Refurbishing 2 bedroom flat. Advice on costs.

veryverynervous

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a 2 bedroom flat in London. It needs extensive modernisation / redecoration. Pretty much everything needs doing I would think.

Originally, I was estimating that this would cost somewhere in the region of £10-15k. But having had a couple of quotes which are more than I expected, I am VERY concerned that the cost of the whole things is going to snowball beyond my expectations. I'm now thinking that maybe I shouldn't buy the flat, because maybe I'll be spending money that I won't get back.

The flat needs:

New central heating: including new combi boiler, new rads, new pipework etc: I've been quoted £4,500. More if I want to chase some of the pipes into the floor - which I feel would be a good idea in at least a couple of cases.

New 3 piece bathroom plus tiling. Have been quoted £2500

So that's already £7k.

Then there's

-New fitted kitchen.

-Electrics that need to be brought up to date.

-Every room needs decorating. including new light fittings I would think.
There's also a serving hatch, and a further internal window that I want to brick up.

-I Probably need all the ceilings skimmed. I've been warned by the survey that there could be Asbestos in the artex. I don't know how that affects things costwise.

I don't know how much these things would cost. As I've underestimated the above I'm worried that I'm wildly inaccurate here as well.

Any price info people could give me would be incredibly helpful. I'm absolutely crapping myself.

I'm worried about spending money that I won't get back. The purchase price of the flat was £245k. I worry that if I spend 20k, I'll lose most of it because, I really don't know how many flats sell between £250k and £270 because of the stamp duty threshold.

I guess I'm asking a lot of different questions here, but I'm all on my own and I don't really have anything to go on.

Any help you could give me would be so helpful. I really would be so grateful. I'm losing my mind with it all, and I just desperately want to be able to make an educated decision about it all.

Please help.

katehesk

How much are you prepared to do yourself?

Do you have and friends in the trades who could help you out with labour and save on costs?

veryverynervous

I'm happy to do whatever I can. But I am a total and complete novice. I don't think I would be able to do much, certainly nothing technical.

Unfortunately, I don't really have friends that can cut me a deal.

olly300

veryverynervous wrote: »

I'm happy to do whatever I can. But I am a total and complete novice. I don't think I would be able to do much, certainly nothing technical.

Unfortunately, I don't really have friends that can cut me a deal.

You need to find out the cost/selling price of flats in the building that have been modernised or flats nearby that have been modernised and sold to see if it's worth buying it as there are flats in London that sell for £280K-£300K.

Then if you do you will find removing stuff like wallpaper, tiles, kitchen cupboards you can do yourself.

Decorating you can do yourself.

Once the electrics are done you can change light fittings and switches yourself.

Some people learn how to tile so do it themselves.

katehesk

Something to be aware of when stripping wallpaper is that the plasterwork if old could crumble meaning you could potentially need a full replaster. We didn't factor this cost in and it was a bit of a shock, But then again we didn't even spend over 100k for our house let alone 245k.

If you love the flat and want to live there, and have the money, you can always do things as you go along. If you're purely thinking about resale, I personally would reconsider, or renegotiate the price.

Canucklehead

veryverynervous wrote: »

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a 2 bedroom flat in London. It needs extensive modernisation / redecoration. Pretty much everything needs doing I would think.

Originally, I was estimating that this would cost somewhere in the region of £10-15k. But having had a couple of quotes which are more than I expected, I am VERY concerned that the cost of the whole things is going to snowball beyond my expectations. I'm now thinking that maybe I shouldn't buy the flat, because maybe I'll be spending money that I won't get back.

The flat needs:

New central heating: including new combi boiler, new rads, new pipework etc: I've been quoted £4,500. More if I want to chase some of the pipes into the floor - which I feel would be a good idea in at least a couple of cases.

New 3 piece bathroom plus tiling. Have been quoted £2500

So that's already £7k.

Then there's

-New fitted kitchen.

-Electrics that need to be brought up to date.

-Every room needs decorating. including new light fittings I would think.
There's also a serving hatch, and a further internal window that I want to brick up.

-I Probably need all the ceilings skimmed. I've been warned by the survey that there could be Asbestos in the artex. I don't know how that affects things costwise.

