Can you live in your home during a remodel?

The short answer

You can often stay. People live through kitchen and bathroom remodels all the time. What you give up is use of that room, plus some dust, noise and strangers in the house.

Whether staying makes sense depends on what is being worked on, how many bathrooms you have, who lives with you and how the work is sequenced. Ask your contractor for the order of work before demo starts. Then decide. A larger job such as a whole-home renovation may be easier if you move out for part of it. Do not guess. Ask.

If it is a kitchen

You will lose the kitchen for a while. Set up a temporary kitchen before demo starts. A table in the dining room with a microwave, a small fridge, a coffee maker and paper plates gets many families through. Use a slow cooker or a grill outside for the rest.

• Pack away dishes, small appliances and pantry items you will not need.
• Ask which day the sink and the water will be off, and for how long.
• Ask what day the fridge has to move.

Our kitchen remodel steps show the order of work so you can see when the room is least usable.

If it is a bathroom

The big question is whether you have another bathroom. If you do, a single-bath remodel is usually easy to live through. If it is your only bathroom, ask how the contractor will handle that, and plan where you can shower and wash up.

Ask the same water question: when will the water be off, and for how long? Our bathroom remodel steps explain the order.

Dust, noise and safety

Ask how the contractor will seal the work area. Hildebrand says it seals off the work area to control dust and keeps the job tidy as it goes. Whoever you hire, ask the same thing and see it for yourself on day one.

Older homes need extra care.

• Homes built before 1978. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes built before 1978. Contractors doing covered work must be certified in lead-safe work practices. Read our lead paint guide.
• Textured ceilings and old materials. The EPA says to leave undamaged asbestos-containing materials alone, and not to saw, sand, scrape or drill into them. Sampling and repair should be done by a trained and accredited professional. See our popcorn ceiling guide.

Keep young children and pets out of the work area. Ask where tools and materials will be kept overnight.

Small habits help. Keep a floor mat at the work area door. Run a fan out a window if the contractor agrees. Close the vents in the work area if the contractor says to. Wipe surfaces near the work area more often than you normally would. None of this replaces a sealed work area, but it cuts down what drifts through the house.

Hurricane season and your remodel

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, according to the National Hurricane Center. If your project has open walls, a missing window or an opened roof during that time, ask your contractor what the plan is if a storm is forecast. Ask who secures the work and how fast. Our hurricane season remodel planning guide covers timing.

Talk it through, then ask these questions

Before you decide, sit down with the people who live there. A person who works from home will feel the noise. A person with a medical need may need the bathroom to stay open. Pets can be stressed by strangers and tools. Write down what each person needs on a normal day and share the list with your contractor.

• What days and hours will the crew be here?
• Which parts of the house will the crew walk through?
• When will water, power or the air conditioning be off?
• Where will materials be stored and where will the crew park?
• How will you protect floors and furniture outside the work area?
• When is the worst week for dust and noise?

Our guide on preparing your home for a remodel has a packing and prep list.

Kids, pets and working from home

Different people feel a remodel differently. A person who works from home will hear every saw. Kids are curious and a work area has tools, dust and open walls. Pets can be stressed by strangers coming and going and by noise.

• Set up a quiet room away from the work area, with a door that closes.
• Plan important calls for times the crew is not making noise. Ask which days are the loudest.
• Keep gates and doors closed between the work area and the rest of the home, and tell the crew about pets.
• Agree on one door for the crew to use, so they are not tracking through the whole house.

If someone in the home has a medical need, such as a need for a working bathroom, tell your contractor in the first meeting so it is part of the plan.

How Hildebrand runs a job in an occupied home

Hildebrand keeps the work area sealed off and the job site clean, builds to Florida Building Code and meets every required inspection. Before the first day of demo, you are told when the crew starts and the order the work happens in. You get a clear update every week the crew is on site. If something unexpected turns up behind a wall, the crew stops, shows you and gets your approval before doing anything.

See the full five-step process, then call to talk about your house. Hildebrand does not promise a stay-at-home answer for every project. The right call depends on the scope, and it is made in your home, with you.

Questions homeowners ask