How Unpleasant Will Living in the House During Kitchen Renovation Be?

You can manage there if you plan right and tape off the area. Plan a few pizza and sandwich nights and keep the refrigerator plugged in somewhere. Thankfully it doesn't have to stay in its frige home.

We would never make it. My husband is to anxious and he would freak out if he had that much disruption in his abode. On the other hand, I myself would stay in the house and be perfectly happy.

it'll suck, but if it's only for a few night, you'll be fine. a hotel might be easier, but if it's not in the budget, it's not.
it's not like it's for weeks.
khairete
S.

I'm a general contractor, and we do most of our work for restaurants - so we spend a lot of time ripping kitchens out and remodeling them. Kitchen remodels are no fun to live through, that's for sure. Try to set up a makeshift kitchen on your patio or in the garage or laundry room. Wherever you can. Plan to use disposable plates and utensils so you don't have to wash many dishes. Realize that no matter what kind of dust protection your contractor sets up, you'll still have dust everywhere (put some old sheets over your couch and other furniture - that will minimize clean-up later).

Most importantly, don't let your contractor rip your kitchen apart until ALL of the new cabinets are received and confirmed to be correct. Especially if you've ordered custom cabinets, if one is missing or the wrong size, it could mean a delay of weeks, during which time you still won't have a kitchen. Likewise, whatever you're doing for countertop, make sure that material is in stock, purchased, and that the countertop subcontractor is ready to go before the existing kitchen is ripped out. The long lead-time items are what will drag the process out.

The other thing I'd ask for is a project schedule. Most general contractors use a scheduling program for larger projects where they'll list what will be done on what days. Post that in a conspicuous place in the house, and do everything you can to ensure your contractor sticks to it. Obviously, your GC has no control over the schedule of city building inspectors, but ensuring that the items to be inspected are ready and up to code when the inspector shows up should be a given.

The last thing I'll say is that the most expensive and time-consuming thing you can say to a GC is, "While you're at it, why don't you..." When you add things to the project while the project is already in progress, you will incur added costs, and will slow down the completion of the project.

I hope that helps. You'll be fine living in the house - just make sure the project keeps moving along so you have your new kitchen in place soon!

They did my kitchen demolition on August 5th. As of today I still do not have a functioning kitchen. Every step of the way there has been some kind of setback. We are very close to finishing now, and should be done by the end of next week, but the contractor has been saying that for weeks now...

It was ok in August because we were away on lots of camping trips and even went to family camp for a week. We also did lots of grilling on the bbq and my neighbours let us use their house while they were away for a week. We have been eating lots of restaurant meals, using the neighbours kitchen quite a bit, using small appliances such as the microwave, slow cooker and toaster oven. I have been washing dishes in the bathroom sink and using disposable dishes when needed.

Never during the construction process was it unlivable. They sealed off the kitchen with plastic when they were doing the drywall so there was minimum dust. The worst part is that my fridge and stove have been sitting in my livingroom, and the entire contents on my kitchen is in boxes spread throughout the house. The electricity has not needed to be turned off, just the breakers for the kitchen outlets. The water has only needed to be shut off for a few hours at a time while they were doing the plumbing. Now that the weather is getting cold and we are spending more time inside I am getting a bit claustrophobic with all the extra clutter. My advice would be to cook and freeze some meals you can reheat in the microwave and plan to eat out some. Also, be prepared for it to take longer than expected. Hopefully not three months like mine because this has been ridiculous.

It's not fun but it is doable. We renovated our kitchen in our first house. Our contractor (my dad) used plastic drapes to seal off the kitchen. That however would be impossible to do in my existing house since my kitchen is completely open to the family room and breakfast room.

A big part of the mess is having all of your kitchen supplies in boxes. If you can store the things you won't use in your garage or basement it will cut back on the clutter else where in your house. When we renovated our kitchen it effected our whole downstairs (refrigerator in LR, boxed appliances, dishes in dining room etc. At the time our washer and dryer were in our basement, since the kitchen was sealed off, we had to go outside and in the side door to do the wash. What a hassle but it was so worth it in the end.

I have been through a number of these incidents lastly including when a tree fell on our house from our neighbors property in the summer. We are still in construction. I have survived flooding, too.These were not happy events, but seriously, there is no place like home. You can be creative and survive it and not break the bank.

We stayed put, but my kids are older (they were about 7 and 10). Set up a kitchen in the family room and if it couldn't be made in a microwave or toaster oven it wasn't eaten. Pretty much used 100% disposable plates and utensils. I even purchased the fancy insulated to go coffee cups for my morning coffee.

It makes having a usable kitchen again all the more sweeter!

