Living On-Site While Renovating – Here Is How You Can Survive a Remodel

If there's a word to describe living in a house during renovations, that would be a hassle. Whether you engage in a small or extensive remodel, you must tolerate the inevitable disruptions from noise, dust, and a steady stream of constructors stomping around the house. Your rooms become inaccessible for a while, and you must adjust your daily life until the remodel is complete. 

The end will definitely justify the means, but until then, the process will feel overwhelming, especially if you have nowhere to go while renovating the house. However, it's not only bad news; you can handle the situation with a little planning and flexibility. 

Here are our recommendations on how to manage to renovate while living on-site.

Set a calendar

The antidote to feeling overwhelmed and stressed out is to plan the entire process. Talk with your contractor to establish start, middle, and end dates for your house renovation project, designing milestones for different stages. Renovating is complicated, especially when you're living on-site, but establishing a timeline creates a foundation around which it's easier to coordinate the activities and make the process smoother to navigate. 

A high level of communication and transparency throughout the remodeling project enables you to adjust easily to the circumstances while experiencing minimal inconvenience. Decide together with the contractor where and when work takes place, so you can isolate dusty and noisy rooms, redistribute essentials, and stay out of harm's way. You'll need to create proactive strategies for functional spaces, like the kitchen and bathroom, to handle daily chores easier. 

Establish specific live, work, and play spaces

Now that you have a plan and created a schedule, it's the moment to identify the areas that will go under renovation and isolate them from the spaces you'll use. Create alternate routes, set temporary barriers and substitute facilities to stay away from dangers, dust, and noise. Please discuss their clearing and safety procedures with the contractor, and ask them to provide details about how they use air filters, HEPA vacuums, and protective equipment to limit the risk on site. 

You can also repurpose the areas you don't want to renovate or you left last to perform multiple functions. You can convert your living room into a cooking, eating, and resting space while the kitchen and dining rooms are under construction. Suppose the bathroom is out of service or you are waiting for the equipment and appliances to be installed, search for boiler rentals. Most homeowners hiring boiler rentals prefer steam boiler rental, as it's more efficient. 

Relocate supplies, food, and distractions

During the renovation, you won't be able to use particular rooms, so you have to search for alternatives for inaccessible spaces. Before the contractor and their team arrive, identify essential items you need from the rooms about to be remodeled, and take them to other spaces you can easily access throughout the project. Make sure you remove everything that could get in the way of workers or get damaged in the process and place essential items in a spot where you can easily find them. This is also the ideal moment to eliminate everything you no longer need. 

Being creative and flexible helps you retain some sense of normalcy during the project. If you decide to remodel the living room, you can relocate the TV and other entertainment means to a spare room. Do you engage in a kitchen makeover? Convert the living room into a functional space where you store supplies, cook, and eat meals with your family. 

Create bathroom strategies

Suppose you renovate the bathroom; you'll deal with particular complexities, especially if you have a large family where the demand for this room is acute. A couple of survival techniques can help you, but it's crucial to get everyone on board. In case you have two bathrooms, renovated one at a time to have one available. It's also wise to create a daily schedule, so everyone knows when and how to use the space. Clear the room out and leave only essential shower and bath products. 

Bring in a carry-on or caddy to make the most of the space. You can use a nearby hallway or bedroom to accommodate items that don't fit in your bathroom temporarily. Taking electrical appliances, lights, and mirrors out of the bathroom can free up more space and give you more comfort and breathing room in a small place. If the bathroom is inaccessible for a period, consider showering at the gym or one of your friends' houses. 

Find alternatives for when you cannot use the kitchen

The kitchen is another room you cannot live without. The average house has a single kitchen, and it's challenging to deal with the situation of having no space to cook and eat. Therefore you need to use some spare space as an alternative and search for some ingenious ways to improvise meals. Before engaging in the remodeling project, discuss with your family to adjust your menu from heavily cooked meals to lightly processed ones. 

Visit the supermarket and stock up on non-perishable items, and search online for recipes you can prepare with the limited appliances you have at hand. When you cannot use the stove, sink, big fridge, or oven, switch to meals you can cook in an electric skillet or dishes that require no cooking. 

Take care of your health

Planning can help you reduce the amount of stress associated with renovating, but it's also essential to adopt a mindset that helps you stay focused on the vision of your future house. Creating some mental health strategies will help you overcome this challenging period and make it easier to see it through. Your house is your sanctuary and the place where you want to relax and replenish your energy levels. However, this process is essential to transform it into your dream house, so accept the inevitable and learn to stay flexible. Instead of fighting against the process, embrace it and find things to do outside the house to put some space between you and the renovations.