First-time house renovation

ginvzt

We went to estate agent yesterday with the list of questions, and I hope we will receive at least some answers some time soon. The house was left in the will and is being sold off now, so I am not sure how much will be actually known about the house (although it was grandma's house).

In the meantime I have to keep trying to prove to OH that we can do it. We probably will have to live on bread and water for the foreseeable future, but hey, it would do good for us (well, we a both overweight...).

once we were in town we walked around the other agents as well, and booked a viewing on another house nearby, which is in good condition, although there is a crack on the front of the house we noticed walking by. It might be just the rendering, but you never know - the house is on the hill. This is a 4-bed house, for a bit less than the renovation project. And then we did a drive by a repossession house, which is again a 4 bed house (7 year old, all bedrooms double, two have ensuites, big breakfast kitchen, lounge, dining room, garage...) and all that for about £25k less. It is in a bit different area, but the most important thing for us is the access to the motorway, as we both work 25 miles away from here in opposite directions!

But to tell the truth, I don't really care how much cheaper/bigger the other houses are, I still want this one! We thought that it would be nice to have underfloor heating downstairs (wet system), we would like inside opening windows, get rid of hot water cylinder and increase the bathroom size, so that we could possible fit a shower in as well. So many ideas! But the funds would be limited. Anyone knows the lucky lottery numbers?

andrew-b

Gin, sounds to me like the refurb job has you hooked . If it feels right then it probably is. Don't get too attached though and keep your feet on the ground and keep your head before your heart! If you haven't asked already, find out if probate has been reached - if not you may have to be patient on it. I would be tempted by the 4-bed repo for an easy life. Anyway you need to be sure both your hearts are in this refurb job (i.e work on your OH!!). Would you rent for a while longer to get the messy bits done quickly and early on (electrics, plumbing and building works like the floor etc, plastering etc)? As well as the obvious need for a decent/realistic renovation budget, how long could you afford to keep up on rent and mortgage plus double set of bills? And if your doing alot of work yourself will you have time or want to come home to work on the house. Not trying to put you off honest but best to be realistic about it and how it would fit around work and still have money left feed and clothe yourselves and the occassional treat.

We originally were buying a different place for a fair bit of money more but didn't really need much doing until it all fell through..then we changed tact and the bungalow we bought needed stuff doing so was cheaper but at least was liveable in. In hindsight we might have been better off paying rent for a few months longer so we could get messy stuff done early on as once you've moved in it's trickier working around all your possessions and your forever cleaning up dust which gets everywhere!

From what you've said though and if you can afford, i'd be tempted to put in an offer at say 220ish (asking price was £235k ?) as i've got a feeling the refurb is on the market for higher than it's worth with the other properties going that much cheaper in better condition....again stress to the agent your an ideal buyer and want to move quickly and subject to survey. Say your looking at other properties that are cheaper and better condition so they get the impression you are serious and might not hang around on them but stress this is your preferred house. If they say no then keep negtiating until you get a price that suits. Good luck!

latecomer

jamtart6 wrote: »

latecomer - good news on the progress, when is the mini-latecomer due?

Late August

andrew-b

Forgot what i came on here for now lol..

Well i've been busy the last few days.

Friday evening i started getting setup for shed painting. Put up temporary orange mesh fence around the shed base part of garden as the dog-free paintshop then discovered all the paving slabs i relayed had subsided in the rain (because i hadn't compacted underneath enough and put soil on top of rubble so the rain must have pulled the soil down into the gaps in the rubble!) so quickly relaid them as they were dangerous to walk on.

Saturday i managed to get all the seperate pieces of shed timber painted, half the floor panels and the gable walls sections.
Sunday my parents came down for the day so we had 4 of us painting at once. I never expected to finish the whole shed but between us we managed to finish by around about 4pm...just in time as once we'd stacked all the panels back on the patio and covered over it rained ! So we're all a bit knackered today!

Oh and i well overestimated on the shed paint...out of the 6 cans i bought (already had 2/3rd of a can) i have 4 unopened!! Think it's because being planed timber rather than rough sawn the preserver went that much further! Bit annoyed as i didn't need to have bought any online! Still i'll probably keep hold of a can or two and at least i can take them back!