We did a complete kitchen renovation ourselves with two little kids. No biggie. Washed dishes in the bathtub (really!), used a lot of paper plates, bowls, utensils and cups. Pizza when we were tired. You'll make it, it's worth it in the end. Hang in there.

It will be stressful, no doubt about it and it will be a mess.

I personally do not allow any type of worker at my home to be at my home when I or my husband are not home. We watch what they are doing at all times. Some of them are fine with that and understand. Others have walked off the job when we have pointed out that they were not using materials that we specified in the original contract.

It will be a mess, expect it but in the long run, things will be ok. Get creative with cooking and doing things at home. I am no saying sit and watch them 24/7.... the need to know that you are keeping tabs on what and how things are being done. When someone is doing a god job round here, we also tip generously and to keep them focused and on the job, I also feed them lunch.

Years and yrs ago, we did a kitchen reno... and we grilled a lot.I had a small fridge in another room. I cooked at my Mom's. Luckily, a local food store has a soup/salad bar ! The bathroom sink became our kitchen sink.

Picked out counter and cabinets, etc... ahead of time and had them ready to go.

Put plastic up to seal off the kitchen for a few weeks.

Everyone I know never left the house. The only inconvenience was eating out for breakfast lunch and dinner every day. Some people moved the fridge in the family room and cooked on hotplates, I thought that was rather nuts, but no one moved out.

The only time you may have to move out is when you are doing major structural changes.

Wow, looking at some of the answers I am so glad I do this stuff myself. I tore apart the kitchen to put in ceramic tile and even with the tile not coming on time it was back together in a week. Could not handle months!

We did a total kitchen remodel several years ago ( had 2 young kids @ time). It took about a month. We set our dining room up, as our kitchen. The worst , was doing dishes in the tub. I think you could stay. It won't be the most pleasant experience but if you're broke, what choice do you have? You will appreciate your new kitchen even more.

Renovating is extremely stressful.
No matter how well things are planned out, something somehow is discovered during the process which causes a delay or something you have to work around and it makes things drag out longer than you thought..
It can lead people to divorce.
How well can you isolate the kitchen from the rest of the house?
You want to minimize the dust getting out from that room.
Also, they are going to have to turn electricity and water off when they work on the wiring and pipes - it can be off for awhile.
That means no tv, no internet, no heat/air conditioning, no bathing or doing laundry, etc.
That and the dust and noise and trying to cook/prepare food somewhere else in the house - is why a lot of people will just stay elsewhere while it's all going on.
Maybe you have some friends or family member living close by you could ask to spend a few days with each - spread it around if you can - stay with a friend a little, then visit your Mom for a little, etc and then if you have to spend a few days in a hotel.

One novel approach - we had a neighbor who had a major mold issue in their house (killer mold) - they had to tear down a house and build a new one and it took years.
They rented a mobile home and parked it on their lot and lived in that while the work was going on.
But they had a long term problem to deal with.
Your renovation is not likely to last THAT long.

Watch 'The Money Pit'.
It's hilarious but you'll get an idea how bad it could be!

It always ALWAYS takes longer than what you think or what the contractors say. Once they have you over a barrel, there are delays (some of which they anticipate and some of which may be the "surprises" that "just happen". So don't believe the "few nights" that are suggested.

My son just went through this - his roommate's parents bought a condo and they have been doing renovation. Mind you, no one was living in the space, and it still was a job that wasn't finished on August 30th but on October 8th. My son is a project engineer for a construction company so he knows what happens with subcontractors, appliance/supply delivery, etc. The owner of the condo wanted him to be the general contractor, which he agreed to, but the son wanted to make his own decisions. So he hired someone and agreed to things he shouldn't have, and the various aspects weren't well coordinated (plumbing, electrical, drywall, etc.).

A lot of people set up a pseudo-kitchen in another room with crockpot, microwave and dorm fridge (or more the regular fridge into the dining room or den). And yes, you'll do dishes in the bathtub or just go for paper plates as environmentally unfriendly as that is. Even if they seal up your cupboards and china cabinet, you'll have dust in there. In the hall closet too - places where you don't even open the doors! So it's going to spread more than you think!

You could look into one of those extended stay places with a kitchen, which will have the bare bones of kitchen equipment. You could take some of your stuff over there too. Sometimes they have weekly deals especially when they have vacancies. And if you have AAA, look into discounts for members too. And check Priceline and Hotwire and similar services - most people think of them for vacation and not for something down the street, but why not? These extended-stay suites are not the sort of places that get overnight visitors so an empty room/suite isn't' going to get an unscheduled check-in like a regular hotel. So it may be cheaper for you than a "standard" hotel, and then you will not have the cost of meals out. Your regular food budget will apply. If it were me, I'd scale back on the tile or countertops I wanted, and apply that to a hotel budget.

