is it necessary to move my family out of the house if we are having the kitchen completely gutted and redone?

Question

we have a 10 month old son and a 5 year old as well?

has anyone been through this? was it necessary to temporarily move through the house?

Answer 1

It is not so much the childrens ability to deal with the renovations as your own, as you will have to respond to their needs. This could be easier or more difficult depending on the size of your home. If you have a dining room seperated from the kitchen you could move the refridgerator there along with a kettle, toaster, micro wave oven and get by using disposable plates etc to avoid having to wash the cutlery and plates, bowls etc in the bath room, or carrying water about the house in a washing up bowl. If you are breast feeding the baby, that will make life easier. Bottle feeding would be much easier in a place with a kitchen, either rented or hotel/motel where they can steralise the bottles and prepare milk when you need it. Again this depends on the space that you have available at home for this preparation of feeds and how much money there is to spare and availability of accomodation. Again you need to think about washing clothes. If you have a utility room this won't be a problem and if there is a self service laundry near by, that is a cheap option. Micro wave ready oven meals for dinner would elimate the washing up problem of pots and pans and any healthy option cooked food would reduce the grease and fats on cooking utensils.
Take away meals might help when you really are fed up with the inconvenience or better still go out for dinner if the little ones can be comfortably in bed cared for by a baby sitter that you have trust in. Dust is a problem but this can be reduced by tapeing over the door to the kitchen with duct tape, or if you have a kitchen / dining room or lounge, cover the dividing wall opening with a plastic sheet or dust sheet, stapled or taped to the opening.
A lot depends on your exact circumstances, regarding the size of your home, your ability to finance any additional costs and your personal temprament. Can you endure an extended period of disruption in your home without getting upset about things?

Answer 2

Only if you can cook and store food in another area sealed off from the kicthen. There will be a great deal of construction dust. This will float through the rest of the house. If your home is older than 1978 there could be lead paint in the dust that will expose your children to risks. You also have to think about the noise. Your construction crew will be using power tools. This may make nap time unbearable. Your 5 year old may not be able to hear the TV or may tread dangerously close to nails and tools left by the contractors. It will be much easier if you're not living there. At the very least you should not be there during construction hours.

Answer 3

I've just in the finishing stages of a very substantial remodeling of our home, and I recommend moving OUT. We left for nine weeks, until the major dust had settled. During that time, work was done gutting that portion of the house, rewiring and plumbing was redone, and insulation and drywall were installed.

After THAT mess was over and done with we came back to the house and settled into a couple of bedrooms, with a makeshift kitchen in the lower level, along with a bath. It's inconvenient, but we're getting by. Consider it an adventure.

Answer 4

Do you or your kids have allergies? If you do, it may be better for your breathing as the construction will be dusty for awhile.

If you don't and you don't mind the mess, dust and noise, I don't see a need to move. My folks had their kitchen redone a few years ago and didn't move. Other than finding dust everywhere for 3 months after because the dust was in the AC, they had no problems.

Answer 5

ya or else u will all starve 2 death unless u buy poptarts