hello everyone!
well i found this forum by accident so thought i'd post about my project,
I'm completely refurbishing a 1920's 3 bed semi detached, bought this for about £50k less than market value for a well finished one and plan to spend about £15-20k to try and make profit after tax, interest etc. i bought this back in june but was working away until sept so only been at it properly about a month and a half and its been er... an experience so far! i'm a very competent diy'er with an ex joiner for a father and friends in most trades so plan to do most myself and ' will get by with a little help from my friends'!
basically when purchased the walls had a lot of cracks in, uneven floors and cracked plaster due to subsidence from mining. the the electrics were 40 years old and no heating at all, mainly due to electrics and plumbing i decided to leave the floors which are mainly sound and take all ceilings down to get access- so a bit of a project!
brief overview of whats been found/done
stripped all plaster off walls and taken ceilings down
removed all old cable and 1950's fuse boxes
relaid all new elec cable
removed the lovely pink mottled bathroom suite and black tiles
new water and heating pipes laid
new stud walls built for airing cupboard and stairs
removed all old lof
plaster and bathroom ordered
filled 4 skips with ceiling, plaster, crap left in the house
things found as i've gone along!
a ton of lose grey insulation - had this checked as with the age of everything else wanted to make sure not asbestos- luckily not!
1 dead frog skeleton in a cupboard, 3 dead birds in the loft and a large wasp nest!
the gas meter still ticking round with no appliances connected( found when lifting floor boards and removing plaster that old lead pipes were just crimped over and looks like some were leaking!
an old electric singer sewing maching left by the owner
great conversations and help from building control about insulating exterior walls
upvc windows fitted 3 years ago with half inch gaps around them covered in plastic to cover and letting damp in
original pine 1 over 3 doors that had been covered with thin ply
original brick fireplaces that look great with the soot cleaned off!
living room and kitchen floors with a 7cm drop in height over 3 metres!
buying heavy duty refuse sacks from army surplus to find they have 'bio hazard' printed on them and so cant throw them away anywhere!
there is a long list of things i could say about the building but i'll post these later but a few tips for others i've found:
ask diy stores if they do trade accounts for property developers - found several that did this - including b and q meaning i get cheaper trade prices
screwfix is part of the same group as b and q and tends to be cheaper than standard b and q prices but more expensive than trade
shop around and keep a ist of what you need, unless your in a rush, wait chances are at some point over 3 months there will be a sale somewhere meaning you can save money
dont underestimate the amount of rubbish there will be! i'm currently on 4 and not started the refit yet!
dont be afraid to get experts round for quotes and pick their brains, i've had 7 different window companies with quotes from £5k to £17k for the same windows but its the smaller companies that have also offered advise that helps - and not just advise on windows!
in your budget dont forget anything like tools, dust masks, overalls etc. may not sund much but if your doing most yourself you'll need a lot!
a few pics below on the original state and early on, will post more later
View media item 51839 View media item 51847 View media item 51844 View media item 51842
well i found this forum by accident so thought i'd post about my project,
I'm completely refurbishing a 1920's 3 bed semi detached, bought this for about £50k less than market value for a well finished one and plan to spend about £15-20k to try and make profit after tax, interest etc. i bought this back in june but was working away until sept so only been at it properly about a month and a half and its been er... an experience so far! i'm a very competent diy'er with an ex joiner for a father and friends in most trades so plan to do most myself and ' will get by with a little help from my friends'!
basically when purchased the walls had a lot of cracks in, uneven floors and cracked plaster due to subsidence from mining. the the electrics were 40 years old and no heating at all, mainly due to electrics and plumbing i decided to leave the floors which are mainly sound and take all ceilings down to get access- so a bit of a project!
brief overview of whats been found/done
stripped all plaster off walls and taken ceilings down
removed all old cable and 1950's fuse boxes
relaid all new elec cable
removed the lovely pink mottled bathroom suite and black tiles
new water and heating pipes laid
new stud walls built for airing cupboard and stairs
removed all old lof
plaster and bathroom ordered
filled 4 skips with ceiling, plaster, crap left in the house
things found as i've gone along!
a ton of lose grey insulation - had this checked as with the age of everything else wanted to make sure not asbestos- luckily not!
1 dead frog skeleton in a cupboard, 3 dead birds in the loft and a large wasp nest!
the gas meter still ticking round with no appliances connected( found when lifting floor boards and removing plaster that old lead pipes were just crimped over and looks like some were leaking!
an old electric singer sewing maching left by the owner
great conversations and help from building control about insulating exterior walls
upvc windows fitted 3 years ago with half inch gaps around them covered in plastic to cover and letting damp in
original pine 1 over 3 doors that had been covered with thin ply
original brick fireplaces that look great with the soot cleaned off!
living room and kitchen floors with a 7cm drop in height over 3 metres!
buying heavy duty refuse sacks from army surplus to find they have 'bio hazard' printed on them and so cant throw them away anywhere!
there is a long list of things i could say about the building but i'll post these later but a few tips for others i've found:
ask diy stores if they do trade accounts for property developers - found several that did this - including b and q meaning i get cheaper trade prices
screwfix is part of the same group as b and q and tends to be cheaper than standard b and q prices but more expensive than trade
shop around and keep a ist of what you need, unless your in a rush, wait chances are at some point over 3 months there will be a sale somewhere meaning you can save money
dont underestimate the amount of rubbish there will be! i'm currently on 4 and not started the refit yet!
dont be afraid to get experts round for quotes and pick their brains, i've had 7 different window companies with quotes from £5k to £17k for the same windows but its the smaller companies that have also offered advise that helps - and not just advise on windows!
in your budget dont forget anything like tools, dust masks, overalls etc. may not sund much but if your doing most yourself you'll need a lot!
a few pics below on the original state and early on, will post more later
View media item 51839 View media item 51847 View media item 51844 View media item 51842
