What order to do the DIY?!

kford224

Hello everyone!

My fiance and I are due to (hopefully!) get the keys to our first house in a month or so and are trying to plan what to do first. We plan on doing work over the summer and then moving in in August/September time. The house needs a lot of work and we are going to have about £7000 to play with initially over the summer, but this needs to include installing central heating. It is a large mid terrace house with three double bedrooms.

There are several things we want to get done, but I am thinking there is probably an order to do them in to make things easier. I.e. - is it better to do one room at a time properly or get ALL the carpeting done or ALL the plastering done? I know this seems a really stupid question, but I expect more experiences home owners may be able to offer some words of wisdom!

Any indication of costs for any of the things listed below would also be appreciated!! Many thanks in advance!!

Things include:
- Central Heating (this is the only thing we definitely want to get done right away before moving in). The property has solid floors so the pipes will beed to be chased up the walls - not sure if this makes much different to the cost...
- Plastering after removing woodchip (all rooms)
- Removing brickwork around the fireplace in the lounge
- Putting in patio doors in the lounge (currently a large window)
- New kitchen
- Replacing back door in kitchen and front door
- New carpets throughout

spadoosh

Hopefully me and my g/f are in a similiar situation soon, looking at completing mid to late april.

Things include:
- Central Heating (this is the only thing we definitely want to get done right away before moving in). The property has solid floors so the pipes will beed to be chased up the walls - not sure if this makes much different to the cost... £2000-£3000
- Plastering after removing woodchip (all rooms) I would have a guess at about £500 per room
- Removing brickwork around the fireplace in the lounge would DIY
- Putting in patio doors in the lounge (currently a large window) £1000-1500
- New kitchen £1500 (basic + self fit) - £7500 (better quality fitted)
- Replacing back door in kitchen and front door - £500 - £1000
- New carpets throughout £300 -£500 per room

Looks like your place needs a bit of work and £7000 will go very quickly, is there nothing you could 'live' with for now. Obviously you said the central heating is must but the patio doors could probably wait and more than likely every wall will not need to be plastered just filled and sanded

kford224

That's really helpful, thank you and best of luck with your purchase!

We could probably live without a few things for now. We have been looking at the cheaper kitchens (i.e. the Take Away kitchens at Wickes) but apparently they do not last very long (a few years) and then need to be replaced, so it may be worth saving up and then getting a 'proper' one.

spadoosh

i believe Howdens is the best place for kitchens. There trade orientated though but the units come pre built. I work at b&q and there our biggest competitor in terms of quality and price. would probably only look at them two (B&Q & Howdens) but you'll always find plenty of people who say bad things about all of them. Plus get discount at work so more likely to go down that route .

ormus

i doubt you will do all that for the 7k. the prices given above are about right.
you need to prioritise the work and leave some items for another day/year.

wickes kitchens are no better/worse than many others on the high st.
ive installed a few wickes kitchens. no serious problems.
(im doing another one next week/month).


certainly my BILs 5k moben kitchen is no better than my own wickes kitchen.

kford224

ormus wrote: »

i doubt you will do all that for the 7k. the prices given above are about right.

Yes would be nice if we could but it is unlikely! This is why we need to prioritise what we do before we move in and what can wait without causing too much disruption when we do finally have the money to get it done!

Thanks for the tip about the kitchens!! I think we shall probably get a cheaper one put in straight away. We can always upgrade later on and by the time you add on worktops, extra units and appliances, the £580 odd will soon be a lot more anyway!

ginvzt

Look around for carpets. I am having a double bedroom (2.6m x 3.3m) done this Friday for £215. And this is not the cheapest carpet in the shop. This includes underlay and fitting. The shop is a local flooring shop in town, not a chain.

Doors: look around again. We paid £600 for the front door (composite, different colour on the outside, and colour on the frame) and £540 for the back door as we went with a fully glazed one for the kitchen (and very happy with it, as it is so much lighter in the kitchen now).

Plastering: get the woodchip off yourself. For the plastering, the living room that I am getting done next weekend (3.4m x 4.8m), including artex ceiling and plastering over the fireplace (gas) is £385. This price includes removing the existing fire surround/hearth. Gas fire has been removed already, and gas capped off.

I had dining room (2.5m x 3m) and the above mentioned bedroom plastered couple of weeks ago, including the ceiling, and it was £415 for both rooms.

And for the kitchen, as well as the places mentioned above, have a look at Ikea...

dave82_2

Hi,

Have you had the electrics tested before you exchange? No point in doing lots of redecorating if these will need done soon. Also I wouldn't go wild ripping the woodchip off if you can't afford to plaster straight away. In our experience lost of plaster came of with it!

We live in London so prices are expensive but we spent about 8k-10k just on electrics and plumbing!

Best of luck it is alot of fun :-) and stress :-(

My biggest tip is if you plaster when the floors are bare make sure you still put down dust sheets we are having fun (NOT) getting the plaster off the concrete and wooden floors!

D

kford224

dave82 wrote: »

Hi,

Have you had the electrics tested before you exchange? No point in doing lots of redecorating if these will need done soon.
D

No that is another thing I should have mentioned - we are likely to need re-wiring and definitely need a few extra sockets put in each room!! :eek:

House_Hunter

kford224 wrote: »

Things include:
- Central Heating (this is the only thing we definitely want to get done right away before moving in). The property has solid floors so the pipes will beed to be chased up the walls - not sure if this makes much different to the cost...

What needs to be done re central heating? Boiler exchange or a new complete installation? Are there radiators in place? Does a gas line already exist and run to the location of the boiler? How many radiators are you adding/renewing?

dave82_2

kford224 wrote: »

No that is another thing I should have mentioned - we are likely to need re-wiring and definitely need a few extra sockets put in each room!! :eek:

Personally I would do the electrics and plumbing first. That way you aren't wrecking any plastering and decorating you have done.

For a rewire and central heating system you aren't going to get much change (if any) from you 7k though I am afraid. These are two jobs you can't DIY!