Doing renovation work while pregnant

[Coolerthanapolarbearstoenails]

I'm completing on a house early next month. The property is dated and due to issues out of my control I can no longer hire someone to do the initial renovation works.

The jobs I need to do before baby arrives are -

Strip all walls (wallpaper) and repaint/decorate
Remove carpets, sand floorboards and then paint/varnish
Move in (everything's in storage so movers will do the heavy moving)

I am doing this completely on my own (baby and house) and the only help I'll have is my parents who are less agile then I am.

It's a fairly large 3 bed - period, very high ceilings.

I've some time booked off when I will be 25/26 weeks to get the flooring sorted.

I wasn't worried about this until I started thinking about the fumes from the paints and the sanding of the floors... I'll be fine physically. Obviously I will get a proper mask, hire a decent sander to limit dust...

Is this a really stupid idea? I genuinely don't know what I'll do if I can't do it. There's no money to outsource the work until July and even then that's earmarked for other stuff (central heating, new kitchen and bathroom). I'll be miserable living in the dated dodgy wallpaper and horrible dirty swirly carpets until then. And there's the added issue of having to move all my furniture out to do everything if I did.

You'll be fine to do most of the work if you are using masks and non toxic paints. Only thing you need to be very careful with is syripping and painting rooms with high ceilings, using ladders or platforms can be a falling hazard. I would try to enlist help to do those bits.

I renovated a bungalow for 9 weeks when I was 4 months pregnant. Stripping walls, plaster, using a pneumatic drill, moving stuff, the whole shebang! My 3 year old is absolutely fine 😁
It's good to keep busy just don't strain yourself

We’ve just moved into a 4 bedroom house and are painting it from top to bottom. I was a little worried about paint fumes, but my understanding is that modern paints are pretty harmless, you just have to make sure ventilation is good, so I’ll be freezing cold while painting, but at least baby should be safe ☺️

All of that will be fine, although the big sanding machines are really heavy - I ached for days afterwards! So if you could get someone else to do that as a precaution that would be good, but you would probably be ok with it (maybe a bit sore after!). Have you seen the condition of the walls underneath the paper? Do you have a contingency fund in case rooms need replastering before you decorate? That's the only surprise we encountered - every single wall we stripped needed skimming which was quite a chunk of cash. Best of luck!

I'm 29 weeks pregnant and currently in the process of extending the on-suite into the main bedroom to make a good sized family bathroom and a smaller bedroom/nursery. The work started due to a leak in the shower so we decided to get everything done in one go.
It is stressful as there is dust and chaos in every room upstairs. I have no where to put the new baby's bits except in my toddlers room, so her room is full of stuff.

The stud wall should be finished next week so my dh can get the bedroom side painted - the one job I won't do is painting as I don't want to be breathing in lots of fumes whilst pregnant. Then I can deep clean the new nursery and at least have one part done.

It is possible but it is stressful, dusty, frustrating etc....

Thank you all so much! I was worried I was going to thoroughly told off for even considering it!

@bravotango absolutely no contingency fund and well aware of the delights that hide under wallpaper!! I'm keeping everything crossed!

I can get a hand moving the sander about but realistically it will be me doing it. My plan is to get rollers etc on long sticks to limit ladder time. I'm also going to see if I can borrow or possibly hire one of those platform things rather than use a ladder as well.

If the plaster is really terrible, lining paper will hide a multitude of sins and make a great base for decorating! Otherwise fill, sand, fill, sand... etc and it'll be perfect 😊

I’ve done a lot of decorating with two of my three pregnancies. I’m crap at wall papering so made my husband do that but I did lots of stripping, sanding, painting and varnishing. I was tired sometimes and my back did get sore from time to time but that happened in the pregnancy where I did less too. We also ripped out our kitchen and then ended up with a newly fitted but unplastered kitchen and a half finished bathroom along with a newborn. I remember the midwife sitting on the couch as my dad walked past the window with a toilet in his arms!!
Good luck - sounds exciting and it will all be worth it in the end.

Sounds like good exercise! Just not too much lifting and defo avoid going up too high on the ladder x

Also you sound amazing doing all that by yourself! Well done you and good luck x

If your painting the floors, do they really need sanding? We've done a lot of huge renovations and have spent a huge amount of time sanding floors. The last house we just painted instead. Saved so much time and money

Posted to soon. It looked brilliant when it was done too.

I'm 22 weeks, moved in to our house 2 weeks ago and currently decorating/renovating. I'd say you'll be fine, just pay attention to your body and don't overdo it. I've still done all the stuff I normally would (painting, sawing, removed flooring, fitted coving etc etc) I just get quite achy stomach muscles if I do it for too long - I guess because of the stretching and because they're already being stretched! I just rest when I need to. Only thing I won't be doing is electric sanding, I'm sure it's fine I just don't like the idea of it

@Moo678 that made me laugh!

Thank you @summerhillgang. I'm soo looking forward to having this house and making a home for the two of us. I sold my house ages ago (way before I was pregnant!) thought I would be in and finished by now. All the best plans huh!

I'll take it slow, ventilate, and not piss about on ladders! I'm really looking forward to it!

@OneForTheJourney I've only briefly seen the floorboards in one corner of one room. My mum distracted him while I found a corner of carpet I could pull up...! So not sure what state they are in but I've found a quick sand was helpful even if I was just going to paint. I wouldn't do a as thorough job as I would if I was waxing/vanishing.

I'm sure you'll be fine - just get a proper mask.
we've been doing up our house and I'm now 38 weeks. My advice is to do stuff where you need to balance on a ladder earlier on, and leave other stuff til later. Eg I painted the bathroom earlier on (in the 20s) but this week I am painting the radiators (which is fine because I only need to sit on the floor).

Check VOC levels (fumes) on any paints or varnishes you're using and make sure rooms are well ventilated when using them. You could also look into using natural paints / finishes as those will be safe to use (like clay paints or natural wood oils) and don't emit VOCs. (Also better for baby).
Also a word of warning to be v careful with wood filler if using it - best to ask someone else to do this for you. I used to use it all the time pre pregnancy without a second thought and then early on in my pregnancy noticed the small print said "harmful to the unborn child" so I absolutely avoid it like the plague now, even leave the house if my husband is using it. Also goes without saying but if you need to use anything like woodworm killer you'll need to get someone in and give the place a wide birth for a while.
Dust etc in itself shouldn't be a problem but be aware that old houses can sometimes have lead paint so you'd need to be careful in this instance if sanding back painted surfaces.

...main advice is just don't overdo it physically and pace yourself - you'll find that things can suddenly get v hard in third trimester!

Might be worth getting a quote for painting the high bits - painters can be cheaper than you might think, if it's only one/two days work.

Everything else you've suggested sounds perfectly safe, just the really high bits that would put me off - but my sense of balance is already a bit off.

I did a lot of renovation/DIY work when I was around 24-28 weeks pregnant and it was alright. It felt like I was doing exercise which I'd otherwise not really done in lockdown! Everything did take me a lot longer than it would normally though either because of tiredness or aches, so just plan a little extra time and don't push yourself.