A home renovation or extension brings with it many questions: how many rooms? How to configure the space? Open plan or cosy? For owner-occupiers, there’s one other question that is often lost in the excitement of planning an extension and renovation design: are you prepared to live through it?
The majority of house renovations will require homeowners to vacate the premises during key points of the build; but for many projects, living on-site for virtually the whole time is possible. Let’s break down staying versus moving out.
Stay!
- You’ll save money. Unless you have a very generous friend or family member with extra room, living away from the home will mean shelling out to stay in a hotel, Air B’n’B or a rental property. This is something to think about when you’re already dealing with the costs of a home renovation.
Tip: Stay, but take two-night hotel breaks here and there during the build.
- You’ll watch everything unfold. Seeing your house renovation ideas come to life is exciting, and architecture buffs will love watching the build take shape. Living off-site limits you from seeing everything come together (although, rest assured your Hille’s builder is on site to make sure it does!).
- Your routine won’t be impacted. You won’t have to think of a new route to school or work, or deal with the annoyance of temporarily packing up your life.
Go!
- You won’t get in the way. Building sites and the contractors working on them are carefully managed to ensure projects get delivered on time and on budget – so sometimes it’s best to stay out of the way. It could be annoying for you too, depending on how your house is configured – if your existing living area isn’t totally separate from the new build, doing simple things like going to the bathroom could equate to a monumental trek across a building site!
- You won’t go crazy. We won’t lie: a renovation site is dusty, dirty, and noisy. Small children may struggle to nap during the day when workers are on-site.
- It’s a good excuse for a holiday! Or why not explore your city and live in a new part of Melbourne during the renovation?
- No microwave meals! If your kitchen is a part of the home renovation, you’ll have to think creatively about meals for awhile if you stay. You may be able to set up a temporary kitchen with a microwave, kettle and slow cooker, but not having a dishwasher or oven can be difficult.
Ultimately, whether you live in the house or not during a your home renovation and extension will come down to your lifestyle, budget and the work that’s being carried out. Either way, it’s a good idea to be prepared to be flexible.