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June 30, 2006
Living Through a Construction Renovation?
I have 3-story brick row house with cellar soon to be renovated. Unfortunately I will have to reside there during the process and was looking for some suggestions as to safely live in my residence with a teenager and 2 toddlers during construction.
My thoughts were to reside in the 1st floor apt. fully livable. The apartment is closed from the rest of the house by a wall and door. While having the 2nd & 3rd floor worked on. The work will entail having several walls knocked down, 2 chimney-breasts removed, 2 new bathrooms, electrical, plumbing, painting and having parquet floors refinished and polyied.
The 2nd phase would be a total cellar renovation while still residing on the 1st floor.
The final faze of the 1st floor involves knocking down several walls, electrical, plumbing, new parquet flooring and sub flooring. During that stage I thought to reside on the 2nd & 3rd floor, yet at that time will be open to the rest of the house.
Can anyone inform me as to what safety procedures a construction company does during a situation like this? What can I do or not do to make it a safe environment?
Thank you
Comments
We're going through the same thing now, and we decided that there was no way to make it pleasant, without scads of white dust everywhere and nasty fumes from the floors above during the refinishing process. Our decision was to live off-site while the work is done. Adds about 10% to cost of renovations, but worth it IMO.
BTW, I've lived in our apt that was gutted and it wasn't pleasand and that was before kids.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 7:57 PM
I tried this once and it was unbearable..dust everywhere, and where there's dust there's likely lead and asbestos. I definately wouldn't attempt this with kids. I agree with 7:57, move out during this process, 10% or less is about right depending on your needs.
Posted by: anon at June 30, 2006 8:47 PM
Anon at 7:57 - I did try hard to think of ways to segregate the house but the dust from demolition "drifts" through the house according to every single person I've talked to. So sealing the hallways isn't good enough. I'm just not willing to expose my toddler to that.
The other issue is that my original plan (to live in the garden floor) would have required storage of 2/3 of our stuff. What a pain.
Can you stay where you are staying now?
Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 9:08 PM
The job will go much faster if you are not in the house.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 10:58 PM
As a contractor, I say, don't stay in the house! Renovation dust is unavoidable. You and your contractor will not be happy. You can leave your stuff on one floor, but it's best that you hand your house over to your contractor. He will be able to work faster if he doesn't have to deal with your needs & concerns.
Posted by: Rick at July 1, 2006 9:45 AM
Don't even think about doing it. Wait until you can afford to sublet. It's pure folly to do it with kids. No way to make it safe _or_ comfortable, much less pleasant.
Posted by: betterbuilt at July 1, 2006 2:02 PM
On paper, this kind of arrangements look good, but if you can find some alternative living arrangement, you really should. You will have dust everywhere, on everything, you will be breathing it, it will get on your stuff, ruin your stuff and you will be breathing this dust.
Worst of all, your kids will too. We think we can do this but it can be unbearable in reality. Save your sanity and your family's health, see if you can find an alternative living place.
Posted by: Donatella at July 1, 2006 3:29 PM
I lived through first stage of our renovation while living in the garden apartment of our brownstone. Beg, borrow or steal but DO NOT do this with children in the house. We did the bulk of our work pre-kids. It was grueling but we survived. However, we always said we never could have done it with kids on site. And whoever said the work will go faster if you aren't living there just did you a huge favor. Listen to them. Get a crappy sublet for 6-9 months. Do not try to live through this with kids.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 1, 2006 9:19 PM
I agree with everyone else. Don't live there during renos. If you need more convincing, test thoroughly for lead before you start. It's a serious issue--don't put yourself or little kids through it. Bite the bullet and move out for a while. Not fun, but needed.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 1, 2006 10:04 PM
Start looking at short term rentals asap.!!! Craigs list.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 4, 2006 10:19 AM
Also understand that anything stored in the house, clothing furniture, ect. must be well protected. When covering your stuff think in terms of "how would i protect that couch if I had to store it at the bottom of the East River for a few months, Dust can travel up and under and around most protective covers. Make sure things are "water tight". Check on them often as tape will come loose after time. Doors that are sealed often mysteriously are left open during the day they tear down that old plaster ceiling. As someone who has done demo work for a living, old brownstones have this old type of dust that is black and sooty. Maybe it's left over from when they burned coal for heating. It is nasty to clean up.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 5, 2006 12:29 AM
It's a horrible process and very emotionally -- and physically -- draining. I did it twice. Once for six weeks in Cobble Hill and once again three years later for six months here in Lefferts Gardens. To boot, I work out of the house. And if you're in any relationship that you value or depend on, you really need to move out while the renovations are on.
It can be done, however. And going through it, you can learn quite a bit about how homes are made and fixed and finagled, which in itself can be rewarding and well worth it, but do realize that until that last contractor bag is filled and you shake hands with the guy and hug his crew, it's hell. Pure hell.
If you must live in the house during the reno:
Expect to be dirty and feel dirty even several months after the construction's done.
Expect to be moving a lot of stuff around quite frequently. Like the other poster said, protect everything. Space Bags are the best.
Expect to be home every day. If your crew's day ends at 4 pm, make sure that from 3-4 the guys are cleaning up.
Expect delays.
Invest in those zippered plastic door covers to seal off your rooms.
Invest in a Shop Vac with a fine dust filter attachment of your own.
Buy several pairs of hard-bottom slippers for each member of your family.
Hire a maid for your personal space. Keep kitchen, BR's and bath immaculate as possible.
Unless your house is about to blow up, don't ever, ever freak.
Be nice to your crew. Know their names, their stories. They're there all day in heat and dust and god knows what else making stuff nice for you. They'll go out of their way, down to the 64th of an inch if you treat them like humans.
Keep a journal. Or at least consider a therapist because your friends/ significant who don't own homes or are there with you all are going to get bored really quickly.
Keep an open line of calm communication with your contractor. Don't think "what idiot would...?" Express your needs and make sure he meets them, especially with daily clean up. Make sure you understand his needs as well.
Hope that helps...and by all means, demo & construction may feel like the end of the world, but it's not. Try to remember that it's all just dust, wood, gypsum and glue.
Posted by: leffertsgal at July 22, 2006 2:59 PM
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