Advice on where to start

igrieveuk

Hi all,

We have just recently bought our council flat and are now in a position to make improvements, the scope of work would include new walls, flooring,doors,skirting some re routing of lights and plugs and finally decoration.

Having never dealt with tradesmen of any kind been a council tenant for over 20 years, what is the best way of approaching this work? Where do I start with this who do I need to contact first or do I find someone who can do the lot covering all the needed trades?

Thanks
Ian

Hong_Kong_Phooey.

Start with the electrics, new walls, skirting and doors then decorate and floor. Unless you're going for wood or laminate.

Davesnave

Do you really mean 'new walls?'

If you live in a flat, there may be restrictions on what you can do to the fabric of the building without the permission of the freeholder.

igrieveuk

Well it's currently got lath and plaster and it's very old and has sagged and bulged in places, I'm thinking just pulling it and down and replacing with plaster boards.

Davesnave

igrieveuk wrote: »

Well it's currently got lath and plaster and it's very old and has sagged and bulged in places, I'm thinking just pulling it and down and replacing with plaster boards.

You haven't answered my other implied question, which is whether you will be able to do that without reference to a third party, probably the council.

I'm not a fan of lath & plaster either, but part of your prep for this work should be looking at the legal implications of what you plan to do and how to deal with those. Flats usually come with a different set of rules from houses for anything that might be deemed structural.

igrieveuk

I don't think there's an issue regarding the legal side of things as many of my neighbors over the years have had the same work done to their flats without any problems from the council.