Primary Bath remodel -- sleep in primary bedroom or elsewhere?

[someguy]

For all those who have majorly (ie, down to studs) remodeled their ensuite primary bathroom, how bad was the adjoining primary bedroom in terms of dust, smells, etc. at the end of each construction work day? Did you sleep in the primary or set up temporary sleeping elsewhere for the duration of the project?

 

[Lewis Clark]

We had plastic sheets covering the entrance to the bathroom. The adjoining bedroom never got horribly dirty, but was not as clean as it would normally be. And we think the contractor did a reasonable job limiting the spread of the dirt and dust.

In any case, we had planned in advance to sleep in a secondary bedroom on the other side of the house. It was a good choice for us.

 

[RunningBum]

I would move to a bedroom on the other side of the house as well. Even if the dust could be maintained, it'd be more convenient to a usable bathroom. I'd probably ask they cover my bedroom furniture and use some kind of floor runner rug to keep from tracking dust all over the house, and I wouldn't want to deal with that nightly.

 

[Ronstar]

I slept in our master bedroom during the building of our house after I installed windows and a toilet. But all I had in the house was a mattress so it was no big deal. DW stayed in our apartment until the house was done.

There are some construction materials (liquid floor levelers, etc) that one shouldn't spend much time around. And yes dust is a problem. But dust can be handled with sheet plastic.

If I was to do a master bath remodel, we could stay in the master bedroom, but we would probably move to a different bedroom because we have one available down the hall.

I would still cut new drywall and tile in the garage if I was doing the work just to minimize dust. Not sure a contractor would want to do that.

 

[Jerry1]

Get out of there. Try to set up some plastic barriers and shut off your furnace vents if it's forced air. If they're going to cut tile in the house, then this is even more important. Talk to them about what they can do and what they're willing to do to keep the mess and the dust isolated to the immediate area.

 

[Gotadimple]

Use a second bedroom - there will be fumes from the products they use and no amount of plastic sheeting will prevent it from leaking into your master bedroom.

Also, cover your bed in plastic sheeting as there will be dust.

If they are installing tile and sealing the grout, you will want to spend one additional night in your second bedroom so the fumes from the sealer clear the bathroom.

 

[Midpack]

We just slept in the primary bedroom when we had our adjoining primary bath “down to the studs” updated. The second bath was just outside the primary so it wasn’t inconvenient, and there was plastic or a door sealing the primary bath during remodeling. Whatever fumes might escape will permeate the whole house anyway. If it makes you more comfortable to sleep in another bedroom, why not?

 

[rodi]

We didn't have a choice. We were our own labor. Our kids were still under roof. So there was no other bedroom to move to.

We did plan a weekend trip immediately following the floor leveling application - as mentioned, that's kind of toxic.

Our bathroom used to be open to the bedroom (very 60's to do that)... The first step we did was build a wall and door. That allowed us to close off the bathroom from the main bedroom to contain the dust, etc. The bathroom has a fan and a window, also, so those were used extensively. And my husband set the fan to blow IN to the bathroom, creating a negative pressure when the toilet fan was on.

No regrets about how our bathroom came out - it's still gorgeous, 10 years later.

 

[someguy]

Thanks for all the feedback, especially the notes about particularly dangerous products used.

 

[DrRoy]

Still slept in the primary. Wasn't a problem.

 

[SecondAttempt]

If they are installing tile and sealing the grout, you will want to spend one additional night in your second bedroom so the fumes from the sealer clear the bathroom.

No disagreement but there is a product that they can use to mix the grout instead of water. This eliminates the need to seal or reseal the grout and supposedly makes it stay cleaner. I just had about 2000 square feet of floor tile installed and a new bathroom. The stuff is expensive but worth it in my opinion.

The contractor used a tool to break the tile rather than cut with a saw so no dust.

I would discuss with the contractor and be open with your concerns but also reasonable with your expectations. The more you expect of them in terms of limiting dust and so forth the greater the precautions they need to take and therefore higher cost. You will be living in a construction zone for the duration of the project so just decide what you are willing to put up with.

 

[Koolau]

We dragged our mattress out to the open (but covered/screened) lanai and slept there. It took a couple of nights for the brain to get used to the night sounds, but we adapted. Any odors/dust were minor that far from the bathroom. The bedrooms would both have been an issue as we had to cover everything in plastic sheeting to prevent dust problems. YMMV

 

[jrgators]

we jut finished a primary bathroom remodel. We slept in the basement for the duration of the work. The workers covered everything with plastic and even put plastic over the bathroom entryway but the bedroom plastic still got dust on it. We also removed everything from the walls and on top of the furniture, and took the pillows and comforter off the bed. We kept the sheets to provide extra protection for the mattress.