Waiting for shed company to phone to confirm a date for install ...but want OH to be around so we can keep the dog out of the way which means there are limited days. Sounds like they mainly do installs at weekends. Had been hoping to get them here this week on OH's day off but they are putting up sheds for the local airshow at the weekend so then and next weekend (OH at work then) are already out so it's looking like the weekend after at moment.

ginvzt

andrew-b wrote: »

Gin, sounds to me like the refurb job has you hooked . If it feels right then it probably is. Don't get too attached though and keep your feet on the ground and keep your head before your heart! If you haven't asked already, find out if probate has been reached - if not you may have to be patient on it. I would be tempted by the 4-bed repo for an easy life. Anyway you need to be sure both your hearts are in this refurb job (i.e work on your OH!!). Would you rent for a while longer to get the messy bits done quickly and early on (electrics, plumbing and building works like the floor etc, plastering etc)? As well as the obvious need for a decent/realistic renovation budget, how long could you afford to keep up on rent and mortgage plus double set of bills? And if your doing alot of work yourself will you have time or want to come home to work on the house. Not trying to put you off honest but best to be realistic about it and how it would fit around work and still have money left feed and clothe yourselves and the occassional treat.

We originally were buying a different place for a fair bit of money more but didn't really need much doing until it all fell through..then we changed tact and the bungalow we bought needed stuff doing so was cheaper but at least was liveable in. In hindsight we might have been better off paying rent for a few months longer so we could get messy stuff done early on as once you've moved in it's trickier working around all your possessions and your forever cleaning up dust which gets everywhere!

From what you've said though and if you can afford, i'd be tempted to put in an offer at say 220ish (asking price was £235k ?) as i've got a feeling the refurb is on the market for higher than it's worth with the other properties going that much cheaper in better condition....again stress to the agent your an ideal buyer and want to move quickly and subject to survey. Say your looking at other properties that are cheaper and better condition so they get the impression you are serious and might not hang around on them but stress this is your preferred house. If they say no then keep negtiating until you get a price that suits. Good luck!

I know, I know - keep the heart tucked away, go ahead with the head clear... Btw, this morning I found another 3-bed semi cottage (ok, it has white rendering all over, not the exposed stones, and I am not sure of it's age), described as 'in need of modernisation', for £200k. It is almost across the road, but I am sure it has smaller garden. The rooms seem to be just as big (if not bigger, well def bigger for bedroom 3), and the agent dared to even put some inside photos as well, which don't look bad at all. Might have to go for another walk tonight, if it is not raining. Oh, and this one was on for £225k since last autumn, then reduced to 'offers over' £200k this March. No takers as yet... So, I guess the starting offer for the one we saw already would be no more than £200K... (I am sure someone else will come along and buy it from under our noses)

Btw - you weekend sounds great!

latecomer

We had a busy weekend - and my back held up too which was a bonus!

The folding doors mechanism has stopped working so access is currently via the window which gets boarded up overnight. thankfully once you are in you can open the doors by folding them back which makes life a little easier but definitely needs to get sorted.

Front room in the loft is now painted - final colour coat on. Put on a mist coat, base coat of white emulsion and then 2 coats of cream (actually Ivory Lace but looks like cream to me ). Got them at homebase as they had a buy one get one half price deal which helped. Obviously got a lot of wall area as it took a lot of paint to them covered although I guess its had 4 coats of paint in total.

We also moved all the oak and doors upstairs to get them out the way for slap out thats happening today in the temp kitchen to join the extension to the main house. That was an effort as the oak for the door frames is 4.8m and 6"x2" so quite heavy and difficult to manouver. Got them upstairs using the garage to get round onto the stairs and out the velux window in the showerroom to get turned at the top. Right carry on but got there in the end. Decided against moving the fire door upstairs as it weighs a ton and would be coming back down. And we put them in the back room initially to allow us to paint in the front room and then moved them all to the front room last night.

