Ballpark costs of refurbishment

123imp

Hi All,

I'm close to agreeing to purchase a terrace property for 195k to live in, which is in need of some refurbishment.

I've calculated that I'm going to have around 25k to use for any works that are required. The property is open plan living room/diner downstairs with a staircase running through the middle, small kitchen at the back with a bathroom behind the kitchen (the backdoor to the garden is in the bathroom), 2 bedrooms upstairs.

I'm going to need to do the following for it to be liveable: -

1. New windows x6
2. New front door
3. Brick up the back door to the garden (in the bathroom) and put a new door where the living room window is
4. New kitchen (small)
5. New bathroom suite and tiling.
6. New carpets upstairs and possibly replace the flooring downstairs.

I'm going to do any painting and small DIY jobs myself. I'm also planning on removing the kitchen myself, although I don't think I would be able to remove the bathroom suite. I was hoping to purchase the kitchen and bathroom myself and get someone in directly to do all the above works.

Am I completely out of touch with how much this type of project would cost, or is there any chance it would be doable within my budget?

Thanks for your advice.

Doozergirl

Are you sure there's nothing to do other than the obvious things? 

How old is the house?  It sounds like a Victorian terrace with bathroom tagged on the back of a kitchen extension.    When was it last touched?  What's the EPC rating like?  Insulation? 

123imp

Doozergirl said:

Are you sure there's nothing to do other than the obvious things? 

How old is the house?  It sounds like a Victorian terrace with bathroom tagged on the back of a kitchen extension.    When was it last touched?  What's the EPC rating like?  Insulation? 

Thanks for the reply. It's definitely a Victorian terrace, what do you mean by when it was last "touched"? I'm not sure it was an extension, I think it was always like that from when it was constructed. Although I don't know a lot about these things.

Here's the info from the EPC - it's D rated: -

Feature	Description	Rating
Wall	Solid brick, as built, no insulation (assumed)	Very poor
Roof	Pitched, no insulation (assumed)	Very poor
Roof	Flat, no insulation (assumed)	Very poor
Window	Fully double glazed	Average
Main heating	Boiler and radiators, mains gas	Good
Main heating control	Programmer, room thermostat and TRVs	Good
Hot water	From main system	Good
Lighting	Low energy lighting in all fixed outlets	Very good
Floor	Suspended, no insulation (assumed)	N/A
Floor	Solid, no insulation (assumed)	N/A
Secondary heating	None	N/A

FreeBear

Without any loft insulation, heat loss through the roof is going to be significant. Fibreglass/Rockwool insulation is cheap, and easy to fit by most able bodied people. For a basic 2-up/2-down terrace, you won't need too many rolls to get a 300mm layer.

Insulating the walls is also worth doing, but you need to pay attention to the detailing so as not to trap moisture in the walls or end up with cold spots where condensation forms - It can be done on a DIY basis, although it is worth getting a plasterer in to put the finishing coat on (plaster if insulating internally, render if doing it externally).

Floors can be tricky to insulate, and lifting boards could reveal a bunch more work that needs doing - Rotting floor joists just inside the front door is a common issue.

A £25K budget may cover the work, but.... If you are insulating walls internally and lifting floorboards, it would be worth looking at a rewire. Undoubtedly, you will uncover other problems that need fixing which will eat in to your budget if your skill set is limited. Material costs are another concern.. The price of timber, pipes, and cabling is going up on a daily basis, and there doesn't seem to be any prospect of price drops any time soon.

123imp

FreeBear said:

Without any loft insulation, heat loss through the roof is going to be significant. Fibreglass/Rockwool insulation is cheap, and easy to fit by most able bodied people. For a basic 2-up/2-down terrace, you won't need too many rolls to get a 300mm layer.

Insulating the walls is also worth doing, but you need to pay attention to the detailing so as not to trap moisture in the walls or end up with cold spots where condensation forms - It can be done on a DIY basis, although it is worth getting a plasterer in to put the finishing coat on (plaster if insulating internally, render if doing it externally).

Floors can be tricky to insulate, and lifting boards could reveal a bunch more work that needs doing - Rotting floor joists just inside the front door is a common issue.

A £25K budget may cover the work, but.... If you are insulating walls internally and lifting floorboards, it would be worth looking at a rewire. Undoubtedly, you will uncover other problems that need fixing which will eat in to your budget if your skill set is limited. Material costs are another concern.. The price of timber, pipes, and cabling is going up on a daily basis, and there doesn't seem to be any prospect of price drops any time soon.

Thanks for the response. I don't think I will be insulating the floor, I'd rather leave the floor boards. I think I will look at insulating the walls long-term rather than immediately, but I would do the loft insulation. Based on that, would you say the 25k may cover the works required in the original post + the loft insulation installed myself?

FreeBear

If you are gutting the bathroom & kitchen, now is the time to look at insulating the walls. No point in tiling, and then deciding to insulate.

You haven't mentioned wiring - Often, extra sockets are wanted in the rooms. This is the sort of work that is best done whilst the house is empty.

Heating - If you fit decent windows and plug the draughts, there isn't any real reason to have radiators mounted under the windows. They could be moved to internal walls to better suit where you want to place furniture. Also saves pumping heat in to an external wall and disappearing outside.

