Just bought a repo- advice on works.

milestone_3

Hi all,

Just bought a house and will be collecting keys this week hopefully! It's my first time buy and I'm a newbie at DIY. I've gone about getting the place the wrong way in that I have no money to fix it up and it does need a bit of work. I'm hoping over the course of the year I can slowly save and spend on works but just wanted advice from anyone on costs of the following:

It's a 3 bed house in south London and i got nowhere else to stay so will be living in it from day one- without water/heating or electricity at the outset!


- Water is drained from the house. When I viewed the house there was flowing water in the house (taps and toilet flushed fine) but after the mortgage surveyor came down there was red tape all over the place saying "system drained". The boiler was not tested. At present I just want to get water running in the house by turning the water back on via stopcock, get air out of the radiators if needed and start the boiler up (it's a cistern boiler). Any advice on what I should look out for or be careful off?

-Ceilings have Artex all over the house. Surveyor mentioned it is very likely to have asbestos in it. The ceilings look fine, and surveyor said I shouldn't be alarmed as it was common in houses pre-85. If anything I should not sand/break down, but repaint over. Every room needs redecorating/has artex or textured ceilings. Has anyone had experience in something like this? I've read that a plasterer can re-skim and that should be safe/good enough?

I would look to get an asbestos survey done just to check if it def has it or not- any recommendations?

-Roof is covered with Moss and Lichen- was told by surveyor not to power spray but to brush off- Apparently he said it was going to cost £500 to do, but so far I've had quote's ranging from £1200-£2000. Does that sound right?

-Double Glazing. I won't have cash to look into this till maybe mid-end of the year, but not sure whether to tackle this last. i.e after repainting rooms or whether to do double glaze first and then re-decorate?

There is lots to do in the house but for now I'm just looking to make the house liveable. I thought the first port of call should be to you guys as I'm doing this solo and right now this forum is my guru

vegasvisitor

Could you enquire about the reasons behind the water being turned off? Also, get a good plumber/heating guy in to service the boiler and get your water back on. Why is the electricity off? You will need a qualified electrician to sort that. Rather than spending money plastering etc, I think you need to deal with the safety aspects first. Get yourself some paint and paint over everything to freshen it up in the meanwhile without spending much since you don't know what you need to spend to make the house safe.

Yes, the artex is likely to contain asbestos. I think you should be able to get it skimmed without any issue. Plasterers will be aware of any precautions they need to take.

Surely you can't move in without electricity (or heating) at this time of year? Hope you can at least afford to get the essentials sorted. Then deal with the cosmetics later.

Will be keen to hear how you get on once you get your keys.

milestone_3

Thanks Lesley74.

I asked the agents why water was drained He said the mortgage surveyor most likely did it in order to stop pipes from freezing over the winter months.

As for electricity, again it was working when I viewed the property but when my surveyor went onto do the survey he said there was no electricity. I'm not too sure whether this was turned off via the main switch on the fuse box or if it's capped off externally.

As it was a repo I only was given 4 weeks to complete from when the offer was made, so i've found it hard to keep on top off things like getting costs of electrician and plumber to switch all on.

I may speak to estate agent to see if they can recommend someone. Most def I want the essentials all up and running before going into cosmetics. I'll keep updating once I get the keys

phill99

Most houses that are unoccupied and being sold now will normally have the gas and electricity turned off and the water drained down. This is a requirement of most insurers now as it limits the potential for flood, fire, explosion etc. A plumber / heting engineer will sort the water and gas out. Prob a mornings work to get everything operating again, so expect to pay £100. An electrician will be abl;e to sort your electricity out. Expect to pay a standard call out - say £50.

Don't worry about the asbestos - if present its a very minute amount. Just get it skimmed over.

Otherwise make sure the house is fully wind and water tight. That will always be your priority - the rest is just asthetics.

