House renovation

betsy123_2

Hi....
ive never used this before but need some advice..




im buying a house with my partner however the house needs a complete refurb but where do we start?


the list of jobs are...
knocking the porch down
removing a window replacing it with a front door
removing the current front door and replacing it with a window
knock down the conservatory and rebuild with brick and slate roof
all new windows
new bathroom as well as ripping old out
wall knocked down in master bedroom
remove boiler and boiler cupboard
new kitchen fitted
completely flatten garden




do we get prices from individuals such as a plumber to do the plumbing and electrician to do the electrics or do we just get a builder in to manage the project and pay him for it all?


bearing in mind we both work full time...


any advice would be bril!!:j

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

Firstly welcome. There's a lot of experience out here - opinions may differ, but between us I hope we'll suggest some things which will work


Do you need to move in straight away, and how much of this do you reckon you can finance straight off? Could you cope with a month or two of overlap with where you live now? What period do you wan to do this over? Are you in a conservation area or is it listed? And which one would make the most difference to your lives?


I'd be happy to suggest, but it's massively dependent on the above

stator

It will be easier if you get a builder to project manage the whole thing for you, but he will likely want more money for this, maybe adding 10% to the whole lot?

So it's really just a trade off between your time vs money.

betsy123_2

Hello thanks for replying I currently live at home with parents so there's no rush in getting the house done we aim to move in, in around 12 months so we have time.

Atm we have around £20k but haven't had a price so it's all a guessing game Untill we recieve our quotes.

We know it would be easier for a builder to do it all and manage it but if it's going to save a lot of money getting it done separately we would rather do it that way.

G_M

It's not just a question of your time, but your experience too.

No point for example, getting a plasterer in to plaster the walls, then an electrician in who will dig out the plaster to re-wire!

Thats an obvious example, but there are many decisions the project manager needs to make, and if you get it wrong it might end up costing more than a builder would have charged to organise it for you!

You also have know/find each individual contractor, whereas a builder will have a team available.

betsy123_2

Ok fair point..

Does anyone have any idea what the cost might be,

laidbackgjr

Depends on the size of the property, whether you need any planning permissions, what quality fittings and finishings you choose, even a small bathroom can be done from £2k to £20k depending on what you choose to fit!

On the basis it sounds like you are getting someone in for every job, I would think anything less than £50k and you are doing well or doing everything with the cheapest options.

makeitstop

betsy123 wrote: »

Ok fair point..

Does anyone have any idea what the cost might be,

More than £20K I'd say, but it's tricky to know (or guess) without knowing the kind of house it is, (detached / bedrooms / square footage) the current condition it's in and to what extent some of the work needs to go to in order to make a decent / high standard of finish. Besides that, the location is significant too, as costing jobs will vary enormously from one area to another.

The works to be carried out could be reasonable or massively expensive. You need to be more specific.

penguine

We had a complete refurb and extension built on a house we bought last year and went with a builder rather than individual trades as we had no experience with this type of project. The advantages to getting someone else to manage the job, especially if you are both working full time, is that not only will they do everything in the right order but you avoid the risk of something falling between the trades, ie different tradesmen thinking it's someone else's responsibility.

I got a book out of the library called "Renovating for Profit" which I would recommend as I found really useful in understanding how the process was going to work.

Regarding the cost you should get a builder around to give you an estimate but be aware you may need to pay them for their time as you've not finished buying the house yet. After you own the house you will be able to get numerous quotes from builders free of charge.

makeitstop

laidbackgjr wrote: »

Depends on the size of the property, whether you need any planning permissions, what quality fittings and finishings you choose, even a small bathroom can be done from £2k to £20k depending on what you choose to fit!

On the basis it sounds like you are getting someone in for every job, I would think anything less than £50k and you are doing well or doing everything with the cheapest options.

Would largely agree with this, although on a £50K budget, you can do a lot.

As you say though, the variation on costs can be absolutely huge and we have no idea at all without knowing the type of house it is and what some of the sizes are. I worry for people who have to employ pro's for everything. The costs can soon spiral out of control.

makeitstop

penguine wrote: »

We had a complete refurb and extension built on a house we bought last year and went with a builder rather than individual trades as we had no experience with this type of project. The advantages to getting someone else to manage the job, especially if you are both working full time, is that not only will they do everything in the right order but you avoid the risk of something falling between the trades, ie different tradesmen thinking it's someone else's responsibility.

I got a book out of the library called "Renovating for Profit" which I would recommend as I found really useful in understanding how the process was going to work.

Regarding the cost you should get a builder around to give you an estimate but be aware you may need to pay them for their time as you've not finished buying the house yet. After you own the house you will be able to get numerous quotes from builders free of charge.

Very good advice for those who have no idea at all about construction / building.

One person overseeing all is deffo the best option.