Is there an order in which to renovate a house?

suestew

Hi all
So looking at buying a house that pretty much needs most things doing, I understand that Electrics should be done first as later on would be a mistake if they need to pull up floor boards etc. but is there a general order in which to do things?

Also, is one builder that can manage most things cheaper in the long run than getting individuals in? As in a builder that also hires Electricians, plumbers

So list of things that may need doing:

Small extension or conservatory
Re-wiring
Gas central heating system plus Rads (there is nothing at present)
New kitchen & bathroom
New windows
All walls, ceilings re-plastering
New skirting
All flooring tiles or wooden


Thanks

dryhat

suestew wrote: »

Hi all
So looking at buying a house that pretty much needs most things doing, I understand that Electrics should be done first as later on would be a mistake if they need to pull up floor boards etc. but is there a general order in which to do things?

Also, is one builder that can manage most things cheaper in the long run than getting individuals in? As in a builder that also hires Electricians, plumbers

So list of things that may need doing:

Small extension or conservatory
Re-wiring
Gas central heating system plus Rads (there is nothing at present)
New kitchen & bathroom
New windows
All walls, ceilings re-plastering
New skirting
All flooring tiles or wooden


Thanks

Slight re-arrange to your list and you're good to go...

Small extension or conservatory
Re-wiring (work out your kitchen design first)
Gas central heating system plus Rads (there is nothing at present)
New windows
All walls, ceilings re-plastering
New kitchen & bathroom
All flooring tiles or wooden
New skirting

I would get individuals in for the different jobs as it will work out cheaper than comitting yourself to one builder.

Also, with the kitchen, buying your own and then getting someone to fit it is a often a bad idea. Because every kitchen, despite being designed to your specification, comes with either bits missing or wrong bits.
This becomes a real hassle when you are dealing with the suppliers and the fitter seperately.
Buying the kitchen through the fitter saves a lot of bother and is often cheaper.

lessonlearned

What does the survey say, what are the most urgent remedial works required.

Is there damp, what is the roof like, is the chimney stack safe, is the house watertight.

Work your way through the survey with your builder who will then draw up a schedule of works which will include the order in which things will be done.

As a general rule of thumb the house must first be made safe and watertight - so repairs to the roof, guttering, chimney stack, porous brickwork, damp proofing would be first along with unsafe electrics and condemned boilers etc (no heating yet so maybe no issue there).

Dry rot, wet rot, woodworm, insect or rodent infestations etc will need to be done asap.

Then if you have to replace flooring anyway, you would need to check out joists etc, no point putting down nice new floors if the underlying joists are rotten.

Then first fix electrics and plumbing - the actual wiring and pipework. You might need to replace lead piping. Then first fix joinery.

Any asbestos would also likely be removed at this point (by a specialist).

Bathrooms and kitchens??? Are they usable and just a bit dated or are they unfit for purpose. Any leaks from baths or showers that could have damaged floors and joists will need fairly urgent attention.

A conservatory can be added at any time. The extension is up to you, do you need it straight away or is it planned as a future "nice to have".

Obviously it's best to get the extension done straight away if you can - only one lot of mess and hassle....:rotfl:

It's nice if you can everything done all at once, but it may well depend on your budget.

suestew

thanks guys, good advice.
We are soon to instruct a surveyor and I am writing a list of the specifics that we are worried about, I have heard this guy is good so hopefully will put our minds at rest that the building is structurally sound and no damp issues or anything that would make us walk away. I expect a surveyor could not check the joists so we would have to wait until we have the keys before pulling floor boards up, if they do need to be replaced how expensive is that?
the extension is to make the kitchen bigger so would be first on list, I am not keen on a conservatory as most of the time they do not get used.

fionajbanana

If the kitchen lacks a cooker or its broken, get a mini oven, one with two rings on top if no cooker to tie you over for a few months. Then this will be useful to keep for Christmas and other family gatherings. Plus a microwave, and kettle.

As when you do a house up, you aren't going to do full blown Sunday roasts. My parents moved into a house which needed a lot of doing to it and they had things like spag bol on weekends and chicken kievs.

suestew

fionajbanana wrote: »

If the kitchen lacks a cooker or its broken, get a mini oven, one with two rings on top if no cooker to tie you over for a few months. Then this will be useful to keep for Christmas and other family gatherings. Plus a microwave, and kettle.

As when you do a house up, you aren't going to do full blown Sunday roasts. My parents moved into a house which needed a lot of doing to it and they had things like spag bol on weekends and chicken kievs.

luckily we are in a position to carry on renting until the property is done. I don't think I could take on a project like this and live in it

motherofstudents

We replaced joists ourselves so it didn't cost much but if you don't have the time you will have to get someone to do it. Agree about the conservatory. We added a very large one and it is lovely in the nice weather but most of the year we don't use it.