Home Renovation; Living on a Building Site

Living on a Building Site; The Good Bad and Ugly!

Well, we are now only three weekends left and this past weekend was FULL ON!  The wall is out and first fix electrics in.  There is dust everywhere, I blew my nose and dust flew out!  In fact, no matter how well we covered things and closed doors, the dust has travelled.  If only it was so easy for me to travel, riding the winds to a far away place with ease and determination.  At this point, I envy dust!

We will probably be cleaning for weeks after Christmas, but for now we, dust an me, live side by side, strategically cleaning in between.



In my ideal world we would hire a huge team to undertake the work, whilst we bask in the sunshine on a beautiful beach somewhere with a chilled glass of wine in one hand and a HUGE cream cake in the other 😁, we would arrive to a clean completed home after a week and get on with family life with a sprinkling of fairy dust, smiles and rose smelling boy poos.

My reality is, I love luxury living but have a ghetto budget.  You know what I mean.  As Caribbean's' would say, my chest is high.  So, to accommodate my delusion, which we will achieve, albeit without the rose smelling boy poo, unless I drop rose water and oils in every meal (hmmmm, doesn't seem like such a bad idea); it is necessary to live and work this building site, thus saving money for the fancy things.  My husband is of course, the qualified, certified expert with myself and the boys being the labourers.  There are a few things to remember when living and/or working on a building site

1. Cover EVERYTHING!  We packed as though we were moving house!  Anything that couldn't be packed was covered and wrapped.  I still expect to have to clean those wrapped items, but it will be less mess than if it were uncovered.
2. Have a clean space away from the site.  We sealed bedrooms and the kitchen.  There were traces of dust but nothing substantial at all.  It was our havens, our escape from the cloud and mayhem that was.  Beds were made, everything was tidy and spotless.  The kitchen was kept clear with the dishwasher 
3. Be Patient.  Don't clean too much too early.  As I'm the labourer on this particular project, clean up is mostly my duty.  I keep it basic, sweeping clearing rubbish, making sure that the work areas are safe and accessible.  The littles spent the weekend at my mums so were not around for the major dust fest.  After the main rubble clearance we swept and mopped.  Then left everything settle.  The dust in the air takes some time to settle so there is no point in doing too much, the more you move the more it will spread, so this is the time for a well deserved break.
4. Plan.  I had sorted out our lunch and dinner plans so that 1. we remembered to eat, and 2. It was one less thing to think of.  Keeping to a budget meant oven food instead of take-away.  I had purchased some 'posh' fish fingers and 'posh' chips from Tesco, so popped them in the oven, set the timer and Bingo!  Plan out the day and plan in breaks.
5. It is going to be messy for a while.  I am slightly OCD so I had to resign myself to the fact that the house was going to be upside down.  Going into my 'away space' helped.  Also, knowing the work schedule and understanding that it isn't entirely rigid.  Looking at pictures of what will be makes me excited and excuses the fact that I am currently sat at my dining table with half of my room covered with dust sheets, and wires hanging in looped coils slightly reminiscent of small plain wreaths.  I suppose I see them as wreaths as Christmas is upon us and by now I've usually planned it all out to the last detail!  Ah well.  The task at hand, although I can see where I will be putting our 6ft tree!
6. Keep the end in mind.  Just remember it has to get worst before it gets better.  Remind yourself why you are doing it all in the first place.

I hope this helps, when you are blowing your nose and dust comes out!  Or the other option is to go on holiday, but, if you are as much of a control freak as me, that also will not make you happy.  Whatever and however you do it just remember it will not last forever.

Tomboy -x-

Only Boys and Tomboys are a family of 6, 4 boys aged 22, 14, 7 and 4, Mum and Dad.  5 of us are living in a 3 bed terraced railway cottage in London with a cat, a bearded dragon, a fish and two shrimp

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