Surviving a Bathroom Renovation With Just One Bathroom Tips!

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Our bathroom renovation is in full swing, and I’d say we are over the halfway point now, and into the home stretch. We can’t wait to see the finished room!

The bathroom suite has been provided by Bathroom Takeaway, and the new bath and toilet bowl are in, but the cistern isn’t fitted yet, so we’re still flushing the loo with a bucket of water from a temporary stand pipe in a cupboard on our landing, because the taps aren’t fitted to the bath yet either. Kevin, our plumber has been working really hard, and I’m amazed that he is doing this all on his own! We’ve never had any sort of big renovation going on in our house before, so perhaps this is the norm, but big claps for him!

I am currently putting a short video together of the renovation works, so a post with that video, and description of the what has been going on will be coming towards the end of the week. Then of course the final reveal, which I can’t wait to be able to share with you!

However, in the meantime, I wanted to share our tips for surviving a bathroom renovation, as it’s quite the upheaval – especially when you only have one bathroom (like we do). I can only give these tips based upon our family – which is my husband, my teenage son, and me – so essentially 3 adults. However, I have added in some thoughts about dealing with this sort of renovation if you have younger children too – I was the mum of a little one, once!

I hope these tips help you if you are having your bathroom renovated! Of course, if you have two bathrooms, or even just an extra toilet in your house, some of these won’t apply. It is at a time like this I wish we had, had an extra loo downstairs!

Tips For Surviving a Bathroom Renovation

1. Check all fixtures, and fittings before the plumber arrives. Damage can happen in transit, and it did happen to us with one of our taps, I was able to arrange a replacement, and no setbacks occurred. There may also be a time frame in which products can be replaced, so do it as soon as possible after delivery.
2. Have a bath/wash your hair the night before. There is no getting around the fact that you might have to forgo these for a few days – possibly longer, so have a good old wash before work starts. If you have a friend/relative nearby (or even a very good neighbour) you can always ask to borrow their facilities. We had a shower after a few days at my in-laws (oh how I missed a full hot shower!) If you have a swimming pool nearby, you could also head over there for a pre-swim shower, then a swim, then a post-swim shower.
3. Box up the bathroom. Your bathroom will need to be clear of all products and towels, so place it all into boxes and store it in your bedroom temporarily. It’s also an opportunity to sort through your toiletries and get rid of things you don’t use.
4. Set up a washing station. We set up a tray on the kitchen counter near the sink with shaving products (for hubs and son) and dental care products, as we haven’t had a sink in our bathroom since the start of the work. It makes things easier if everything is set up and ready to use. If you are able to wash your hair in the sink (I can’t; too much effort, and rather use dry shampoo for a few days), then don’t forget to add your shampoo and condition too the station.
5. Dry shampoo and dry shower gel are your friend. If you can’t shower/bathe elsewhere, then get some bottles of these products in – they don’t replace a good all over wash, but help you to stay clean and fresh for a few days. You could also set up a bed bath situation with a bucket of hot soapy water, and towels. I’m pretty sure young kids won’t mind not having a bath for a few days.
6.  Baby wipes and anti-bac gel/hand sanitiser are very handy. You may be without water for parts of the day, so having these on standby are helpful to clean hands and faces.
7. A few clean buckets. One to fill up with water to flush the toilet, one to use for washing, and a spare one for if you really, really, need to go to the loo, and can’t use one at a neighbour’s house. Our plumber fit our toilet back every day, but there were points during the working hours that there wasn’t a toilet. You can either hold it, use a neighbours’ loo, or use a bucket. Not the most pleasant of things for me to talk about, but that’s the reality here. If there are lots of you in the house, you could also consider buying or hiring a commode, which is a lot safer to use.
8. Keep pets out of the way. We have a cat, and she doesn’t go out at the front of the house due to a busy main road. Our plumber had days where the front door was continually opened and closed, so we shut Pumpkin away into a room with food, water, and litter box. She wasn’t impressed at her incarceration, but in the end she just used that time for more sleeping. You also don’t want little pets (hamsters, gerbils, etc.,) getting loose and sneaking beneath floorboards, so make sure they’re caged up. And with dogs, you don’t want them fussing or barking at the worker, so again, keep them out of harms way.
9. Keep children out of the way. No little kids in this household any more, but make sure they don’t go into the bathroom, or mess around in that general area, there will be sharp tools, and power tools, which do not want to be messed with.
10. Use dust sheets. Be prepared for dust – when tiles are chipped off walls, and an old bathroom suite is being removed there is a lot of dust generated – everything at home felt like it was covered in a thin film of it – even things I didn’t think would. You can prepare by putting dust sheets over your furniture. I wish I had known just how much dust there would be. Save dusting until after the work is completed, the attempt to clean will be futile.
11. Have patience, it will all be over soon! Whilst having a big renovation is an upheaval, think of the end result – a gorgeous new bathroom!

Don’t forget to use my 10% discount at Bathroom Takeaway – just enter the code PURPLE10 when you check out!

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