Home renovation - planning and finding good tradespeople

77 Posts


Hello,
I am thinking about making a lot of home renovations in the next few months. It is a medium sized 3 bed semi detached house in a large town. I am not sure exactly what but it would likely include : Re-wiring the house and new fusebox, New flooring throughout, Painting throughout, replacing electric shower in shower room with a mixer shower, fitting a loft ladder and flooring in loft, landscape gardening and fencing. I have never had to get anyone to do such major work all at once so am quite nervous and anxious about it so I want some help to understand what might be involved from people who may be able to offer advice please.
My questions are :
What kind of things should I consider while planning for this
How can I decide what order to do things in - and is it generally best to get as much of it done in one go
How can I find good and honest tradespeople to do the work
Pros and cons of getting one builder to do all the work vs getting separate trades in
Is it advisable to move out while the work is going on or is it possible for the work to be done floor by floor so we stay downstairs while work is done upstairs and stay upstairs while the work is done upstairs.
Thanks in advance,
Sam
I am thinking about making a lot of home renovations in the next few months. It is a medium sized 3 bed semi detached house in a large town. I am not sure exactly what but it would likely include : Re-wiring the house and new fusebox, New flooring throughout, Painting throughout, replacing electric shower in shower room with a mixer shower, fitting a loft ladder and flooring in loft, landscape gardening and fencing. I have never had to get anyone to do such major work all at once so am quite nervous and anxious about it so I want some help to understand what might be involved from people who may be able to offer advice please.
My questions are :
What kind of things should I consider while planning for this
How can I decide what order to do things in - and is it generally best to get as much of it done in one go
How can I find good and honest tradespeople to do the work
Pros and cons of getting one builder to do all the work vs getting separate trades in
Is it advisable to move out while the work is going on or is it possible for the work to be done floor by floor so we stay downstairs while work is done upstairs and stay upstairs while the work is done upstairs.
Thanks in advance,
Sam
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In terms of finding the actual tradespeople, you obviously can't beat recommendations from people you know and trust. Also try your local social media groups, if you have them, as people in your area will no doubt have recommended builders, electricians, painters etc so it can be a good place to start.
For our extension project, we employed one builder who effectively project managed the build and brought in sub-contractors. In terms of benefits, this made things run more easily and smoothly, and he arranged for the relevant people to be in place when they were needed and could sort the majority of issues with them. In terms of cons, this was probably more expensive than lining up all the tradespeople individually (plumbers, plasterers, electricians, groundwork, bricklayers etc) and you don't have direct control over who does the elements - we were lucky that the majority of subcontractors were good, but the electrician for example was pretty unreliable and frustrating to work with so it can be swings and roundabouts.
Things like flooring we organised ourselves through local companies we had used before and were pleased with, so it really depends if you have any contacts/preferred suppliers from previous work you have had done.
In terms of moving out or not while the work is done - well, I've never had a re-wire done but it sounds like the work wouldn't be too intrusive that you'd need to move out? Be prepared though for disruption, mess, noise and dust - lots and lots of dust! Hopefully it won't go on for long but any kind of ongoing project can be a drag and stressful, but living in the house while it's going on if you can will obviously save you money, unless there is somewhere you can easily go for free in the meantime?
Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.
it’s really up to you - do you want it all done and dusted in a shorter period but to cost more, or are you happy for it to take a long time but be significantly cheaper?
Having completed 2 in the last 5 years and done both, for the sake of a marriage, the next place will be done in one go by one contractor. Yes it’ll cost more but 3 months it’ll be done.
As for works, I’d go with the following:
RIP everything out
Walls down/extensions up
electrics and plumbing.
floor boarding (if required)
windows
plastering
kitchens
painting
second fix electrics
flooring
obviously this depends on what you’re doing but the order will be similar. Mess first, the the site can be cleaned up everyday and doesn’t feel so bad.
Local connections can help, we were lucky to have a builder, electrician and plasterer as neighbours, with a plumbers as a BiL.
2021 mortgage and debt free, working part time and living the dream
Whilst we won't have any new extension or knocking of walls, I now know to expect a fair amount of disruption.
I'm leaning towards getting things done in phases, something like this :
Phase 1 :
replacing electric shower in shower room with a mixer shower,
landscape gardening and fencing
Painting throughout
Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.
We're having a major refurbishment of the house we just bought (ex rental, had nothing done in 25+ years) and we chose a company who will oversee it all, rather than trying to get separate trades people in, it costs more but so far they are steaming through it getting everything done to schedule.
Ask people for recommendations, ask on any local social media groups etc.
Perhaps step one would be to find someone to confirm whether a rewire is needed or whether a fusebox/consumer unit covering the entire house would be sufficient.