Five gallon bucket with a toilet lid? We use one for camping.

Flexible work schedule is helpful. No matter how much you communicate, something is always done wrong when you are not on site. I'd stop by every day on my lunch hour.

I think I might consider moving out and staying at a Residence Inn. They all take pets. Or another local pet friendly hotel.

You could have the contractor place a second portable toilet at your location and mark it for your use only. Pay the additional cost and have it cleaned couple times a week. If you have a laundry room with a sink, it can be helpful for hand washing, brushing teeth, etc.

If you have the budget for it, you and your pup can go to a local suite hotel that has cooking facilities.

Good luck.

Consider hiring a full service remodeling firm that will assign a project manager, electrician, plumber and carpenter who are employees that will prioritize the project given the circumstances. The additional cost and upheaval of living elsewhere, portable toilet, running back and forth to the jobsite could be put towards this management team and should reduce the time to do the job. Also, be sure ALL materials (lights, towel bars, medicine cabinet, vanity, top, hardware, tile, plumbing fittings, sink, toilet, etc. etc.) are on the job before demo starts. And that all decisions are made as to vanity size and counter height, location and height of accessories, grout color, location of niche or shower baskets, tile layout, switch and outlet locations, need for ceiling vent, heat lamp, recessed lights, entry door swing, room trim details, type of threshold...all the minutia that goes with the finished job but if not determined can hold things up or mess things up. Are you keeping all the fixtures in the same location? Ask for a check list so you can do your homework in plenty of time.

You should not have to move out of your house for weeks for a bath remodel if you have a bit of flexibility on your "accommodations". The toilet can be reinstalled following demo of any tile. And stay there during the tub tiling and electrical, etc. Then removed for 12-36 hours to tile and grout around it. You just need an actual GC, not a "tile guy".

Residence Inn is the way to go if you must be out of the house, we just spent two weeks in one while floors were stained with our pug. Cost was 1000.00 per week in the Chicago area.

It should not take "weeks" to complete a bath project. If your contractor can't commit to a 2 week completion from start to finish, for a home as you describe, you need to find another contractor.
http://www.homeideations.com

Our experience is that it does take weeks to complete a bath remodel. Some go as long as 6 - 7 weeks depending upon the extent of work and the features to be installed. The tile alone for flooring, shower and walls, if done correctly and everything allowed to dry between steps, takes a week. In our area, each inspection that is called in takes 2 days to get an inspector there to sign off. So if there needs to be rough-in inspections for plumbing, electrical, hvac, insulation and potentially framing - that can be a week in itself with only limited activity going on. Drywall takes several days just because of the wait time between each application and getting the guys to come back each day for such a small job.

It depends upon whether the GC uses subs to complete the work or has in-house crews. A two week job reeks of a "handyman" that says he can do it all. There is NO ONE properly skilled at everything.

I guess brickwood and I have the same inspections department. I can't even schedule a framing inspection until the trades pass... then insulation inspection before drywall can start.

No inspections needed here for a like for like renovation. Unless you're moving plumbing. Like changing a tub to a shower. That might add an extra day or two.

Simple hall type baths take from 7-14 days if no one starts any demo until all of the products are in without damage. The vanity tops are ordered in advance, based on the cabinetry design, and anything special order has to be on site. I've only seen a bath go longer than 14 days when the vanity top cracked during installation, or the standard size glass tub door shattered. Or mold remediation was discovered to be needed.

Master baths, sure, those with separate tub and shower take twice as long, especially if you're doing custom glass enclosures as the last step to be finished. But that's not what we're talking here. This is probably a 7 day job total, as it sounds modest, and not that complex.

We have done a 3 day bath. :-) Vinyl floors, acrylic tub and surround, and the new vanity and tops standard size. No glass. No, it wasn't high end. It was for a 20 year old Habitat house, and it suited the surroundings just fine.

And we've had the remodel that wouldn't end too. Mold remediation and a complete rotting shower, and rotting tub deck to rebuild. With the homeowner second guessing all of the design decisions that she had made. That took 9 weeks to "finish". Although she still has 12 different paint samples on the wall and her third choice in a hand shower hasn't arrived yet. It's functional. She was only without a toilet for a week during the mold remediation and floor tile laying. Yeah, she has 2 other baths, but if it were her only, she could have used it after that first week and just showered at the gym.

you need to know your area. perhaps 2 bedrooms with 2 nice baths would actually sell better than 3 bedrooms and a rush job single bath. consult a realtor, you might be pleasantly surprised with the outcome, especially with a lot and neighborhood with expansion possibilities for a future owner.

or is a cascading renovation possible... you build a new bath and then gut the old one.

We have a bathroom from that era and once the mud-set tile came out our contractor recommended changing the water and waste lines. But our bathroom was completely original to the era. Personally, I'm glad we are changing the old pipes. They were encrusted with stuff on the inside. I'd rather do it now and not worry for the next few decades.

I must say that I would rather have a 2 BR 2 BA than 3 BR 1 BA house.

My extensive bath remodel took 8 months. Luckily, I had an extra bath. What an ordeal.

I would ask a real estate agent (and get the opinion of a few) for your home and the area. If they believe a 2 BDRM 2Bath will sell, then go for it! I agree with Leelee above. A 1 BA home is not appealing for potential buyers.

As for the timeline of a bathroom renovation, I would request a construction calendar from your GC prior to moving forward. 2 weeks seems like a very aggressive timeline for a bathroom (and I guess it really depends on what you are going to have done when the final decision is made). I don't believe you should have to move out at all.

Maybe you could add back a third bedroom later?

Judith, I am in the same boat now, pondering camping toilets etc. I'm curious to know how you went. I am considering renting the empty flat next door for the duration. I am hampered by being in regional area where you kiss the ground before any tradies that you can get to agree to do a job, and it has taken me 6 months to get this one; not like the city where there are a lot to choose from. Also takes time to order in products, not available down the road.