Ripping out fitted wardrobes

BelleBot

The house I'm buying (if all goes to plan) has fitted wardrobes in the bedroom which I want to rip out. I assume that the walls behind will need replastering and painting once the wardrobes have been removed and possibly the ceiling too. Plus the floor (laminate) will need removing and carpet put down as the floor only goes up to the edge of the wardrobes and I don't like laminate in the bedroom.

I have no idea how much this will cost. Assuming I remove the wardrobes myself with a little help from friends and family, how much is it likely to cost to replaster two walls and maybe a bit of the ceiling of a 3.4 x 3.7m room?

I've budgetted £1k for paying a plasterer and floor layer to do the work including materials. Is this reasonable? I'm hoping I'll have money to spare. Any painting I'll do myself.

Anyone have any experience with removing fitted wardrobes? Anything I should look out for?




edit- Sorry I put this in the wrong forum, silly me for having multiple tabs open.

phill99

Most fitted wardrobes are built once the room is plastered. So once you have removed it, it's likely to be bare plaster or decorated from a previous colour scheme.

At most you may need to put some more skirting in as this is often removed for fitted wardrobes and maybe some coving, the nuts ready to decorate.

GwylimT

Plastering costs vary greatly, so I would phone around and get some quotes based on the area as many plasterers just charge by the metre, can you see if you have skirting boards behind the wardrobe if it has an open back?

Just remember, once plastered give it a coat of diluted PVA, otherwise it is liable to peel in the future.

Floor covering just depends on how much you want to spend on a carpet, from your measurements it isn't a big room so it shouldn't be too costly to carpet at all.

BelleBot

I hadn't thought about coving and skirting boards, what sort of tradesman is best to contact in regards to sorting them? (I'm clueless).

cajef

GwylimT wrote: »

Just remember, once plastered give it a coat of diluted PVA, otherwise it is liable to peel in the future.

No, no, no, never use PVA on a newly plastered wall if you intend to paint it that will cause coats of paint to peel, just use an inital skim coat of diluted emulsion paint.

http://www.mybuilder.com/questions/v/3704/which-is-the-best-to-use-before-painting-a-newly-plastered-wall-watered-down-pva-or-and-white-undercoat-paint

lincroft1710

BelleBot wrote: »

I hadn't thought about coving and skirting boards, what sort of tradesman is best to contact in regards to sorting them? (I'm clueless).

A handyman, these are not usually specialist jobs and could be quite quickly done by someone with basic diy knowledge. So if you have a capable friend or relative who wants to earn a few pounds to pay their overspent Xmas.....

BelleBot

Thank you very much, I'm sure I can find someone.

shegar

If I was you id think before ripping the fitted wardrobes out because the cost of new are so expensive, it amazes me the price of wardrobes even for manky cheap rubbish is ridiculous ................

When we moved here the 2 bedrooms had fitted which we kept in , but the large room didnt , it was so expensive getting wardrobes for the one room..............

BelleBot

I've already got very nice custom built stand alone wardrobes which will fit in the rooms and the fitted wardrobes take up too much space and are very oppressive, hence wanting rid. A lot of people think I'm crazy for wanting to rip them out, but they're ugly, make the room small and there's too much storage on offer, I'd rather have floor space and my own furniture.

jimmy_81

You don't say Belle, but what's the state of the walls & ceiling in the rest of the room? Paint over plaster, paint over paper, something else...?

Unless it's absolutely immaculate, to do a proper job it would make sense to strip everything back & have the whole room skimmed before then repainting. Should be entirely achievable within your budget* and will end up with a completely pristine finish - rather than having a nice new area butting up against old decoration...

Also if you do need to replace skirting and/or coving where the old wardrobes were, check you can source suitable profiles - especially in older properties they can be quite hard to match accurately. Otherwise, again it's best to take off & replace throughout the room.

*That's if you do the painting yourself. Otherwise might just tip a bit over!

AlexMac

I agree you could do this well within your budget, but there is a cheapskate option...

You could be really lucky and find that having removed them carefully (as opposed to smashing them to bits as a builder would do!) you might get away with simply filling any fixing screw-holes in the wall and, if necessary, repapering with lining paper before repainting. And even if you do need some replacement skirting, its likely that unless you're in a much older house, new skirtings will match.

And if the existing wardrobes are in reasonable condition, and even if, as you say, they are fitted rather than free-standing, you might just be pleasantly surprised, if you advertise them with a precise description on 'freecycle', at the takers who'd be prepared to help you dismantle 'em. I've got rid of loads of stuff on that website which is easy to register on, and it saves landfill.

Lifting laminate's a doddle as well- so if, as it seems, you've embarked on home ownership but are a DIY virgin, why not make a start with these easy jobs? You can call in a builder or handyman (from local papers or window ads) if it goes tats up.

I was totally inept when I started but progressed to fairly ambitious semi-structural stuff over 30+ years of home ownership. And having a bit of experience makes it easier to brief and monitor builders when you move up the food chain and/or can afford to engage 'em.

Good luck