First time renovating, advice wanted.

mstopham

I am looking at buying a property that is run down and in need of renovation, I have some figures in mind but have no actual experience in this field so would invite advice on my numbers.
The property is a 2 up 2 down.
Double glazing - £2500, 5 windows (inc very small bathroom window) and french doors.
New combi boiler, and bathroom suite excluding floor - £3000
New kitchen inc integrated oven/hob/extractor and approx 8 units - £2500
Flooring throughout (5 rooms and stairs) wood to livingroom/bedrooms (3 rooms) carpet to stairs and tiles to kitchen/bathroom (open to wood here too) - £1500
Decoration and doors - £1800 This will be painting all rooms and buying and fitting 5 internal doors.
Turning utilities back on - £1500 - have no idea here so plucking a figure out of the air.
Legal and other fees - £2500
Contingency -£1500

Total - £16,800

Would this seem reasonable? Higher/lower?
All advice and experiences appreciated.

MX5huggy

Your overall does not seem to far off if you are talking DIY execpt where you cnat ie the boiler.

Experience, it takes longer than you expect and you will find it cold laying a patio in January!

Doozergirl

Your estimate for the windows is a bit tight. I'd expect personally to pay about that, a little less for the windows and french doors fitted, but we're in the trade and I know that our supplier is virtually unbeatable.

Is it just a boiler or are you replacing the central heating system? I'd say 3000 would be okay for the supply and fitting of just the boiler and the fittting of a bathroom, buying the suite yourself.

Kitchen budget okay with clever shopping, don't forget you are fitting it as well at that price, I don't know what quality of kitchen you're after but it's likely to be one of the take-away ranges from the sheds or an Ikea one.

You will have to employ all the trades yourself at these prices btw, no chance you'll do this with a builder charging his fee on top.

Flooring budget fine, decoration and doors fine.

Provided you have utilities running to the building it's free to reconnect them. You only pay when they have to come and dig up the roads.

Legal and other fees, well I'd expect legal fees to come in at no more than 1100, stamp duty I haven't considered, presumably you haven't either. Mortgage valuation fees will be variable but I'd say your budget is ample for that.

The contingency? Well, the problem with not knowing about renovation is that you can't quantify what needs doing. Your perception that it just needs windows, kitchen, bathroom, boiler would fit with a relatively modern property that is reasonably decorated. If it is an old house then you need to be considering that fact that when you strip the wallpaper, the plaster may simply fall off.

You haven't considered the state of the electrics (new consumer unit likely, full rewire possible) whether there is a damp proof course in place, what the condition of the roof and guttering is. Is it insulated properly?

ie. I'd already use your contingency fund on a full survey!

domcastro

I would increase kitchen budget
Turning utilities on I'd reduce (unless you need gas connected?)
Doors are hard to hang - can be expensive to get a carpenter - maybe increase
If you don't need radiatiors - I'd decrease boiler/bathroom bit

benjo

"Decoration and doors - £1800 This will be painting all rooms and buying and fitting 5 internal doors."

This is a generous budget for 5 internal doors and painting a 2up/2 down. If you are wanting to save money, you can get timber doors from £25.00 each from the large chain DIY stores - although this doesnt include the fittings/finish which you could get for around the same price per door.

Paint £15.00 upwards for a 5 litre emulsion - I doubt you need spend more than £100 per room/area (average).

So supposing you have 2 up/2 down + kitchen/bathroom/stairway/hall - maximum 8 areas....

Emulsion/varnish/gloss = £800.00
Doors = £125.00
Door fittings = £125.00

Total £1,050.00

This is only a guestimate, for a £1800 budget you could really get some nice doors/fittings etc and probably pay someone to paint the place for you.

I think the flooring might cost more than you expect though - but Im no expert - just a hunch.

Goodluck with your renovation, keep us informed.

benjo

Regarding doors - domcastro does have a good point - they are a pain to hang and if you have to pay a carpenter then that will add to your costs - I had assumed you would hang them youself.

poppysarah

Plastering walls. Skimming ceilings. Replacing skirting boards. Sorting floors out that squeak. Sorting squeaky stairs out. New locks. Extra locks on doors. Curtain batons. Sanding woodwork - a very time consuming job but essential for getting a good finish).

Utility switch on - in theory free if you have meters already there and it's not been empty too long.

Use local shops rather than the big stores - we've got a door place near us that has better range and he knows all the blokes who'll fit them for you too.
Carpeting - ditto - we've got a great shop that's loads cheaper than even the bargain chains at the moment.
Local money into local pockets!

And ring the trading standards at the council to see if they have a TRADESAFE list of workmen!

mstopham

Thanks for all the responses so far, I will clarify a few points that we are considering and about the property. It was built in 1997 so hoping it is modern enough not to fall apart. The work will all be carried out by tradespeople but people we know, my best friend is an electrician and will do all necessary works at materials cost plus a few beers and pizza! My uncle is a plumber but not CORGI so the boiler would be an outsider. Yes it is just replacing the boiler/immersion with a combi. My fiance's friend and husband are a decorator and joiner so they will be doing the decorating and fitting at mates rates.

Glad to hear the switch on is likely to be free, I hadn't considered a cost until this morning when it was mentioned to me. (The property is a repo)

Damp proof, roofing, guttering I haven't considered but I will take my electrician mate round to look at that before hand though I am not anticipating too much wrong here.

And I will seriously consider the local places for materials.

I am quite pleased with things so far in terms of peoples experiences of this kind of thing, looks like we may shave some off fees and decorating and add it to the kitchen. The service reconnection budget can go into this as well I would think.

The purchase is going to be a cash one, no mortgage fees as such, my dad is buying a property to invest in and we are going to live there for a few years and he is willing to split any appreciation in value should it occur when we move on.

MX5huggy

The purchase is going to be a cash one, no mortgage fees as such, my dad is buying a property to invest in and we are going to live there for a few years and he is willing to split any appreciation in value should it occur when we move on.

What about any deappreciation should it occur?

zone

No damp or structural issues? If you're doing most of the work yourselves then it sounds about right. Contingency maybe a bit on the small side. So i'd round up your budget to £20k.

poppysarah

1997 and needs a refurb already? They don't build them like they used to!