Timing & sanding floorboards, DIY?

dancing_star

I'm in the process of buying a fixer-upper. Due to complicated cash flow issues, I can't afford to get all the work done immediately, so I'm trying to prioritise what absolutely needs to be done and leave the less important jobs til later, when I get the next cash injection. I don't mind roughing it camping indoors for a few months, there's only me and the cats.

The essential jobs are rewiring and replacing the back boiler with a CH system from the 21st century!
I also need a knock through of a tiny kitchen, and a new kitchen fitted in the new kitchen/diner space, and a rebuild of a wall in between dining room and living room (latter isn't a huge job).

I was hoping to get these done before I move in, but if necessary the new kitchen can wait, and if I get the building done I can survive until I can afford the kitchen.

But there's also the floorboards, I want to rip up the carpets and sand the floors to the beautiful original boards.

I'm just wondering if
a) this is best done before I move in
b) is it realistic to DIY with hired sander (and my dad helping), or is it false economy as I'll be useless at it, use loads of sanding paper and I'd be better getting a man in / getting the builders to do it?

Similarly, the revolting blown vinyl wallpaper needs gone. Is it best to do this while everything else is going on, before all my stuff gets moved in?

Thoughts appreciated.

rosie383

Definitely you could do the sanding by yourself with a hired machine and I'd imagine that it would be a darn bit cheaper than a professional doing it.
Bear in mind that it creates a crazy amount of dust. After you sand you won't want to get it covered in plaster and paint after all your hard work, so what we did was to rip up the old carpet and get rid, sand, then replace just the underlay to protect the floor.

As for the schedule of everything else, someone else will come along and help soon I'm sure as I can't remember the exact sequence in which we did things and I'm sure that at some stages we wish we had done things in a different order.

dancing_star

Thanks so much, I hadn't thought about replacing just the underlay while the rest of the work is going on. I'll note that down!

Like you say, people always have 'I wish I'd done it in this order' stories, that help other people! And while I'm not daft, there's so much going on and so much to think about that I'm bound to forget something blindingly obvious!!

It looks like the sanding will have to be done before I move in, as the cats would be horrified and I don't want them stressed/breathing in dust.