First-time house renovation

Hello, hope you can help.

My fiance and I are about to buy our first home - a 1930s bungalow in need of total refurbishment. With the exception of the roof and walls, it pretty much needs gutting and starting again.

My question is - does anyone know of any useful guides or online resources that would help us through this process?

We know where to go for help on individual DIY issues, and we have friends who are plumbers, electricians etc. What I'm looking for is a bit of guidance through the process as a whole, from start to finish - basically I don't want to forget anything, or do things in the wrong order.

I'm not completely clueless - I'm a structural engineer and so know a bit about buildings. But this is the first time I've project managed a refurb from beginning to end.

Cheers in advance!

:beer:
:love:"Live long, laugh often, love much":love:
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Comments

  • My best advice to you is, if you are not actually living in the property while you are renovating, then start ordering the skips now! ;)

    Don't know about any online guides, but I do believe there are several books about it. Try looking on Amazon.

    We have renovated several properties that were in various states of disrepair, and we always start by ripping out all the unecessary and beyond salvage and skip it. For instance, we don't usually bother patching up ceilings if they are really bad, but pull them down and replace with plasterboard of the appropriate grade/thickness.

    Same with skirtings...we've found over the years that trying to renovate them if they have been painted over (badly!) several times. Better to get rid and start again with new. To be honest, you need to get the house ready for work by being a bit brutal. You need a blank canvas to get it all habitable again. It is a different ball game tho if you are living there while doing major renovations. :eek:

    Check the electrics and if you need a new meter or anything, sort this out as soon as you can. These things can take weeks to arrange. Similarly, check the gas if you have any. If you don't, and you want gas to the property then get the ball rolling on this too, in fact do it before anything else.

    Can't think of anything else...good luck with it! We are having a bit of a rest at the moment from all the brick dust etc etc! :j
  • BB1984
    BB1984 Posts: 1,039 Forumite
    Thanks Bungarm2001 for your reply, I appreciate the advice. We actually just got the keys yesterday!

    So far, I've paid for and booked a new gas supply to be connected up (first thing I did, so got one thing right so far, phew!) Have already got some quotes and booked up a plumber to install a new boiler and central heating.

    My fiance has this week off work and this morning has set about getting rid of all the carpets, storage heaters, and chopped down several ridiculously overgrown trees/hedges/bushes. This afternoon he is going to rip out the nasty fireplaces, kitchen units, and start stripping wallpaper.

    We are lucky in that we don't have to move in straight away, as we are staying with my folks. However, we don't want to outstay our welcome so are aiming to move in asap - basically we reckon that once we've had the re-wire and plumbing down (i.e. got hot water and electricity), we can cope with the mess from then on. Aiming to get this done in 3 weeks. My step-dad is an electrician and the plumber is a mate of his, so hopefully should get doen reasonably quickly.

    Apart from that, we've got a wall to knock down, a few windows and doors to move/replace, a new kitchen and bathroom to fit, a damp problem to sort out, etc etc........

    Will check out amazon now for any guides to renovation of properties....

    bb
    :love:"Live long, laugh often, love much":love:
  • Hi BB

    We've just been through this process (moved in in Aug last year at the start of the renovation and are almost done now). The best advice we were given was to try to have one room liveable/presentable so that you can escape there when things get too much and you have somewhere to go if you have visitors. This is easier said than done but we just about managed it!

    good luck - hope you enjoy it
  • latecomer
    latecomer Posts: 4,321
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    Sounds familiar. We did the same in February. We got the keys to our bungalow, turned up with the van (we were moving ourselves) and firstly pulled the carpets up in one room. We then emptied the van into that room and removed every other carpet from the house. We then spent the next week stripping all the walls, getting the roof repaired and fixing up the dodgy electrics etc. The kitchen and bathroom are usable for now so they have stayed until we get started on the loft conversion/extension.

    As for the order to do things in. I'd go for this:

    get rid of all the old stuff you definitely dont need
    get it watertight
    get electrics checked
    check plumbing for leaks

    And only then start on the renovations, starting with a room to sleep in, bathroom and kitchen.

    Good luck!
  • andrew-b
    andrew-b Posts: 2,413
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    BB1984 wrote: »
    Aiming to get this done in 3 weeks.
    Sounds extremely optimistic to me! I remember moving in August 2006 and saying i'd finish the whole house by christmas....in my defence i never said which Christmas - 2010 maybe?!

    Good luck! I look forward to seeing the before and after pictures before the end of October!! Now you've got no excuse as we will all be demanding them!!

    Andy
  • What an exciting time! We just bought our first home 3 months ago and are renovating it. Ours doesn't sound quite as bad as yours. We're living with bare floorboards and stripped walls in nearly every room at the moment, but I love it.

    You are very lucky to have an electrician and plumber in the family. When you said 3 weeks, I was thinking that was optimistic as we've had to wait 8 weeks for our electrician - he comes on Monday and is here for a week. I can't wait...we'll have an oven to cook with :)

    My advice is to simply multiply your budget by 10, as everything seems to cost that much more, and to book trades people well in advance.

    We've just ordered our first skip (arrived today :D) and we're knocking down a wall next week between the toilet and bathroom. The skip only required 24 hours notice which was cool.

    If your decision making is anything as bad as mine I would also recommend choosing paints now...I've had swatches on the wall all this time and I think I've decided now :)
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,781
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    This may be quite an extreme money saving measure but investing in an old estate car for a while could save you a fortune in skips. They are that expensive and you use so many more than you would expect, it's actually worth it. You can sell it on again afterwards!
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Two things that we bought years ago and have seen us through many a renovation...a camping style Porta Potti loo, and a small two ring/burner camping cooker. You'll be amazed how handy just those two objects are if you are living in the property or not, 'specially the loo. ;)

    Hate to throw cold water on your enthusiasm, but you will no-way ever get the whole project finished in 3 weeks. :D By Xmas maybe, but not 3 weeks....you haven't allowed for the trades getting in each others way, late delivery of stuff, and the inhevitable unforseen problem that will crop up.

    Good luck with it...keep posting and update us on your prgress! :D
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,781
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    Buy Homebuilding and Renovating magazine. It's full of inspiration and there's lots of ads for some decent suppliers. Some quite cheap. Also practical guides and costing ideas.

    I'd recommend getting hold of some back issues - you can buy them directly from the publisher.

    They always have books that they recommend as well.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • sloth
    sloth Posts: 453 Forumite
    I may be wrong but I think they mean 3 weeks to have the plumbing and ekectrics sorted for moving in, not 3 weeks for the whole project. if i have got that wrong though, best of luck to you!!

    One thing I would say to you though is think and plan ahead what you propose to do with the bungalow both over the coming 6 months and 6 years! we moved into our bungalow and spent the next 5 years completetely refurbishing it ourselves (i.e. did virtually everything by ourselves rather than getting people in) and then a year later decided to convert the loft!! obviously in insight we should have done that first, but you learn!! still in the process of doing the loft conversion! tbh has not ruined a lot of our previous work but is still a bit annoying when you think you have to do a few things all over again

    good luck
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