What would you do if your kid wandered into a half-demo’d kitchen?

Honestly, I’ve tried every hack short of bubble-wrapping my toddler. Here’s what’s worked (and not worked) for me:

- Cardboard barriers: Cheap, easy, but my kid treats them like a challenge course.
- Old doors: Genius until you stub your toe at 2am.
- Painter’s plastic: Good for dust, useless for determined kiddos.
- Duct tape maze: Didn’t stop the kid, did stop the dog.

Best combo I’ve found is stacking heavy boxes and taping seams with painter’s tape. Not pretty, but it’s landfill-friendly and slows ‘em down just enough to catch ‘em mid-escape. Still, drywall dust gets everywhere... I swear it multiplies overnight.

I hear you on the drywall dust - no matter what I do, it ends up in my socks. I’ve had some luck with those folding baby gates, the kind you can wedge between walls. Not perfect, but at least they’re less toe-stubby than doors. For the dust, I just keep a shop vac handy and do a quick sweep every night. It’s not glamorous, but it keeps the chaos manageable. Kids are like little demolition experts themselves...

I get wanting to keep things manageable, but honestly, shop vacs just move the dust around unless you’re using a HEPA filter. That drywall stuff gets everywhere and it’s not great for little lungs. I’ve started using zipwall barriers - yeah, they’re a pain to set up, but way better at actually containing the mess. Plus, less plastic waste than tossing cheap baby gates every time one breaks. Just seems like we could do better than accepting dust as inevitable, you know?

Totally agree on the HEPA filter - regular shop vacs just don’t cut it with drywall dust. I’ve used zipwalls too, and yeah, they’re a hassle, but honestly worth it if you care about air quality. One thing I’d add: if you’re doing demo with kids around, negative air machines make a huge difference. Not cheap, but if you’re flipping or renovating often, it’s a solid investment. Baby gates are basically useless for dust control... might as well use them for what they’re made for and not expect miracles.

Yeah, baby gates are basically just a trip hazard when there’s demo dust flying around. I tried doubling up with plastic sheeting and painter’s tape once - looked ridiculous but worked better than I thought. My kid still managed to sneak in for like two seconds and came out looking like a little ghost. After that, I just started scheduling demo days when he was out of the house. Way less stressful.