What to expect while living through building work

Most homeowners stay put through an extension. It is possible, and it saves rent, but it works far better when the ground rules were agreed before the first delivery arrived.

Decide first: stay or move out

Stay if the work is contained behind a sealed wall, you keep a working kitchen and bathroom, and nobody in the house needs quiet during the day. Move out — even for six weeks — if you are having floors up throughout, the only bathroom removed, structural work above living space, or if you have a baby, someone working from home on calls, or someone shielding. Renting for the noisy phase is often cheaper than the delays caused by working around an occupied house.

Agree the house rules in writing

Before work starts, agree with the contractor:

• Working hours, typically 8am-5pm weekdays and 8am-1pm Saturdays, no Sunday work.
• Which WC and tap the trades use, and whether they use your kitchen.
• Parking, deliveries and where the skip goes.
• Where materials are stored, and who is responsible for security.
• Daily tidy-up and weekly deep clean of shared routes.
• Dust protection: sealed temporary partitions, zip doors, floor protection on every route in and out.
• Who your single point of contact is, and one weekly site meeting at a fixed time.
• How you will be told about anything that changes cost or time — in writing, before it happens.

The phases, and what they feel like

• Demolition and groundworks: loudest and dirtiest. Vibration, skips, mud. Two to three weeks.
• Structure and steels: brief periods of extreme noise, occasional propping inside the house.
• Roof and watertight: quieter, and morale improves.
• First fix: chasing walls for cables and pipes — dusty, drilling all day.
• Plastering: wet, humid, and everything must stay off the walls while it dries.
• Second fix and decoration: the calm part, and where the finish is decided.

Practical survival

• Set up a temporary kitchen with a microwave, kettle, air fryer and the fridge, in a room you can close.
• Box and store anything not needed for six months. Dust reaches everywhere.
• Take photographs before work starts, of every room and the neighbours' facing walls.
• Expect the water and power to be off occasionally — ask for 24 hours' notice.
• Tell your insurer. Most home insurance policies require notification of structural work above a value threshold, or cover lapses.
• Warn neighbours yourself, with your phone number, before the skip arrives.

Children and pets

A live site is not childproof. Agree a physical barrier, not a rule. Keep cats indoors on delivery days and dogs away from open trenches and nail guns.

Managing the relationship

Small irritations become disputes when they are stored up. Raise them at the weekly meeting, not by text at 10pm. Never instruct a trade directly — go through the contractor, or you own the consequences. Pay valuations promptly; slow payment is the fastest way to lose a good builder's goodwill.

When it gets hard

Roughly two-thirds of the way through, the mess is total and the finish is invisible. This is normal. Look at the programme rather than the room.

Next step

BuildWise Workspace keeps decisions, risks and actions in one place through the build, so the weekly conversation with your contractor is about a shared list rather than a memory of what was said.