By Savino Construction · Published September 12, 2026 · No prices in the guides; every number comes from a site walk. Anything in [brackets] is confirmed before launch.
Jobs you can usually stay through
These are built so the house keeps working around them.
- Rear and side additions. The addition goes up as a shell first, and the wall into the house opens last. Dust walls seal the route in between.
- Underpinning. The work is in the basement, the house is supported throughout, and the floors above stay in use. Noise and dust are real.
- Kitchens and bathrooms. Behind dust walls, with the room out of service for the duration. A temporary kitchen in another room is normal.
- Load-bearing wall removal. Days of work behind dust walls, with the shoring in place through the room.
- Exterior renovations. The work is outside, and the house is closed in each night.
Jobs you usually cannot
A second storey takes the roof off. The house is weather-protected while the new floor is framed and closed in, but there is no ceiling above the ground floor for a period, and no way to seal dust or noise out of the rooms below. Most families move out for that period and come back when the new roof is on. Savino tells you the length at the site walk and writes it into the schedule, so the rent or the stay with family is a known cost.
A whole-home renovation is the in-between case. If the plan can be staged floor by floor with a kitchen and a bathroom kept in service, staying is possible and some families do. It is slower and costs more, because the crew works around you and the dust walls move as the stages move. Often moving out for the strip-out and the structural stage, then coming back for the finishes, is the better balance.
How the site is run around you
Dust walls at every doorway between the work and the living space, sealed with zippered access. Floor protection on the route from the door to the site. Negative air on the work side where the strip-out is heavy. Water and power isolated by a licensed trade before the first fixture comes out, and restored to the rooms you are living in each night. A daily photo update so you know what happened while you were at work.
What you should expect anyway: noise during working hours, a driveway with a bin in it, deliveries, and trades in and out. A schedule with the noisy days marked helps, and it is part of the plan.
Deciding before you sign
The answer belongs in the contract, not in a conversation after the strip-out has started. Ask any contractor which stages you can be in the house for, how the site will be sealed, and what the schedule looks like if you stay versus if you go. Savino answers that at the site walk and writes both versions into the quote where it matters.