To think 'how the fuck will we manage'...

[WiddlinDiddlin]

Post relates to Disabled Facilities Grant.

Finally, I have a date for the start of our disabled facilities grant (DFG) funded kitchen and bathroom refurb... i have been waiting almost 7 years for this!

2nd of January.

They want to do both at the same time. The contractors are meant to be managed by someone else... but in reality, we're on site - we have to live here and we can't move out whilst the works are done, oh and I also have to work whilst the work is on-going, from home or I have no income.

Um...

This is going to be hell isn't it?

Practical suggestions - DP, myself and three dogs will be spending all day confined to livingroom and back yard, with contractors having to access upstairs, hall and kitchen via the front of the house.

I have space to have kettle and a tub with basic food stuff in here.

We will apparently have a working toilet by the end of each day.

Realistically... how long would one expect this to take. From childhood I recall a similar size kitchen and bathroom job being done by my two parents and some child labour in around four days each, I expect they'll have more people though.. but then I also suspect it benefits them if it takes longer... and they know that whilst I am the client, I am not the person they directly answer to (something I am not overly happy with but theres nothing I can do). I am worried about piss-taking...

Any ideas whatsoever to reduce stress... stress tends to trigger autonomic dysfunction and I am already pretty much buggered working 3 shifts a week (2 til 10, thats another issue, I sleep til 12, ill have to be up and downstairs by 8.30 I expect at the latest!)...

I wish I had a responsible adult do sort this out for me, I realllllllly do, but the only one there is is... me!

You don't have kids when all this is going on. Be thankful! I had four DC to deal with when our kitchen bathroom was being refurbished

Oh, forgot to say. It's probably a good idea to put dust sheets up (if there's any sanding or plastering happening) over living room and bedroom doors as it creeps in everywhere.

Can you speak to your OT or whoever has supported the application? We had a similar issue when my dad had to get his bathroom refitted via DFG and they relocated him whilst the work was happening.

Some good ideas and some experiences here giving me a bit of hope, thanks folks! Dust sheets! Mmm! Mini kitchen in living room - was my plan, have air fryers.

I think I can scrounge up somewhere to store a lot of stuff too and less stuff should = less stress.

Sorry, I didn't really give useful information did I - blame the hour and the brain monkeys who have been waiting years for this and are now going ARGH, WHAT, NOW, REALLY?...

Part of me doesn't really believe its happening, having had three applications fall over due to people leaving and just dumping my case seemingly in the bin rather than passing it to the next person!

Bathroom:

Knock out the wall between loo and bathroom - rip all out - replace bath for walk in shower, replace loo for Geberit fancy-schmancy toilet, replace sink for something not from the 1980s and sized like a small swimming pool, put in some sort of heater (there is no heating upstairs in my house!)...

Meter cupboard (where our fridge lives, don't ask) - update some electrical gubbins (probably the fuse box circa 1980s)

Kitchen:

Rip the lot out and replace ancient galley kitchen for more accessible galley kitchen, inc flooring kitchen and hallway for wheelchair appropriate floor surface. I'll be losing the oven and hob, and getting a combi micro and portable hob if we want it (we already have TWO air fryers and rarely use much else) and they're including a slot for a DISHWASHER ... WOOOOOO..

I spoke to the contractor yesterday who did state they want to do both at once, which I am v not sure about as my OT suggested one at a time, but i suspect they do want to be done and out asap really.

Going elsewhere - isn't an option. I am currently and for the foreseeable, housebound, fortunately DP is my full time carer and is here with me so he's the go-fer, but he cannot oversee works, spot wobbly things and say 'um, that finish is NOT to spec... '

The works are supposedly managed by Millbrook Health Care but my confidence in them is... low, to say the least, for various reasons (I had to chase them to discover the technical officer for my case had left and chase again to find out who had taken over... they treat me like a mushroom!)

Booking the dogs anywhere not possible, this the sort of area where half the population bogs off for december/jan and puts their dogs in kennels/home boarding - everything vaguely acceptable would have been booked by this time last year.

paper plates/reduce washing up - genius, yes.
turn off rad in hallway so only heating living room. have an electric heater if central heating off.
I think ill put a little lock on the living room door so no one can accidentally open it and let dogs out into the street should the front door be open (which I assume it will be literally all the bloody time)..
draught excluder!
Work - i suspect i can ask not to take calls between 2 and 5, we take very few anyway its mostly instant messaging and FB.
Teach myself not to need a poo before 5pm... (the other isn't an issue, I have a bucket!)
Showering.. lol, I have been strip washing since 2018!

Ok... I can do this, this is do-able. I've lived on building sites before (ok I was a child and not a housebound wheelchair user... shh, mere details).

Embrace the chaos right?!

@WiddlinDiddlin Oooh you'll love the fancy toilet! My son has one and it washes and dries him and cleans itself and by a wave of the hand, you can adjust heat and pressure it's literally been life changing!!!

Gotta keep my eyes on the prize here haven't I!

The toilet will mean DP can go out and not have to be within 'oh shit come back quick' range. That will improve his mood no end and up both our quality of life dramatically!

Kitchen will mean I can make a brew and a snack by myself, and make proper meals with just minor 'kitchen porter' help.

It will be worth the utter chaos.

The suggestions of using a slow cooker are great BUT the power supply is bound to be interrupted for indeterminate periods of time throughout the day.

To be honest, I normally have a diety shake thing for breakfast and a sandwich or toast for lunch anyway so its the evenings we need to cook for, and they can't leave us without power over night, we both have equipment that requires power!

