Extensive home improvement project

mdori003

Hi there, we have been saving up for some time to modernise our downstairs. Our electrics are in need of renovation so are going to have a full rewire, while doing that we are keen to do as much as we can (budget permitting) to put our stamp on what is hopefully our forever home. We've been thinking of various things and I'd really appreciate some expertise as we are a bit clueless as to go about certain aspects of it, or even what order we should do things.

The electrics need done. The wiring has been reviewed by a few electricians (including family) and agree it's showing age and frankly was wired incorrectly to begin with (house built in 1980).

We also would have on our dream list;

New floors downstairs, likely engineered wood. If possible retrofitting underfloor heating but I assume this would be very difficult to do/expensive. Also wonder as we have a timber framed house with suspended floor is that feasible?

Insulating ceiling of integrated garage (some electrics run along this, would you rewire first?) This isn't essential but the room upstairs is freezing.

New kitchen - kitchen is functional but v dated- we were going to wait but will likely pull the trigger on some form of update when rewiring happens as I assume the tiles etc will be displaced.

Is there anything else that would be ideal to update during a full house rewire? Some of the things I've mentioned are not 💯 necessary but keen to get as much done at once as feasible.

Really grateful for any advice as a confused rather crappy diyer. Thanks

Doozergirl

Electrics and plumbing always go first, before any other changes.  

If you are planning a new kitchen, then get the design sorted out as the electrician will rewire according to any new positions of appliances etc.  

If your house is well insulated with good windows, underfloor heating can work well.  If it isn't well insulated, it's unlikely to be a warm house as it isn't a responsive type of heating and relies upon the heat produced being retained within the house.    It's not cheap, especially compared to replacing radiators, for example, so your budget is important.  Of course your insulation can be upgraded if needs be.   I'd say that doing the insulation above the garage is essential! 

mdori003

Doozergirl said:

Electrics and plumbing always go first, before any other changes.  

If you are planning a new kitchen, then get the design sorted out as the electrician will rewire according to any new positions of appliances etc.  

If your house is well insulated with good windows, underfloor heating can work well.  If it isn't well insulated, it's unlikely to be a warm house as it isn't a responsive type of heating and relies upon the heat produced being retained within the house.    It's not cheap, especially compared to replacing radiators, for example, so your budget is important.  Of course your insulation can be upgraded if needs be.   I'd say that doing the insulation above the garage is essential! 

Thanks Doozergirl. Thankfully the house isn't too cold in general but that one room directly over the garage is a real outlier. It's also adjacent the kitchen (and both are north facing) so the kitchen is a bit nippy too. Maybe down the line we will insulate the walls but probably not that important.

The previous owner put some of the electrics along the ceiling of the garage so hopefully we can reroute that and sort it. The underfloor heating is a new idea and may just be a *pipe dream* but I guess no harm in getting a quote. Just a bit overwhelming and keen to not do anything in the wrong order as when we first moved in we stripped all the wallpaper upstairs, new carpets and repainted everything then realised the rewire would likely mess that up a bit!

SootySweep1

Hi
The thing I wish I'd done when we had our electrics redone was Internet cabling so you could plug in other rooms rather than rely on WiFi.
Jen

mdori003

SootySweep1 said:

Hi
The thing I wish I'd done when we had our electrics redone was Internet cabling so you could plug in other rooms rather than rely on WiFi.
Jen

Thanks Jen that's actually a really good idea. We have some of the BT signal boosters but I use the garage a lot for zwift (won't bore you with what that is but basically connects my bike to the internet and a stable connection is really important).

Very keen to have this rewire last so I do wonder if I should be future proofing it by asking about electric car sockets (don't have one) etc. We meant to get work done this time last year but covid has put the brakes on and probably given us too much time to think about it!

Doozergirl

If you're thinking about car charging points, the electrician can wire you up to be ready outside without actually connecting anything on.  We've just done it, though I think electric will
be the car after the next one for me.  Probably 5 years.  

Do think about outside plug points, lighting etc, even if you don't do those things straight away.