Advice for staying in home during bathroom refit (we have a second bathroom)

Green_hopeful

We had two bathrooms and a cloakroom done last year. We stayed in the house and had an elderly aunt staying with us. We have another bathroom so we just used that. We had the two bathrooms removed at the same time because we were moving a doorway. It was a bit dusty but the fitter put sticky plastic on the stairs. The only trade that was particularly messy was the plasterer. I think our fitter asked me a question every day so it was good that I was home. The only issue we had was keeping our cats in with me. 

casper_gutman

We've just finished having out main bathroom refitted, and didn't feel the need to move out.

In terms of dust and dirt: yes, there was a fair bit of this. Stripping out the old bathroom inevitably created lots of dust, which ended up on pretty much every surface. It couldn't realistically be contained in the bathroom since there were seemingly endless quantities of broken tiles, bits of plaster etc. - not to mention the old bathroom suite - all to be carried out over the landing and down the stairs. The workers took pains to cover every inch of the carpet with sticky plastic, used thicker corrugated plastic taped down over the areas they were walking, and spent time at the end of every day sweeping and wiping up the worst of the mess, which all helped the problems to be less than they otherwise might have been.

The biggest inconvenience was that we really had to wear footwear every time we walked up or down stairs, and take it off again as we entered one of the clean (well, cleaner!) rooms. This was partly to reduce spread of dirt and partly because we were worried there could be something - broken tile pieces, nails etc - which could cause injury if trodden on barefoot.

I work from home, and the noise would certainly have been disruptive but for the fact that I have an office in the garden away from the main house. Even if I'd had to work indoors I think I'd have tried to stick it out if I possibly could, though: as others have said, it's best if you're around to keep an eye on things and answer any queries as they arise. If you're not, then the workers will either need to make decisions themselves (quite possibly not what you'd have wanted) or delay the work until you are around.

Cairnpapple

The only problems I could envisage for you is that your husband might find it difficult to work with trades coming and going and some noise. Also, if you're housebound it would be more difficult for you to get out for a break or to avoid the disruption. 

Good warnings, thanks!

Thankfully, spouse is one of these people who is really good at concentrating and not easily disturbed (I'm the opposite!!) He also works fully flexible hours (e.g. one of his colleagues starts at 5am) so it might be worth planning to do a bit more of his work outside conventional work hours, I'll mention that to him. He doesn't usually have any meetings.

And a local friend is off work that week and has offered to pick me up and take me to her house for a while if needed. She has lots of experience of chronic illness so she wouldn't be offended if I just wanted to nap on her sofa! Another friend offered a longer stay but I find it exhausting being in a different environment so I'm keeping that as an emergency back-up. 

Cairnpapple

The biggest inconvenience was that we really had to wear footwear every time we walked up or down stairs, and take it off again as we entered one of the clean (well, cleaner!) rooms. This was partly to reduce spread of dirt and partly because we were worried there could be something - broken tile pieces, nails etc - which could cause injury if trodden on barefoot.

I hadn't thought about shoes,  that's a really good call! This one should be better because it's right by the front door and we can stay away and use the back door, but I'll definitely bear that in mind for the next one which is upstairs. 

Albermarle

casper_gutman said:

We've just finished having out main bathroom refitted, and didn't feel the need to move out.

In terms of dust and dirt: yes, there was a fair bit of this. Stripping out the old bathroom inevitably created lots of dust, which ended up on pretty much every surface. It couldn't realistically be contained in the bathroom since there were seemingly endless quantities of broken tiles, bits of plaster etc. - not to mention the old bathroom suite - all to be carried out over the landing and down the stairs. The workers took pains to cover every inch of the carpet with sticky plastic, used thicker corrugated plastic taped down over the areas they were walking, and spent time at the end of every day sweeping and wiping up the worst of the mess, which all helped the problems to be less than they otherwise might have been.

The biggest inconvenience was that we really had to wear footwear every time we walked up or down stairs, and take it off again as we entered one of the clean (well, cleaner!) rooms. This was partly to reduce spread of dirt and partly because we were worried there could be something - broken tile pieces, nails etc - which could cause injury if trodden on barefoot.

I work from home, and the noise would certainly have been disruptive but for the fact that I have an office in the garden away from the main house. Even if I'd had to work indoors I think I'd have tried to stick it out if I possibly could, though: as others have said, it's best if you're around to keep an eye on things and answer any queries as they arise. If you're not, then the workers will either need to make decisions themselves (quite possibly not what you'd have wanted) or delay the work until you are around.

It will depend on exactly what is being done, the layout of the house etc
We had tiling, shower, sink, toilet, radiator and flooring removed and replaced, but no plastering needed, ceiling left intact and the plumbing did not need to be moved.
I worked in home office room on the other side of the landing and I do not remember any real problem, or any real problem with dirt and dust.

bex2012

I had an ensuite ripped out and refitted earlier in the year. Yes its dirty and can be noisy, but i managed to work at home the entire time. You wont be without water the entire time, the fitters should let you know when they are going to turn the water off, so use the loo beforehand. The biggest thing was not being able to flush the toilet whilst the water was off. I just kept hold of some of the bigger milk jugs, filled them with water and used those for filling the kettle, washing hands etc.

Make friends with your fitters, offer them tea, coffee, cold drinks etc. its surprising how many people dont. It does make them much more amenable if theres little things you want changing.

twopenny

I think if you are having grab rails and such it's important to be there. You, and they, need to be sure they are in the right place for you exactly so keep an eye on that.

I stayed, towards the end I couldn't wait for some peace and quiet but it was worth it with odd pieces of advice/location of bits etc.

Kept them supplied with tea and biscuits and a chat in their break and it meant the detail was carefully done as there was an understanding.

Would your friends mind you popping over occasionally for a break? When stuff is being ripped out and replaced you're not needed. When the fittings go in I'd be there.

Cairnpapple

Thanks so much everybody for all of this friendly and useful information! I'm a lot more comfortable with the plan now!

I will make sure that spouse is well set up to do the coffee/ biscuit/chat part so that I can save enough energy to do the essential decision making. Local friend is ready to rescue me a couple of times as needed. Spouse will start work at the same time as the bathroom fitters (60-90 mins before his usual start time) to allow for extra breaks and interruptions. We are mentally prepared for noise and dirt!

casper_gutman

Albermarle said:

It will depend on exactly what is being done, the layout of the house etc
We had tiling, shower, sink, toilet, radiator and flooring removed and replaced, but no plastering needed, ceiling left intact and the plumbing did not need to be moved.
I worked in home office room on the other side of the landing and I do not remember any real problem, or any real problem with dirt and dust.

Quite true. In our case the original lath and plaster was being hacked off right back to the studs so the installers could start again with new plasterboard (well, cement boards in the wet areas). This was messy but necessary for us as some piping needed to be moved and the multiple layers of the existing build-up were eating into the space available, to the point where it was touch and go whether the things we wanted would all fit along one of the walls.

victor2

We had our main bathroom completely gutted and refitted just over a year ago. All we had was a cloakroom with toilet during that time, but fortunately DD lived nearby, so we went there for showers!

Due to delays, it took about 4 weeks, and we were frustrated by the end, but it was worth it. We noticed little things and had them changed before it was too late. As others have said, there is loads of dust. but the fitters did cover the floors and stairs with protective plastic sheets and we just set about cleaning all the dust up after they'd done. Was still finding pockets of dust in hidden places months later!