Where to start - fireplace removal, wooden flooring, plastering

[small.plan]

We moved in a 1930s semi around a year ago. The house is a mix of original features with some more recent work done in the 1970s. After spending the last year looking at all the work we need to do, I thought I finally better get started, but am not sure where to begin. This is our first home and doing/organising projects is daunting - from a money and a doing things right side of things.

I am going to focus on downstairs this year - a hall, a medium front room and a good sized living room at the back.

The things that need doing

i) Fireplaces
- In the 1970s the owners moved their gas fireplace in the living room a little away from the chimney so it would be centre of the room after an extension. I had hoped to swap this out for a log burner but two tradespeople advised that this is not possible. The original chimney would have to be reopened but this would be both expensive and up the wrong end of the room. I am planning on getting the extended bit removed, leaving the original fireplace blocked up.
- In the front room there is an odd feature build around a non-functioning gas fireplace. Seeing as we can't get a log burner in the back room it would be great it we could swap out the gas fire in the front for one. Is it worthwhile getting people in to quote?

ii) We hope to get wooden floors installed in the sitting room and front room (maybe the hall too but there are old tiles underneath at least some of it that we would like to keep if they are in good enough condition). We have tall old looking skirting boards throughout the house, I am not sure if they are the original. I imagine these will have to be removed for the flooring. In the front room we have a bay window.

iii) The electrics were done a few years ago but the walls were not skimmed afterwards - so you can see it around sockets etc. I imagine taking off the skirting boards will also do some damage.

iv) The walls are papered at the moment but we plan on stripping and painting.

My questions/concerns

i) My major question is how to go about this - I am thinking sort the fireplace (removing the bricked extended bit in the living room, maybe swapping non-functioning gas for log in the front), get the floors in and then getting the walls skimmed/filled?
ii) While I am happy doing small projects something like this is beyond me. Should I get different people in for each thing - if so what trades? Should I just ask a builder to quote for the whole thing and let him organise the work?
iii) Anything I should be considering about the skirting boards. Particularly with the bay window?

Any advice would be great and much appreciated

 

[blup]

We moved in a 1930s semi around a year ago. The house is a mix of original features with some more recent work done in the 1970s. After spending the last year looking at all the work we need to do, I thought I finally better get started, but am not sure where to begin. This is our first home and doing/organising projects is daunting - from a money and a doing things right side of things.

I am going to focus on downstairs this year - a hall, a medium front room and a good sized living room at the back.

The things that need doing

i) Fireplaces
- In the 1970s the owners moved their gas fireplace in the living room a little away from the chimney so it would be centre of the room after an extension. I had hoped to swap this out for a log burner but two tradespeople advised that this is not possible. The original chimney would have to be reopened but this would be both expensive and up the wrong end of the room. I am planning on getting the extended bit removed, leaving the original fireplace blocked up.
- In the front room there is an odd feature build around a non-functioning gas fireplace. Seeing as we can't get a log burner in the back room it would be great it we could swap out the gas fire in the front for one. Is it worthwhile getting people in to quote?

Yes, get a recommendation for an installer/builder from a stove company, or even a chimney sweep.

ii) We hope to get wooden floors installed in the sitting room and front room (maybe the hall too but there are old tiles underneath at least some of it that we would like to keep if they are in good enough condition).

You might be lucky and find the tiles are in decent condition

We have tall old looking skirting boards throughout the house, I am not sure if they are the original. I imagine these will have to be removed for the flooring. In the front room we have a bay window.

Flooring can be butted up/scribed to existing skirting, or a small fillet place over the gap. Or remove the skirting and push flooring underneath, however this will raise the skirting height unless you trim the base. Old skirting might be difficult to remove in tact in some places because they were often fixed with nails into wooden wedges in the brick.

iii) The electrics were done a few years ago but the walls were not skimmed afterwards - so you can see it around sockets etc. I imagine taking off the skirting boards will also do some damage.

It sounds like a rewire but the original sockets positions were left cut out in the skirting. You can raise the socket height with a little extra work

iv) The walls are papered at the moment but we plan on stripping and painting.

