house renovating help

ramborai1987

hi my dad is planning to sell or rent out our other house. currently we have ripped alot of wallpaper and have no carpets. we are getting some walls replastered because they are a right mess.

i was just wondering if there are any good websites that have good tips on renovating a house to a good standard whilst keeping costs very cheap.

a few other questions:

what will work out cheaper carpet or laminate flooring? which will look better? i'm guessing we should have one type of carpet or one type of laminate flooring running throughout the house?

i've heard the walls should be a lightish airy colour, should we keep the main bulk of the rooms the same colour so it looks like it flows throughout the house?

we are planning to also fit a kitchen one a very tight budget. would a cheap kitchen be a good idea? do they last well?

any websites would be very helpful and any other tips you guys have will be appreciated. like i said we are on a very tight budget, last year we only charged 15 pound a week because it was a sh*th*le lol. but hopefully if we get it done properly we could up it to 50 pound a week because its very close to leicester university.

help appreciated

ashli_2

£15 a week? You couldn't rent a shed round here for that much :eek:


I have no expertise but we are just setting out on a similar project on our new house- plastering, painting, floors, kitchen and garden landscaping.

I am going for one colour all downstairs to make it seems more spacious. If I was renting out, I think I'd stick to magnolia, it's light, clean and universally inoffensive.

In researching carpets I have found that local firms in the yellow pages are absolutely miles cheaper than the big firms, I have had one man quote me £10a meter all in, fitting and extras included for a plain beige carpet.

We are buying an ikea kitchen, buillding the units ourselves and then paying a local handyman to put the units in. When looking for labour, try someone recommended on your local forum if you have one, again they are miles cheaper than bigger firms.


Like I said though, I am just starting out myself, I will let you know in eight weeks if this is good advice or nonsense :rotfl:

weekendwarrior

You can get help and advice on most aspects of home renovation here-

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/

It covers most diy tasks and has good sections on

DIY Plumbing


DIY Electrics

DIY Plastering


There is also much other info that can only be found from the contents page.

For anything that you do not undrstand you can post back here as there are some very helpful people on here that will be only too willing to help.

Doozergirl

I would not let it out, personally I would sell. If the house is owned outright, have a look at the percentage return the rent will bring in based on the value of the property right now. You might find that the money would simply be better in savings.

You take slightly different approaches depending on whether you are letting or selling. For selling, I really would put carpet everywhere except the kitchen. Laminate is cheap and people are starting to go off it. You get a cosier feel with carpet.

You must paint in Magnolia with white woodwork. It just works. It's a blank canvas for someone to move in and either live with or decorate when they are ready. Buy Dulux Trade paint because you don't save anything buying the Value ranges with the number of coats you end up using.

B&Q do a 'Cherry Style Modern' kitchen which is cheap but does look pretty good, especially if you get the right handles. You must find your own fitter as the chains all charge a small fortune. B&Q also do branded inbuilt oven/hob combination in stainless steel for £350 but the regular 15% discounts bring it right down. They are usually Hotpoint or Whirlpool, so really good value for money.

Bathroom suites you can get for £199, we jazz them up with good looking taps and (usually) white tiles and split sheets of mosaic tiles to make borders.

Kerb appeal is really important. If it's a period property, it needs a period front door. It's really easy to get a solid wood front door on eBay. I bought one for .99p and got the most recent one for £25. Both virtually brand new!

Chrome fittings wherever possible are essential. Brass is really dated now.

Ikea blinds are cheap and sturdy. You should put them in the front of the house. They stop the place from being a goldfish bowl when people are viewing. If the window aren't dressed the house feels more overlooked than it otherwise might do.

ramborai1987

actually bought the kitchen today with my dad from b&q. got the cheapest which was maple with 15% off. probably go with the magnolia and carpets. thanks for the posts guys.

Doozergirl

I'm really sorry but the maple kitchen is gross! It's really outdated.

There's cheap and there's spending wisely to maximise your profit.

ashli_2

ramborai1987 wrote: »

actually bought the kitchen today with my dad from b&q. got the cheapest which was maple with 15% off. probably go with the magnolia and carpets. thanks for the posts guys.

Is it this one?

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/skins/popups/scene7.jsp?skuId=9302633&initialFrame=1

That's not too bad. Roughly how much was it, just out of interest? I want to know if the prices are comparible with Ikea. :money:

ramborai1987

yea thats the one. lol i know its gross but were not going to live in it so its ok. im not sure how much my dad got it for but we got it really cheap because the doors were only 6 pound and the cupboards were cheap then 15% deduction. bought one or two drawers also . and then we've got spare black worktop at home and the previous sink was good enough. were going to get handles off screwfix as they are a good price on there. we only bought the basics because when you buy the fancy stuff e.g glass doors and wine racks etc they bomb the price up, thats what b & q make there money on.

you got to understand were doing EXTREME moneysaving here. we're spending as little as possible money, any add on's or pricier colours etc are considered as a waste of money to us lol. we even got an illegal immegrant to do plastering for us, charging 40 pound a room (without materials).

seen some beige carpet on the net 6 pound a square metre but will probs go local carpet dealers and see if we can get a cut price 4 pound or less.

HugoSP

I quite like that kitchen.

We used to live in Leicester and found that it was extremely easy to let properties to students. But if they moved out in the latter part of the academic year then you could find that reletting it could be an issue.

If you let it out on a 6 month let and take the max deposit, the chances are that most if not all the occupants will stay all year. If one moves out then the others will scrape together to stay in there until they sublet the room again.

Students will start looking in the July before they go home. They may pay half or full rent during the holidays. They will be prepared to put down a deposit and the first month's rent to secure the place. You ma be able to get all the rent until the start of the next term paid upfront.

I used to let rooms in our house on this basis.

Ramborai - I don't know if you know Leicester that well but there are heaps of cheap carpet and furniture places along Narborough road. You can haggle with them as well.
Have a chat with the Accomodation Offices of both Leicester Uni and De Montford Uni

ramborai1987

wicked. thanks for the tips hugosp. i'll check narborough road out aswell. hopefully it'll be all done before july to let out.

red40

If you are planning to students/individuals as a shared house/bedsits are you familiar with the Housing Act 2004 legislation and what that entails with regards to this type of accommodation?

Perhaps it would be beneficial to ask about the relevant standards now, so you know what is required before you get a visit from the council, only a suggestion, but as you are working on a tight budget the last thing you want is to find out you needed more things doing than you have already got.