Temporary Kitchen / Coping with Builders In!

[LoopyMumbot]

Hi everyone
We are having some building work done next Spring and money is going to be tight. The whole of the downstairs will be affected: living and dining room will become a storage room and the kitchen (floor included) is coming out and we'll have an extension to produce a kitchen diner. Windows will be changed. Now, l know when the (only) loo waste is being moved we will have to move out for how long that takes but, outside of those times, does anyone have any good advice for: temporary kitchen set-ups, coping with no washing machine, coping generally with builders in? I have 3 young boys and the eldest is autistic so l am making plans now (plus it will take me months to shift my clutter!). Any creative ideas for what is basically going to be camping in my house gratefully accepted! Ps l honestly would not be stressing if it was just me and me dh in the house!

Move upstairs! Dustguards on doors. Temporary kitchen: IKEA do plug in induction hobs which are great, plus a microwave. Factor into the budget now (i.e. start putting a bit away) for at least one takeaway a week... we found our local pub did 2 meals for a tenner on a Monday so we factored that in, plus an extra 2 per week because cooking/eating/cleaning up at home was so miserable.

No washing machine - twice weekly visits to the launderette.

Coping with the builders in - I think you just need to be clear on what you need from them really. I specified no going upstairs because our cat was up there in the day, plus you could ask them to make sure downstairs is clear of hazards (within reason!) at the end of each day if the kids will be down there. But tbh in my experience letting them get on with what they do best is the best way! If you can move upstairs predominantly, that will keep your stuff clean and minimise disruption.

We started off cheerily managing to cook from scratch with a single saucepan on a plug-in electric ring, plus a microwave, and doing the washing up by hand in the bath. But the shine wore off that novelty very quickly and we ended up with a lot of nicrowaveable readymeals and takeaways.

I batch cooked a d froze ahead, but managed fairly well for 6 weeks with a fridge, microwave and air fryer.
I found the lack of washing machine more difficult, but have a very accommodating local sister whose machine I used…can you chat up some local friends to use their machines? Launderettes cost a fortune

Some great, and sympathetic, ideas here thanks! It's going to be the washing machine l will miss the most... What if the kids get ill? As they can do (6, 9 and 10). I am thinking of getting a little trolley on wheels to take the washing to my sister's one street away and then drying it at home on the line or under a gazebo (which l don't have!). Great ideas, pls keep them coming X

Do you have anywhere else your washing machine could go? We had ours put in the garage and used the outside tap there for the water supply. We could only use it after the builders had gone home though, otherwise the hose blocked their access!

*Speak to your builder about creative solutions - plumbing the washing machine into the bathroom, the garage etc.

*As PP said, move upstairs. Make one room your “kitchen”, making sure everything has a place is helpful in helping you feel in control.

*Fund the builders to have a portaloo outside instead of using your loo.

*Air fryers make the lack of an oven much easier!

*Buy/ borrow a chest freezer and batch cook loads of your favourite meals in advance

*Even if you’re tired, clean around every night - really helps you keep on top of the dust.

Move the kitchen upstairs, maybe put two boys intogether and use a bedroom. Then you will need
a kitchen table..it will double as work space
a fridge freezer
an induction hob (much safer as it doesnt get hot apart from the pot)
a microwave
a toaster
a kettle
a washing up bowl (you will be washing up in the bath) and drainer
a repurposed bookcase to put plates and cutlery and saucepans on
a rubbish bin with a lid
as many made ahead and frozen meals as you can possibly manage that will reheat in the microwave/a saucepan

a lot of patience

really good plastic sheeting to hang across the stairs to stop the dust
a doormat and place to put shoes on one side of the plastic sheeting

really good communication with the builder on when the water will be off and for how long so you can fill the kettle etc

a storage pod (ideally in the garden)where you can put all the stuff from the house. Everything will get filthy that is left in the house, upstairs and down, so the more of it that is out, the easier it is to keep the upstairs clean and prevent stuff getting damaged. If you can put stuff into the pod like it is a huge cupboard, then you can still get stuff when you need it. And store stuff in categories like winter clothes, xmas decorations, football gear..so its easier to find it when you need it. The renovation will probably take twice as long as they are quoting and cost twice as much

Can they leave some of the existing kitchen while they build the shell of the extension? Ours did this - they put up a temporary stud wall so we had an area we could use while the main building work was done. We moved the kitchen into the office upstairs when that bit had to go. It wasn't much fun but we managed with a kettle, toaster, George Foreman grill and a 2 ring plug-in hob. In hindsight I'd have rather had the dishwasher in the garage and gone without the washing machine - my bathroom was constantly full of stuff that needed washing up, or things that were draining, so always looked a mess.

Definitely use your sister's help if you can. My in-laws live down the road and we sometimes went there to cook/ eat our dinner if we wanted something that needed an oven.

We've just gone through this. Not being able to wash up properly was the worst thing. We used paper plates but you can't really have a paper bowl of cereal. We only kept out the toaster, kettle and microwave, on the kitchen table. We also got the camping kitchen out so we had somewhere to store all the food.

My MIL did our laundry each weekend. And gave us dinner Sat and Sun.

