House renovations when heavily pregnant or with a new baby, mad idea?! Anyone done this?

[Pinkpumpkins]

Hi,

Having lost out on our dream house just as we were about to exchange (don't get me started!) we have had an offer accepted on a smaller house which needs some TLC. The house is perfectly liveable, it's just not to my taste iykwim.

What we'd like to do:
1)Replaster the ceilings in living room and bedrooms
2) Strip walls in bedrooms and living room, then repaint.
3) Sand the floors in living room and hallways
4) The big job: extend kitchen sideways to make one big space with new kitchen
5) replace bathroom

I'll be 8 months pregnant when we move in if this sale goes according to plan. I imagine jobs 1-3 can be done fairly quickly if we hire a team to do the job. As for the kitchen extension - I have no idea how long this would take and if this would be a nightmare to do with a baby....

Has anyone any experience of this? Care to share your pearls of wisdom?

thanks very much.

I'm sure I'll be a rare voice but I'd do it. We'd mostly finished our house when we had DS but we had the kitchen redone when he was two weeks old and it was fine. I actually used to sit him to watch the tiler work as he liked the flash of the shiny tiles.

He's now 8 months and I cannot imagine coping. He's into everything, has separation anxiety and has a limited tolerance for men.

I'd do it quickly. Because a non-mobile baby can be kept in one place, and happy with just milk - whereas when you have a sitting/crawling baby that is throwing food everywhere....

It's doable if you want the final outcome enough!

My advice would be to do one room at a time (if you're doing it yourselves), or sensible chunks of rooms that leave you with at least one non-building site room at all times (of you're getting someone in).

You will also need your DH to be accepting of the fact that newborns take a lot of care, and normally it is the mother that does that (especially of breastfeeding). That will leave your DH in charge of the renovations (though you could do day to day coordination of workmen if you're getting people in).

My experience is having twins half way through a 5 - 6 year DIY rennovation, with some particularly grotty jobs scheduled for the first year of the DTs life. In that first year and a half we had the lounge floor up to insulate under it, the hall floor up to completely rebuild the substructure, the landing ceiling down and up again, and gutted the kitchen before fitting a new one. There were times when only the (manky, not done yet) kitchen and the (old lady pink) bedroom were the only usable rooms for several months, which made juggling two babies a challenge, but if it has to be that way to reach the end goal, you manage :)

Good luck! Keep your eyes on the end goal and buy a Henry to eat all the dust without trashing the vacuum motor!

Do it ASAP!!!

Far easier with a baby which stays where you put it :-)

We did a full build, living in 2 rooms only with 2 dogs whilst I was pregnant. Baby (post serious operation) came home at 2 weeks old to a building site. So then 2 adults, 1 baby and 2 dogs sleeping in a 12 x 12 room!!!

Kitchen was put in whilst I was having ds so at least I could have food again when he came home. It's perfectly possible to survive on micro meals for a couple of days :-)

The worst bit for me was when the old roof was taken off and I got rained on in bed, despite waterproofing on the new structure - I was 8 months pregnant then!

Expect everything to take twice as long as you think and cost twice as much
Talk with your partner, ahead of time, about how you will manage the inevitable arguments
Have one area that is safe, tidy and wholly 'livable'. Even if the walls are covered in 70's wallpaper, and the curtains don't match ......you just need one decent sized room, at any given time, where you can relax and not see dust and builders mess. even if its one of the bedrooms, for a few weeks
Think about doing the kitchen first rather than last. Its the largest job, will make the most mess, and probably easier to handle at the point when LO is sleeping more than doing anything else.

Lastly ....have a bolthole, for when it all gets too much, or a job is causing just too much mess. Whether your parents, PILS, or good friend ....its a sanity saver!

You are mad! We did major renovation prior to kids, including what you list.
The dirt & especially the dust was horrendous,
Even in rooms we didn't touch it was very problematic. We would wake up in the morning with it in our hair never mind how much we inhaled.
We had to go to the local Morrison's.to use their loo"s when we ripped out the bathroom!

That said, we did almost all the work ourselves on our days off from work so it took ages.

Also, I just wanted comfort & rest at 8 months pregnant, the thought of builders , noise& mess would freak me out. With a new born I didn't get dressed, & wanted to bf & nap in peace & comfort.
It wouldn't do for me I'm afraid.

