10/13/2026
One of the first questions we get after a contract is signed: do we stay in the house or move out?
The answer depends on how much of your home the project takes offline. We sort it into four levels.
One bathroom or one room: stay. The dust is easy to contain and daily life barely changes. If the loud days wear on you, take a short trip during demo.
The kitchen: most families stay. The refrigerator and coffee maker move to another room, dishes go in the laundry sink, and you eat out more. It's not your normal kitchen, but the house still works.
Kitchen plus bathrooms, or most of the flooring: this is the one to talk through with your builder. A big share of the house is offline at once. Tearing out tile also throws off fine silica dust, so plan to be somewhere else for that stretch, especially with young kids or anyone with asthma or allergies.
A full home remodel: move out. Furniture goes to storage. We need a clear house to run the job well and finish it as fast as possible.
The full article is on our blog. https://www.collinskb.com/blog/living-in-your-home-during-a-remodel-central-florida
Planning a remodel? Send us a message or visit collinskb.com.