How difficult is it to do up a house?

DD265

Indigo_and_Violet said:

Definitely worth going round with a trusted contractor post-survey to get an idea of any obvious problems. However, this means you'll probably have to give them at least some of the work. Personally I wouldn't attempt a new bathroom or new kitchen install myself (paint, shelving and soft furnishings are my limit!) but people do manage to fit their own units, do their own tiling etc. 
The other thing to think about is how much interest/enjoyment you do/don't get out of it. On the one hand there's the excitement of getting exactly what you want. On the other hand there's finishing a day at work and spending two hours online trying to find the basin tap you like for less than £200. If you love planning interiors and learning new DIY techniques it's the dream, but we found it pretty demanding on top of two full-time jobs, and its even more so if money is tight and so you've got to find the budget way of doing everything.

I have to agree with that. We were lucky that the rooms we have decorated so far, we could have them unused for a few weeks each allowing us to do the DIY around work, particularly as we had to allow time for plaster to dry. Our bathroom has been half painted for a month now and I'm struggling for motivation to pick up the brush again; it quickly becomes a chore.

Depending on the extent of what needs doing, I definitely recommend living in the property for a while before spending any significant money. A few tins of paint fine, but changing bathrooms, kitchens or even walls etc... better to be 100% certain what you want first. It can also help with cashflow if you are able to live with things for a while.

Gavin83

You have to start somewhere. Don’t run before you can walk though, start small and build up your skills. However I think you could do a fair number of jobs around the house either by using someone with the skills to learn from, YouTube or potentially even going on courses.

I’m looking at buying my first house so my DIY skills are minimal but I do a lot of my own car maintenance. That’s entirely self taught, I certainly don’t know a mechanic personally and I’ve learnt almost everything from the internet. It’s saved me a lot of money and so far I haven’t made any major mistakes.

I intend on doing the same when it comes to DIY as well, although my dad was in the trade which helps. However it is important to know your limits. I also think there are some jobs which are difficult to master and do well so have a serious think about what’s better left to the professionals.

Markneath

Unless you know what your doing and can do the majority of the work yourself it will be cheaper to buy a house needing none or very little work. 

Houses needing work are expensive compared to similar houses in decent condition generally.

There is the possibility though that you can only afford the house needing work so you buy it and sort it out slowly knowing it will cost more than a similar updated house but it gets you on the property ladder and out of renting. 

homersimpson246

Angela_D_3 said:

Houses are money pits at the best of times.  

Not usually, I bought one in 2010 for 130K, put a new roof on, new windows, doors, re plastered it, rewired it, new boiler etc.  Spent around 30K on it (roof, plastering and boiler by professionals the rest by me) and sold it at the start of this year for just under 300K. 

With houses unless you buy something with serious structural issues or get stung by a cowboy builder you will usually find that if you live in it long term doing up a house is a very worthwhile endeavor, not only can you make money at it to build up equity to either reduce your mortgage cost (by reducing LTV) or move to another house but you can also have what you want rather than someone elses idea of what a nice kitchen or bathroom was.

The problem for some people is that they have to pay for everything, on another thread on here someone mentioned that they paid £250 to fix a minor leak, that leaking part and all the tools to do it if you had nothing would have been less than £50 but if you pay trades people to do things that are simple it soon starts to mount up.