Realistic time scale for house DIY

continualdiamond

How long did it take you to have your house exactly the way you wanted it? I need some advice on time scale etc and how to get over not having everything done 'right now'.

Basically my flat needs the following:

* Lounge painting (even though its an ok colour, doesn't go with our choice of sofa)

* Entrance hall walls plastering over cracks then re paint

* Inner hallway painting

* Doors glossing

* New bathroom floor, toilet, sink, taps, bath panel, wallpaper stripping and painting

* Kitchen walls painting

* Garden totally re done, new paving, pond taking out and grass put in, new fence up




What should i tackle first? I know painting isn't that expensive really, but im thinking bathroom should be done 1st and leave my garden. As much as i hate the garden i see inside being more impt at the moment.

Any cheap alternatives for the garden? Was thinking of putting stones over the concreate slabs. The pond has been filled in with dirt so thinking of putting loads of flowers in to brighten it up.

I hate not having things done right away. We've just had double glazing put in the kitchen, bathroom and 2nd bedroom. So now its a case of 1 major thing done, now the littler things to tackle.

amyandoli

tackle what's annoying you the most first (and what you can afford). from experience i have learnt never to buy something because it is cheap and will do short term. wait, save up and get what you really want. if youve got or can borrow the tools, doing the garden is free- clear it, rearrange what you've got, take cuttings from friends and family...

* Lounge painting - 1 day, assuming 2 coats, let coats dry before starting again.
* Entrance hall walls plastering over cracks then re paint- 1 day for re-paint. Unless your sure you can do a good job, get a professional, otherwise a day to fill in basic cracks and sand down.
* Inner hallway painting- 1 day if not including stairs drop. we have a big 17ft drop hallway, so professionals only.
* Doors glossing- 2 days, assume 2 coats, do all through your house 1 day. have the afternoon off so it dries thoroughly, then go around the same the next day.
* New bathroom floor, toilet, sink, taps, bath panel, wallpaper stripping and painting- we're doing this at the moment too. 1 day to strip out paper and knock off tiles, bag it up and take it outside. plumbers quoted 3 days for bathroom refit, then getting plaster in for walls, then tiler, and painting ourselves. will be doing plumber this month, plaster next...
* Kitchen walls painting- 1 day, 2 coats
* Garden totally re done, new paving, pond taking out and grass put in, new fence up- ooh. see the greenfingered board, loads of people in the same boat, new overgrown, ugly gardens. It's taken from September til now for me to have my garden virtually finished, working a bit at a time every other day at least. It's a big garden though.

good luck and have fun

amy

never_enough

It's a how long is a piece of string thing. Been in this house three years & seem to have hardly touched it, yet always been quite busy doing things that don't really show. For me, the main thing always is to sort out a living room so that you have somewhere to escape to at the end of the day.
A garden is an ongoing thing, makes it much easier to do when the sun shines but you need to keep on top of it in the colder months too or it will just go to pot. If you're not really into gardening shrubs can be great fillers, need minimal maintenance & will provide colours all year through if you go for evergreens. Also good habitat for wildlife, as is a pond, but I know they're not everyones thing, especially if you have toddlers! I've just put in new fencing, concrete posts set in postcrete with wooden panels. I was only managing to do a couple of posts a day, but am very slow & not very strong. Felt good to have done it myself though!
Don't beat yourself up about it, if you have a busy life you don't always want to spend all your spare time doing diy, you have to have fun too!

Uniscots97

I've been in my place 6 years and I'm still doing stuff. As for your garden you could do what I did. I used stone chips, I got the cheapest multi-coloured gravel they had (can't remember the quantity I needed but it worked out at four of those huge sacks they use the crane to lift off of the lorry). All in including delivery I was 25quid. Use a builders suppliers rather than B&Q or Homebase. Check out your local paper, you might be surprised at how little some people would want for putting a new fence up.

courtjester

Generally, I manage to get my home exactly as I like it about 5 minutes before I move out....

So for my first flat, this was 4 years, my second house this was 13 years and our current place 10 years and running....

DIY is all well and good, but sometimes it's just easier to get the experts in if you want to get on with life. :cool:

stuartjp_2

inside should take nomore than 2 weeks if you dedicate all your time to it,
garden well depends how bad/big it is personally id do the garden now so its starting to mature for the long summer evenings
just my opinion thou

never_enough

courtjester wrote: »

Generally, I manage to get my home exactly as I like it about 5 minutes before I move out....

So for my first flat, this was 4 years, my second house this was 13 years and our current place 10 years and running....

DIY is all well and good, but sometimes it's just easier to get the experts in if you want to get on with life. :cool:

Lol! :rotfl: That seems to be the case for me too, selling a place tends to focus your mind a bit! It's a shame really but some things you just live with or get used to.:rolleyes: