Remodeling while you live in the house

You can stay in the house during a kitchen or bath remodel. The job goes better if you decide, before demolition, which rooms have to keep working and you write that into the contract. A schedule that only lists trade dates will not tell you when you can shower or cook.

Water, a toilet, and a way to cook

• More than one bathroom. Remodel one at a time when you can, so a toilet and a shower stay available. Say which room is off limits to the crew.
• Only one bathroom. Ask for the dates the water and the toilet will be out, in writing, before you agree to the schedule. Line up a temporary plan for those days. Do not discover the outage on the morning the plumber arrives.
• Kitchen. Plan where the refrigerator will sit, how you will heat food, and where you will wash dishes while the sink is gone. Ask which days the water, gas, or power to that room will be off.
• The rest of the house. Name a path from the door to the work area so materials are not hauled through every room.

Dust, hours, and cleanup belong in the contract

California's contractor board says a contract should include cleanup and removal of debris and materials (CSLB). That is a California expectation. It is still a reasonable thing to ask for anywhere: daily cleanup, a closed door or a plastic barrier at the work zone, and where debris sits overnight. Also write the work hours and which entrance the crew uses.

Take photos of the rooms, the floors outside them, and anything you are afraid of losing, before demolition. If something is damaged later, those photos are part of the record. See contractor damaged your house.

Homes built before 1978

If the house was built before 1978, sanding, cutting, and other common remodel work can disturb old paint. The EPA tells owners planning a renovation in a pre-1978 home to hire a lead-safe certified renovator, and warns that the dust and chips from that work can harm adults and children (EPA RRP for consumers). That is a separate rule from a building permit. The paperwork to ask for is in lead paint rules for remodeling. Keep people and pets out of the work area while that dust is being made.

Phase the decisions so you are not waiting in a torn-up room

Long-lead products are the usual reason a kitchen or bath sits open. Choose appliances, cabinets, tile, and glass early enough that they are ordered before demolition. The order is in the kitchen checklist and the bathroom checklist. The order-by calculator turns a start date into last-safe order dates once you have real lead times from your suppliers.

How long the phases tend to take is a different question. See remodel timelines by room, and treat those figures as other homeowners' projects, not your schedule.

Where RenoBinder fits

A free project keeps the room you are living around, the order dates, and the budget in one place so a slipped delivery is visible before the crew is standing in your only bathroom. Compare plans if you are remodeling more than one room.

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