basic decoration and renovation

catoutthebag

Seen a place I like...1 bed flat that I hope to offer on.

But I need to make some changes. I don't have the time or skill for DIY so ill get professionals in.

As a guide I want to

- change laminate flooring in lounge and small hall to wood veneer

- change carpet in bedroom to wood veneer

- remove carpet from bathroom floor to tiles. ..no idea of colours. ..suggestions welcome. ..and then most likely replace with new toilet sink and bath

- there are 4 door that look cheap that I want to replace with basic wood? doors painted white

- then a lick of paint all over

I know of sites like building sheriff, My hammer and victoria plumb.

Excuse my ignorance. ..what are best or cheapest places for thr bath tiles and suites? B&q? Wikes? VP? Do I order them to my door and get a workman paid just labor to fit?

Ditto veneer flooring. ..do I source myself?
Any cons to wood veneer or recommendations to type of wood? Guess oak will be most expensive? What's the best alternative to oak for wood veneer flooring?

I'm cautious of price. ..it's a small flat and not massive things. I want to set aside no more than 1.5-2 k...double bedroom, average lounge and regular small bathroom

Any other comments welcome

benson1980

First off, your budget is rather optimistic.

I would buy bathroom suite from plumbers merchants and then find a bathroom fitter to fit it, plus whichever tiles you decide you want. This alone will probably be more than your budget I would have thought, even for something modest. Our modest suite, plus taps was £600, plus fitting and floor tiling was £400. I did the wall tiling myself. Tiles another few hundred. Even doing a lot of it myself it came to around 2k.

As for wood flooring, again this is expensive- as a slightly cheaper alternative to wood I can recommend bamboo. I've laid it and it is very hard wearing (I've got strand woven)

Internal doors- if you don't like the cheap feeling of moulded doors then the doors alone you are looking at £50 plus each. Leader doors have a good selection. I got XL joinery primed white doors from them and they are excellent, but were around £70 each. These will then just require a top coat. If you want decent doors and a carpenter to hang I would suggest you are looking at least £400 - 600, plus painting.

As for painting itself, depends on state of walls. If you get a professional in to do it all, again it isn't going to be cheap

If you want all of this, and getting people in to do it, even for a small place I would triple your budget

catoutthebag

Thank you.

I guess I need to reassess

I can leave out:
- bath suite
- doors

But would still like
- tiled floor (as bathroom has carpet)
- bsmboo floor if it's significantly cheaper than engineered oak, in bedroom, lounge, hallway
- paint whole interior

Is this more doable in budget?

For flooring bedroom is 12'7 by 9'2 , hall way is a small space and lounge is L shaped so 19'5 by 10'8 max to 7'3 min

Can I paint whole flat, bsmboo floor 2 room and small hall and floor tile small bathroom for 1-1.5?

I'm planning on offering SOON...I have surplus cash but not a lot and would rather spend as little as possible

benson1980

Work out the total floor area that you want to do- mine was around 27sq metres that I did bamboo flooring and this cost me close to £1000, doing everything myself. It's not just taking up old floor and putting it down. It's levelling the floor, underlay, whatever you want to do with skirting, cutting around awkward bits etc. People say laying a floating floor is easy- it is to an extent but it's also very time consuming doing it properly and this will cost.

Doing up a flat/house nicely costs a lot of money, especially if you need to get people in to do it. I just think for your budget you might be looking at sprucing up one room, if that's flooring and painting, if you want proper wood flooring/nice tiles etc.

catoutthebag

Hmm at a rough guess my area would be 23-25 Sq metres.

I just hate carpet or laminate.

And there's no half way house for me...I'd rather go in all guns blazing and floor those 3 bits rather than have inconvenience of later on.

Tiling a bath floor will be tiny.

Hopefully I can do all 3 bits for 1.5...I assume a couple tradesman can wood floor tile floor and paint...so possibility of discount and quicker turnaround

benson1980

Okay...you did ask for some pointers and I'm giving you my advice based on experience of doing up two houses, pretty much as you describe. You have no chance of getting all of that done to a decent standard for 1.5k. The bath floor may be tiny but it doesn't really cut down on the work that much. The time consuming parts are levelling the floor, screwing down ply, cutting the tiles for the edges etc. You're still looking at several hundred pounds for a decent job.

You really need to rethink your budget, or comprimise significantly on the finish, or learn to do some/all of it yourself which it doesn't sound like you want to do.

lindens

Also the lease may prohibit you from having wooden floors in a flat (unless it's a ground floor one) due to noise issues.

LEJC

Lindens makes a very good and possibly valid point...please check the lease of the property that you are looking to buy...many do prohibit hard flooring and those that do allow usually stipulate soundproofing.


Ask the vendor to confirm prior to making the offer on the property as otherwise its a rather expensive mistake to make if you dont discover a clause ubtil just before exchange of contracts!

catoutthebag

benson1980 wrote: »

Okay...you did ask for some pointers and I'm giving you my advice based on experience of doing up two houses, pretty much as you describe. You have no chance of getting all of that done to a decent standard for 1.5k. The bath floor may be tiny but it doesn't really cut down on the work that much. The time consuming parts are levelling the floor, screwing down ply, cutting the tiles for the edges etc. You're still looking at several hundred pounds for a decent job.

You really need to rethink your budget, or comprimise significantly on the finish, or learn to do some/all of it yourself which it doesn't sound like you want to do.

Yea you're right I don't WANT to do it myself
I don't have the time knowledge or desire

And significantly the last time my parents changed carpets I ended up in hospital for 5 days with asthma attack

I contacted EA and they don't have the lease and mentioned management company. ..can I request it off them

Eirher way if I have to comprimise with laminate either be a raw that's all I'm allowed or can afford. ..that's fine. I just need to get rid of thr carpet

LEJC

catoutthebag wrote: »

I contacted EA and they don't have the lease and mentioned management company. ..can I request it off them

The lease document is usually something that your solicitor will request from the management company once you have agreed to the purchase and things are progressing....
Which is why it is important for you to find the information out from the vendor prior to making your offer.
Its unlikely that the EA will know the details but they are in a position to ask the vendor which you should push for ...certainly if it is a deal breaker later down the line if you find that wood or any hard flooring is excluded in the lease now rather than later!


You may be able to contact the management company as a potential purchaser with a general query if the EA will pass on the details to you...but all depends on the management company TBH...some will happily give information others may not.

catoutthebag

I guess it's not a deal breaker because I'm looking at flats and don't want a ground floor one and I guess if one has this clause then a number will too.

It won't prohibit laminate I imagine in which case it's fine.

Just thst we've got really old cheap laminate at home but I guess they've come on a bit and there are a better ones out there now