Living at Home During a Refurbishment: Questions for Your London Project Brief
Updated: Oct 8
Planning a home refurbishment while living in the property needs a conversation about daily life as well as building work. Whether remaining at home is practical depends on the agreed scope and site conditions. Explain your household's needs early so access and temporary arrangements can be discussed before the programme is agreed.
THRC Construction, The Home Refurbishment Company, provides refurbishment, renovation, house extension and loft conversion services across Greater London. Use the questions below to build a clearer brief for an occupied home project.
Identify the rooms you need to keep using
Write down the rooms that are essential to your routine. Consider cooking, washing, sleeping, working and getting in and out of the house. If you have children, pets or access needs, include those details in the discussion. Ask which rooms can realistically remain available at each stage instead of assuming the whole home will be usable throughout.
Discuss access and separation
Explain how people currently move through the property and where deliveries could arrive. Ask the builder to describe how work areas, stored materials and household routes would be managed. Agree who controls access and how visitors are handled. Any arrangement should be reviewed against the actual work rather than based on a general promise to minimise disruption.
Make temporary arrangements explicit
Discuss what happens when a kitchen, bathroom or essential service is unavailable. Record who will arrange any temporary facilities and whether those arrangements are included in the quotation. Ask how you will be notified before planned interruptions. If remaining at home is unsuitable for a stage of the work, discuss that before committing to a programme. Before comparing prices, use our builder quote checklist to record temporary facilities and who is responsible for them.
Compare phases with the full project
Working room by room may sound convenient, but it can affect the sequence of work and repeated visits. Ask for a clear explanation of the proposed phases, their dependencies and the point at which each area is handed back. Compare that plan with completing the wider package together, without assuming either approach will be cheaper or quicker.
Agree how decisions and changes are recorded
Choose a main contact and a regular way to review progress. Keep a written record of selections, questions and changes to the agreed scope. A request made during a site visit should still be confirmed with its effect on cost and programme before it becomes part of the work.
Prepare your enquiry
Send your location, the rooms involved, photographs and any drawings. Tell us whether you hope to remain at home and which household routines must be considered. A useful first conversation starts with those practical details as well as the finish you want.
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