Would you live in the mess of a Remodel?

[Baba]

Just wondering how many of you would live in the mess of a Home Remodeling project? We have done some more work on The Stone House project and are considering moving there.
http://babasfarmlife.blogspot.com/

[Jenn]

Military here. Even building a home is too much hassle for us. We just move every 1-4 years and if it's an an option (it isn't when the military gives you the house and no money to rent elsewhere) get a place that needs no remodeling for our needs. Yup, wherever we retire the home will be frozen in time- remember your friend's [or friend's parents'] avocado and apricot kitchen and shag rugged home, when you saw it in the 90s? We'll be the modern equivalent in 15-30 years.

[FarmersDaughter]

I'm currently living in the midst of a major remodeling project. We bought a "fixer-upper" a little over a year ago and have completely gutted every room, put in all new windows and doors, added an additional room, and replaced the siding...all while living in it. It has been a test of my patience (and a test of my marriage!). We're close to being done. A bathroom to finish and some other minor projects (a few lights, tile behind the countertop, some trim, etc) are all that's left.

Am I glad we did it? Yes.

Would I ever do it again? Not for a million bucks.

[farmmom]

I'm currently living in the house while I am remodeling it. The first thing is rewiring (done by a electrician) Everything else, I will be doing myself. Yes, it's a mess, but we don't have anywhere else to go.

[MissKitty]

The main remodeling project is done for right now..lol...we hit the domino effect...uncover and repair one thing and you see another....I was out of a kitchen sink for 8 weeks but at least didn't have to haul water to wash dishes..lol...an aluminun washpan and the bathroom sink did real well...
In the middle of it we had a family member get sick so we had to leave...But thank God OG with help from the nephew and another neighbor boy got it done before Thanksgiving...He did major things....Yes< I would do it again...Plan to real soon...MissKitty..PS....you bet I would be living there if possible...even among the mess....You learn to look at it with different eyes...of what it will be....

[JMJones0424]

It depends.
- Are you doing the work yourself or are contractors doing it? If you are having contractors do it, I would highly suggest living somewhere else if possible, as you will likely just be in their way and slow down progress. I hate it when a homeowner asks to have water or electricity turned back on so they can get ready for work or cook dinner while I'm trying to get something done. They usually think I can just drop what I'm doing, flip a switch, and find something else to do, but it is rarely that easy.
- How firm do you expect your construction timeline to be? Living in the house may cause small delays initially, but if a subcontractor is scheduled for work this week, but can't because last week's work wasn't finished because you needed access, the whole schedule may be thrown out of wack. It may take months to reschedule or find replacement sub-contractors. They have other places to work other than just your house, and good sub-contractors are always busy.
- Construction sites are usually not healthy places to live. Large amounts of dust in the air, open building envelopes, etc.

[switchman62]

We have been doing it for approx 10 years now. When our former house was almost finished 3 years ago, I got layed off and had to move for a job. We are now in another fixer-upper and working on it when money is available. I try to keep a mess in just one room at a time and we live with it.Good thing is, no mortgage. Bad thing is waiting for enough money to purchase supplies. There are times when we've had a project waiting for 6 months to a year before we can afford a ..... (tub, window, flooring, etc).

[NWMO]

Stay away! Just finished off the basement.....and planned to move into it "finished" when we gutted the upstairs.....wishful thinking! Plumbing and electrical work needed for downstairs had to be accomodated upstairs......so, yeah, you can cut into that wall.......which ended up cutting into more walls.....which led to sheetrock dust in orfices and every place imaginable! It is finished now.....but truly, I still run across "dust" everywhere!!!!

If you can avoid living it, avoid it with a ten foot pole!!!! Would not do it again.....ever!

[Honorine]

My entire life is a constant remodeling job, its hard, but sometimes you don't have a choice. I'm not sure I'd call your place a simple remodeling job, you've got some major work going on there, I know there's some structural damage from the fire, don't know if you ever mentioned the status of the plumbing. I do know that with our place here we worked on it for 8 months before we were able to move in, and that was with no fire damage, plumbing and heating systems all together and functional, glass in all the windows etc. I think it would be very difficult for you to live in and work on the Stone House at this point, but maybe you've gotten more done that I've seen, I'll have to check out your blog.

Could you live on site while your working on it? In a travel trailor/camper/mobile home? At least then you'd have a functional home base, running water, heat if you need it, a place to cook. Thats most likely what I'd do.

