How can I find my old pictures?

[Boris70]

Hi,

 

As some of you know Tom and I moved house in August last year to what I can politely describe as a "dump". The actual shell of the house is lovely, but the internal decor and the state of the windows leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Anyway, we have hired an architect to draw up plans (we did this 3 days after moving in), and after planning etc we are now in the position to hire builders. The architect has delayed the work no end, in that when we originally hired him he said we'd be able to start work in Jan, hence middle of Feb we are only just getting the quotes back from the builders so it will be another 3 weeks yet before they can start (don;t get me started on him!).

 

My dilema is we had thought all along we were going to stay put, and the builders work around us, but this was with leo being 6 weeks old, so in no way moving at all on his own. Now being 3 months later, Leo is starting to try to roll over. Do you think we should move out if we can afford to do so? The work involved goes on in every single room in some way. Very minor work in the 3 exisiting bedrooms in that only windows are being replaced and some rewiring, but the rest of the house is getting completley changed. We are also on holiday for 3.5 weeks during the work so this is when we've said they need to do the major work inside, which we are still fine with - but if we move out then we are paying the mortgage on our house and paying rent on somewhere else.

 

What would you do?

[Tina C]

I would prefer to save money and stay put - especially if you are away for 3.5 weeks anyway.

 

How long will the work go on for though? Its easy to ignore the dust and disruption, noise etc for a few weeks but if its months it could be harder.

 

If you do stay put, plan lots of days out for yourself and Baby Boris!

[Olly]

well I don't have a 3 month old baby, so it's hard to gauge, but the issues are:

 

Cost of renting somewhere

upheaval of moving all your clothes, personal stuff etc.

You won't be on site to supervise all the work, which can slow things down.

 

On the other hand, having work done while you're in the house is very, very stressful even if it's just you. With a baby it could be very hard!

 

If you can timetable the work so that the 'worst' stuff is done while you're on holiday, and if you can get them to finish the minor work so that you have three rooms you can use while the other stuff is going on - great. Experience tells me this isn't always how it works though. A lot might depend on your relationship with the builder.

 

Be prepared to 'camp' while it's going on - pack away as much stuff as you can, because it will all get filthy, and keep the option of going to stay with friends/relatives for a few days while it's going on.

[fairy&cake]

Oh i totally sympathise with you.

 

Our house is also a dump at the moment. No bathroom for 11 months now.

 

Also, we have no kitchen/. We have a sink though

 

[A skip has just arrived on the drive way about 10 mins ago, so we can start the work ourselves.]

 

Babies are hard things to work out in situations like this.

 

If you can help it, i wouldn't rent a place also. Id try and save as much money as you can because children get so expensive! LOL.

 

But it depends how much money you have i suppose.

 

Could you not make one room really comfortable? Ie the lounge so you can sleep/live in a nice cosy-ish room with Leo?

And try and keep that one room warm etc so it doesnt go damp.

 

If things get too noisey, the warm weather should be on the way so you could take him ut of lots of walks and to the park etc.

 

How long do they think the building will take???

[Louise]

Is it possible to borrow a caravan or something so you have somewhere clean to eat etc

 

Bedrooms aren't going to be too bad so you could turn one into a sitting room and keep an existing bedroom but cooking and washing will be your biggest problems

 

Living full time in a caravan at this time of the year with a small baby would be a nightmare but just cooking and washing would not be too bad

[chickenlass]

To be honest we had two cottages knocked into one years ago and we tried to live in it at the time..... It was horrendous... we we ended up borrowing my parents caravan and parking that in the drive to live in during the day and just staggering over all the mess up to a very dusty bedroom every night as the caravan beds were too uncomfortable for my husband.

You will be surprised where the mess gets and with a young baby I really wouldn't advise even contemplating trying to live in the house at the same time as the builders.

IF there is anyone who can lend you a caravan go for it. Or even hiring one may not be a s expensive as renting a house somewhere . Good luck and just keep thinking how lovely it will all be when it is finished.

[fairy&cake]

i forgot to mention seth was weeks old whn we moved and we managed ok with builders etc.

 

Prep is the key and organisation.

 

 

And as someone else said prepare incase you want to go and stay with family etc

[hillfamily]

ditto what Olly says really

 

I had buiders in last year - fortunately I developed a liking for dust, chaos, builder's tea and radio 2

[Boris70]

Hi,

 

Thanks to all for the responses. The work the architect has estimated will take 6 months (but he keeps making things up) so who knows!

 

Luckily we haven't unpacked most things as we knew were were doing this, so still have boxes of stuff everywhere.

