Big Question & Advice on renovating a whole house

[deefadog]

Hi all, i realise this is a question that should be split into the different sub forums (Which i will) but need a general feel for the project first and wondered if i was over or underestimating my ambition.

There is a house we want to buy, but every room needs redoing are my estimates about right?

New average kitchen fitted - £6000
Re plaster walls & Ceilings - £6 square meter
New Combi boiler fitted - £1500
Good quality Bathroom suite fitted - £1000

Thanks

 

[macadonald]

Deefadog,

I am nearing completion of a very similar project, so may be able to advise.

IMO your estimates are generally too low. I started by removing wall paper, which ended up leading to the removing of plaster and render on every wall right down to brickwork. Then I thought that if I was going that far, I may as well remove the old ceiling boards. In my case I then removed some internal walls and built new stud walls. If you have the plaster off and ceilings down you may as well replace the electrics and possibly some plumbing and old radiators. A new bathroom meant replacing the old floor boards with WBP for tiling onto .. why not some underfloor heating..

You see where I'm going? when you think it's a small job, it gets carried away and won't be as small as you think. Using this forum, I did almost all of the work myself, which saved a hell of a lot of money - but bare in mind it's time consuming and tiring. I did all demolition like removing old plaster and ceiling boards. Put up new ceiling boards, preped walls, ran the electric cables etc etc. I used the professionals to put on the new plaster and connect the electrics. Fortunately in my case the electrician was a friend, so was free.

There will also be some surprises. I took down the old ceiligns to find my rafters were rotten, so had to put in supports.

My ball park estimates on what you asked about are:

kitchen - about right for entry level.

plaster walls and ceilings was £5 m2 for render and £6 m2 for plaster - that is as cheap as it gets I think and I used a Polish contact. That excluded materials which topped out at a good £500 plus a bit.

New combi boiler fitted I got for a little over 2k, which again was on the cheaper end of the scale.

We put in a good quality bathroom suite. I bought the suite for £800 on sale (it is decent not entry level) and has units. The taps are what get you and we had a 3 way diverter and overhead shower and the taps alone cost another £800, but believe me, you notice the difference. Any plumber will say - spend money on your brass (taps).

Then there is the cost of materials and some tools, but those are surprisingly cheap. They do add up though!.

One word of advice if at all possible try and wangle a trade card for Travis Perkins or B&Q or who ever you choose. It saves a lot on bathroom suites and kitchens etc.

Like I said, it can be done cheaply if you do it yourself and you feel much better about the end product, but it is a lot of work. Taken me best part of 6 months, every weekend and most evenings. Don't be put off though, it rewarding if you're up for it and have a slight hands on approach to life. I haven't plastered downstairs lounges yet either. That is largely just the upstairs of a 3 bed semi. I reckon I've done it all for probably a fifth of what a bulder would have charged for the same job.

 

[deefadog]

Excellent, thanks for the reply - i thought i would get shoot down with such vagueness

I understand what you are saying, i guess you have to have self control or you would always want to add more things

I am up for doing a lot of work but with 2 kids i want to get some trades in like plasters ect.

I have family members at both B&Q & Homebase and have a few trades in the family.

Do you know how much you have spent? and on how many rooms?

I have estimated on a 4 bed 3 rec 2 bath house of around 20k - do you think it's doable?

 

[macadonald]

With all your contacts and if you're willing to do a lot of work yourself, I'd say it's doable. You'll have to go cheap on a lot of things though, don't expect high quality. You could spend 10-15 easily on a nice kitchen alone..

I would say that I'm nearing 10k myslef (maybe not quite), but that's everything minus the 2 reception rooms and kitchen. I'm in a sticky spot as I want to tackle downstairs, but also want a rear extension before doing the kitchen. Not quite sure whether it's worth tackling downstairs now, if I'll then make a mess when doing the extension and I don't have money to do that now.

 

[Nige F]

Excellent, thanks for the reply - i thought i would get shoot down with such vagueness



I have estimated on a 4 bed 3 rec 2 bath house of around 20k - do you think it's doable?

I`d allow £30k - as said , you find things hidden as you go

 

[deefadog]

Thanks Nige!

I guess there will be hidden pitfalls!

Are there any guides on this sort of thing, basically what to start with to get the the best use of time out of the renovation i.e do you tackle the outside first or last? get the kitchen and bathrooms done first so at least you could move in?

 

[Alastairreid]

If you have no problems with work needing done outside ie roof, gutters, rendering i would just push on with the inside. Windows 1st if any required, then bathroom, kitchen, bedroom...That would be my preferred order of works.
Good luck.

 

[UKMICKY]

I did what you want to do as it was the only way I could get a decent house but do as much as you can yourself .

I’ve been in here a year and have probably spent 15 thou with another 15 to go but so far have only done a third of the house. When you are totally renovating a house yourself and learning new skills what would normally be a cheap and inexpensive fix quickly spirals as a cheap fix is not good enough when you own it.

For instance we decide on cheap carpet and laminate but then decided that as it was ours and not rented the whole place would not look right unless it was lined with oak flooring and then as we wanted it matching we had to buy enough to do the whole house even though half of it is still in boxes waiting for its day.
Then as my plastering skills improved that wall which I would normally have patched then had to be completely re- plastered as a repair was not good enough. While I was plastering the thought then came to me why not knock down them silly walls that serve no purpose.

You soon find your budget is totally blown which isn’t to bad if you are doing it yourself and its yours and as it takes time anyway you have time to save for the next major purchase.

I started by getting the roof repaired ,then learnt my first new skill and taught myself how to solder copper and fit radiators after I paid for a new boiler to befitted. Once I learnt how to solder copper I ripped out the bathroom, then the kitchen and dining room after removing the dividing wall.

Then the garden so i had somewhere to relax and we had a couple of weeks of hot weather so it seemed a sensible move .Im now back into the house and moved onto the hall and stairs and those new oak banisters are looking very appealing (more additional expense) if i can work out how to remove the bottom newel .

There is also the new hobby you will take up whilst doing it, tool collecting but my garage shelves do look better with them though so the cost is worth it. Must find time to rebuild the garage though.

Was going to do some electrics as I have done a bit before but some idiot has brought out some new law and I need to be part P trained.

The thing I’m trying to say is any budget you set will not be enough but it can sometimes be enjoyable spending money you haven’t got.