Buying a house in need of improvements - advice needed!

takay9

Hi - we have an offer accepted on a house which is in need of renovation. We have had a full building survey to know the full extent of the work and to make sure we have the budget for it before deciding if we are going to go ahead. If anyone has been through this experience and has an idea of costs etc, would be so appreciated to help put our minds at rest. We are planning for average costs and worst case scenario and have spoken with builders and the surveyor to make sure we have all the information we can get, but some other opinions would be really helpful - and check our costings.

The work required:
- Replace old gas central heating (£5-7k budget)
- Rewire (£3-5k budget)
- New windows and doors (2 bay windows, conservatory, 2 back doors, 2-3 other windows) (Budget £6-10k)
- Replastering and potentially insulating internally (Budget £4-8k)
- New roof on single storey extension and knock down stud walls (£8-14k)
- New kitchen (£8-10k)
- New bathroom (£5-6k)
- General redecoration of all rooms (£2-3k) doing ourselves.

Do these costs sounds generally in the right ballpark to most, or is it being ambitious? Understand it's difficult to know without seeing but some reassurance would be helpful.

It is an older property and has a large garden, nice area etc so will eventually be amazing, just needs a lot of love to bring it up to that standard and for it to be efficient. We have moved from a newer house and living with parents temporarily so also have the benefit of not having to live in a building site. 

From peoples experience that have done the same, has it been worth it? 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Can't help on costs but are things like the gas and electric bottom covering by the surveyor? Have they been inspected and issues found? 

Why does the extension need a new roof?

Kitchen and bathroom are a personal preference as to how much you spend depending upon what you want. 

Brie

Have you factored in the costs of living elsewhere while some of the basic work is done??  I know some people are willing to live in a building site but it's not suitable for everyone. 

What's the leeway if some of the basic stuff is delayed??   I mean you don't NEED new central heating in the summer and even in the depths of winter there are ways around it.

FreeBear

takay9 said: - we have an offer accepted on a house which is in need of renovation. We have had a full building survey to know the full extent of the work and to make sure we have the budget for it before deciding if we are going to go ahead.

You will always find problems that the survey didn't pick up on, trust me on that...

With any older property, it is wise to have a contingency in hand should lintels need to be installed on the outer leaf of brickwork - Who ever does the work must check whether a lintel is required or not.

Wiring is always a good opportunity to future-proof things. e.g. Use 20mm conduit for all the back boxes and run a neutral wire down for each light switch - If you ever fit smart light switches, most need a neutral feed. Installing network cables everywhere is something else to consider.

Once you get the floor coverings up, there is a chance you discover rotting floorboards & joists. If you do, get these fixed and put a bit of insulation down there as long as there is space and it doesn't compromise underfloor ventilation.

If funds allow, it might be worth looking at a whole house ventilation system (look for MVHR systems).

Unless you are doing the kitchen/bathroom refit yourself, the budgets look a bit tight compared to some that have been quoted on this forum. The rest of your budgets don't look too far off.

takay9

Thanks all. In some ways it would be a lot easier to move in to a newer or already renovated house, at a higher cost, but we also love the idea of an older property with more outside space and the chance to make it our own. Just feels a bit scary when we haven't done it before and don't possess any DIY skills!

I think we need to weigh up what needs to be done straight away and what can be done further down the line. Insulating the walls would be great but doesn't necessarily need to be done immediately, for example, or changing all of the windows straight away. 

Anyone with experience of living in or moving to an older house (1930's in this case), it's helpful to know the pitfalls and challenges of renovating as well as the good bits too!

ryan7

I think your budget is fairly realistic. Size and location are obviously got to be condisderd 

FreeBear

takay9 said: Anyone with experience of living in or moving to an older house (1930's in this case), it's helpful to know the pitfalls and challenges of renovating as well as the good bits too!

A few of us here with similar age properties.. Internal wall insulation is well worth doing, but is best done early on. You may well find the ceilings full of cracks and/or sections waiting to fall down. If this is the case, then ripping the ceilings down and reboarding is best done in conjunction with the insulation - Reboarding the upstairs ceilings also gives you a chance to make sure the loft is insulated around the edges. But taking down lath & plaster ceilings is a very (and I do mean very) messy job. You also need to make sure you get rid of all the old nails that were holding the laths in place. Also, use screws to fix plasterboard in place rather than nails - Screws don't "pop" like nails do..

Once the walls are insulated, you don't want to be fixing stuff like radiators to the external walls - In a well insulated house, it shouldn't be necessary anyway, so you can plan your heating system to keep pipe runs short and with the minimum of drop-downs. Taking the ceilings down also makes it easier to lay the CH pipes in and make a neater job of the wiring.

Any work on ceilings and in stair wells, having a scaffold tower makes life so much easier and safer - It is worth investing in a reasonable quality one if you are planning to do much DIY.

tacpot12

I took on a Victorian terraced house that needed the same level of work doing as the property you are buying. I had some experience of decorating and doing simple repairs around a house, but I wasn't a compentent DIY'er. I got lucky with my builder who helped my understand the best order to do things in.

I happend to be renting in the next street so I was able to live in my rental while the really dirty work was done, and I moved in once there was a kitchen, bathroom and heating.  

I'd tend to disagree about when you should insulate the walls. You will get a much better result if you insulate the walls as soon as you can, and then fit all the services on the living-space side of the insulation. All the door and window frames can be properly finished off if the insulation is in place first. Have a look at cork and woodfibre (e.g. SteicoTherm) as options for the insulation. I would prioritise insulation over a swish kitchen or bathroom. 

I think you've got your cost estimates about right. You've had some good advice about future-proofing your property. Personally I would install 25mm conduit to the electrical sockets and 20mm to the light switches. Taking neutrals to the light switches makes a lot of sense as does fitting some Cat5e/6 ethernet wiring, e.g near your TV, under the eaves, if CCTV is even likely to be needed, and in spaces where a wireless access point might be hidden away. Fitting wires for an alarm system might make sense in some areas of the UK. I'd recommend fitting an isolator between the electric meter and your new consumer unit to give you flexility to make changes to your electrical installation in future, e.g. to add a charging  point for an electric vehicle. 

It was definitely worth it - I ended up with a house that was very solid, but was also warm and dry and had very low heating bills. It was a very easy house to live in, and, having done or specified all the work, I was able to make futher changes more easily because I knew where everything was in the walls!

However, it was a very big job, and I didn't touch the house for a couple of years after the work was done because I was worn out. It will be a bit easier with two of you. I did it on my own. 

takay9

It was definitely worth it - I ended up with a house that was very solid, but was also warm and dry and had very low heating bills. It was a very easy house to live in, and, having done or specified all the work, I was able to make futher changes more easily because I knew where everything was in the walls!

Really interesting - do you mind me asking roughly how much you spent to bring it up to that standard, and was it roughly as expected or much more?

SootySweep1

Hi
To me your kitchen budget looks on the low side especially if you need new appliances etc.
I'm also not seeing anything there for flooring / carpets or lighting.
Make sure you have a contingency fund.

If the money is getting tight then consider if you can phase the work to spread the costs.

Jen

Rosa_Damascena

FreeBear said:

takay9 said: - we have an offer accepted on a house which is in need of renovation. We have had a full building survey to know the full extent of the work and to make sure we have the budget for it before deciding if we are going to go ahead.

You will always find problems that the survey didn't pick up on, trust me on that...

So true! 3 and a half years after I moved in, I found a chimney floating above a gallows bracket just waiting to collapse (3 weeks ago) and a living room built on a water table (last week). Dealing with these two unexpected surprises cost me nearly £10k!!