Why You Shouldn’t Live at Home During a Major Renovation

Renovation Tips

Jan 23

We know what you're thinking. It feels wasteful to pay for two places at once when you're about to spend a small fortune on a renovation. Living through the construction seems like an obvious way to save money. You can handle a little dust and noise, right?

After years of working with clients through major renovations, we can tell you a few things with absolute certainty. One of those is that living in your home during a gut renovation is almost never worth the money you save. The money you save by staying will be paid back tenfold in stress, delays, health issues, and the toll it takes on your family. It's miserable, unhealthy, and strains relationships. And honestly, it can end up costing you more in the long run.

Here are some reasons why moving out during a major renovation is one of the smartest decisions you can make.

The Reality of Construction Dust

Let's start with something you might not fully appreciate until you've lived through it: construction dust is everywhere. And we mean everywhere.

This isn't regular household dust that you can wipe away with a damp cloth. Construction dust is fine, pervasive, and relentless. It gets into your clothes, your bedding, your food, your lungs. You'll find it in closed cabinets, inside your refrigerator, and on your toothbrush even if it was in a drawer.

Drywall dust, sawdust, plaster dust, and concrete dust settle on every surface, seep under plastic barriers, and circulate through your HVAC system. Even with the best dust containment efforts, the dust infiltrates everything.

What this means practically is: You can't cook without dust settling on your food. You can't sleep without breathing it in all night. You can't put clean laundry away without it immediately getting coated. Every day feels like you're losing ground in an impossible battle against the grit and grime.

And it's not just an annoyance. Construction dust can aggravate allergies, asthma, and respiratory issues. If you have young children, elderly family members, or anyone with compromised health, exposing them to construction dust for weeks or months is genuinely harmful.

You Won't Have Basic Necessities

During a major renovation, you will lose access to essential parts of your home for extended periods. These aren’t minor inconveniences. We're talking about not having a functioning kitchen, bathroom, or sometimes even running water.

No kitchen. You can't cook, store perishable food, or wash dishes. You're eating out for every meal or living on takeout, microwaved food, and endless sandwiches. The money you thought you were saving by staying home is now redirected to restaurant meals and fast food.

Limited or no bathrooms. You're either sharing a single working bathroom with your whole family (if you're lucky enough to have one left functional), or you're using a construction porta-potty in your yard. Yes, really. We've had clients who thought they could manage, and ended up showering at the gym and using the bathroom at the Starbucks down the road. That gets old very fast.

No laundry. You're now hauling everything to a laundromat or your parents' house every week. Add this to the list of things eating up your time and sanity.

Let's be honest: these aren't small inconveniences. These are basic human needs, and going without them for months would be exhausting.

Construction Starts Early (Really Early)

Contractors and their crews typically arrive between 7:00 and 8:00 AM. Sometimes earlier. That means noise, activity, and strangers in your house before you've had your coffee or dropped the kids off at school.

Even if you're an early riser, imagine waking up every single day to the sound of power saws, hammering, and workers talking loudly over the noise of their tools. There's no sleeping in and no quiet morning.

With the rise of remote and hybrid work, you might work from home. If you work from home, forget about taking calls or concentrating. The noise makes it nearly impossible to focus, and explaining to colleagues or clients that you can't hear them over the jackhammer gets old quickly.

And it's not just the noise during work hours. It's the stress of knowing that tomorrow morning at 7 AM, it starts all over again.

Limited Privacy

Your home is your sanctuary where you relax, recharge, and let your guard down. During a renovation, that disappears.

You'll have multiple strangers in your house every day. Contractors, plumbers, electricians, tile setters, painters, and even your designers. They're walking through your space, using your bathroom (if you have one working), and seeing every aspect of your life. You can't walk around in your pajamas and just exist comfortably in your own home.

This loss of privacy is understandably hard on people. Your home becomes a worksite, not a refuge. You're constantly "on," constantly aware of people in your space, constantly trying to stay out of the way. It's mentally and emotionally exhausting.

If you have teenagers who value their privacy, young children who need routine and quiet spaces, or you simply value having a place to decompress, living through construction eliminates all of that.

You'll Slow Down the Project

Something most people don't consider is that having homeowners living on-site actually slows down construction.

Contractors have to work around you. They can't start as early as they'd like because you're still sleeping. They can't make as much noise in certain areas. They have to be more careful about dust containment and cleanup. They can't leave materials or tools in certain areas because you need to use that space.

Every accommodation they make for your comfort is time added to the project. And in construction, time is money. The longer a project drags on, the more it costs.

Plus, when you're living there, you're constantly seeing the work in progress and second-guessing decisions. "Actually, can we move that outlet?" "I'm not sure about this tile now that I see it." "Can we talk about changing the cabinet color?" These mid-project changes create delays and add costs because you start to see things piecemeal instead of how they all work together. If you're working with a designer, know that they will have already considered most of these concerns.

When you're not living on-site, you can make intentional site visits to check progress without the constant temptation to micromanage or change your mind. The project moves faster, and everyone is happier.

Safety Concerns Are Real

Construction sites are inherently dangerous. There are power tools, exposed wiring, holes in floors, unstable structures, sharp objects, and various hazards everywhere.

If you have young children, keeping them safe in an active construction zone is nearly impossible. Toddlers are curious and fast. They don't understand danger.

