First time buyer - house renovation

FirstTimer89

Hi all

I have just had an offer accepted on a 3 bed semi detached house - I think its 1930s but unsure. The place needs complete renovation.

I am in the process of creating a to-do list to order the main projects:
1: Weatherproofing house (new roof)
2: Rewiring whole house
3: Installing new central heating and boiler
4: Plumbing and new bathroom
5: Damp proofing
6: Replacing driveway and brick wall at front of house
7: Kitchen

I know it won't be cheap (I have managed to estimate costs based on other people's advice on this forum and research online - and I've doubled it just in case!) but my question is how long after getting quotes did you have to wait until the work started?

Just looking for a rough average as I would like to get the bulk of it done soon after I exchange and before moving in (and before winter comes :undecided) as I can't afford to rent somewhere else at the same time.

BTW...I will know more about what needs doing after I have had the building survey done

Thanks in advance!

Doozergirl

It sounds like you want to do the work between exchange and completion. You know you can't do that, right?

How long it takes is going to be completely down to the availability of the individual tradespeople. It's always going to be a few weeks unless you fancy a cowboy, and possibly longer.

The issue seems to be getting the quotes in the first place.

Don't inject a damp proof course. It's pure snake oil and rarely necessary. Come and show us some photos first.

If you haven't had a survey yet, I'm not sure what your chances of being done by winter. Rule number one of renovating - don't set yourself up to fail with unrealistic timeframes.

FirstTimer89

Thanks!

Sorry...still getting my head around terminology - I meant when I complete and get the keys for the house.

Actually, on that note - has anyone ever managed to get quotes before they got the keys (obviously with owners permission)?

Will definitely post pics when I can!

[Deleted User]

Hi,
I work for a building company...
Would recommend looking online for small start up companies as they are usually the cheapest and keen to do a good job.
We had an electrician once who was in his early 20's and he was so cheap & the best we've ever used.
Try and avoid using a single building company as we literally just add 20/30% on top of the subcontractor costs, you dont want to pay that!
Ask round friends & family if they have anyone that they recommend too, then get a few comparison quotes.
It'll be very admin heavy, but I even did it myself when I moved and managed to save loads by putting in the leg work to start with!
How long the lead time will vary from each company, it usually is literally based on what work they have on in that very moment. Also remember if you have overlapping works like the kitchen and the electrics, they'll have to coincide with each other.
I'm not sure how bad the house is, but maybe you could work out what would be absolutely necessary before moving in, then work around lead times. Like is the driveway essential right now? Saying this, you would want to get this done before the winter as frost will not help new brickwork.
Good luck with your new home!

Dedekind

Similar situation here. We managed to get a number of quotes even before exchange, the estate agent was very helpful there. We managed then to start the works on day 1. It's slightly different for us since the house is livable so we moved right in. First we did the bathroom that took about a month. We are now doing things slowly step by step so we can live in the house at the same time. Next thing is doing all upstairs bedrooms next month (including new wiring, central heating pipes etc). Something that not every builder likes but is possible: do wiring and central heating by parts for example upstairs first then downstairs when you can later down the road. That means you can live in the house and if you trust your builders then the work will be good.

FirstTimer89

Thanks for your responses.

My immediate job would be weatherproofing and then bathroom.

The rest I can do over time but would like to do the invasive stuff together (plumbing, central heating and electrics).

I wanted to do the driveway because the house is on a main road and the driveway entrance is a bit narrow so I was thinking of knocking the brick wall (at the boundary) down to widen the entrance and then have space to park car, put the skip off-road or have a place to park the builders van whilst they are working.

Mojisola

FirstTimer89 wrote: »

Actually, on that note - has anyone ever managed to get quotes before they got the keys (obviously with owners permission)?

When I was selling Dad's house, I let our buyer bring several tradesmen in to give quotes for work they wanted to get done immediately after the sale went through and before they moved in.

