Renovating and need help! Doors, fires, Woodchip...everything!

Minnie-_3

Hi, we are currently in the process of buying our second house, a quirky 1970's link detached property, which is going to need a fair bit of renovation... We are planning to knock the kitchen and dining room into one big room and fit a new kitchen, all the bathrooms need replacing (one is pink and one is blue!), EVERY wall has woodchip wallpaper so that will need to come off, we are going to reinstate the fireplace that has been boxed up and covered with an ugly electric fire, we are fitting wooden flooring with underfloor heating downstairs, new carpets everywhere else, new radiators.... The list goes on and on!

I was wondering if anyone could help me answer a few questions or give any advice?...

First, any tips on removing woodchip wallpaper? It doesn't look like it has too many layers of paint over it, will it be horrendous to remove and are we likely to need to replaster afterwards?

Does anyone have any recommendations for suppliers for front doors? We are thinking to go for a composite door, mostly plain with a small window in the top half - the property is very 70's looking with sloped angled roof and the top half of the building is painted light blue (it looks a bit like a holiday home!). The front doors I've seen on the Internet seem to cost around £500 is this a reasonable price?

I will probably have more questions as we encounter different problems but this will do for now!

Many many thanks in advance!!

Buellguy

Minnie- wrote: »

First, any tips on removing woodchip wallpaper? It doesn't look like it has too many layers of paint over it, will it be horrendous to remove and are we likely to need to replaster afterwards?

Steamer, scraper and lots of hard work (I know, our house was the same ). As for replastering - depends on how gentle you are taking the woodchip off and the state of the wall underneath (woodchip might have been put on to hide cracks etc.)

mrobsessed

Use a steamer - it will save you a huge amount of work.

Before steaming, start by manually ripping as much paper off as possible at any loose edges, rips or seams as you need to create areas where the steam can get into and under the paper. If the paint is gloss that will form a waterproof layer, but you can use a stanley knife to gently score through this to the paper (not too hard, you want to avoid damaging the plaster!) which will let the steam permeate and soften the paper.

Once you get going it gets easier - go for the weak spots like the edges were existing paper has been removed and where you have scored, the steam penetrates a surprisingly long way through tiny gaps, and the heat softens everything. I found a 1.5 inch scraper worked best. When you have softened an edge get the scraper underneath and try to rip back into the dry paper and pull as large a sheet off as possible and exposing more paper to steam. The paint can work in your favour here as the waterproof part can strip off the underlying paper.

It's not a terrible job, and can actually be quite addictive and satisfying. Lay newspaper on the floor and when you have finished just roll it all up and bin it.

You can buy steamers quite cheap on Amazon.

Hope this Helps!
Mr O

LEJC

Every surface in our house had woodchip and several coats of paint....it was hard work getting it off but its certainly not too difficult...

First of all we scored the surface and hired a steamer from a hire station type place....we found that some of them would allow you to pick up on a friday evening and drop back off on a monday morning and the charge was a one day rate....i think we hired it for about 4 or five weekends in total and it cost about £100 all in.
using the steamer qwont harm the walls underneath and to be honest you wont know if you need to skim plaster until you get the wallpaper off....we did have everything skimmed but that was driven more by the fact we were also having a rewire rather than the general state of the walls

On the subject of composite doors again im a big fan of them...they are far more suibstantial than UPVC in my opinion and we had ours fitted as part of the package that included the windows too...bought from a local independant window company
price wise I would check what you are getting with the quote you have seen online as £500 would seem a very good deal...when you investigate it,check that it includes fitting....our door was probably double the price you have quoted and whilst it may not have been the cheapest I am more than happy with the fit...

Buellguy

Wouldn't bother hiring a steamer, probably cheaper to buy one

http://www.wickes.co.uk/wallpaper-steam-stripper-23kw/invt/155048/

24 quid from Wickes

Minnie-_3

Thanks for the advice I will definitely have to get hold of a steamer!

Any more help with the front door would be much appreciated- I don't know where to start with it really!!

LEJC

a few things to consider when choosing the door...

Are you just looking to buy the door and either fitting it yourselves or have you someone in mind that could fit it seperately

are you looking at a company to supply and fit your door for you

perhaps the easiest option would be for a company to supply and fit your door,but this is probably the most expensive option...from experience with a composite door you are looking to pay upto £1400 fully fitted...but typically from about £900 upwards depending on the style and specifications you choose.the advantage of supply and fit is its usually quick and the jobs done...about half a day it took to fit my door

you could choose to buy your door from a company on a supply only basis but you would need to arrange for someone to fit it,again bearing in mind its about half a days job you would need to allow fitting costs ontop of your door price

By far the cheapest way of getting your door would be for the company to supply it and you fit it...this is a really good option if you know how to fit it but could turn into an expensive option if you make a mistake....it all depends on where your skills lie...I am sure you can get really good bargain on the internet and perhaps people will tell you to try ebay...which is a great place to buy,but only if you have the skill to fit the door or someone who can fit it for you.

I possibly suspect that the price you may have seen for the door on the net probably comes with some conditions or not everything as standard ie you then need to add the cost of the lock,letterbox,handles etc...so do look into whats included in each price

UPVC doors will be a lot cheaper probably around £600 fitted and something to consider if price is a major factor

Personally we went to a local independant window company for our composite door and were very pleased with the result,it does pay to get the gap measured professionally as once the door and frame are made its not that easy to adjust the size of the unit...so first off why not contact a local window or door company for a quote