Renovating While Living in the Apartment: How to Organise It

When moving out is not an option: splitting the work into stages, protecting living areas from dust, planning utility shut-offs and keeping everyone safe.

Not every family can move somewhere else for the duration of a renovation. Rent costs, the distance to school and work, or simply pets often mean staying put. It can be done, but only if the work follows a sequence thought through in advance. Otherwise the job drags on and daily life turns into an exhausting endurance test.

Start by assessing what is realistic

Living on site does not suit every type of renovation. Rewiring the entire flat, pouring a new floor screed or replacing a drainage riser affect every room at once. For stages like these it is sensible to plan at least a few days of staying elsewhere.

Cosmetic work, decoration carried out room by room and a separate bathroom refit, on the other hand, can be combined with living at home. Ask your contractor in advance which days will be most disruptive, whether because of noise, dust, no water or no power.

When making the decision, it helps to give the contractor the household's daily routine in writing: who works from home, when the children sleep, and at what times the bathroom is in use in the morning. If working hours are adjusted to that routine, tension drops considerably.

Divide the renovation into zones

The core principle is that the family always keeps one clean zone. Work usually starts in the least-used room while the household lives temporarily in the others. When that room is finished, belongings move into it and the next zone opens up.

The kitchen and bathroom are the hardest part. They should never be under renovation at the same time. During a kitchen refit, a temporary mini-kitchen helps a great deal: a table with an electric hob, the fridge and a small washing-up bowl makes several weeks much easier. If the flat has only one bathroom, all materials should be on site before work begins so that its refit can be squeezed into the shortest possible schedule.

It is also important to set a "done" standard for each zone. If the family moves into a room before it is fully cleaned and the small remaining jobs are finished, the tradespeople have to come back into it and the boundary between zones breaks down.

Protection from dust and noise

Construction dust spreads through the whole home via door gaps, ventilation ducts and the soles of shoes. To keep it contained:

• close off the work room with a plastic sheet or a zipped dust barrier;
• temporarily cover ventilation grilles and extract air through a window;
• lay a sticky or washable runner along the route to the room;
• wrap furniture and electronics tightly in plastic;
• do dusty cutting on the balcony where possible, or with tools connected to an extractor.

Agree on set hours of the day for noisy jobs such as hammer drilling or wall chasing. That gives both the household and the neighbours a chance to get on with their lives.

Plan shut-offs and logistics

You need to know in advance which days water and electricity will be off. When the consumer unit is replaced, keep a temporary live circuit in at least one room and a dedicated socket for the fridge. When the water pipes are renewed, agree that at least one tap will work at the end of each day.

Material storage is a separate issue. Tile boxes, bags of mix and metal profiles should not pile up in living rooms. Ordering deliveries in parts and removing waste daily, or at least every few days, frees up space in the flat.

Access for the workers needs rules as well. Agree in advance who holds the key, what time the working day starts and ends, and which rooms may be entered when nobody is home. Keeping valuables and documents in a separate locked place during the renovation is a simple but useful precaution.

Safety and health

If there are children, elderly people or anyone with breathing problems in the household, they should ideally be away during certain stages. Paints, varnishes and solvent-based adhesives release smells and vapours; plan to spend those weekends elsewhere or ensure strong ventilation.

At the end of each day, tools and cutting discs must be put away and any exposed wire ends insulated. Keep pets well away from the work room: a paw print in fresh screed or filler is the least of the possible problems.

Zaferoğlu İnşaat can plan an apartment renovation in stages that fit the client's living arrangements. If you want to stay at home during the work, get in touch and we can put the schedule together with you.