The other main project yesterday was moving the radiator in the front room to the intended position. Builders had just put as near to the incoming pipes as they could which was the other end of the wall to where we wanted it (although at least it was on the correct wall unlike the back room). The biggest problem here was acessing the pipes which involved crawling round the eaves balanced on a plank of wood which had been left across the joists. this is the side where the extension is connected so there are additional supports to connect to them leaving a small triangle to crawl along. Managed to get another length of wood in to give a little platform to lie on but still was extremely cramped. All the pipework is in plastic and I've never used it before (I'm a copper and compression man!) so it was off to Screwfix to get some pipe, cutters and fittings. I also managed to forget that I'd given the previous builders access to all my compression joints I'd got for doing the work on the central heating and they of course took them so I hardly had any. Anyway between what was on the pipes and what I had we managed to get enough to get the pipework done and radiator moved. I reckon it took about 6 hours in total including patching up the plasterboard where we removed it from but it seemed like a lot longer.

finally got the system back together and then very gingerly started filling the system back up and checking for leaks. then a bit more pressure followed by more checking, some bleeding, more pressure etc. Eventually got enough pressure without any obvious leaks and fired up central heating while we had tea - only one slightly weeping joint and it was on the room side (1 of only 2 FIL did ) which was a bonus. No leaks at all from my stuff which I was rather chuffed about - not to mention surprised!

Both FIL and me were completed knackered by the time we finished although to be fair it was 10:30pm last night!

Got up early this morning to clear up the rest of the temp kitchen and cover the cooker and cupboards in plastic to keep as much dust off as possible. Also taped up the door which should help a little. Little concerned about security given the state of the door/window and now going to have another hole through into the main house but hopefully they will board it over to keep it somewhat secure.


Final bit of good news - we dont have to have a separate extractor fan in the kitchen provided the extractor hood is externally vented. Result

andrew-b

Haven't been taking as many pics recently and haven't posted any for a while so here's the latest set (click thumbnails for bigger).

Cable trench:










Last two taken earlier today..

..showing satellite dish and concrete repair spurs to fence.
And here's the stack of shed panels all treated with 2 coats each side:

ukmaggie45

Andy, sounds like you had a really hectic weekend! Garden definitely looks like you're getting there - bet you'll be glad when you can just relax in it!

Latecomer, hope things come together for you soon. What a nightmare it all is for you. :eek: Here's hoping all is finished by time baby LC arrives. Hugs to you and your OH from Liverpool.

Gin, hope you can make a decision on the house soon - we just got the costs for the extension the other day (still not had time and energy to look at them as still sorting out after burglary, but OH has). All in all it takes it over what the house might be worth on the current market, but this is the house we want to be carried out of in our coffins (please God don't send us to care homes in our dotage! ) so we're not that much bothered. And most of the extra will come from kitchen and bathroom stuff, I want stuff that we can live with for the next 20 years (should we be spared) if possible.

Guess what I'm saying is cost things up carefully before you jump! But it was the garden that sold it to us anyway, and we're having lots of fun in it. :j

Just had phone call from OH to say he's been contacted by police again, and someone from local cop shop will call round about 7.30 tonight. I'm hoping it's the crime prevention person, and that he'll be able to give us some useful pointers. We're in a terraced house, and most here are alley gated, but because of being an end terrace we're outside the alley gates (impossible to fit gates to include us).

So no gardening this evening then. Good thing I watered all the indoor tomatoes yesterday evening.

kmmr

Shameless linking:
http://clearlybuilt.wordpress.com/

But lots going on! Concrete floors all went in on Saturday, and things are progressing nicely. Unfortunately I am out of the country for two weeks, so lets hope things magically look after themselves while I am away.

stolt

latecomer wrote: »

We had a busy weekend - and my back held up too which was a bonus!

Can feel your pain there, had some problems with my lower back last week, saturday picked my younget daughter up and my back gave way, proper bent over, couldnt do anything in the garden, although i tried and then suffered for it sunday could hardly move got into work and everyone was laughing because i was so bent over, booked in to see a osteopath..... didnt realised i'd have to strip down to underwear!!! that will teach me I should have had my nice pants on:D:D pulled me in al directions then ushed down on my side with my legs hanging off the tabe, an almighty crack.... he was happy although for £44 i dont feel any different. Nightmare really, got the ton of topsoil and the bamboos ad planters delvered friday and couldnt do a thing with it, i suppose i could do with the rest but I hate just sitting around.