Where to begin??

DilbertJones

OK My house is in need of several things before I go ahead and hopefully sell it to move somewhere larger.

Question is where do I begin, or do I even bother?

• Firstly my boiler, very old (25 + years) conventional boiler, noisy and inefficient.

Ideally I want to replace this with a Combi boiler to free up the airing cupboard space.

• Bathroom - My Sink is cracked and has a hole in it, we have lived with this for 18+ months! Will need replacing. Also my Shower is not ideal, pipe work showing etc. Bath panel broken. Toilet is fine but I am thinking of having a new basic suite & Shower installing.

Shall I replace boiler before shower to have the possibility of a direct feed shower or does it not really matter?

• Finally my other biggest problem is the general decorating. Above the stairs is a VERY high wall & ceiling so as you come down into the living room the possibility of painting what you can see becomes less & less.

I am thinking of getting someone in/hiring scaffolding/ladders to finish the job.


What are your thoughts on the above? Would you get all the work done before selling? Or would you accept it as is and sell as is? Obviously sale price would be affected but I wouldnt be shelling out on expensive repairs/labour that I cant really afford??

Jaynne

Personally I would do the easy things. Getting a new boiler seems to me like it wouldn't add as much value as tidying up ugly pipe work and cracked sinks.

The first look you have when buying a house is probably going to be in the brochures or on the internet. Make sure everything is as freshly painted as possible and as clutter free as possible. Things like broken sinks and bath panels just make a house look neglected - boilers well its nice to know you have an efficient up-to-date model but unless you're a plumber its hardly the first thing you look at.

abwsco

Jaynne wrote: »

Personally I would do the easy things. Getting a new boiler seems to me like it wouldn't add as much value as tidying up ugly pipe work and cracked sinks.

The first look you have when buying a house is probably going to be in the brochures or on the internet. Make sure everything is as freshly painted as possible and as clutter free as possible. Things like broken sinks and bath panels just make a house look neglected - boilers well its nice to know you have an efficient up-to-date model but unless you're a plumber its hardly the first thing you look at.

Agree 100% with this.

AquaJen

If you really need to replace the boiler, I wouldn't go for a conversion to a combi if you're thinking of moving. Just replace with a new heat only boiler. A combi installation will be twice as expensive.
Bathroom sink, fairly easy job to do. Should take a plumber no more than 1 hour as long as the pedestal is till ok. With regards to the pipework, getting it concealed will be hard work so just try to tidy it up as much as possible.

amcluesent

So long as it works, I'd leave the boiler be. It may knock you down a few points on the EPC. However, thanks to Prescott you'll have to get a fan condensing, so that'll mean new flue, drain pipe and loads of aggro. The 'inefficiency' of open-flue boilers is a myth, condensers rarely reach the temperatures needed to get their quoted benefits.

A sparkly bathroom (and kitchen) is a must, sounds like your suite needs replacing and not just refreshing. A basic white suite used by LLs from Screwfix shouldn't be expensive.

Yep, all unfinished DIY jobs need to be done. It's a buyers market and they can pick and choose.

DilbertJones

The boiler works fine so I will leave that be.

The bathroom could really do with a new suite although I could possibly get away with new sink (pedestal is fine) and replace the bath panel maybe? Saves a re tiling job!

What prices would a plumber charge for replacing the sink? I'd do it myself but I'm disaster prone!

unclebulgaria

Hang on a minute.
Condensing boilers dont rarely reach the temperatures that make them more efficient. They are hands down more efficient than an old balanced flue boiler or any open flued boilers. By a long way!
A basin sink cant just be dropped onto any pedestal because the new basin shape may not match and it wont sit right or look right.
Get the bathroom white ware replaced with something within your budget and dont count out the new boiler without getting some quotes first, at 3.
Pipes can be hidden during the bathroom update. You may not be able to have a combi anyway.