My questions/concerns

i) My major question is how to go about this - I am thinking sort the fireplace (removing the bricked extended bit in the living room, maybe swapping non-functioning gas for log in the front), get the floors in and then getting the walls skimmed/filled?

Do you need to install central heating and look at a rewire first. What is the state and of your CU and the house wiring, have you had an EICR?

ii) While I am happy doing small projects something like this is beyond me. Should I get different people in for each thing - if so what trades? Should I just ask a builder to quote for the whole thing and let him organise the work?

If its non structural you will be surprised at how much can be done. The internet and diy forums (others are available) are a great resource

iii) Anything I should be considering about the skirting boards. Particularly with the bay window?

As above

Any advice would be great and much appreciated

When you get trades in for electrics etc, ask them if they can recommend someone. Even the person doing the job, rather than the boss who quoted, is likely to know people. I have got really good trades in by word of mouth recommendation just because people have worked with them. It cuts out the middleman too. There are a lot of time served semi retired people out there, it's finding them that's the challenge.

 

[small.plan]

Hi Blup,

Thanks very much for your comprehensive reply.

i) That sounds like a good approach. Now I think about it further I am not sure how interchangeable the gas flue will be for a log burner one - it currently runs up through boarded off corner of a cupboard inside a white flue of some sort. I'll get local chimney sweep/sintaller in as a you suggest to advise.

ii) I think you are right about removing the old skirting being a big job, but my concern is that going up to the skirting seems to be discouraged and looked down upon in forums like this. If we did get the skirting up, is it easier to trim the old or get new skirting installed?

iii) The house was completely rewired a few years ago and is up to spec. They filled in the wire routing tracks going to the sockets/switches with some form of putty/filler which is scored, but was never covered or smoothed out (reskimmed?) so clearly visible.

iv) Thanks for your encouragement about the DIY approach. Do you have any advice on what a lay person should try and what needs a professional?

Cheers

 

[blup]

Hi Blup,

Thanks very much for your comprehensive reply.

i) That sounds like a good approach. Now I think about it further I am not sure how interchangeable the gas flue will be for a log burner one - it currently runs up through boarded off corner of a cupboard inside a white flue of some sort. I'll get local chimney sweep/sintaller in as a you suggest to advise.

ii) I think you are right about removing the old skirting being a big job, but my concern is that going up to the skirting seems to be discouraged and looked down upon in forums like this. If we did get the skirting up, is it easier to trim the old or get new skirting installed?

If the skirting can be saved it is worth keeping to match what is the rest of the house. It is also likely to be deeper and thicker than the stuff you get in the sheds. You should be able to save it with careful prying.

iii) The house was completely rewired a few years ago and is up to spec. They filled in the wire routing tracks going to the sockets/switches with some form of putty/filler which is scored, but was never covered or smoothed out (reskimmed?) so clearly visible.

iv) Thanks for your encouragement about the DIY approach. Do you have any advice on what a lay person should try and what needs a professional?

Electrics and gas engineering generally require qualified professionals, although some electrics can be carried out by a home owner. You will need to research what you can and cant do as you proceed, and take into account the saving on time by getting a pro in. On the other hand basic carpentry and plumbing, tiling, decorating, even kitchen fitting is within the skill set of the diyer. I didn't own a drill when I got my first house but I have just completely remodelled a bathroom, doing all the plumbing, pipework and wastes above and below the floorboards, new flooring, electrics, core drilling new waste etc etc, so anything is possible if you have the time and focus.

Cheers

 

[JohnD]

You mention a log- burner, but these are very polluting and regulations preventing their use keep getting tighter.

You can get multifuel stoves with clean burn that are much more efficient. I used to have a Swedish one they called a "smoke eater." I think it was a Morso. Somehow it prevented the glass getting sooty. I was in the country and could dispose of some kitchen waste in it, and in winter kept a couple of sacks of smokeless fuel to use if weather was bad. Mine also heated the hot water cylinder and bathroom radiator, but you will not need that if you have a gas boiler.

As technology and regulations are changing, look into it. Find a reputable local supplier. Chimney sweeps often know reliable firms.