Renovating Without Moving Out: How to Live Through It

Moving out for a renovation means paying rent twice, packing the whole house and commuting from somewhere else. Staying put avoids all of that, but only if the work is planned for it from the start.

Here's how to decide whether living through a renovation makes sense for your Abu Dhabi home, and how to make it bearable if you do.

Can You Stay at Home During a Renovation?

Often yes, especially in a villa or townhouse where the work can be split into zones. It's harder in an apartment, where every room is close to every other, and harder still when the kitchen and all the bathrooms are being replaced at once.

As a rule, if the project touches every wet area in the home at the same time, moving out for those weeks is usually the better choice. Our home renovation guide covers the bigger planning questions.

Phase the Work, Not the Quality

Phasing means doing the renovation in sections, so part of the home stays usable while another part is worked on.

• Villas are usually phased floor by floor or wing by wing
• Townhouses often work top floor first, then the ground floor
• Apartments can be phased bedrooms first, then living areas
• One bathroom is finished before the next one is stripped out

Phasing adds some time because trades move in and out more often, but it can save the cost of temporary accommodation. A large villa renovation is the easiest kind of project to phase well.

Keep a Kitchen and a Bathroom Working

The two things a household can't do without are a place to wash and a place to prepare food.

If the main kitchen is being replaced, set up a temporary kitchen corner with a fridge, a microwave or induction plate and a kettle in a room away from the dust. Plan the kitchen renovation so the old kitchen stays in use until the new cabinets are ready to fit, which can shorten the time without one.

For bathrooms, keep at least one working at all times. If the home has only one bathroom, moving out for the one to three weeks a typical bathroom renovation takes is often the easiest answer.

Control the Dust

Dust travels further than people expect, especially through AC systems that run all day.

Ask for sealed dust screens and zipper doors around each work zone, floor protection along the routes trades use, and AC returns in the work area covered or switched off. Abu Dhabi health authority guidance also points out that sanding and scraping old paint creates indoor dust, and that paints, adhesives and solvents release fumes, so good ventilation matters during and after the work (see the source at the end of this article).

When the work finishes, have the AC filters cleaned or changed, because they will have caught a lot of what you didn't see.

Manage Noise and Working Hours

Agree a daily schedule with your contractor before work starts. Noisy jobs such as tile breaking and core drilling can be grouped into set hours, leaving quieter work like painting and joinery for the rest of the day.

In apartment towers, the building already sets permitted hours for noisy work, so the schedule is partly decided for you.

Keep Children and Pets Safe

A renovation site inside your home has the same hazards as any other site: tools, cables, open floors, chemicals and debris.

• Lock work zones at the end of each day
• Keep children and pets away from stairs without balustrades
• Store paints and chemicals out of reach
• Agree where workers enter, eat and take breaks

Plan the Order Before Work Starts

Living through a renovation only works if the sequence is clear from day one. Our renovation work list explains the right order of works so no finished room has to be opened up again.

For townhouses, our townhouse renovation page explains how floor-by-floor phasing usually works.

Frequently Asked Questions