House extention

[hhsa]

We are having our house extended at the rear double storey and front single storey. We cannot move out as cant afford 6 months rent. Can anyone share their experience how to survive building work whilst living in the house. Thank you.

Agree with other posters about moving out if you can even if for a few weeks, anything will make a difference. Honestly it is the things you don't even think like the builders will be there early every.single.morning. so everyone has to be up and ready and it just adds to the stress.

I did a single storey kitchen/diner extension with a 2year old, baby, dog and DH was working abroad and I look back and think how did I live through it.

We had the kitchen set up in the lounge and I was just so naive about basic things eg. the dust, the mess, at the end of every day doing the washing up in the bath (even small amounts as I tried to eat dinner at my parents house as much as possible.)
I had a week from hell where me and the kids caught norovirus (probably due to said washing up situation. Grim.) and then I had nowhere to dry my washing but on the front garden as the builders had taken over the garage and rear garden was a mess and had loads of dust etc.

Also did a back to brick bathroom refurb last year which was 4 weeks and much better as we have a downstairs w/c and my parents live 5 minutes drive away but again, such a faff as they arrive at 730am so everyone had to be up, used the toilet and basically ready for the day!

Honestly, my experiences are small compared to yours/others and it was pretty shit

It's do able, we did a two storey back and side extension with a toddler.

Roof and walls and water tight done before they knocked through. That's when it gets dusty.

Shut all doors, seal them up and move anything you can't easily wipe down.

If you can clean daily so the dust doesn't build.

Electrics should only go off three times if done properly. First fix they will just lay wires (though may have to move existing wires if it's on walls going.) , Second fix they will then connect up.

Same should apply to plumbing really , and to be honest even it it doesn't water on and off for a few mins isn't too bad.

It's also cold (we did ours in Dec and Jan) when they knock through till insulation in.

Spray the air with a fine mist before sweeping and hovering.

Too add my builders were great and worked with us to ensure that we weren't left overnight without a loo. For example we got the downstairs loo plumbed in prior to knocking though the upstairs bathroom. You might pay a little extra in terms of having to get trades in twice instead of in one big go, but it worked out cheaper than renting.

We lived in during a loft extension and that wasn't too bad. The builders were good about it - it was dusty but they sealed it off best as they could.

It helped it was pre Covid so we were out at work in the day.

At the moment wfh and the noise from the extension has been really difficult. It's the noise that is the worst bit so far. It can go on all day - it's lucky that I can move to the front of the house to work otherwise I don't know what I would do.

They have to put a big steel in and take back a big external wall - so that'll will be noisy but again they can block that off from the rest of the house.

I'm keen to move out for a week while they knock down a wall into the attic on the next stage of the project - so we can seal off all the rooms and minimise dust.

They fixed us up with a temporary washing machine fix - we've still got the kitchen but lost the utility. Took the gas out so bought two portable induction hobs which have been great.

They boarded up the back of the house with insulated board so its not too cold - and put a cat flap in for the rather traumatised cat.

We have limited access to back garden so taking dog out is a pain.

Talk to the builders about washing machines, kitchen access, loos etc - they do this all the time and can make most things work.

But really tidy away as much as you can.

Most of this thread isn't that helpful as the OP said clearly they can't move out so all the replies saying move out is only going to make the OP feel shit

Well no, the OP said she couldn't afford 6 months' rent. Nobody said she should move out for six months. Just that it is better to move out for the worst part. Staying in an air bnb for 2-3 weeks isn't anything like as expensive.

We were without a kitchen for 2 months in 2017/18. At the time had a 9 yr old and 5 yr old at home plus I work from home. It wasn't great but you do survive. We did a lot of slow cooker meals, prepping at night when builders gone. I had a toaster and microwave in my office for breakfasts.

If you can't afford to move out (we didn't even consider it as we have cats) then maybe invest in a decent camping fridge. We did and it meant could access cold stuff easily when not with a kitchen. We did have a second fridge in the garage (detached so not easy to access from house) and we have a touring caravan down the side of the house so used that for cooking too.

The worst for me was providing a near constant supply of coffee n biscuits for builders on site whilst I was working. Plus the smell in the downstairs loo when the builders needed to go. 🤮🤮🤮 Thinking ahead I would ask for a portaloo outside though that will add to your costs. Good luck. Time did fly by for us and we were soon back with a kitchen.