It will be worth the chaos, a downstairs toilet is a game changer.

The fitters finished at around 4.30 pm ish each day and before leaving they ensured we had power and water supply, a working toilet downstairs. If you’ve got power overnight you could use the slow cooker then and decant into wide food flasks? I made sure we had enough clean clothes for the estimated time given at the start of the planning. It took a little longer than estimated because the plaster on one wall had blown and needed rectifying, this was only discovered once the cabinets were taken off the wall. But apart from that everything else was ok.

Oh im trying not to think about what they will find when they remove fittings... I got the kitchen with the house, which i bought off my sister, and it was here when she moved in... and bits of it probably date to the late 70s... uuuuuugh.

Head in sand, get Christmas done with first! Lalalala, fancy toilet, happy thorts etc!

We did something similar. Ground story demolition/extension. Took out the current bathroom and kitchen for 2.5 months whilst it was all done.

We lived in the attic room - me, my husband and 9 month old... oh and three cats! Plus I was in the early stages of pregnancy with bad morning sickness.

We didn't have the budget to move out for 3 months so stayed put - converted our (then) bedroom into a makeshift kitchen with kettle, microwave, fridge. Baby slept in his room as normal. Attic room became bedroom with makeshift living and office space for my husband. We had to wash up in the en suite!

Be prepared for lots of dust. Try not to let it bother you (it's hard!). Lots of microwave meals, salads, quiches, that sort of thing. I treated myself to lots of nice oils for diffusers, and nice candles... just to try and make the living space a bit nicer!

Always tell yourself - short term pain for long term gain! It will be worth it and we wouldn't be without our new home now!!

Ah good luck op!

The much awaited (7 years 😮) adaptions will massively improve your quality of life. It’s fantastic news really.
Dont get me started on the woefully inadequate way disabled people are treated in this country.

I second insisting one room at a time if that’s possible?

I hope it all goes well x

I have emailed the company supposedly dealing with it and my OT with a couple of questions (I find if I BCC my OT in, shit tends to happen and I tend to find out more information!)... and I have queried them doing both at once, as well as expected time frames and a few other odds and sods.

Thanks again folks - think I got a bit overwhelmed, im the life admin/get shit done person here and sometimes theres a bit too much life and shit to admin!

The DFG is a disabled facilities grant which pays for adaptations to increase access to facilities in the person's home. The OT doesn't schedule the work it's the adaptations team. You could ask to see the schedule to plan around it but really there is no alternative but to compromise and hunker down for a few days.

Sounds like your improvements will be life changing !

Hope they get it done as quickly for you 😊

You’ll be looking at aprox 2 weeks for all the works to be completed.. unless they’ve got a large team working on it. It’s not easy living amongst it though and I would imagine working will be tricky too. We went on holiday last time we did our kitchen, not sure if that’s an option for you? Or can you go to a local library or internet cafe or relatives house and work from there?

That’s a lot to cope with. Who is project managing ? Your OT or the company ? Bang their heads together though as you should be a) able to live in this or b) have alternative accommodation offered . Project nearly always take longer than plan ed . Pack away / protect anything you can ( plastic sheets - boxes whatever ) and just keep out essentials. Budget if you can for meals out/ takeaways etc . You are resilient - you have strength - you can do this .

We had a standpipe in the kitchen for a month when our kitchen was extended and refurbished. Dishes washed in the bath. Microwave meals or takeaway each night. It was hell, but only because we had rubbish builders, and it only got finished the week before Christmas because I had a meltdown that scared them, and scared me. Never again.

Disability facilities grant

Could you shower at the gym? And maybe find a pub that allows working from home or an office space maybe?

You will manage - first world problems that’s all - we are lucky in comparison with other people .
and when it’s all done you will have forgotten about the stress and inconvenience .

It’s more than a few days so if you can I’d rent a caravan somewhere near till it’s done. I did it with a kitchen and it was really difficult . Our fitters were great and worked really fast but it was stressful with our reactive dog 🤦🏼‍♀️

We had this done at the same time. Just resign yourself to living in a noisy, dusty tip for 2 weeks and shut the dogs away as they will need doors left open sometimes. We cooked in the living room with a baby belling on top of the washing machine. At one point we had no kitchen ceiling or bathroom floor so you could literally sit on the toilet, lift up the bit of hardboard they put down and wave at whoever was in the kitchen.

How do i get MN to edit the title to add in 'disabled facilities grant' or something...

I appreciate the help and advice but I can't go on holiday (who can with a few days notice?) if I could shower at a gym, I'd have been doing so the last few years I've been without an accessible shower. I have to be here, I am housebound! I can't go out, not to the gym, not to a holiday, the moon, anywhere...

I am lucky (though a 7 year wait doesn't feel lucky, I still am) that this IS being done and we'll cope because we have to and I've coped with comparatively, far far worse things than some dust and noise and limited facilities!

Hopefully the company supposed to be managing this will get back to me between Xmas and the start date and I'll know a bit more and that will reassure me (everything crossed there!!).

Share your worries about the work with the people organising it for you, as all their clients will have health conditions, mobility issues etc affected by stress.

Set up a temporary kitchen (kettle, microwave, water container, fridge, chopping board, bowl) in another room and toilet (portaloo or commode) if you don't have a downstairs loo. Get headphones and music. Lay in stocks of tea and snacks for your builders to keep them sweet.

Get packing boxes and put as much stuff away as you can before they start as there will be loads of dust and dirt. Basically box up everything that you won't need during the work, and see if someone can store it for you? Do you have a friend with a camper van you can borrow as an extra room?