How much work/stress is a major home renovation?

[Anonymous]

We did a major renovation in late 2019/2020 that included a new second story and first floor bump out. The most disruptive part was during the March/early summer pandemic stay and home time. Kids were 8 and 10. So we were stuck all working and going to school in our basement during construction. It was terrible but we did it and really didn’t have a choice. We did a kitchen and bath Reno last year, which was its own brand of disruptive because we didn’t have a kitchen for 3 weeks.

For us the stress was the noise, stuff being out of place from moving things around, interruptions for this or that question (tho I was always glad to be consulted in the end), and having people in our house as early as 730-8a every weekday plus Saturday. In the end in was 1000% worth it. Frankly moving out temporarily had its own challenges and expense.

For the second story addition and bump out, we used a design build firm mostly because I needed someone else to really manage all of it from start to finish and help with finishings etc. That helped us alleviate some stress/decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on your personality (i.e. how you handle the inevitable frustrations of projects like these) and how lucky you get with your contractor (i.e. a project is sometimes quick, sometimes cheap, and sometimes high quality, but rarely all three). We paid for what we thought was a straightforward basement finishing project. It ended up being reasonable pricewise and good quality, but was so slow that it drove us crazy. The contractor estimated it would take no more than 3 months and it ended up taking a year and an a half. There were times during that when i became despondent at the lack of progress and unsure if it would ever end, and became resentful every time friends would ask "how's your basement coming?" But I freely admit that I am the type of person who doesn't deal well with situations that are unpredictable or that can't always be controlled. Now that it's done, we are very happy with the results, but I am only now starting to recover from from the stress of it all. I think it was worth it, but doubt that I would ever recommend our contractor to anyone else.

A basement reno should never have taken 1.5 years. That's a terrible contractor who should have been fired at the 6 month mark.

[Anonymous]

We were about to do this and then decided to move instead. It was the right call for us.

[Anonymous]

Move out. We did it when the kids were 2 and 4, moved out from Oct - June. It was a 2 story addition (family room with main including en suite and 2 walk in closets above).
Hated: picking so many new things at once (all kitchen - dishwasher, refrigerator, ovens, cook top, microwave, hood over the cook top, kitchen pendants and bathroom light fixtures, faucets and shower heads for multiple bathrooms, paint color - so many decisions all at once, multiple sinks and countertops for kitchens and bathrooms)
Renting in a tiny space with young children
The mess

Loved the end result and am never leaving. They'll have to take out my cold dead body to get me out of this house

[Anonymous]

We too were looking into a reno and just the initial conversations were exasperating and time consuming enough that we decided to abruptly change course and buy down the street. We feel like we dodged a bullet.

[Anonymous]

As my husband likes to say, I am so glad we did this, but I never want to do it again.

For our renovation in 2022, we paid our architect a fee and he met with us and the contractor once a week to go over things. The contractor also kept in touch with him and asked him questions, and if it was something we needed to approve, then we got involved.

I think the biggest stressor was all the decisions. So many decisions. We decided on a lot before construction started, but still it was a lot during the reno. For me, it was also stressful to not be home. We rented another house and commuted to school/work from there. It was hard for me to see our home all torn up. And there was stress toward the end when it was like...will they be done before we move back in??? The answer was we added a month onto our expectations.

But I agree with my H, the larger home provides so much less stress in daily living now. We have a large kitchen with an island, so I can hang out with my H while he cooks. We have huge closets. My son thinks our big light-filled bathroom is "calming" and will just hang out in there. And having a mudroom area next to our back door is seriously the best thing ever. No more shoes and coats all over!!!

It was a lot of money and a lot of stress but very much worth it.

[Anonymous]

Well, if kids are older, you can do the worst of any demolition and major stuff while they are at sleep away camp.

[Anonymous]

Crazy stressful and expensive. Imagine it will be the worst experience and add 10% and double the timeline. Prepare to be your own GC, even if you're going to hire one. Not for the faint of heart!

[Anonymous]

We did a major renovation last year, and lived in the house while working FT from home. Added 2 bedrooms and a mudroom, and converted an existing bedroom to bathrooms. The other old bedroom became our guest room.

Living in the house was sometimes annoying but not that bad. As someone else said, you really need to be there every day anyway, to monitor, and it's helpful if you're there during working hours rather than stopping by after everyone has gone home. I personally wouldn't move out unless the kitchen was part of the project. If you feel you must move out because of kids, consider working from the site as many days as possible. We had kid (only child) sleep in our room, and spouse and I both worked from the basement. It's helpful if you purge your stuff first, because you are going to need to move things out of more rooms than you think and the rest of the house becomes cluttered.

It is a ton of time to properly monitor and make sure your decisions are being carried out. I wrote down all kinds of specifics that I wanted, but that didn't happen because nobody including me remembered at the correct time. I caught multiple issues by being there to look at something or answer questions.

Our project ran way over budget to the point it would have been better to move. YMMV on that. Also, I wish we'd had the budget to tear down, because tying a new addition into an old house can be tricky: nothing in the old house was square, and the older plumbing and electrical layouts are not what I'd choose. But aside from moving to some theoretical better house or building from scratch, I am really happy we did the project. We didn't technically need the space but the old layout was very poor and the new spaces are so nice. We use all the new space every day.

[Anonymous]

18:41 again, I meant to add that we are really glad we did the project "now" because if we'd waited we would not have done it at all. At some point you are too close to college to justify it.

[Anonymous]

It helps a lot to know Spanish, even if a little bit

[Anonymous]

It will be more expensive later. Bite the bullet and do it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It'll be a pain no matter what, but in most cases, the end results are worth it.

We went through ours when the kids were 2 and 5, both working full time. There's no ideal age. In general, I'd say do it sooner rather than later to get it over with and to enjoy the new space longer.

We did not move out for 99% of the reno. It's really unpleasant at times, but the plus side is that we're on site everyday and can monitor progress and check for issues. Expect re-dos. We've caught some significant issues before the drywalls were put back in, so that's fortunate. When you're living offsite, make sure you check on the house every day.

+1, I echo this and we did the same. Yes, it was a part-time job and we accepted that life would be crazy for a year, but that the process would be rewarding (designing & building something we would love) and the end result would enrich our lives. Like PP, we are so glad we lived in the house for most of the reno (except when the floors were getting done) and also would recommend doing it when your kids are younger rather than waiting. We did it with a 1 year old who was in full-time care. Can’t imagine doing it now with 2 kids both in school, social commitments, activities, and multiple sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just move. Easier than divorce and ends up cheaper than reno.

+1

I think I read somewhere that major renovations are a significant trigger of divorces. Of course, there have to be other underlying issues, but the stress of the renovation can be so great that it pushes people over the edge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do NOT live in a construction site. You will lose your mind and become the worst version of yourself. Trust me, I've been there.

What made it so bad? We can handle "annoying"/"a pain in the neck" level of inconvenience, but don't want to be miserable. (New poster here, planning on staying in the house during an addition.)

NP here. Noise, delays, and Dust. So much dust and it’s really hard to prevent it from flying around the parts of the house you are living in even with good barriers. And temporary kitchen set ups get old very fast.