I'm 38 weeks pregnant with a toddler. We moved into our new place about 6 weeks ago. There is currently a decorator downstairs doing the sitting room and the kitchen/utility is in chaos. The kitchen tiler was supposed to be coming in today but is now coming tomorrow. Kitchen fitter was supposed to be back on Thurs but this depends on Tiler. Dining room got painted the wrong colour yesterday and will need to be re-done. Bathroom fitter has disappeared without a trace - thankfully he hadn't started work, but we're struggling to find a new one. Nothing is disasterous, and the house is definitely livable, but I'm finding it all a bit much, especially with the pregnancy hormones flying around!

just get on with it. worst case scenario you'll have to move out to a rented place for a month or so.

we moved in here when I was 3 months pg with DS1.
DH took carpets off, sanded and varnished floors, sorted garden.
we painted ceilings and walls.
got our bathroom & separate toilet made into one bathroom and what it entailed.
I was laying patio slabs at 6 months pg.

pg with DS2 - I painted kitchen and put the new lino in for floor.
when he was 3 months old I repainted our smallest bedroom.

DS3 - DH got rid of carpet in hall, sanded and varnished floor & took wallpaper off in kids bedroom.
I painted that bedroom, plus repainted living room walls and staircase, hall and upstairs landing walls.

pg with DS4 - this was the big one. we had a loft conversion done in 2 stages, we moved in with PILS for 2 months as 1 stage involved - ripping out fire places in living room & dining room, plus chimney in 2 bedrooms. also bathroom was made bigger by moving a wall.
so new walls, some electrics refitting,plastering, new floor boards, brand new bathroom, new carpets
DH repainted ceiling in bathroom and those 4 rooms and I painted all the walls plus skirting boards.
I was on all fours doing this days before DS4 was born (ELSC at 39+2)
we moved back in 2 days before he was born!

when he was 4 months old the 2nd stage started - loft put in, so new staircase built, new room and bathroom put in, roof redone etc.

then we realized that the bits above windows were in such bad state they needed redoing. so we decided to get new windows put it - which in hindsight we should have done in first stage as each wall where a window was put in had to be replastered and partially repainted!
guess who was painting again!

so while I was at it I repainted small bedroom again, then when done I painted new room and bathroom in loft. I also repainted all radiators of course.
we got painters to deal with doors and the whole staircase, landings and hall.

I admit it was a lot, but we had no choice. we signed the contract with loft company and a week later I found out I was pg with DS4!

I honestly can't remember if I did anything while pg with DS5, but it wasn't painting.

with DD I did a massive project for a competition with the children at DS3 & DS4's school - we made a quilt that all 270 kids contributed to. (we won!)

we are currently house hunting and our house has just gone on the market a few days after we decided to go for Baby number 7.

so there, you will be tired, but it can be done.
OP sorry for long post, I hope it's inspiring rather then scaring you (and certainly not meant as bragging!)
the only thing I want to advise is if needed, get windows sorted first.
it was a real pain to have to repaint everything that's just been done!

good luck!

Total house redecoration, kitchen and bathroom extension at 30wks with an 18mth and 2 other dc. Mental but all done by time baby arrived and could relax with newborn in nice clean, freshly painted large house! Pita but any renovations are and easier when pg than when you need quiet for newborn to sleep etc.

If you are in London or near to SE London Toptack, PM me and I will send you details of a good tiler. That sounds like a nightmare.

Just currently living this nightmare myself at 8 months pregnant.

4 weeks in, the only thing I'm not coping with very well is the frustration of not being able to do anything myself as I am inconvenienced a lot by hideous SPD. Which means I cant climb ladders and "get on and do" whilst the menfolk tap on walls, grunt something incomprehensible and discuss the problem with their 5th cup of tea (this is my family and friends doing it - unable to get builders/tradesmen in at short notice and need "livable" standard asap - so doing the bulk of work ourselves )

Everything needs doing here, except for rewiring which was done just prior to moving in. Thankfully.

If you don't mind a load bit of dust and lack of modern conveniences for short spells then go for it. If you are normally pristine and mess and disorganisation bothers you then its probably best to live elsewhere whilst the works are being undertaken.