I don't know how much these things would cost. As I've underestimated the above I'm worried that I'm wildly inaccurate here as well.

Any price info people could give me would be incredibly helpful. I'm absolutely crapping myself.

I'm worried about spending money that I won't get back. The purchase price of the flat was £245k. I worry that if I spend 20k, I'll lose most of it because, I really don't know how many flats sell between £250k and £270 because of the stamp duty threshold.

I guess I'm asking a lot of different questions here, but I'm all on my own and I don't really have anything to go on.

Any help you could give me would be so helpful. I really would be so grateful. I'm losing my mind with it all, and I just desperately want to be able to make an educated decision about it all.

Please help.

Good evening: are you buying this flat to sell in the short term or live in for the long term? Renovating to suit your needs or a future owner? You could very easily spend 20k in London if you can't do any work yourself. Have a think and decide what work you could do..I know many people on here have surprised themselves.

But...it is important to acknowledge when it is better to GSI. My OH is an experienced plumber/RGI but we don't do our own plaster...a DIY finish never looks as good as a pro's.;)

Try to use tradespersons recommended to you by a source you trust after comparing 3 quotes like for like. For plumbers try the CIPHE.


Good luck with your project.

Canucklehead

katehesk

Canucklehead wrote: »

But...it is important to acknowledge when it is better to GSI. My OH is an experienced plumber/RGI but we don't do our own plaster...a DIY finish never looks as good as a pro's.;)

Try to use tradespersons recommended to you by a source you trust after comparing 3 quotes like for like. For plumbers try the CIPHE.


Good luck with your project.

Canucklehead

I couldnt even contemplate doing our own plastering...do people actually DIY? We've had two plasterers on our renovation and the first was a bit rubbish but the new one...walls smooth as glass....ahhhhh! :T

Canucklehead

katehesk wrote: »

I couldnt even contemplate doing our own plastering...do people actually DIY? We've had two plasterers on our renovation and the first was a bit rubbish but the new one...walls smooth as glass....ahhhhh! :T

Hi..the OH has had more than a few customers over the years who were very proud of their DIY 'finish':eek: A good plasterer is worth his/her weight in gold.

Canucklehead

veryverynervous

Thanks everyone for your help so far. I will certainly reassess what I can do myself.

As some have asked, yes, I am very much looking to live there. I'm not trying to make a fast buck or anything. I'm just really nervous about protecting my investment.

Is there anyone out there prepared to hazard an educated guess about to some of those costs above? I'm hastily trying to get my head around what the new figure may be.

Only then do I feel like I can make the right decision about whether to proceed.

Thanks again.

Canucklehead

veryverynervous wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your help so far. I will certainly reassess what I can do myself.

As some have asked, yes, I am very much looking to live there. I'm not trying to make a fast buck or anything. I'm just really nervous about protecting my investment.

Is there anyone out there prepared to hazard an educated guess about to some of those costs above? I'm hastily trying to get my head around what the new figure may be.

Only then do I feel like I can make the right decision about whether to proceed.

Thanks again.

Hi...I can only comment on the CH and plumbing and can't give ballpark figures but....in London, based on one of the OH's recent CH installs- ground floor maisonette ...stripping out warm air heating, upgrade gas supply, all copper pipework, pipe lagging (insulation) 6 rads/1 towel rail with TRVs, wireless roomstat, Vaillant Ecotec Plus 831 with standard flue, magnetic filter and scale inhibitor, removal of all waste, notification to Building Control = £4600. Bathrooms can vary tremendously....are you supplying the gear i.e. is the price fit only?

The resident sparks will comment on the electrics..again will vary.

HTH

Canucklehead

Tweedpie

I (well my Dad) has done similar work on my two bed flat. New electrics, boiler, bathroom, kitchen, plastering, decorating, flooring and carpets.

The total cost was just over 15k this was with my Dad either doing a lot of the work or getting friends to do favours. I was also lucky to know somebody who worked in B and Q and was able to use their 20% discount.

Try to buy bigger item during bank holiday sales.
If you can try to manage the project your self - it is usually cheap to organise different trades men then it is to get a builder.