Living in the house during a renovation: what to plan for

About four in five of our clients live in the house while we work on it. For kitchens, bathrooms, loft conversions and most extensions that works well. For a whole-house renovation, we usually suggest moving out.

Dust

We seal the work area with zip-door dust screens, cover floors with hardboard, and run a vacuum at the end of every day. Fine dust still gets through on the days we cut brick or sand plaster. Expect two or three of those days a week during the structural stage, and almost none after plastering.

Noise and hours

We work 8:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and 8:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays, inside Bristol City Council’s hours for noisy work. The loudest days are when walls come out and when steels go in. Marek sends the week’s plan on Friday, so you know which days to work from somewhere else.

A temporary kitchen

• A sink with hot and cold water, which we plumb into another room on day one

• The fridge and a worktop beside it

• A microwave, a kettle and a two-ring induction hob

• Paper plates for the week the water is off

Children and pets

Site areas are locked or screened at the end of every day, but scaffolding, tools and open floors are hard to make child-proof in the daytime. Most families with young children set up a room as far from the work as possible. If a dog or cat is unsettled by noise and strangers, the first two weeks are the ones to arrange a sitter or family for.

When to move out

We suggest moving out when the only bathroom or the whole ground floor is out of use for more than two weeks, or when the heating is off in winter. On a whole-house job, staying usually adds four to eight weeks, because we have to work in phases around you.