Anyone got any tips on how to survive without a kitchen for 6 weeks. Or possibly more ...

[spicemonster]

I live in a basement flat and I've finally bitten the bullet re getting the damp seen to. Unfortunately it means ripping out the whole kitchen (and most of my bedroom), tanking all the walls and then putting a new kitchen in. It will take 3 weeks drying time after the tanking's complete before my builder can install the new kitchen.

I've considered renting but there's a one bedroom flat up the road available for a short term let and it's £500 a week . So that's out. So any tips? I can move the fridge freezer into the hallway I guess, go to the laundrette and cook using a microwave but should I get a camping cooker or something? And will that mean no water or what? I have a feeling the mains turns off under the kitchen sink ...

Any tips/advice/sympathy gratefully received. I'm dreading it!

You could try and rent / buy a mini-kitchen unit, so that you do actually have tiny cooking and washing facilities. It might be worth it for four months - my neighbour had one in found it a life saver.

If not, really make the effort to recreate a kitchen area elsewhere in the house. Make a good job of it, and you save endless frustration later.

Ditto the suggestion to batch cook and freeze. This keeps you slightly more sane than living off ready meals which after a while all taste identical.

Steamer sounds like a great idea as well.

You might want to be insanely organised and actually menu plan and batch cook in advance. You can include salads, soups and quiches and so on in your meal plan. That way you can only leave out the relevant ingredients on your shelves, and pack everything else in boxes. I'd cook and freeze some nice things like cupcakes and so on for when you're feeling particularly pissed off.

Washing up in a bath is painful on the back. I'd try to work out something to avoid this - an old fashioned baby bath on a stand with a drainer over half of it?

I warn you, though, you will still be crazed by the end, but it will be worth it!

Sorry, why on earth did I say four months? I mean two months. Mind you, we were only supposed to have no kitchen for a week...

We had our basement tanked earlier this year. It is a messy messy job. We had a pump drainage system installed and membrane over the walls and floor, which looks for all the world like plastic egg cartons. It was apparently a state of the art system (but TBH they could have told me anything- what do I know?) Building Regs specified the pump system we had to use and the builder subcontracted the fitting of the membrane to a specialist team. I'm pleased to say there wasn't a hint of water when we had all that rain last week.

We were told render wasn't appropriate- but that could have just been because of our particular situation. It is being used less and less know.

I too also had no kitchen for 6 weeks. It is hard work but do-able. You won't want to see another microwave meal for AGES afterwards though!

Did I mention it was a messy job? Be prepared for LOTS and LOTS of dust.