 

Tom's theory is that if it's cheaper for us to move out by as much as the rent would be then we should move it. The caravanfor cooking sounds like a plan though - although I'm sure the hertitage foundation has issues with caravans in the front garden, and we could get it round the back now, but as soon as the work is done it'd be stuck!

[bronze]

I would stay

Get your dream house while you can. A baby up to nine months is much easier than any later age unless you wait ten years.

[The Dogmother]

I'd stay put and save money - building jobs always over-run on time and money.

 

From a professional point of view - draw up some contracts, signed by all parties agreeing to time scales, details of work to be carried out and costing. That'll tie them down to some extent.

[little chickadee]

As other people have said. Get a caravan. You could actually get a really quite nice one for the cost of even one month's rent on another house. We bought ours for £600 last summer and it's fab. If you can get it round the back now, that would be my advice. It's also a really good time to get one, as people aren't that keen on going caravanning in February.

You would have a nice clean place to cook/ eat with a fridge and a cooker.

Get a baby den (we've always called them baby cages!) too for if you're in the house and need to put the baby down, also a door bouncer is another good way to keep them out of harms way while you do something else.

 

Above all good luck. I agree with what Claret said about contracts, especially as it sounds like your architect has been very vague about everything, you really don't want this to drag on any longer than humanly possible and certainly don't want the builders doing the usual trick of starting 3 other jobs at the same time as yours.

[Leicester_H]

Hi

I would stay. We had some extensive work (but nowhere near what you're having done) done last year and there were always small decisions to be made (despite full drawings etc) and so it was useful to be on-site.

H

[Shirl]

We had 5 months of builders last year and even though we could still use our kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and lounge it was still hell. The major working area was toltally partitioned of for most of the work. I had my youngest DD half way through the work.

 

I'd move out. No question.

[lisa33]

Whatever you decide you know you can always pop round if you need a break from it.

 

[Lesley]

We moved out of our house as the roof had to come off and we didn't have any choice.

 

I would stay if at all possible - the minute your back is turned all work stops........ and it's difficult to get them to start again. We were 15 minutes drive away and every time we drove past, there was no-one working even if we'd spoken on the phone the evening before........

 

The work was supposed to take 3 months - it took 8 months before we could move back in and another 3 months before the builders left.

 

As Clare said, get contracts drawn up - we didn't.......... and a caravan so that you are still on site would be a good idea.

[The Dogmother]

The contracts are helpful - my employers are experts in construction contracts and disputes (usually multi-£m ones though).

 

I am currently in dispute with my builder at home, who 'finished' work on my attic room and has left it leaking and with various other snags - I had signed contracts and schedules of work. He hasn't got a leg to stand on.

[Karen & co.]

I must admit we moved out just over a year ago for 6 months while the builders took the back off the house and altered all but one room

 

The arcitect put a clause into the contract, and all points ironed out at a pre contract meeting, about what was to be done, how long it would take, and how much they would pay us if they over-ran

 

We were only 10 days over, and that was because we had them fit the kitchen as they went along, rather than get a contractor in after the builders.

 

We were able to leave some things in the house, and even though I sealed them up in boxes, they still got dusty

 

Another plus for moving out, is that the builders will have to leave the place in a reasonable condition for you, and it takes longer for them to work around you, our quote was 24 weeks in an empty house, or much longer if they had to re-establish water electricity etc. at the end of each day.

 

It is very much personal choice though the house we rented was much smaller than our house, but cleaner, warmer and quieter than living here

 

Karen x

[Egluntyne]

I'd stay put.

 

We did this when we had a lot of work done when my daughter was about 4 and my oldest son was a baby.

 

We had no kitchen and a barely usable bathroon, but we managed.

 

Get a decent playpen for Leo, he can roll safely in that and you won't have to worry about him putting nails in his mouth etc.

 

As Lydia says....he won't care.

 

I agree with Claret about the contracts.

 

Good luck.

[The Dogmother]

I had builders i when Rosie was tiny - she soon adapted and can now sleep through any amount of racket.

[Boris70]

That was the whole plan - get the work done while Leo tiny, hence when I put him somewhere he stays were I put him!

 

I think we'll end up staying here, as you've all said, if someone isn;t here they tend to stop working!

 

And I definetly want contracts drawn up, as I don't want this slipping anymore that it has already!

 

Lisa33 - I may well take you up on the offer!

[Moonie]

That was the whole plan - get the work done while Leo tiny, hence when I put him somewhere he stays were I put him!

 

I think we'll end up staying here, as you've all said, if someone isn;t here they tend to stop working!

 

And I definetly want contracts drawn up, as I don't want this slipping anymore that it has already!

 

Lisa33 - I may well take you up on the offer!

 

Feel free to come to mine for a shower, if you live near lisa you live near me! I must admit we did work on our house with a newborn and it was a nightmare.