Take your time, do your research. People offering advice on here can be a good source of info - especially the tradesmen. Beware, however of the complete numptys who have a very limited amount of knowedge, add 2 and 2 together and get 96, spout on about of load of rubbish and then cause you complete paranoia, sleepless nights and then a visit to the doctor.

The best advice is from a pro who is actually in the room with you, not a virtual person. So ask friends and family for recommendations of tradesmen etc.

Get all structural and servicing works done before decorating eg windows, uopgrades to electrics, plumbing etc. Otherwise, your decorating will be undone.

If you are going to have a go yourself say at decorating, always buy decent quality tools- buy quality once and look after it and it will last a life time. Buy quality materials too - cheap paints etc are false economy and waste you time. Again, take your time and don't exceed your capabilities - if you'r not sure, best to pay some one to do it for you.

Dazi

we bought a repo years ago, water and system drained, had water turned back on, the thing they worry about with a repo is that the previous owner may have damaged pipes, in our case no probs.

Elec was turned off but turned back on when we completed so that was ok too.

Re the asbestos in the artex, I worked for an asbestos consultant and he had loads of people ring up re this, as long as you don't drill into the asbestos you are ok, painting over is fine, if you need it removed you can do it yourself if you can take it down in panels, otherwise you will need a specialist remover. Covering it up with plasterboard is fine as long as you remember that any survey in the future may pick up on it.

jhe

we were involved in buying a repo a few years ago [what a roller coaster ride the buying process was. never again!!]. everything had red tape across it but nothing had actually been cut off, just a matter of turning gas/electric/water on. as previous poster says check pipes have not been cut when you turn water on, we had water flooding through ceiling from where pipes under the upstairs floorboards had been cut.
i would advise you take gas/electric meter readings as soon as you get the keys

Leif

You will need to take a good look around and decide what you will do. What about skirting boards, and architraves? Ceilings? Coving? Floor covering? Sockets, lights? Window boards? Doors? If the walls are papered, chances are the walls are iffy, and will need work. Walls can be patched with powdered filler. If you get walls skimmed, you might as well take off skirting and coving. Putting up coving is easy.

I was a DIY newbie over 6 months ago when I bought a house with decor going back 40 years. It is now almost completely repainted, with new ceilings in some rooms, new coving, and 4 new doors, with 4 more to do next week. Difficult tasks such as overboarding and skimming ceilings were done by professionals, but the easier stuff such as coving and doors was done by me. There is a wealth of useful information online, and people are (usually) very helpful, and patient when dealing with naive questions.

Regarding trades, only employ people recommended to you by people you know and/or trust. And get multiple quotes.

Alias_Omega

I would have a good look around the house, and turn the water back on. Unlike electricity you can see where its leaking from. A good look around the bathroom/kitchen for open pipes will be good enough. I would however not touch the boiler, though its about £45 for a Gas Safety Check.

The electric is another choice, you could have a look for any exposed wires etc. Unlike the water, people do remove light fittings/brass light switches when they leave properties. I have seen Fuseboard (Consumer Unit) circuit breakers removed also. Again, if it looks ok. It probably is ok.

Pay out, or not pay out. The choice at the end of the day is yours.

fluffpot

Worth paying to check the electrics fully tested before you do any work - this should be no more than 1 day including all the paperwork. This will tell you if the property is safe and if any rewiring is required as you want to do this before you start any decorating!

milestone_3

Thanks for all the advice. I will definately check the pipes for any leaks and will get a sparky to check the electrics. The whole place will need updating from wall sockets, floors, architraves- the property was built in late 80's so might just stick with a nostalgic feel for a while lol
I will leave the redecorating till mid-end of the year once I've lived in the place and good a feel with what needs working on first as I need to try be smart with my cash now. Will keep posted once I get keys!

vegasvisitor

Ah, only build in late 80s, really can't be too bad then. Artex shouldn't be a problem with asbestos either I don't think. Good luck with it all :beer:, and do keep us posted!