How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

Our bathroom's getting renovated at the beginning of November, very happy I haven't got kids after reading through this thread...

I've been putting off specifying all the parts, a tedious but necessary task now we've got a date for works to start... My mate works at a swanky bathroom place so I'm getting a bunch of free stuff and 30% of everything else... Not looking forward to showering in a tent and shitting in a portaloo for two to three weeks...

Portaloo is bleak, but maybe go swimming/gym 3-4 times a week sorts out the showering issue.

The fucker is the builders will be in every morning at 7 to start work so it will royally fuck up our routine for weeks... Not looking forward to the upheaval at all!!

I think a trial gym membership is the way to go...

7am is early!

I suppose you can brush teeth and wash in the kitchen.

If I was doing my only bathroom with the kids about, I would move into an air B&B for 3 weeks.

The Airbnb option has crossed my mind but it'll be crazy expensive... My OH will just nip over to her folks' place for a shower, we'll manage I'm sure...

Just been chatting to my mate and he's getting me a heated towel ladder, a mixer tap for the basin, a mixer and diverter for the shower for free, an ex-demo basin for pennies and a shower, toilet and other little accessories at 30% off!

I need to sort tiles out this week, slate grey non slip for the floor and light grey subway tiles for the walls... Not sure about grey wall tiles but I think white is gonna be too bright... Will need to see them in a showroom...

I’m doing 5 months of renovation with a 5 month old 😳

Hoping you have family nearby who can help you out.

Sounds tough, I find doing work while living in the property hard enough without having to care for a kid at the same time.

I couldn't handle that... We've finally got a garage on the go as well, can quite easily see both projects happening at the same time because that's just my luck!

And I'm hoping to finally get rid of my horrific kitchen tiles while the tiler is here... Bit silly cuz I'd like to redo the whole kitchen but now isn't the time, they have got to go tho'... OH loves them, they were one of the things she originally loved about the house... I'm still WTF about it, she normally has excellent taste...

I feel your pain but honestly that's not a bad age for the kid to be for the work. I'm currently doing a loft conversion and house renovation with a 4 month and a 17 month old. The 4 month old sleeps through a lot of the work and if not it's pretty easy to get her out of the house for a nap.

The main difficulty for us is having zero space for anything and everyone sleeping in the same room, this means it's an insanely difficult juggling act to keep one from waking the other up. (I haven't slept in a long time.)

It's definitely not going to be a bed of roses but I guess what I'm saying is that it could be worse 🤣

You’re lucky that the 4 month old is able to sleep through the work.

In my extension, the builders had to gun up the old concrete floor, our 15m old couldn’t sleep through it, neither could our neighbour who did night shifts at the end of the terrace…

The front lounge is going to be an adult only space

Lulz

Our 17 month old can't sleep through any of it either, basically there's always at least one unhappy kid. 😂

Kids: dicks

So ungrateful, considering that a large proportion of extensions is because of them…

How badly are they going to fuck up...

My 2p is that kids will find and fuck your shit up so I would definitely be going the more practical route on everything and chose stuff that will look OK when knocked about and dented.

But follow-on question is ‘if not now, when?’. When is it ‘safe’ to do it?

Obviously kids of any age are going to fuck stuff up. But <5yo are just so fucking aggressive with everything. Plus they have all these wheely toys that fuck your floor, and drag shit everywhere. So I would have that as a decorating horizon.

Also although I often say this in jest, it's a serious comment; get some high up cupboard style storage designed in. The amount of shit we have put up on any high surface makes me despair.

My folks lived out of one room plus a bathroom when I was born, in what had been a derelict building that only had running water in the kitchen. Then just worked room by room.

I'm sure I'll get flack for this, but I think a lot of people seem to have very small comfort zones and need to get a grip given how most of the world live.

Moving out whilst the works take place - we're not savages!

Felt so confident until now...

I think comfort zones (or tolerance zones) widen shortly after the kid arrives, particular after the second or third.

Everything from standards of hygeine, acceptable level of mess.

When you’ve been kept up all night by a grumpy baby, who then subsequently projectile vomits all over the wall, cot, clothes, carpet, you, your wife at 4am on a Monday morning before a work presentation, custom mixed paint and recently sanded floorboards seem like a distant worry.

Already getting rid of the WC to make it a buggy/child stuff store room

A WC is basically a buggy/child store room eventually anyway.
Also useful to have for a child who needs the toilet 5 minutes ago, and there is no guarantee that they’ll make it to the main bathroom.

We currently have a WC by the front door - this is being made into a buggy/store room and a new WC being made off the utility room.

That makes sense.
We’ve created a nook next to our airing cupboard under the stairs for kid junk storage, nursery bag, some refills of muslins, nappies, wipes, clothes, sun cream.

It partly depends how much energy you want to invest in stopping them fucking it up.

Our plan is to just let stuff get a bit fucked up until about age 5 and then redecorate.

Aside from anything else, having an adults only lounge is a bit weird and Victorian isn't it?

Embrace the mess. Everyone likes a house that feels lived in.