Feeling a little trapped and just fed up with home renovation + COVID-19 restrictions

[smiles33]

We are in month 7 of a 10-12 month renovation. We have nearly gutted 2/3 of our 1957 ranch home that had MULTIPLE "renovations" where unlicensed contractors or maybe the homeowners themselves put in "improvements" (with major safety issues, like not having a deep enough foundation, missing wood framing support so the ceiling could have collapsed, a master bathroom where the toilet was NOT connecting to the septic system, etc.). I don't even want to think about how much costs have ballooned because we've had to add foundation repairs and extra wood framing.

Here's a photo showing where the new kitchen and great room (plus a new 1/2 bath) will go taken last week. We at least have a new roof, exterior walls, and the windows in. Electrical and plumbing are getting installed now, then sheetrock. HVAC can't go in as they have to put in a new cement pad for a propane tank first (we're in a semi-rural area so there aren't natural gas lines here). I'm guessing we won't have a functioning kitchen for another 3 months (at a minimum).

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We lived here with no heat/AC (the furnace was torn out in September as that room is going to become a pantry and the new furnace will be in the attic) and just one bathroom since Sept. 2019. Thankfully, the bedrooms aren't being touched. I am pretty proud of how resilient my kids (and DH and me!) have been. We also had 3 vacations out of town over the past 7 months just to get out of the house. But now we have "shelter-in-place" restrictions due to COVID-19 where we're not supposed to leave our house unless it's for groceries or medical reasons.

We do not have a kitchen, there's no heat (it's 51 degrees in the house right now as we only have space heaters in the bedrooms), and we're all home from school/work. I am nervous about even going out for restaurant food but we only have an Instant Pot, a tiny toaster oven, and a sous vide pot, so we're starting to get sick of the same meals, over and over. I don't even know if our wifi can handle 2 kids in "online classes" plus DH and me online as well (and I have to do some Zoom video conference calls with colleagues and with my students).

We debated driving to our vacation home, but it's so remote that it only has satellite internet, which I assume isn't sufficient for DDs' online classes or my Zoom video conference calls. I also don't think we can go to a hotel, as large dogs like our 90 pound Lab usually aren't welcome at hotels. Plus at least we have 3 bedrooms to escape to if we stay here.

I don't know what I'm looking for. I guess I just want to vent in a safe place as I know this is totally a first world problem. Sigh.

[georgiegirl]

What a nightmare. I’d stock up on supplies and go to the vacation home. Kitchen and heat are more important than perfect internet.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

Vacation home, for sure. Can your phones be mobile hotspots?
I’m sorry that I was one that (I think) told you to tough it out when you asked options. It just wasn’t obvious what you really planned to do or that you’d go without basic utilities for so long. One bathroom isn’t a hardship so that wasn’t going to sway me. No heat? That does. Either head to your other house or rent something. Though I don’t think I’d add that extra expense when you already own a back up plan.
Good luck!


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[NCGrandma]

No suggestions but lots of sympathy! I think those 1950s ranch houses must attract untrained/unlicensed "home improvement" folks ... at least that’s been my family’s experience.

I won’t even ask where the toilet was draining, if not into the septic tank But my family can maybe top that experience — they bought a house advertised as having a septic tank, and the general inspector saw no reason to disagree. When they got the septic tank guy out, he told them that no, it wasn’t a septic tank, it was a cesspool! Imagine how excited then-5-y.o. DGD was to tell everyone that their new house had a "hole full of poop" in the front yard!


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[smiles33]

Thanks for the sympathy! I think I just need to whine somewhere. DH agreed with you, SnuggleBuggles, and others who said not to rent. He literally looked at me like I was a spoiled diva for suggesting renting a place when our bedrooms aren't being touched. It's a huge cost savings to stay here. We are normally ok with no heat and just staying in our respective bedrooms (or the kids cram into our bed and the 4 of us watch something on TV/Netflix). Ultimately, the kids are little ovens anyway and have been perfectly fine with their rooms heated to about 62 degrees. We were all burning up when we visited my sister-in-law (they keep their home at 72!).

I think the fact that we're now going to be 24/7 like this for 3+ weeks is what is rattling me. I will talk more to DH about maybe just driving 2 cars to our vacation home. That county doesn't have any "shelter-in-place" requirements right now so I could potentially drive an hour to a coffeeshop with WiFi or to hotspot my phone once I get closer to a cell tower. We have a cell phone booster at the vacation house because there is very weak 1 bar or 0 bars' cell signal. So we can't hotspot at the house.

Anyhow, I appreciate the sympathy so much. It just makes me feel so much better!

[Globetrotter]

Oh no!! Gosh, what a nightmare. I was actually thinking about people who are in the midst of renovations.

If your vacation home is in a rural area, which I assume it is, and you’re able to safely practice social distancing there, That’s an option. I think schools will have to be lax on this because everyone has different capabilities and I would think that your work would take precedence over school, if you have limited Wi-Fi.

there’s always the possibility that shelter in place or lockdowns could be instituted all over, in which case you would be stuck in the vacation home. Are you OK with that? I guess you could shuttle back and forth, But keep in mind they may block access. We really don’t know what we’re dealing with,judging by Italy’s response.

[mom2binsd]

I agree with Globetrotter, not every family will be able to have their kids complete e learning, maybe no device at home, poor internet, no adult supervision (think of the kids with their 15 year old brother as the babysitter). The school can't penalize your kids for not getting stuff done. Without a doubt, go to the vacation home for the immediate future, like you said, go to a coffee shop or someplace that has better wifi when needed and GET AWAY from the city!

[WatchingThemGrow]

What about...mixing things up a little bit and doing some meal prep at the vacation house so you can come back with some different food options?


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[TwinFoxes]

Our renovations to put our home on the market starts on Wednesday. Movers will be coming to put our stuff into storage tomorrow. I feel your pain. And small complaint. DH packed my Vitamix. He has no idea into which box. I won't see it for months.

[StantonHyde]

I am so sorry, this sounds awful. We are renovating right now and I refuse to be without fewer than 2 bathrooms!!!! That is worse than the heat at this point given winter is almost over. When we did our kitchen I had 2 hot plates and the grill plus a microwave. I could actually cook that way. Really, you are winning when it comes to tough situations here!!!!