Even for adults, navigating a construction site daily means increased risk of injury. It's dark at night, there are trip hazards, and you're not wearing steel-toed boots or hardhats like the crew.

There are also health hazards beyond dust. Depending on the age of your home, you might be dealing with asbestos, lead paint, or mold remediation. Exposure to these during active abatement is dangerous, especially for children and pregnant women.

Contractors carry liability insurance, but that doesn't protect you from the very real risk of someone in your family getting hurt because they're living in an active construction zone.

The Stress Will Affect Your Relationships

Living through a major renovation is one of the most stressful experiences you can put yourself and your family through. It's consistently ranked alongside moving and job loss as a top life stressor.

When you're dealing with constant noise, dust, lack of basic amenities, loss of privacy, and the ongoing disruption to your routine, tensions run high. Couples fight more, kids’ routines are disrupted, and everyone's nerves are frayed. Small annoyances become big arguments when everyone's patience is worn thin.

When you move out during the renovation, you get to come home at the end of the day to a calm, functional space where you can decompress. Your family life continues in a relatively normal way, and you can check on construction progress during scheduled visits without living in the chaos.

The money you spend on temporary housing is an investment in your sanity and your relationships. Trust us, it's worth it.

You Can't Truly Escape the Chaos

Even if you think you can confine the construction to certain areas and live in other parts of the house, it doesn't work the way you imagine.

Dust migrates and noise travels. Workers need access to shut off water or electricity, which affects your whole house. Construction debris has to be carried through your living spaces while a dumpster in your driveway blocks access.

And mentally, you can never fully relax. Even when you're in a "finished" area, you're aware of the construction happening nearby. You're worried about the schedule, the budget, what might go wrong. You're listening to the sounds trying to figure out if everything is going okay.

When you move out, you get to leave all of that behind at the end of the day. You can think about other things. You can rest. And that mental break is invaluable.

The Money You Save Isn't Worth It

Let's talk about the financial piece because that's the main reason people decide to stay.

Yes, paying for temporary housing costs money but here's what you need to factor in:

You'll spend more on food. Eating out most meals adds up fast.

The project will most likely take longer. If having you there slows construction by even a few weeks, the extended timeline might eat up some of your savings in carrying costs and delayed completion.

You might make expensive impulse changes. When you're living in the chaos and seeing everything in progress, you're more likely to make emotional decisions that cost money.

Your health might suffer. Stress-related health issues, respiratory problems from dust, or injuries on site could lead to medical bills.

You'll be less productive. If you work from home or have a business, the inability to focus and work effectively costs money too.

When you add it all up, the amount you "save" by staying might be negligible or even negative. And that's before you factor in the cost to your mental health, your relationships, and your quality of life.

The temporary housing isn't just an expense. It's an investment in completing your renovation faster, with less stress, and without sacrificing your wellbeing. We regularly refer to this expense as a construction line item because it is.

When It Might Be Okay to Stay

We’re not saying you should never, ever live at home during any renovation. There are circumstances where it's manageable.

You might be okay staying if:

It's a small, cosmetic project (painting, new flooring in one room)
Work is confined to one area that can be truly sealed off
You have full use of a kitchen and bathroom (or a makeshift one)
The project will only last a week to a month
You don't have young children or health concerns

But if you're doing a gut renovation, a whole-house remodel, or major work that affects multiple rooms and systems? Move out. Seriously. You’ll thank us later.

Where to Stay During Your Renovation

If we’ve convinced you that moving out is the right call, here are some options for temporary housing:

Short-term rentals: Furnished apartments can work well, especially if your renovation might stretch longer than expected and you need flexibility.

Extended stay hotels: These often have kitchenettes and are set up for longer stays. They're not as homey as a rental, but they're convenient. This is usually an ideal option for a week or two.

Stay with family or friends: If you have generous loved ones nearby, this can save money. Just make sure you're not overstaying your welcome.

Rent a place month-to-month: This gives you stability and your own space without a long-term lease commitment. If your home is undergoing a full-gut renovation, an annual lease might not be a terrible idea. It provides some stability for you and your kids, and you can work out an extension should construction go over time.

Whatever you choose, factor the cost into your renovation budget from the beginning. Don't treat it as an optional extra. It's part of the total cost of doing the project right.

The Bottom Line

Look, we understand the appeal of toughing it out. But after watching countless clients try to live through major renovations, the ones who move out are happier, healthier, and more satisfied with the final result. The ones who stay invariably tell us they wish they'd moved out.

Your home renovation is a huge investment. You're creating a space you'll live in and love for years. Don't compromise the process, your health, your sanity, and your relationships.

Move out. Get yourself and your family to a safe, clean, functional space, and visit the construction site for scheduled walk-throughs. And when the project is done, move back into a beautiful, finished home without having lived through the worst of it.

You'll thank yourself later.

Planning Your Renovation?

If you're in the early stages of planning a major renovation, we can help you think through all of these logistics, create a realistic timeline, and make sure you're prepared for what's ahead.

At Nubuor Designs, we guide clients through the entire renovation process, from initial planning through final installation. We'll help you understand what to expect, how to prepare, and when it makes sense to move out temporarily.

Margaret Nubuor http://www.mnubuor.com