protecting furniture/carpets (and my sanity!) from builders!

[runningLou]

We are having an extension built and builders were meant to start this morning. I let them in at 8:00am but all they did was have a look at the site at the back and then say it was too wet to start work (it was tipping it down, so fair enough).
In the 10 mins they were in the house, I felt they managed to get mud everywhere! They will be accessing the back of the house via garage, downstairs loo, utility and kitchen, so a lot of rooms to cross. We are living in the house while they build the outside shell so I feel like I can't keep everything covered all the time. But I'm at work now beginning a nervous breakdown wondering what's going on at home.
Before I left I put an old rug over the lovely hardwood doorsill that goes from the garage into the house. Am thinking I should also have rolled up the rug in the kitchen (which was muddy)?
Anything else I can do to protect the house??
The site manager is really nice and I have chatted to him a lot while finalising plans. I don't think they are deliberately messy/destructive, but as usual I have underestimated mess/disruption and would like to know the best way to deal with it!

[justwhatineeded]

They should cover the floors themselves to protect them. The best way is to stick corex to the floor. It is like cardboard but made of plastic. It is really good for keeping things clean. On top of this if it is raining and there is a lot of mud you can lay the fabric dust sheets. They will absorb the water and mud so you can remove them and the floor is relatively clean.

[namechangedtoday15]

We're about 2 months in.

We have something like this over our hardwood floor in the hall - plastic which is doing the job. I think you have to accept that it will be a mess - the builders are accessing the house to use the downstairs loo, and actually go up the stairs now to access the back of the house - we made the decision early on that we'd leave the stairs and landing carpet down and replace once everything was done.

In terms of furniture / rugs - we have rented a storage unit. We're having a double storey extension so we have lost the back half of the house. We have put everything from the bedrooms at the back (other than the beds which are all crammed into the front of the house) and the furniture from downstairs into storage. That way, it won't be damaged by the dust and I'm not losing sleep about the dust. Good luck!

[WeAllHaveWings]

Your tradesmen should be ensuring your house is protected. Have a chat with them.

Beware of sticking plastic coverings to laminate or carpet for a longer time than is advised on the product being used, if they are left for too long they have been known to either remove the surface coating from the floor, or leave a sticky residue. Although I can say it is brilliant at removing labrador hair from your carpets, mines have never looked as clear of hair since!

[LittleBoat]

we are 6 months into a similar extension. Even if you have the most lovely, considerate builders, dust and muck will get everywhere. And I really mean everywhere.

We have taken up and put in storage, or written off, all our carpets and rugs. I have put down dirt trapper mats at strategic places around the house to trap dirt and dust. I wash these every now and then at the launderette; they are worth their weight in gold. I have found it easier to take carpets up as it's easier to keep floorboards clean by brushing and mopping than try to hoover plaster dust out carpets. I ruined my hoover last time we had this type of work done

Put anything you care about, or that isn't wipe-able, in storage, or plan to get it professionally cleaned afterwards.

Be prepared to brush, mop, hoover, wipe, dust etc on a pretty much daily basis and still not be on top of it.

Buy a pair of crocs for each of your family.

Keep all doors shut all the time.

Good luck - just keep thinking of the end result!