House needs lots of work

Emmylou_2

DH and I are in the wonderful position of his parents giving us his inheritance early so we can get on the property ladder (without a mortgage). We have had an offer accepted on a 4-bed stone built property which last had work done to it in the 70s (downstairs loo is green, upstairs bathroom is pink, there's a blue basin in the master bedroom; there's a back boiler for heating; it needs a rewire and the kitchen is literally a single unit and a free standing cooker).

It has wet rot, damp plasterwork and woodworm, according to the survey (the guttering is shot/missing - some of it is original from the 1880s! - and the windows are single glazed which is how the wet has got in). The walls will need to be stripped, dried and replastered (but we need to rewire anyway), the timbers either treated for woodworm or replaced for wet rot. Once the structure is sound and dry, we will be in a position to get new kitchen/bathrooms and decorate etc.

Despite this, I love the house. It has SO MUCH potential (and I felt "at home" there three steps into the hall) and I can see myself raising a family there.

It's not in an area where either of us grew up - if it was in my home town (120 miles away) I'd know a few people to ask for tradesmen - we've lived here for about 4 years, currently renting (so we can get the house sorted before we move in, no having to live in a building site).

I have NO CLUE where to start re tradesmen/builders/getting the work done.

Help please?

jellie

Local recommendations are always good. If you can't get any, try:

www.trustmark.org.uk
www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk


My local Age Concern website has recommended tradesmen too.

Robin9

Is the property listed? If yes you will need Listed Building Consent



Possibly lime mortar, plaster, lime wash - if so not all builders and decorators will be experienced.

A lot of challenges but you will have your dream home

jc808

If youre taking it back to brick or doing serious renovation works, (assuming you can because of LBC issue)

- consider where/ how youre going to live. zone off 1 room upstairs and 1 of the bathrooms and live like a studio flat. Make it a room where NO works happen (not even taking up the carpets)
- how will you pay for it? best way for you would have been to keep a lump of money from your inheritance to one side and buy with a small mortgage, and use the money to get it done quickly. nothing more depressing than living in a house with no ceilings/ doors/ walls/ floors because........... youre waiting........ to do the jobs........ one wage packets worth........... at........ a time.

God bless usury.

Emmylou_2

jc808 wrote: »

If youre taking it back to brick or doing serious renovation works, (assuming you can because of LBC issue)

- consider where/ how youre going to live. zone off 1 room upstairs and 1 of the bathrooms and live like a studio flat. Make it a room where NO works happen (not even taking up the carpets)
- how will you pay for it? best way for you would have been to keep a lump of money from your inheritance to one side and buy with a small mortgage, and use the money to get it done quickly. nothing more depressing than living in a house with no ceilings/ doors/ walls/ floors because........... youre waiting........ to do the jobs........ one wage packets worth........... at........ a time.

God bless usury.

Property is not listed. I will NEVER (having lived in one as a tenant) buy a listed building, even if it means having to sleep in the car!

We will be living in our current (rented) flat until such time as it's ready to move in to. I have disabilities that mean I just could not cope with living in a building site (particularly not in winter/spring) - much as DH wants to be able to get his camping stuff out!

In terms of funding, we have the money that we had been saving for a deposit (c £40k), and we didn't go to the "top" of the amount we're being given, inheritance wise so (after buying costs/fees etc) should have around £60k (not that I want to spend it all but will if it's necessary). I'm looking at this as a "home for life" so want it to be right before we move in, but am not willing to compromise on my money saving principles. However, if it costs a little more to do a better job that will last longer/save us money in the long run, so be it.

I'm asking friends/work & college colleagues for recommendations - unfortunately, most people I know round here rent, so don't have knowledge of builders; I hadn't thought about Age Concern as a source of info but will definitely look at their website.

phill99

Whete aboits ate you based? Someone maybe able to recommend a builder.

Emmylou_2

Ooh yeah, that'd be sensible. We're in Weston-super-Mare.

evokit

jc808 - back to brick is actually serious renovations......
its gen starting again.
Emmylou, your not in the cheapest trade area.
I only know people in the Bridgwater/Street area and chances are they would not travel that far.
Try some on line trade sites, get a few around to gauge their prices so you can see what the differences are.
I would say get in different trades for what you need.
Try and supply all the main products/items yourself (as its your home).
Many will say they can supply fab stuff as they have trade accounts etc yet many things like bathrooms or tiles and kitchens you source yourself, more selection and a bit of home work you will gain better products.
Windows, you can get a tarde chap to measure and order on line.
We did this on 3 houses (one in street) and hired some one to fit them, saved £1000's - pm for the people if you want.

zaax

Labour is expensive how much can you DIY? - maybe the demolition work to start with The government gives aid for some work. Parcel it to sections, and get quotes for each section. Anyone can do any electrical work but it has to passed by the council.

Emmylou_2

We can't realistically do much of it ourselves - I'm disabled and DH works full time (plus volunteering two evenings/weekends a month) so if we were doing it round his spare time then we'll be lucky to EVER move in (I am still waiting for a mirror to be fitted in the bathroom, we're at 15 months and counting...I'd do it myself except we've got concrete walls and I can't lift the bloody drill without dislocating my wrists).

We are aware it's serious renovations and that it's going to be basically taken back to the shell and rebuilt (and we may be doing a loft conversion at the same time rather than do it in 5 years when we've got toddlers around the place) but it's a truly wonderful building (on an exceptional plot with all the outbuildings we need) and I got "the feeling" from it as soon as I walked in.

SilverSaloon

whatever you do, take what damp specialists say and want to do on old buildings with a pinch of salt.

whatever you do dont let any concrete or injection methods get done on anything that is stonework or used lime mortar