coping through building work

mummyroysof3

we are debating having our house extended but we are really worried about how we will all manage while its being done.

have any families on here had work done on their house and how did you manage?

MrsAckroyd

We had a loft conversion a few years ago, we had a 5 yr old & I was about 8.5 month pregnant at the time. We were really lucky with our builders, they put scaffolding up round the house & used that to come & go from the house. The only time they needed to come in was to fit the new stairs which only took a day or two.

Hth:)

lostinrates

I don't have kids, but I have animals and health problems and had builders here from July through to, december, and they pop back now and then.

My tips:

Get happy builders. happy builders who sing noisily are easier than ones who make you feel uncomfortable in your own home.

A good, self sufficient happy team is important. They shopuld bring a kettle and milk etc, but be sure to have stuff for when they run short.

Very very importnt.....dust seal properly adjoining rooms doors on knock through days. It will not work completely but it will help more than you can imagine. Then dust seal the knock throughs.

Don't try and do laundry on their working days. Even if you use a drier, you will get some dust on stuff. It's the time for quick cook suppers, not things that need to defrost all day cook ahead ones.

Have site meetings in the building site if possible, not in your sitting room.

Keep put of their way while they are working. Grin and say hi when they come, and bye when they go but let them have a working environment.

Keep boots by the doors for wearing outside in mess, leave at the doors at all times.

Move precious things from the area. Favourite plants etc. Honestly, it's easiest.

It's hard, but it's not forever. I liked our builders a lot. My dogs liked them. We are all glad to have the house back, but we are also just about ok with them coming in again to do some room reconfiguring upstairs and a bathroom refit.

miss_independent

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

we are debating having our house extended but we are really worried about how we will all manage while its being done.

have any families on here had work done on their house and how did you manage?

It WAS hard but it was also worth it. I'd say don't have it done in winter though, ours was finished the third week in December!!!

Certain extensions have a greater impact - our kitchen was involved and we had no cooker for a month. We made do with a kettle, toaster and microwave set up in the hallway. We are used to home cooked meals so it was VERY difficult for us. We got sick of takeaways and ready meals. A typical meal would be a Rotisserie chicken, bagged salad and microwave rice. Cuppa soups etc for lunch. We all got a bit run down.

Doors were left open alot by the workmen which made it very cold, so we wore extra clothes. We were intermittently without gas, water and electric but only for a few hours at a time.

One thing I'd say is watch your boundaries with the workmen. It was hard enough US surviving but on the first day we gave the two brickies a brew & snacks every hour or so and then more and more came, so we ended up making 8 cups of tea or coffee (sugar, no sugar, milk, strong, weaketc etc), pot noodles, sandwiches etc every hour and it was exhausting. We spent a fortune on milk, tea bags, coffee and biccies! So start as you mean to go on.

You'll feel like you have no privacy - you can't step out of the shower and go through to your bedroom starkers to get dressed cos next thing you know you'll realise there's a very shocked man on a ladder outside your window watching you rummaging through your underwear drawer! Yes. This did happen to me. Your toilet seat will CONSTANTLY be left up and there will be muddy footprints in your bathroom.

But... a week after they've finished you'll be sat in your shiny new extension and the hard times will seem like they never happened.

My friend moved back into her Mum's with her hubby and two babies while their work was done and she seems to have had a harder time than us :rotfl:

tyllwyd

We lived through some of it, and then moved out for about six weeks (to a friend's house which was empty at the time so we were lucky to be able to do that).

If you do move out, make sure you pop back every day so that if there are any questions they can ask you - otherwise they will end up making their own decisions not all of which will seem logical to you when you find out!

You don't say how many rooms will be affected, and how old your children are? Will the water / gas / heating etc need to be turned off? Will it affect bathrooms & kitchens?

Don't underestimate how much dust there will be at times! If you can, I'd recommend putting as much as you can in storage for a while, so that you don't end up tripping over piles of stuff when rooms are unusable.

mummyroysof3

There are 3 rooms on front that won't be touched. The rest is all affected. Our current extension is going to be replaced by a 2 story to get an extra bedroom and move kitchen into the extension which will be bigger .

So far the only thing from comments I pleased about is that there is a downstairs loo for the builders. We need to get some quotes and find out how long it would take. If its too expensive we will have to scrap the plans anyway or if cant get planning. I've fallen in love with what house would look like after so I'll be gutted if we can't do it

Welshwoofs

I moved 10 times by the time I left home at 18 (ata 43 I've seriously lost count) and every single move was into a run-down house that needed a total overhaul. Sometimes we'd have to live on site in a caravan, sometimes it was camp-beds on bare floors and a tarp where a roof should be - lots of times there was no heating at all and quite often the only water was taking a bucket out to an outside tap.

An extension will be a breeze because you'll have most of the house intact. Just make sure that your builders put down covers on the floors in the rest of the house. If you're going to lose the kitchen for any length of time then move kettle/microwave into another room and wash-up in the bathroom. I'd recommend http://www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk/landing food in those circumstances as it's nice, healthy, doesn't need to go in the fridge and can be heated quickly. With builders in and hour and outside walls knocked around you'll probably get cold so a halogen heater is handy. If you don't want the builders to use your loos, hire an outside toilet.

There will, of course, be upheaval. My biggest bit of advice is to not get too stressed and expect things to be noisy, dusty and untidy. Also keep the builders on the right side.....every lot I've had I've plied with bacon sarnies every morning and given them lots of tea and biscuits and they've gone out of their way to be tidy and 'go the extra mile'.

DKLS

We coped by splitting up!, the renovations wasn't the cause there was a number of underlying reasons that were exposed when the first wall came down.

lostinrates

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

There are 3 rooms on front that won't be touched. The rest is all affected. Our current extension is going to be replaced by a 2 story to get an extra bedroom and move kitchen into the extension which will be bigger .

So far the only thing from comments I pleased about is that there is a downstairs loo for the builders. We need to get some quotes and find out how long it would take. If its too expensive we will have to scrap the plans anyway or if cant get planning. I've fallen in love with what house would look like after so I'll be gutted if we can't do it

For reference, we required our builders erect a portaloo for the duration. It's much easier, simpler and fairer on all IMO. No waiting, extra cleaning, stress on pipes and preserves the divide between site and home as mush as possible.

Fwiw, we still love our builders and hope they want to do the next piece of work too.

luxor4t

My husband will tell you it was fine - but he went off to work every morning leaving me with three young children in the house and 5 builders on the roof.
We had to have a new roof, replacement windows front and back, the back of the house was hacked off and re-rendered, re-wiring throughout and the kitchen was replaced due to damp.
They used the garage as a base, took over the (tiny) back garden as a picnic area and, as they were all family men, were great with the kids.
We were without a kitchen for 10 days - at worst there was no running water downstairs for three days, but they still expected a full hot drinks service :silenced:
11 very interesting months from start to finish. It was weird when they went and I had no excuse to avoid the housework.

raq

hi

we started an attic conversation in may. artic only finished 3 weeks ago but the rest of the first floor is still ripped apart and everything still in storage in our shed. living okayish, got 3 little one,s little one,s have been great but I have felt it in a hugh way. I am normally very laid back but it does get it you.

ALso, my other half is in the trade so going to work and coming home and doing a bit

also, architect messed up big time and lost a bit of money

also, to get the attic finished my parents gave us £3k to just finish the attic never mind anything else

Looks fab up there but still a long way to go

Best of luck