Section off living area during building work

[Kieron79]

Looking for cheap ideas on how we could seperate off our open plan living /dining room whilst work is getting done on our extension, we will still need to get through as it is also currently our access to kitchen too. Any ideas? Thought even using washing line with large dust sheets draped over? Noise not really any issue as will be out during day when work gets done

We used blankets nailed to the ceiling - on the basis that it was going to be re-skimmed at the end.
While the chaps were working they hung down.
In the evening we rolled them up with bulldog clips.
Dust still got everywhere

As said above - whatever you do, dust will still get everywhere - get a cheap second hand vacuum cleaner so that you don't wreck your normal one.

Although to be honest, you reach the point where you just get used to the dust and give up trying to keep sides clean.

I strongly recommend you get a canister vac with a spare cartridge filter and huge paper bags to fit.

If you can't buy the spare filter and bags, don't buy the vac. A cheap one will do, as long as it has a long guarantee and is from a shop with a good refund/replace policy (e.g. Aldo, Lidl, Screwfix)

as well as sucking up builders dust without damage, it will suck sand, broken brick, wood shavings and water.

They are quite noisy.

Builders dust will irreparably damage electronic equipment such as computers and TVs. It may also trigger bad coughs, wheezing and asthma, so invest in some dust masks Get the sort with a plastic valve on the snout.

You can make a curtain with disposable plastic dustsheet on a line hung on cup-hooks in the ceiling or door frames (find the joists in the ceiling before drilling)

If you own anything that you don't want impregnated with gritty, staining dust, pack it in a plastic crate with tight-fitting lid and tape round the lid. Sponge all the dust off before you open it again.

Thanks for advice, the thing I'm most concerned about us out beautiful limestone fireplace, so will probs have that permanently covered over with thick plastic sheeting too

Yup. Tape plastic sheeting over it - onto the wall all round.
And then tape another layer of plastic.
When we had our work done we rented a storage unit and removed from the house anything that we did not want to get dusty.