They were able to get the work booked and all went ahead very smoothly.

Diana2014

If the house is presently unoccupied, then it makes sense (and is perfectly feasible) to exchange contracts and complete the sale on the same day. As the buyer is at risk for any damage etc to the property from the moment that they exchange contracts, they should insure it themselves from that date, even if the sellers (or their tenants etc) are still living there until completion.

Rewiring a house is extremely dirty and messy, while new central heating is even more disruptive, so do try to get those works, as well as the re-roofing, done before you move in. It makes sense to use a small firm of builders which employs the electrician and plumber directly and will co-ordinate the various works. You really don't want to juggle them all by employing each trade directly yourself; it's really not efficient and could be just as expensive.

Effective damp proofing depends on the structure of the house. Chemical insertion systems won't improve old houses, which depend on how they were originally built to avoid becoming damp.

Watch out for more recent external resurfacing, which could have raised the ground level above the original level and bridged any structural damp-proof course. You can solve that by digging trenches around the external walls and filling them with clean rough stone and/or pebbles, to help drain away surface water; some people call these 'French drains'. Before filling the trenches, line them with water-permeable membranes, to help stop them silting up in future.

Cement rendering on the outside of walls and cement-based internal plaster can sandwich damp in the base of solid walls. (This isn't 'rising damp', which is a myth perpetuated by damp-proofing companies, just rain soaking into the wall, which obeys the law of gravity.) If your walls are really wet, the render and plaster may have to be replaced with lime render and lime plaster to let the walls breathe - which can be done while you live there but isn't fun, as the walls take many months to dry out before replastering is even possible.

If the house has relatively modern concrete floors and existing CH pipes have been run through those, do remove those buried pipes, or bypass them by running new pipes in sunken ducts. If you don't, you may have (or risk) cracked buried pipes which will make nearby walls wet, giving the appearance of 'rising damp'.

I did a basic structural renovation of a small Victorian house 26 years ago but had to do this damp remedial work when exactly these problems were identified a couple of years ago. One can do the 'French drains' oneself, albeit slowly - it's not a job that can be done with a digger, so someone has to dig them manually - but not the limework, which most modern builders won't know how to do. There are still small specialists, often using Eastern European workmen not only for cheap labour but because they know the traditional methods which the UK building trade's modern habit of using cement for everything has unfortunately pre-empted.

Good luck!

FirstTimer89

Thank you!
Will keep a lookout for smaller firms.

kzzhar0

Hi! Just wondering how you are getting on with your renovation, my partner and I are looking at a 5 bed semi which needs the full works. I am finding it hard to price it all up or even estimate as I'm not sure how bad the condition is. Visually, I know there is lots that needs doing but structurally I am quite clueless. Any tips?
Does anyone know if you can hire a builder to visit the property with you to give you an estimate? Might seem like a silly question but like I said, I'm not clued up on this!

no1catman

FirstTimer89 wrote: »

Hi all

I have just had an offer accepted on a 3 bed semi detached house - I think its 1930s but unsure. The place needs complete renovation.

I am in the process of creating a to-do list to order the main projects:
1: Weatherproofing house (new roof)
2: Rewiring whole house
3: Installing new central heating and boiler
4: Plumbing and new bathroom
5: Damp proofing
6: Replacing driveway and brick wall at front of house
7: Kitchen

Thanks in advance!

At least your list doesn't include - knocking down walls!
1: Because you can see several slates missing or askew, or are there damp patches you can see in bedroom walls?
2: You haven't had the survey yet, how do you know this is needed?
£: You said 'new' so are the 'old' radiators ok? If so probably just a two day job to fit a new (combi) boiler - maybe three taking the old hot-water tank away.
5: assume you mean new damp course, rather than any new plastering, doesn't take long at all.
6: Providing your chosen blocks are available, and depending on the area - four five days.
7: Depends on the size, have a good idea what you want i.e. work-tops, units, tiling etc.

Good luck.