£25K should comfortably cover the work you initially proposed as long as you don't go for gold plated bling everywhere. A couple of thoughts to throw in for the kitchen... Fit an induction hob. Just like cooking on gas without the disadvantages. A plinth (kickstrip) heater plumbed in to the central heating system avoids the need to find wall space for a radiator and kicks the heat out at floor level. The alternative is underfloor heating, but that gets expensive to install..

123imp

FreeBear said:

If you are gutting the bathroom & kitchen, now is the time to look at insulating the walls. No point in tiling, and then deciding to insulate.

You haven't mentioned wiring - Often, extra sockets are wanted in the rooms. This is the sort of work that is best done whilst the house is empty.

Heating - If you fit decent windows and plug the draughts, there isn't any real reason to have radiators mounted under the windows. They could be moved to internal walls to better suit where you want to place furniture. Also saves pumping heat in to an external wall and disappearing outside.

£25K should comfortably cover the work you initially proposed as long as you don't go for gold plated bling everywhere. A couple of thoughts to throw in for the kitchen... Fit an induction hob. Just like cooking on gas without the disadvantages. A plinth (kickstrip) heater plumbed in to the central heating system avoids the need to find wall space for a radiator and kicks the heat out at floor level. The alternative is underfloor heating, but that gets expensive to install..

I just had a look at the photos and the 2 radiators in the main living space are attached to the internal walls, and not positioned under the windows. I can't see where the radiator is in the kitchen, but it won't be under the window as there's a counter there. The radiators in the bedrooms are under the windows however.

I don't know anything about the wiring in the property, it has been rented prior to being up for sale so I assume the electrics are ok. I'm would be going for economic options when fitting the kitchen and bathroom, not high-end, I just need them to be functional and relatively hard-wearing. I just looked up a plinth heater and that looks like a great idea, especially as there would be limited space in the kitchen. I actually already have an induction hob so was planning to fit it into the new kitchen anyway.

Thanks for that. With the cost of labour and materials these days, I had no idea if I was way out with my available budget. There's about a 30k discrepancy between the price of the property, and what other properties on the street go for in good condition. So I'm seeing anything up to 30k as a worthwhile investment.

FreeBear

123imp said: I don't know anything about the wiring in the property, it has been rented prior to being up for sale so I assume the electrics are ok.

Having an EIRC certificate is not conclusive proof that the electrics are OK.

Did some work to my niece's new home that had been a rental. Found cables in contact with central heating pipes and the gas pipe to the boiler - Both should have been a failure in my opinion.

If the house you are looking at is £30K under neighbouring properties, it would be wise to dig a little deeper and have a full survey done. It might highlight issues with the roof or some structural defects that you missed when viewing -  Either of which could easily blow your £25K budget out of the water.

liberty_lily

Agree with FreeBear - our 400 year old rural property was also a rental for a few years before we purchased it. When removing what we'd assumed were quarries laid 100+ years ago, we found live (fairly recent) electric cables just beneath the surface in no trunking...in fact we very nearly went through them with a kango 😯

123imp

FreeBear said:

123imp said: I don't know anything about the wiring in the property, it has been rented prior to being up for sale so I assume the electrics are ok.

Having an EIRC certificate is not conclusive proof that the electrics are OK.

Did some work to my niece's new home that had been a rental. Found cables in contact with central heating pipes and the gas pipe to the boiler - Both should have been a failure in my opinion.

If the house you are looking at is £30K under neighbouring properties, it would be wise to dig a little deeper and have a full survey done. It might highlight issues with the roof or some structural defects that you missed when viewing -  Either of which could easily blow your £25K budget out of the water.

liberty_lily said:

Agree with FreeBear - our 400 year old rural property was also a rental for a few years before we purchased it. When removing what we'd assumed were quarries laid 100+ years ago, we found live (fairly recent) electric cables just beneath the surface in no trunking...in fact we very nearly went through them with a kango 😯

Thanks for the responses. I would definitely commission a full survey before purchasing, however my current calculations are being based on whether my budget can stretch to cover the things I know about. If the survey threw up further issues, such as the roof needing replacing, then I would likely pull out if I knew I wouldn't have enough.

Doozergirl

123imp said:

FreeBear said:

123imp said: I don't know anything about the wiring in the property, it has been rented prior to being up for sale so I assume the electrics are ok.

Having an EIRC certificate is not conclusive proof that the electrics are OK.

Did some work to my niece's new home that had been a rental. Found cables in contact with central heating pipes and the gas pipe to the boiler - Both should have been a failure in my opinion.

If the house you are looking at is £30K under neighbouring properties, it would be wise to dig a little deeper and have a full survey done. It might highlight issues with the roof or some structural defects that you missed when viewing -  Either of which could easily blow your £25K budget out of the water.

liberty_lily said:

Agree with FreeBear - our 400 year old rural property was also a rental for a few years before we purchased it. When removing what we'd assumed were quarries laid 100+ years ago, we found live (fairly recent) electric cables just beneath the surface in no trunking...in fact we very nearly went through them with a kango 😯

Thanks for the responses. I would definitely commission a full survey before purchasing, however my current calculations are being based on whether my budget can stretch to cover the things I know about. If the survey threw up further issues, such as the roof needing replacing, then I would likely pull out if I knew I wouldn't have enough.

Do you want to post the property or DM it to one of us? 

My experience shows people really do underestimate what needs doing and if the kitchens and bathrooms haven't been looked after then they're highly unlikely to be the only things.  

Landlords aren't exactly renowned for upgrading properties beyond absolute need either.  

£25k isn't a lot of money in the building game.