advice please on house renovation after purchase.

Cris1970

I am looking for any words of wisdom. I am hoping to be eventually moving house in 4 weeks.:eek:
The house I am buying with my partner who is 30 weeks pregnant
(we had hoped to be moved into the new house with plenty of time before the birth of my daughter, unfortunately my initial buyer dropped out.), needs rewiring.
We also would like to replace the kitchen (this would also include a reinstating a door which was blocked up or ideally wall knocked through.)
I understand the rewiring is going to result in needing replastering. The knock through will also require some replastering.
The upstairs bedrooms need carpeting or laminate flooring.

I would appreciate any advice on coordinating this work, with a limited budget.

sweaty_betty

In my experience, it's best to get the wiring done asap as this can disrupt every room in the house. (It's also best to get done while not living there, but not sure if this is an option for you)

While you're getting the wiring done, think about where you'd want addition power points, or new cabling into the kitchen once it's fitted (I'm thinking of new locations for ovens etc) and get the electrician to make allowances for that and agree that either he'll come back and connect up, or leave it so the kitchen fitter can do this (as long as appropriately qualified etc etc).

Once the wiring is done, then look at knocking through. Then get the plastering done.

I think flooring is usually one of the last things to do (after decorating/painting etc).

In terms of limited budget, unfortunately if you have a time limit you might end up paying more - i.e. paying others to do things more quickly that you trying to do it yourself. My advice would be to get work done in chunks - all the electrics done together, all the plastering done at the same time, which may save labour costs etc.


Hope you get it all done in time - although as an aside, we were having decorating finished and carpets fitted when I was in hospital having our LO. It was nice to come home to a finished house!

osdset

The golden rule when refurbishing is work from the top down, ceilings then walls, then floor, that might seem obvious but you would be surprised at how may people lay a nice new floor down then realise the ceiling needs painting.

Get all demolition, re wiring and plastering well out of the way before considering having the new kitchen fitted.

Bear in mind that to get to the ceiling wiring downstairs the first floor floorboards will need lifting here and there, so the rooms need to be clear, 2nd floor can be accessed via the loft (usually).

evoke

The simple concept of first fix and then second fix usually works well.

First fix works are changes to the fabric of the dwelling - basically the messy building work. Examples are new extensions, new central heating/plumbing, new wall/ceilings, plastering, new electrics, new double-glazing, etc.

Second fix works are the generally less messy things and finishing works. Examples include decorating, fitting of lights, decorative sockets and switches, tiling, flooring, new doors, etc.

In terms of order of works for your situation, I would go for the following as a project plan:

1. Get the kitchen done first as this will determine rewiring locations for the kitchen - but just do the first fix part - plumbing, kitchen units, electrics, etc. Include the reinstatement of the doorway. You probably want to protect the kitchen worktops and units at this stage.

2. Get the rewiring done - this may require cutting of holes for the boxes and a fair amount of upheaval and mess. Remember you will need to get the electrics certified at the end of the job. This is very important! This would be a good time to consider outside lighting/alarm/network cabling if you have the budget to do so.

3. Get the plastering done to cover up any imperfections in the walls (caused mainly by the rewiring work and the new kitchen doorway).

4. Finish off cosmetic second-fix jobs like decorative sockets/switches, ceiling lights, painting, wallpapering. Now is the time to hang up mirrors/pictures and anything that will require holes to be drilled in the walls/ceilings.

5. Give the house a good clean-up.

6. Carpet/laminate the upstairs flooring (I would got for carpet to create a more cosy effect). Laminate for downstairs usually!