[OldGrouch]

MissKitty never complained once about the kitchen sink being out of use for the 8 weeks. And something she forgot to mention was that my oldest daughter came to visit during that time...

If we had known in advance it would take that long... might have done things a bit different As we started the project we got into alot of mess that the previous owner had covered up rather than repair... Grrr... so for a bit the project felt like being in a mushroom cloud, at least to me. With her help, and also being blessed with two tall and strong young men to assist us on occasion, the project was soon brought under control, for the most part... Waiting for warmer weather so I can setup shop outside and cut some cedar trim then it's time to lay the laminate flooring.

Would I do it again? Yep, already in the plans to start this spring.

--Dwight

[57plymouth]

We lived in our house while we remodeled it.

We were doing all the work, so living there kept us on it. If we weren't there in the mess, we would have become lethargic.

[MissKitty]

Ain't he a sweetie????..MissKitty

[mammabooh]

Ha! Yes, that's what we do. We buy a house and live in it while we remodel. At one time, my entire kitchen was staged in an 8 x 7 room for a year and a half while we built a new one. The first house we bought, we gutted the enitre thing clear down to the studs and lived there while we did it. We had a detached garage, so I had a Coleman stove out there so I could still cook our meals.

Right now, all of our living room furniture is in the dining room because we are fixing up the living room. This is the house we will stay in the rest of our lives (hopefully!), so we're not trying to tackle everything at once. It's ok if we take a little longer so we can do it well.

Good luck on your fun project!

[Pink_Carnation]

From what I saw in the pictures...no. If there are areas mostly un-touched by the remodeling maybe. Are you good at completing things in a timely manner? Is there provision for a kitchen? Is having more packaged foods and takeout a problem? Will people be able to get up and ready for work/school as needed?

[Spinner]

I have very few memories of living in a home that was not in the process of being remodeled. I've been working on this old farm house for over 15 years so I always have one room or another tore apart. So far I've done the kitchen, the living room, added an extra bath in the master bedroom, enclosed a back porch and turned it into a laundry room, and now I have the big bathroom tore apart.

Some of us can live with the remodeling and some can't so I think it really comes down to personal choice, along with how deep the remodel goes. I tore out walls down to the frame, but on ceilings, I simply covered what was already up there, except one room that was opened to the roof. One of the floors was totally ripped out to the dirt, others were only taken down to the sub floor.

You have to live with it so your preference is the one that matters.

[Common Tator]

I would wait till the water and electric are up and running, then move your entire trailer to the sight. That way you can be there to work on it like you want, but will still have the comfort of the home you have been living in. You also won't have to move all your stuff into the stone house and try to work around it. Living with the dust and fumes. The weather is still so cold. I wouldn't want to move in until it is better closed up and insulated.

Also, in an earlier post we discussed the thefts that occur so regularly from construction sites. I would hate to see you scrimp and save and sacrifice in other areas of your life to buy things for the house and have them stolen when you take them there. You should be able to keep an eye on your stuff while you are there.

I am so glad to see the progress! It looks great. Tell your DH he is doing a wonderful job!

[Macybaby]

Yup, been doing it for four years (almost done) worst part was balancing across floor joists to get from the bedroom to the bathroom.

However, I did not do this with little kids in the house. Could not afford to do it any other way (we do all our own work).

The biggest problem we had was having to get the new bathroom built before we could take out the old bathroom and open up the house to the new addiiton. It was also interesting when we had our bed in the den, which is open to the kitchen and visible from the front patio door.

Cathy

[Callieslamb]

If it helps you get the job done faster - yes, I would live in it. We gutted a kitchen. We lived there with 5 kids during that time. We got up at 5 am and worked before DH had to leave for 'work'. He gave me assignments for the day. At night, we worked until 11 pm. We built the cabinets from raw boards. It took us nearly 10 months to get it all done. We were only without kitchen ammenities for a few days. It was a huge mess. But we all survived and we are still married.

[fordson major]

been there, doing that, never again! a small remodel but this one was a "too the bones" new wire, pipes and all! hope the next one is a log cabin in the stix! ground up!

[Chinquapin]

I've done it a lot, and it doesn't bother me much. It's how I save money, doing things slowly by myself or waiting until I have the cash to hire someone.

One trick that helps me: Always have a tidy room where life seems normal. You can go there to recover from the confusion everywhere else.

The main drawback to me is that I'm reluctant to have "normal" people over because they might not understand why I have plywood countertops, no trim, etc. Luckily few of my friends are that picky.