Microwave pizza was good, but we all got sick of convenience food pretty quickly. I don't mind a pot noodle but not every night! We tried to eat a proper meal at work, kids ate at school and then tea being beans on toast wasn't so bad.

Seal the upstairs off completely with some kind of plastic zipped doorway or something. The dust gets EVERYWHERE. It flies around for ages and settles on everything, even upstairs, especially if the work is ongoing for months.

I borrowed a large George Forman grill and it was an absolute godsend. Burgers, fish fingers, chops, chicken and all sorts of other things can be cooked on it. I suppose an air fryer would do the job too but I’m talking years ago before they were invented! Microwave rice was also handy and you can cook most veg in the microwave too. I had an ancient slow cooker that I dusted off and used. I also found out on mumsnet that you can cook potato waffles in the toaster!

our builder set up our washing machine on the landing. He drilled through into the bathroom for the pipes (and refilled the hole once he had finished!)

We're getting a new kitchen in the next few weeks...so in a similar boat. I don't know if I'm being naive and optimistic but I'm thinking it will be fine as I'm going to turn a room into a makeshift kitchen...I'll have a microwave and airfryer and will move fridge into that room. I'm going to use paper plates and plastic cutlery to save on washing up. Also lots of convenience good like pre prepped veg and sachets of microwaveable rice etc.

We are 14 weeks into this.... The builders have found ways to have the washing machine working all the time (a couple of weeks it was via an extension lead), but we have been eating food made in the microwave, airfryer, rice cooker (this also does slow cooking), or a single induction hob.
Its been a pain, and the daytime is the worst for doing anything as the builders are in so I have a kettle and mini fridge upstairs (I wfh).
Our ovens work as of last week, and the hob will be usable on Tuesday and I can't wait!

The builders should be able to minimise time without a washing machine. If you're not near a laundrette, don't underestimate your neighbours. We only knew our next door neighbours to say hello to but when they bashfully asked if we'd mind if they did a load at our house, we were happy to help. I still laugh at the look of relief when I asked if they wanted to use the tumble dryer too (it was during the worst of the dusty work). They returned the favour when we eventually did our kitchen.

The ikea induction hob is a life saver. I don't use a microwave much at all but with a microwave and single induction hob I managed to cook most meals as normal.

The bit I didn't realise was the pain of washing dishes. We switch to melamine plates and bowls which could be washed in the shower or bathroom sink without making the horrible clinking noise normal crockery does.

Oh I almost forgot! A barbecue is also a life saver! We bought a cast iron griddle pan from amazon so we could either fry or bbq food. The builders used it for bacon or sausage sandwiches at lunch too and were happy to save money on meal deals at Tesco (we had to tell them they could use it, otherwise they wouldn't have).

My dds quite excited and said she hopes she can live on sandwiches from the posh bakery down the road!

Thanks so, so much everyone! Some brilliant practical advice here, love all of your replies! Sadly there is nowhere to put the washing machine but as the work will start outside first l will get a bit of use out of it for a week or so before the kitchen floor is dug out. @CMOTDibbler hang in there you're nearly there! Love your idea of a teeny fridge upstairs re. daytime fridge access. @Comedycook fingers crossed all will be well for us all 😉 x

My biggest piece of advice would be: DO NOT attempt to wash up in the bath. You will absolutely wreck your back. Put a washing up bowl on something at a suitable height. We used a camping kitchen stand, a bit like this: https://www.millets.co.uk/15898858/hi-gear-hi-gear-elite-kitchen-stand-15898858

Done it twice, first time included extension so no kitchen for 2 full months. I had a rice cooker, microwave and teppanaki grill. We ate a lot of salad (smoked mackerel, already poached salmon, goats cheese etc) ready meals, too many takeaways to the point the then teens complained not another, and we lived in a major city so everything under the sun available. I could cook stir fries on the grill and serve with rice, also omelettes

Mine kept the washer plumbed in mostly, middle of the room, and I knew the 2 weeks I wouldn't have it so prepared

This more recent time it was only 3 days without a cooker because it was a simple refit and that was installed on day 4.

We are in the middle of it. Two months without a kitchen, though we have access to the fridge (well, didn't for a week and had to use a camping cooler).

We have managed surprisingly well for four of us with a microwave, large air fryer and the Ikea induction job mentioned above.

This week we've had jacket potatoes, falafels, spaghetti and meatballs, fajitas...

Try to keep at least one room free of all the clutter. We haven't stored anything moved from other rooms in our bedroom, so we can relax in there.

Following as we will be having s new kitchen after Christmas. 5 weeks without.
Dreading it but it has to be done.

I had this a year ago. We moved into a downstairs room that had a basin in it so I could wash up.
I made loads of cooked meals for my kids and froze them in batches.
Used microwave rice pouches to accompany.
Microwaved veg in some water.
Kept with toaster and cereal for bfast.
Kids had school lunches throughout, which also helped.
I bought a slow cooker which I actually didn't use. Airfryer also would be useful.
I also used my gas bbq at lot esp at weekends - builders started in May so bbq was ideal for us. Plus you can bbq a lot more than you realise (veg etc)

Good luck.

We're cooking using an air fryer, microwave and toaster atm. It's tricky but manageable