Full renovation for £40k?

Spiderroo

rob7475 said:

It's possible to rully renovate a house for £40k but you have to be able to do a lot of work yourself.

Couple of examples:

1. I renovated a 3 bed semi for around £35k. This included full rewire, new boiler and radiators throughout, removing load bearing wall between kitchen and dining room, skimming / re-plastering most of the house, new windows and doors, new kitchen with granite worktops, new bathroom with decent fittings, whirlpool bath, underfloor heating and fully tiled. I did a lot of the work myself though apart from rewire, boiler fitting and wall removal.

2. I recently renovated a 1 bed terrace for £10k. New windows and door, new bathroom with UFH and mostly tiled, new kitchen, changing layout to change to a two bed, skimming throughout, new boiler and radiators, new flooring etc. Just used trades to fit boiler and rewire. Shopped around for good deals on kitchen and bathroom rather than using cheap cr*p.
 
If I'd used trades for everything, I'd have probably doubled the costs and ended up still having to sort out loads of snagging. You need to be very good at managing a project if you're going to take on a renovation and use tradespeople for all the work.

Have you got any tips? We’re doing a 3 bed semi for around £30k and we’ll be able to save/spend immediately more as we go. We’re going to use tradespeople for our heating (pipes, boiler & thermostat), rewire and roof but aiming to get most of it done ourselves. I’ve already started looking for deals and buying things when there’s sales on but it’s our first go so any advice would be really appreciated! 

stuart45

Rosa_Damascena said:

stuart45 said:

DIY SOS used to do some real lash ups in the early days. When they weren't shooting the camera crew, sound engineers etc. used to jump in and help with stuff like the painting. They were following the plasterers around with a tin of emulsion. The jobs were only finished enough to get the camera shots. Things like connecting up the drainage for a new kitchen were left.

That's awful, particularly as the families they pick have real needs and can't be left high and dry. 

I'll need to catch up on this weeks episode of "Worst House" but saw Changing Rooms this evening. One of the designs was said to be Art Deco (a style that I love) but must have felt like walking into a Battenberg cake! 

Remember a programme called Home on their own. Parents were sent away and the kids were left to redesign the home however they wanted. My daughter's friend worked on that show. One woman was livid when she came back to see her kitchen had been turned into a burger bar. I think they put it back to the original for her in the end.
What do people expect to happen if they leave a load of kids in charge of the builders.

plumb1_2

stuart45 said:

 One woman was livid when she came back to see her kitchen had been turned into a burger bar. I think they put it back to the original for her in the end.

What do people expect to happen if they leave a load of kids in charge of the builders.

Maybe they should have turned into Greasy Joe,s and left it like that.
Stupid woman deserved what she got leaving children in charge.
Its like that other show 60 minute makeover, cost 1000,s to put it right. Do the general public actually believe the tv company has their best interest in mind or there own.

stuart45

Most of them saw the funny side of it.
Home On Their Own - Series 2 Episode ITV - YouTube

Rosa_Damascena

This week "Worst House" was a bit more realistic. The renovation costs for the whole house were just £31k but the pair did a lot of the labour themselves, and there were no mates rates involved in this production. It took them 14 weeks and they took a lot of time an trouble sourcing fittings at the right price.

The finished house was stunning.

Gavin83

stuart45 said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

stuart45 said:

DIY SOS used to do some real lash ups in the early days. When they weren't shooting the camera crew, sound engineers etc. used to jump in and help with stuff like the painting. They were following the plasterers around with a tin of emulsion. The jobs were only finished enough to get the camera shots. Things like connecting up the drainage for a new kitchen were left.

That's awful, particularly as the families they pick have real needs and can't be left high and dry. 

I'll need to catch up on this weeks episode of "Worst House" but saw Changing Rooms this evening. One of the designs was said to be Art Deco (a style that I love) but must have felt like walking into a Battenberg cake! 

Remember a programme called Home on their own. Parents were sent away and the kids were left to redesign the home however they wanted. My daughter's friend worked on that show. One woman was livid when she came back to see her kitchen had been turned into a burger bar. I think they put it back to the original for her in the end.
What do people expect to happen if they leave a load of kids in charge of the builders.

I don’t really understand why anyone would want to appear on such a show. I’m guessing they see it as a free makeover and likely brief their kids on what they want but you’d have to be an idiot to think it’ll work out that way. 

The whole premise of the show is the kids wacky designs. If they wanted to do something normal the show would walk away,

stuart45

Gavin83 said:

stuart45 said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

stuart45 said:

DIY SOS used to do some real lash ups in the early days. When they weren't shooting the camera crew, sound engineers etc. used to jump in and help with stuff like the painting. They were following the plasterers around with a tin of emulsion. The jobs were only finished enough to get the camera shots. Things like connecting up the drainage for a new kitchen were left.

That's awful, particularly as the families they pick have real needs and can't be left high and dry. 

I'll need to catch up on this weeks episode of "Worst House" but saw Changing Rooms this evening. One of the designs was said to be Art Deco (a style that I love) but must have felt like walking into a Battenberg cake! 

Remember a programme called Home on their own. Parents were sent away and the kids were left to redesign the home however they wanted. My daughter's friend worked on that show. One woman was livid when she came back to see her kitchen had been turned into a burger bar. I think they put it back to the original for her in the end.
What do people expect to happen if they leave a load of kids in charge of the builders.

I don’t really understand why anyone would want to appear on such a show. I’m guessing they see it as a free makeover and likely brief their kids on what they want but you’d have to be an idiot to think it’ll work out that way. 

The whole premise of the show is the kids wacky designs. If they wanted to do something normal the show would walk away,

I suppose it wouldn't be much of a.programme if a couple of infants told the builders to rake out the joints and replace with lime mortar,  and reinstate some of the missing period features.

Rosa_Damascena

I watched the episode posted with horror, the design was led by young children - not even teenagers! - who obviously bore a grudge against their "strict" father. The look of disappointment on their faces when he claimed to like the design was priceless though.

TripleH

[Deleted User] said:

TripleH said:

Parents converted their garage into a cottage for about £43K.

It was 2 storeys, well built coachhouse with electricity already connected but a shell.

The builder uncovered enough York stone slabs and beams under the concrete floor that he needed for other restoration work to do a deal. Oh it was about 2009 and my father did provide consultancy services for the company.

That's a very long winded way of saying "no".

I charge by the word 😉

owenjt

gwynlas said:

The two presenters are a brother and sister who have successfully renovated a number of properties and were probably approached for the roles having been on Homes Under The Hammer on a few occasions over the years.Living and working in the area it is quite possible that they shared their trade contacts particularly as the worktop supplier received a name check twice on the programme.

They also more recently presented alongside George Clarke in 'George Clarke's Flipping Fast' series on C4. They are property developers who also run a design company.