Advice for someone about to do a major renovation?

sara_c

We're gutting the kitchen soon. Included in this project will be extending the hardwards to our entire first floor and refinishing the existing hardwards on the first floor.

I'm trying to be as prepared as possible for living through this.  We have two kids, so I will still be cooking meals as much as possible.  I've done a ton of freezing and prepping meals and such that we can either throw in the crockpot or stick on the grill.  We'll be dining on paper plates and such so we don't have to do dishes in the bathtub

Any other advice?  Demo starts mid April when the cabinets arrive.

 

+PuppyWuppy+

We gutted our kitchen this past fall and a bathroom right before that. Just remember that stuff is going to go wrong and it isn't your responsibility to fix - it is your contractor's.  No matter how much you are prepared, being without a kitchen is a big deal. Don't get frustrated. It is going to be dusty, dusty, dusty.  It drove me crazy. I would all myself to do a deep clean each Friday night and just dealt with the dust the rest of the week.

And above all, remember how great it is going to look when it is done.

BunnyMendelbaum

We lived without a kitchen for WAY too long. We did have a plastic cheap utility sink that we would hook up ourselves. I hated doing dishes in the tub/bathroom sink.

We were DIYing so it took a long time though. A temp sink might not be needed in your case.

 

Good luck! 

FoxinFiji

We haven't reno'ed our kitchen yet but we've been living in a construction zone *cough* I mean major renovation since last July.  You really have to get used to living out of boxes and never being able to find anything.  There is dust, tools, and construction debris everywhere.  I would try to create a mini kitchen area somewhere else in the house if you can where you'll keep the stuff you're using everyday and have the microwave along with other small appliances.  That way at least everything will be in the same spot.  Doing a kitchen reno over the summer when you can grill out is definetly the way to go.  Other reno blogs I read like using a toaster oven, hot plate, and indoor griddle a lot.  Also that pizzazz pizza heater thing can make some surprising yummy pizzas in almost no time (DH had one from his bachelor days). 

Not 'living through a reno' related but also make sure to take lots of pictures.  Especially when they have the walls open.  That way you'll have a record of where all of the piping and electrical is in case you ever had to access that stuff again.  Demo is the only time you get to see everything in the walls/floors/ceilings.

jacqueblittle

I have to agree on the dust being terrible....  We hired a contractor because we did not want the hassle and/or headache and boy were we WRONG!!!  Our contractor turned out to be HORRIBLE!!  x100 and we have had more headache and hassle than we could of ever imagined.  Also, want to add that we went through IKEA for cabinets and used their installer + their recommeded "contractor" (bad idea).  So I cannot give you any pointers other than dont do it!!  Just kidding.. No really, plan on it taking longer than anticipated (I have been without a kitchen...i.e sink, oven, etc for 2 months) and read and read again any contracts that are given to you to sign, some of the stuff is obsurd and yet some contractors hope you may skim past it and not catch the small print.