Lets play a game... what do you think is the biggest issue?

FreeBear

foxandflowers said: I've never done a renovation on a house before, and there is a LOT that is going to need doing. Budget is about 70k for everything, and if I can pick all your brains for help, that would be amazing. There is wood panelling, artex ceilings, and textured wallpaper almost all the way through. Am thinking it might be best to just whitewash the wood panelling and save the prospect of the entire wall collapsing. 

£70K doesn't go far....

Someone reminded me the other day, that I'm 8 years in to renovating *this property on a very limited budget. Artex on some ceilings, woodchip on others. Removing the paper reveals loads of cracks, and the artex is about all that is holding up some of the other ceilings. One by one, they are coming down, insulation added, plasterboard screwed up (not nailed), and then skimmed.

Walls are getting a similar treatment (65-75mm of Celotex upstairs, then plastered). Having paid for a less than satisfactory plastering job in the stairwell, I've done a short introductory plastering course (free from the local Adult Education dept). Finished my first whole wall in Multifinish this morning, so saved on employing yet another plasterer and running the risk of getting a poor job.

Well worth learning a few skills so that you can keep the costs down.

foxandflowers

@FreeBear that's interesting - I didn't know you could learn that for free. I've always heard that you either can plaster, or you can't, but I suppose you wouldn't know until you tried!

I'm quite good at DIY or trying DIY myself - and my husband is keen to get as much done himself as possible to save the pennies. My plan for the walls is probably going to be cheating a bit - remove the current wallpaper, patch fill any gaps, put up wallpaper liner and then paint the liner. At least for now. There's too many miscellaneous stains and bits that are peeling away to keep it as is. 

Priorities are garden, kitchen-into-dining-room, windows & doors. Everything else can be done bit by bit. 

Simonon77

foxandflowers said:

@FreeBear that's interesting - I didn't know you could learn that for free. I've always heard that you either can plaster, or you can't, but I suppose you wouldn't know until you tried!

I'm quite good at DIY or trying DIY myself - and my husband is keen to get as much done himself as possible to save the pennies. My plan for the walls is probably going to be cheating a bit - remove the current wallpaper, patch fill any gaps, put up wallpaper liner and then paint the liner. At least for now. There's too many miscellaneous stains and bits that are peeling away to keep it as is. 

Priorities are garden, kitchen-into-dining-room, windows & doors. Everything else can be done bit by bit. 

Definitely buy ( or hire ) a petrol driven brush cutter, it will get that back garden clear in no time. Strimmers are no good for brambles as the stems are too tough. Make sure you wear gloves and eye protection though.

If you can do a lot of work yourself, £70K is plenty of money for a refurb. What I would say is don't end up spending £50K of it on the kitchen and bathroom, then realise you have nothing left for the rest of the house so it ends up not matching the same level of finish ( I have seen this a lot and it makes the house look very strange ! ) 

silvercar

Get the garden strimmed, then put the greenhouse on Facebook market place as free to take away. It will save you a lot of work.

foxandflowers

@silvercar would anyone even want it given the condition it's in?  (genuine question; I have a bit of a black thumb, and my idea of a good garden is some lavender pots, a patio and lots of lawn with some fairy lights down the fence).

silvercar

foxandflowers said:

@silvercar would anyone even want it given the condition it's in?  (genuine question; I have a bit of a black thumb, and my idea of a good garden is some lavender pots, a patio and lots of lawn with some fairy lights down the fence).

You'd be surprised what people do want. I would try it, after all you have nothing to lose.

Misslayed

foxandflowers said:

@silvercar would anyone even want it given the condition it's in?  (genuine question; I have a bit of a black thumb, and my idea of a good garden is some lavender pots, a patio and lots of lawn with some fairy lights down the fence).

My greenhouse was third hand (had been moved once before we moved it), about 33 years ago. Was dismantled and reassembled each time. We needed a few new bits, and some glass (due to eejits!) but it's still going strong. If yours is a similar age it should be moveable (quality construction). Hard to tell the condition of the actual structure until you clear the greenery. It could save a keen gardener a LOT of money. 

Section62

foxandflowers said:

@silvercar would anyone even want it given the condition it's in?

Definitely.  New greenhouses cost a fortune. Even with no glass the frame is almost certainly fine for reuse.  It would be nuts to spend time and effort cutting up the aluminium frame and taking it to a recycling centre for scrap when keen gardeners and allotmenteers would be delighted to dismantle and remove it for you for free.

Just clear the overgrowth first so it is easier to get to and dismantle.

Also make sure whoever you give it to wants it for reuse, not scrap.  Scrappers are likely to turn up, smash the remaining glass, then take the frame away leaving you with broken glass everywhere.  Someone who wants to reuse it will take care to dismantle with minimum damage (glass isn't that cheap).

FreeBear

foxandflowers said: @FreeBear that's interesting - I didn't know you could learn that [plastering] for free. I've always heard that you either can plaster, or you can't, but I suppose you wouldn't know until you tried!

I suspect it will be dependent on your local authority. Some seem to be keen on doing free introductory courses, others just don't want to know. My LA run basic short courses covering carpentry, brick laying, tiling, and of course, the plastering. There was talk of them running an intermediate level course to cover ceilings and corners - I need to go and take a look at the new prospectus (nothing showing at present).

Plastering isn't that difficult - It just needs a bit of confidence and knowing when to use the trowel, and when to stop & wait. For the occasional patching & filling, I'd recommend Knauf Fill & Finish - if you have a lumpy, bumpy finish after applying the stuff, wait for it to dry. Then with a moist sponge float rub the surface to take out the lumps and fill the hollows. The moist sponge float also works well for "feathering in" to get a near invisible join.

SadieO

Simonon77 said:

twopenny said:

Those cupboard doors are quite trendy again. They just need sorting out somehow.

For a quick fix (goodness knows I'm doing the same) paint ceiling, walls and  tiles white, helps the boiler blend in.

New worktop something plain and a funky blind or two.

New kitchen mixer tap?

I agree on the units, if they are all solid wood then they are much better than anything you would buy now unless you were paying tens of thousands for custom made ones. 

When we were house hunting last year we saw a house that had custom made, solid wood kitchen units. The owner (who showed us round) was really proud of them. And... I hated them! Not my taste at all, they looked so heavy and imposing. And, to my eye, dated, although I have no idea what is actually trendy or not! So I was torn as to what I'd do if we bought it. I would have felt unethical ripping them out as they were clearly very high quality and whatever I'd replace them with would undoubtedly be cheaper and lower quality, which seems a ridiculous thing to do. Or keep them and live with a kitchen I found ugly and oppressive, just because it was good quality. I was quite glad when the house didn't tick our boxes for other reasons!