OP - moving in at 8 months preg and starting a kitchen extension is probably not a good plan. You might have the baby at 37 weeks like lots of us
However, IF you can get it finished before the baby turns 6 months and you need access to a kitchen for puree making etc, and they start crawling, that is a good plan. Otherwise, I'd resign myself to not doing it until the baby is about 1.5yrs when you can go out for meals

The rest is all doable whenever suits you imo. Never a good time to have builders and decorators in. When you are trying to get a newborn to sleep while they bang in and out the front door and have the radio on full whack while they shout talk to one another, and that's before the power tools. How's your relationship with your parents/IL's?

I'm sitting on the sofa waiting for a baby to come, toddler is trying to nap but the plumber fitting our en suite is next door to her.

one of the bonuses is I am very laid back while pregnant so we are just taking each day as it comes and if we are a bit more sorted by the end of the day that is good.

plastering will no doubt be a mess and moving walls around but we can just do that when we are ready, and then think about the kitchen extension at some point.

it doesn't all have to be about deadlines and getting it done before xyz. we are doing much of it ourselves though so time does not always equal money.

its fun!

We did it. Nearly three years in and the house is liveable though still partially bare plaster. Don't underestimate the mess and stress - it is huge and it will push you right to the edge! Definitely worth it in the end, but don't be naive about it either - it is NOT an easy option however laid back you are.

I'd do it but I just gutted ours and decorated to sell while 8 months pregnant and we sold when she was 3 months old so moving into a house that needs all refurbished next month eek

Thanks everyone for your replies. Some really useful feedback here, and from what I've read, there are quite a few brave women out there!

I guess the take home message is to try and do it postnatally, before baby starts to move around.

Oscarwilde - yeah, I think you're right about avoiding this kind of work when 8 months pregnant. It would be a disaster if I popped at 37weeks!

Ok, think I'll arrange to get builders round to provide quotes and ETAs for kitchen extension & maybe start with the basic stuff first.

Is this your first baby ? I can just about imagine trying to do this with my second, but my first ??? The stitches, the tongue tie, the lactose intolerance, the crying, the PND (it was a relief to go back to work at 12 weeks); I can't imagine that renovating at the same time would have made it better.....

Yes, this is my first baby. I have no idea what lies ahead - perhaps if I was more experienced I wouldn't be contemplating this lol! Saying that, the house does some need some work & I don't think there's ever going to be a right time.

Sorry I didn't mean to have such a downer in my first post ! Before my first I thought everyone loved being a mother from the second you give birth, mainly because there's less written by those like me who had a miserable start..

I guess what I'm trying to say that having a new born may be more time consuming than you can imagine and I'm not sure I would want the pressure of learning how to be a mother and how to rewire a kitchen at the same time. That said, everyone and every baby is different; an electric drill may provide the perfect white noise for a baby's nap. And you are so right, if you wait for the perfect time to do anything, you never do anything.

Good luck !

Sorry, this is a bit late to the thread, but...

What time of year are you talking about? That makes all the difference. If you're talking the next couple of months, go for it now. If you're talking Nov-Mar, I'd wait. Plaster takes forever to dry in damp weather, ditto paint, so the jobs will take longer, and sanding is more pleasant with the windows wide open.

You can do without a kitchen and even a house in summer - plenty of salads/sandwiches for the adults, picnics with the baby in the park, etc. Stick a highchair in the garden and it doesn't matter about the mess a weaning baby makes! Nothing more miserable than being forced out of the house in sub-zero temperatures with a baby .

If you have to go ahead in winter, then you need to invest in a microwave with conventional oven option (ours does decent jacket potatoes and can even do cakes and roast a chicken...) and a slow cooker. As long as you still have access to a tap with drinking water (check it doesn't go through a cistern or a softener first), a power socket and a flat surface, you should still be able to get by in cold wet weather, but it's far less pleasant having to wrap a small baby up in numerous layers and find somewhere to camp out for the day - especially as nobody else will want to venture out to join you.

well after I contributed to this thread I got up early 2 mornings in a row to paint and gloss the utility room. yesterday I woke up in labour! baby came early thanks to extreme nesting . luckily the plumber isn't fazed by newborns and will carry on next week when I'm home!

won't be doing much for a bit except passing around instructions so I'm glad I did my bit!