Bother to modernise kitchen and bathroom? Or keep it cheap?

Mojisola

hufc2002 wrote: »

The other thing we thought about doing was painting the ceiling and walls. Again is there any point?

Definitely. A lot of elbow grease to get rid it properly clean and then a fresh coat of paint will make it a nicer room - both for you to use and for buyers to appreciate.

ReadingTim

How much (if any) of this could you do yourself? Paying for someone to come in and sort every aspect of the job themselves probably isn't worth it, but get the materials yourself, do as much you can do yourself over a weekend or two and only get a bloke in for things which are beyond your abilities or requires a professional (eg if the hob's gas) and it's a different story...

hufc2002

I am happy to paint. Hob is fine, its the built in electric oven that needs replacing. Straightforward it would seem.


I couldn't do the floor either but surely that won't be expensive to replace.

Mojisola

hufc2002 wrote: »

I couldn't do the floor either but surely that won't be expensive to replace.

As long as your kitchen isn't huge, you should be able to pick up an end-of-roll cheap bit of flooring.

StumpyPumpy

When I wanted to sell a property with outdated bathroom and kitchen, I asked the EA what they thought and they said that I wouldn't recoup the cost of replacing them and added people want different things so they may want to strip out the changes any way. So I put it on without modernising.

I sold less than two weeks after putting it on the market. I had four viewings, two wanted to turn the bathroom into a shower room and two wanted to modernise but keep the bath, so whatever I might have done would only satisfy 50% of viewings. I did make sure everything was bright and repainted where necessary even though I knew it would all be stripped out, but that was all. It may be somewhat dependant on the area and how quickly things sell, but the best bet would be to get an opinion from the EA and listen to it.

SP

TBagpuss

Mojisola wrote: »

As long as your kitchen isn't huge, you should be able to pick up an end-of-roll cheap bit of flooring.

This.

I have virtually no DIY skills at all but I was able to lay vinyl in my (old) bathoom.

Mojisola

ashe wrote: »

we're going to be here at least another 6-12 months

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

When I wanted to sell a property with outdated bathroom and kitchen, I asked the EA what they thought and they said that I wouldn't recoup the cost of replacing them and added people want different things so they may want to strip out the changes any way. So I put it on without modernising.

I did the same when I sold my Dad's house - and the new owners did change both the kitchen and bathroom in ways that I wouldn't have done - but the OP is going to carry on living in the house for maybe another year and the rooms are getting them down.

In their case, I would go for a minimal change without paying out too much - just enough to make the house a nicer place to live.

ashe

penguingirl wrote: »

Can you not put a shower in over the bath? I think having a bath only would be very off-putting to both buyers or renters, most people need the option of a shower, and I don't think only have one bath/shower in a house is that unusual.

But for 12 months of living there I'd go with what makes it live-able. Would vinyl be an option for the flooring? We had it in our previous properties (never chosen by us), and I think it is preferable to bad laminate.

Not easily. Former owner added a window, room is rectangular shape, bath on right along long end as you walk in the door, window directly opposite at the tap - end of the bath, box shelving in front of it hides the pipe work so shelf the length of the short- end in front of the window would mean you'd need a full shower curtain going all round the bath and it's such a small room it would cramp it up. Without the window it would be doable

glasgowdan

I absolutely wouldn't spend money on theses rooms. I viewed a house with a brand new top class modern german kitchen and felt terrible that if we moved there I'd be replacing it and wasting it all. That made us offer the same as if it were an old kitchen in the house.

zagubov

Another vote for not changing them. People will come into view it, and will probably want to change everything; they'll just see the potential for change.
You'll have wasted our efforts.
Unless they're so awful they'd frighten children or make our eyes bleed, leave them be.
Life's a short enough trip without filling it up doing extra pointless work.