Also, hold back a good chunk of the money, and work a penalty for delays into your contract. Otherwise, they may get your kitchen torn apart and then disappear for 2 days here and 3 days there for a few quick jobs that come up. (If they said "no" to those opportunities, someone else would get hired - so they just say "yes" to everyone and then figure it out.) They've got you cornered so your only defense is to hold on to their money and not pay up until everything is perfect, including cleaning up.

I prefer staying there to keep an eye on the progress.

if they are good they will tape up plastic sheeting to keep the dust/mess to a minimum. do you trust the workers? are they friends or just a company? If you know them and trust them then yes go ahead and leave. take toddler to the zoo, the library, just shopping at the mall. the workers will be there for 8 hour days. unless your paying for overtime they will be there from 7-330. the dust part should actually only be the one day. they can do patching and sanding in one day. I would plan on doing crock pot meals or cook on grill meals for a few days.

I'm sorry, but I had to laugh when I read your subject line. The Money Pitt popped into my head!

Seriously, I don't think a few nights will make a lot of difference. Hope you can borrow a dorm frig and a cooktop from somebody!

I have been back in my house for a few weeks after leaving for a week. The work has been going on for months while we lived here (and I babysat my neighbors kids during this time because her teenage babysitter decided she had better things to do wit her summer). The week we had to move out was the WORST!
We were lucky and stayed at a longtime (bachelor) friends house-so it was cheaper. But, have you been in a Bachelors house? It was cleaner when we left than when we arrived. We were all homesick and I was tired of reminding the kids that we were guests. I also didn't get great notice from the GC and left some things behind in my hurry to pack a family of 6 alone in a few hours. So we incurred extra costs buying items we didn't pack.
And EVERYTHING was covered in plastic and moved around because the week was for lead abatement. Uncovering everything and putting it back was my job and I discovered a really big fruit fly problem due to my houseplants being covered in plastic. Ugh.
I would have rather stayed and lived in only a portion of the house if we could have. Staying away from the house with kids is torture unless it's a planned vaca.

We stayed in our home when our kitchen flooded due to a burst pipe over the sink. It was ridiculously loud with the blowers and dehumidifiers. The outside was walled off with thick plastic sheeting, so no elements entered the house. Just the cold.

We set up a small kitchenette with microwave, hot plate and electric tea kettle, then ate out. So the $$ went towards meals, not hotels.

Its kind of like camping and can be made into a fun experience. Kitchen becomes off limits for a few days. The rest of the house is ok.

I had the benefit of moving to my parents' house during our kitchen remodel, but understand that that will not work for you. However, one set of friends that remodeled borrowed a camper/RV and parked it in their yard. They had a full kitchen just outside their front door. Not sure if that's an option for you!

Be sure to be very clear with your contractor about expectations, time management, dust and debris restriction, etc. And don't be afraid to talk with them if things are getting out of hand. I think you will be fine, but you need to manage your own expectations about how awful it will be. Good luck!

We just completed our complete gut job kitchen. Took it to the studs and then re-configured the layout. Started at the end of April and just finished. We could really only do the work on the weekends. Everything was changed and moved. We stayed. I bought an electric skillet and we ate a lot of sandwiches. We did the work ourselves. The only thing we contracted out was the granite and the gas. We did everything else. It was hard work and I'm exhausted but it is so rewarding and we saved a ton of money doing the work ourselves. Okay, the money I saved I spent on upgraded appliance. =) I have the most amazing professional 6 burner gas stove. I'm in love!!!

Personally, I would rather stay in my house than move out. To me, there is no reason to move out when doing the kitchen. Paper plates, plastic cups.

We changed the filter for the a/c unit every week. All the dust would get in there. I'm thinking with this weather now, you should be able to have the windows open so your dust should be limited. Just stay in a different part of the house. Really, I wouldn't move out. But that is me.

My parents remodeled their kitchen (completely gutted it) while living in the house, though this was a few years ago so they didn't have any kids living in the house at the time - just the two of them. My mom set up a makeshift kitchen in the dining room so she'd have a table to use as a counter. She put the fridge and microwave in the dining room. She also bought a huge toaster oven that she could use to cook almost anything that would go in the regular oven. She used the outdoor grill a lot too. Throughout their entire renovation, they only stayed in a hotel for one night when their new floors were installed because they were not allowed to walk on them.

My in-laws also remodeled while living in their house (again, without kids). I don't think they stayed in a hotel at all.

The contractors were really good about cleaning up the dust every night and taping up big sheets of heavy plastic to help protect the other rooms.