Best age of kids if taking on a project

[propertybuyer]

I'm considering buying a doer-upper but have small children (2 under 3). It's the kind of project that would mean renting a small flat for at least 6m and then living in a semi building site for another 6m+. I'm wondering if it would be better to stay where we are which is perfectly adequate for now and put off a project until the kids are older or if when they're small is actually the best time for this kind of thing. Can anyone with experience weigh in?

There's never a perfect time to take on a project. I say go for it or you never will.

We moved into a doer-upper with a 3 year old and then a couple of years later had a 2 story extension added to it with 3 under 2 year olds as well as the then 6 year old.

I think it’s easier when they’re younger. They roll with moving out and then back more easily, as they’re just accepting of change when they’re small. Less issues if the temp rental means sharing a bedroom when they’re used to having their own rooms. They don’t care if it means it’s hard to do play dates for a while. They don’t need a daily bath if the bathroom is in disarray. Etc. Etc. We did it when ours were 1 and 4 and I’d definitely find it harder now with the eldest now she’s 7.

We’ve just finished a build which was throughout DD’s second year, so she was 1 throughout. Also have 6 & 8 year olds. We couldn’t afford to rent somewhere so lived in the whole time. We chose an amazing, friendly, kind, competent builder and that’s key really. His trades always showed up when they were meant to, respectful, no swearing or smoking etc, left the site safe each night. It was WAY less stressful than I was anticipating. We had a couple of months over Xmas where we had to walk round the outside of the house to get from one area (eating/cooking) to the other (sleeping) but other than that it was fine. DD napped amazingly throughout.

Basically, I think the builders you choose is absolutely key.

Ok thank you all. Seems the consensus is to do it earlier rather than later. Also good point on considerate builders.

Our strategy was buy the doer upper and then spend ten years on it so it spanned most of their childhood!

There is no perfect time.

We bought a doer upper bungalow when dd was 3 years old. A year later had ds and also started a loft conversion when he was 4 months old in September. This was perfect timing as dd was mostly at school during the worst of the build during the day and ds wasn't mobile yet. I remember I used to rush around cleaning the house at 3pm everyday as Dh went with baby to collect dd from school. I would normally have the house clean and safe enough by 3.30pm when they all got back.

It works best if one of you takes and looks after the kids whilst the other does the reno stuff. Dh did most of the painting, wallpaper stripping and I laid the floors, panelling, etc...

When you do move back into the semi- reno state, invest in a good air purifier. We run this a lot during the worst of it. We also had a couple of rooms that we kept closed the whole time to ensure the kids were in a clean room. The air purifier was used a lot in this room, which was our bedroom and playroom next door.

Good luck.