Living in caravan during house reno with 2 kids?

[Xar0cas]

Hi there,

we are a family of 4 with two girls aged 3 & 6. We are finally getting some much needed work done to our house but we will need to move out from April to end of July!

has anyone moved into a 4berth caravan? Is this doable for 4 months or am I super unrealistic?

any tips/advice/experience would be greatl appreciated! 🫶

Thank you so much for your replies. We would be using the caravan on site in the garden. Unfortunately staying in the house its not an option for a while as the roof needs to come down for a while. Our thinking is- after august we would move back in and make do in the house as the majority of the work should be done!

i think you have said enough to convince husband! Yay! Wish us luck!

Or rent somewhere small for 6 months?

Just think of it as a long holiday adventure! And you can sell it afterwards which is a bonus!

You can do it! It's only a few months of your whole life and Summer makes it easier. We spent 3 months in a Travelodge during our reno last Summer (4 of us in one room) not everyone's cup of tea but so worth it for the house we have now. I tell you what I really appreciate every inch of space in our new home! Do you WFH?

I grew up in a caravan whilst my parents built our house around being self employed! We moved in when I was 8 and my brother 4, moved into the house when we were 8 and 12.

We had a room each, which for me made all the difference- a bit of privacy! Both mine and my brother’s room were twin berth’s and they removed the spare bed from each room to make room for a chest of drawers and cupboard each! We had a shower room, galley kitchen and living area. As kids we found it a massive novelty, I found it cosy and fun, my friends thought it was fun, like being on holiday, rather than teased me about it- the hardest part was that Mum and Dad were always busy.

We had a gas bottle which Dad refilled and were connected to mains electric and water. One memorable New Year our water pipes froze but that was only 1 day in 4 years! Mum was very very disciplined on stuff/tidyness and did say that the best benefit was the house work for the whole van took an hour max! The only other drawback was that condensation was pretty rubbish!

Also static caravans hold their value pretty well. Both of our caravans sold on for the same price.

We did the same. 3 kids under 6 and a dog. Was supposed to be 6 months over spring/summer. We spent 1.5 years in it and would have spent this winter there too had I not moved the children out. It was really hard in the winter, literally nowhere to go for the kids.

If you're sure it's only 4 months, go for it. It's a fun adventure.

@GardensandGrandDesigns We thought of a travel lodge type thing but weren’t sure if they would rent us just 1 bedroom for all 4? Will check that out to compare!

I do WFH but we have an office at the back of the house that will remain untouched so planning to just work from there as normal.

Yeah they have family rooms that can fit more than 4!