will result so it is good if they can open windows or provide some sort of exhaust to the outside so that powder doesn't travel all over the house. It is normal to have them use noisy tools/etc. since it is a construction area.

 

[EllieJedi]

I lived in my house during a gut remodel of my kitchen and also suffer from asthma and allergies. Our contractor also put up the plastic barrier to seal off the kitchen from the rest of the house. If you live in a colder climate, during the remodel especially change your furnace filter to be the best HEPA filter you can get.

 

[Jeannie]

We're living this right now! Just moved into our house and ripped out the master bath and closet to combine into a larger bathroom, complete demo/reno of hallway main bath, broke into 4th BR from master to create a large walk in closet, took out the doorway to the 4th bedroom to open the space as a hallway continuation, total teardown of kitchen/dining room to renovate and enlarge access to LR, rip up all carpet and plywood to install hardwood floors. So far the bathrooms have been completed... except for the glass shower partition that we're waiting for, and the floors are done. Closet itself is finished, but the bifold barn doors still need to be installed. Hardwood floors have been installed. Kitchen is probably about 75% done. Once those projects are all complete, we'll continue on the ground floor. We already had the poorly constructed wood burning fireplace and surround ripped out and replaced with a gas insert. Tile in the foyer, laundry room, and powder room will all be taken up and replaced. Powder room will be demoed and then enlarged, and the fireplace will get a new surround. Tons of cosmetic work being done everywhere - wallpaper removal, crown molding removal, spackle, spackle, spackle!

You're going to live with dust. We've had plastic film walls set up all over. Damn dust gets around it!

 

[barkley]

lots of good suggestions. we had our bathrooms re-done about 2 years ago. pretty minor on one (new flooring and countertops, paint), more extensive on the other (new flooring, ripped out existing shower and redid with tile, shelves...(down to studs) w/ sprayers, new countertops, new tiling around existing bathtub, paint). no major issue issue with dust b/c they would keep the door closed as they worked, cleaned as they went. ONLY issue that was bothorsome and i would opt to spend a night or two away from home following if i had allergy issues-when they do the waterproofing application to the walls. that hot pink goo smells terrible and despite running the fan in the bathroom constantly, keeping the door closed to both the bathroom and the attached bedroom-it made it's way to the rest of the house. only lasted a couple of days but w/allergies i would make other accommodation arrangements.

 

[firefly_ris]

We've renovated/totally gutted 3 homes mostly ourselves and lived in them for the duration -- including when we added the 2nd floor to this house and slept for 3 nights in our bedroom with no ceiling or roof above us, just some tarps (and it stormed, and one of the tarps came loose...). You're going to get dust no matter what. But, I often taped off using plastic sheeting, shoved rolled up towels at the bottom of doorways, ran air purifiers, etc. It does help but can't be eliminated.

 

[tvguy]

We started a total renovation of our house in 2013. The contractor used plastic sheeting to wall off areas they were working, and put down heavy brown paper on all the floors. It took from November until June to complete. Guest bathroom first, then master bath. Then the kitchen, then all the doors, then all 1,600 square feet of flooring.
We moved our microwave into the laundry room for the 5 weeks the kitchen was out of commission and ate microwaved meals, and moved our mattress to the floor of a front bedroom for a couple of nights. Other than that, and having my stove and refrigerator sitting in my Family room for 5 weeks, no big deal, and the plastic sheeting kept the dust down.

 

[GreatLakes]

We re-did our only full bath twice since 2017 and did a full renovation of our main floor which included our Kitchen. The bathroom was only a few days each time and we went to the gym or a family member 3 miles away for those days. The kitchen was almost a month due to a COVID positive test that delayed that project so we had no working kitchen over Christmas. That was pretty brutal but we did plug in the stove for a bit and had a spare microwave.

It was a pain while it was happening but in the grand scheme of things it was a month out of life. We used a lot of disposable dishes and cups and did a lot of washing of dishes in the utility sink. Good luck.

 

[tvguy]

We re-did our only full bath twice since 2017

Curious why you remodeled a bathroom twice in only 6 years? Our entire house was "as built" with contractor grade fixtures and cabinets and was 34 years old when we remodeled. We used higher end fixtures and cabinets in the bathrooms, and I expect them to last at least another 34 years at a minimum. My parents house was built with high end fixtures and cabinets and was 53 years old, totally untouched, when I sold it and in new condition. I'd go broke pretty quickly if I remodeled every few years.

 

[GreatLakes]

Curious why you remodeled a bathroom twice in only 6 years? Our entire house was "as built" with contractor grade fixtures and cabinets and was 34 years old when we remodeled. We used higher end fixtures and cabinets in the bathrooms, and I expect them to last at least another 34 years at a minimum. My parents house was built with high end fixtures and cabinets and was 53 years old, totally untouched, when I sold it and in new condition. I'd go broke pretty quickly if I remodeled every few years.

The second time was just the "wet" area (tub and surround) but it took the bathroom out of commission for a few days. We decided to change the way the tub and surround were configured so that second one was all our fault but we are looking to move in a year or two so wanted to correct the mistake before the house went on the market.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Others have covered a lot of what you'd want the work to be like to minimize the effects of the work but if it's more than a couple of days honestly I'd go to a hotel (extended stay may be better if you have one in your area) or stay with someone else. You can check in on the work from time to time but not worry about breathing in dust and whatnot for an extended time while also knowing there will be some dust for a bit after the work is completed.

Your allergies may make that even more important. Also if you're a super tidy person even if you give every directive in the book to the workers they may leave their areas at least in somewhat disarray more than you're comfortable with.

My sister-in-law and her boyfriend have been doing a lot of renovations between the 4-plex they own and now a duplex they own. They are currently having the duplex worked on to do the units and they have security cameras (installed after theft occurred at the duplex just after they bought it) inside the home. The contractors know they are there and they've looked at the footage when need be. For them it's bathroom, kitchen and bedroom remodels. They aren't living in it while its being done though.