Big house project

[Yel]

Looking for advice, inspiration or war stories from anyone who bought a project house please! How did you manage the enormity of a project? Any good tips??

We are buying a pretty ugly house that needs lots of renovation, I'm not sure it will ever feel amazing despite the amount of money that's going into it but wouls meet all our needs. It comes with an amazing garden and extra land but that also seems stressful right now and a lot of management. The house is in our perfect location and when I'm on site I get "the feeling". But when I come home my head and stressed side kicks in!

Welcome any good inspiration on 1970s bungalow renovations also!

Can you possibly rent somewhere whilst the really big works goes on? Do you have children?

We can stay with family while the big work is happening as we have two under 4 years so definitely would want them away from the dust. We would probably live in the house for up to 18 months while we get builders and finances etc sorted.

its difficult to advise without knowing the extent and type of work.

Have you got builders lined up?

the good ones tend to have a waiting list of over a year.

will you PM?

will you have an architect?

an idea of budget will give an idea of how big the works are

Op… are you actually interested for advice and inspiration? Because I have my own experience of a big Reno but if you’re not actually going to come back then I won’t bother to type it out!

Right back from spending time with my family and putting kids to bed!

Yes I'd love to hear more about the renovation please.

While I'd love to get an architect in I think cost wise we could get by with an engineer as the only extension work we are thinking of is replacing a conservatory and knocking through a wall. We want to improve the energy efficiency so have estimated costs for that. We wouldn't be in a position to start any work for at least a year for the house sale to complete, get any planning permission and to line up builders. We are torn between project managing ourselves vs a contractor, I think that would come down to the total cost when we have more concrete estimates.

I guess I am probably wondering also how psychologically people got themselves comfortable with a lot of expense, turmoil and essentially having a second job doing renovations. Thanks all!

so the big work would include?

not having any building work re an extension at all?

Full rewire of the house, replacing the heating system, adding solar panels, external and loft insulation, building an extension, knocking through a few rooms to make a kitchen-diner and utility room, replacing 4 bathrooms (might leave this for a few years to save), taking down an old conservatory and general modernising bedrooms and living rooms.

Then outside there are a couple of acres that needs clearing and some ponds that need filling in or fixing as they haven't been maintained. Plus then maintaining the house and garden going forward. I'd like to set most of the land up as a meadow rather than garden.

only extension work we are thinking of is replacing a conservatory and knocking through a wall.

what other extension work?

Full rewire of the house, replacing the heating system, adding solar panels, external and loft insulation, building an extension, knocking through a few rooms to make a kitchen-diner and utility room, replacing 4 bathrooms (might leave this for a few years to save), taking down an old conservatory and general modernising bedrooms and living rooms.

what is the heating system currently and what will be replaced with?

if external insulation presumably rerender?

Whilst pricey work (although a fraction of what it would be with a building extension increasing the footprint) this won’t take a long time OP if you get on board a good builder with a strong network of contacts

Sorry if not clear, the extension will be replacing an old conservatory with a better open plan structure. We will take it down, and then build the extension on to that space joining into the existing small kitchen, dining room and a WC, to make it all into a new kitchen with seating and a utility room. The heating system replacement and rewiring then also means plastering and painting the whole house again, that's also on the list.

Most importantly… have you chosen your builder and lined him up?

The ones that you want to use will be the ones that arent available for months (I waited 14 months for mine!)

Sounds lovely!

but how much square footage are you increasing the footprint? You’ve had all the plans drawn up?

No we are fully in the initial stages, hence the slight panicked first message! We are just talking about what we want to do and the estimates were from our own research in order to decide how much to bid. We have an engineer going to see the house this week to start proper estimating and planning advice. Completely agree that the builder will be key and there is a huge shortage for all tradespeople.

you will have lots of time to save and prepare because given in embryonic form, if you want a good builder on a strong recommendation that you trust… the project won’t kick off until well in to 2026
the positive is you will really understand how you use the space and that will help with designs

Wrong thread!

So you have not actually bought the property yet @Yel ?

I was about to launch in to my story and then realised that you hadn’t even put an offer in!

Best wait until you actually own the property op

ps a full re wire is very uncommon to be required