Backroom Blog

Home Remodel – Stay or Go?

Making the decision to remodel your home and hiring a contractor may be the easiest steps of a home renovation that you will make.

If you have chosen to do a major renovation you may want to consider one more decision – the decision of whether to stay in your home or to find other living arrangements during the project.

There are definite advantages to temporarily moving out while your home is being renovated, whether it is moving in with parents, renting, an extended-stay hotel, scheduling your remodel during an extended vacation or arranging it when friends/family are on vacation and offer to house sit.

Items to consider before making the decision to stay or go:

• Your contractor will be able to finish a project at a faster pace if you are not living in the home
• Does your remodel involve a complete demo of your kitchen and bathrooms or involve the plumbing or heating/air being turned off temporarily?
• If your kitchen is being completely remodeled are you going to eat out for all your meals, live on take out, or work from just a microwave and a hot plate? Where will you do dishes?
• Can you handle the daily stress of workers being in and out of your home and the dust and chaos on a daily basis?
• Are your items going to be packed away in one room creating more of a lack of living space?

A complete demo of kitchen

If you decide to find temporary living arrangements, you will need to have a realistic approach to the length of time a remodel can take. There are unavoidable delays that always come up in renovating a home whether it be from items being on back order, change orders to the original contract, or an unforeseen issue in the structure of the home, plumbing or etc. that delays the projected finish date.

You have made the decision to go:

• Be available for your contractor to reach you. If a change has to be approved any small delay in not being able to get your approval can result in a larger delay in ordering product or being able to complete the work day
• Schedule regular visits to your home to check the progress or if you are on vacation schedule Face time or Skype appointments with your contractor to review the work. (We have worked with several out of town customers who stay in touch through regular emails, photos, and Face time)
• Make sure you allow for realistic delays that will occur.

Example of a wood floor refinish

You have made the decision to stay:

• Keep in mind that there will still be times when you will still have to vacate your home for a day or two if you are installing new or refinishing wood flooring or if the plumbing has to be turned off.
• Know when the workers come and go for the day so that you can arrange your family’s schedule around those times.
• Pack furniture and unnecessary items in a rented POD until the work is done instead of in an existing room
• If you are at home with children plan plenty of field trips or plan an extended visit to Grandma and Grandpa’s.
• If you have small children that take naps it is best to find an alternate napping place for your child during the day so that your contractor will not have to stop a project to allow for nap time.
• If you have pets you will need to make sure that they are in a safe place where the noise will not cause them stress and that they cannot get out.

You still haven’t decided:

Another option is moving out during the demo and the initial prep work. These phases are usually the messiest and noisiest part of a remodel. Or you may do as one of our couples did after living in the home during an expansive remodel of the kitchen, master bath/bedroom, and the kids bath, the husband took his wife on an extended trip the last week of remodel to come back to the remodel completely finished, house cleaned, and the furniture moved back in. These homeowners are already considering another portion of their home being remodeled.

La Rue Homes makes every attempt to make your remodel as painless as possible whether you stay or go, but if your budget allows you to move out during the process or at least during the first couple of phases it makes the job easier on you as well as the contractor.

La Rue Homes, Inc. www.laruehomes.com