to think I can learn how to refurbish and decorate my house by myself

[chicletteeth]

Just that really.
We are hopefully exchanging on our new house next week and whilst we love it, it is seriously trapped in a seventies time warp.

So after our Abigail's party style housewarming , it needs a total overhaul; the whole house, top to bottom.

I can fill in holes and paint (and all the prep that is involved) and I can also wallpaper too. But it's the stuff like learning how to lay a floor and maybe redoing the bathrooms etc.. that I will be keen to save money on since the labour for these is high and I am wondering if anybody has managed to do this themselves? Obviously I would get plumbers, electricians, plasterers etc.. to do the very hard and potentially dangerous stuff, but I think I can maybe do the rest.

Am I being unrealistic?

Any previous attempts (successes and failures) at this would be most welcomed?

I know people who've learned to do it all themselves - there's no reason why not! I've been advised to get a good DIY book. I find it all a bit stressy so I've never got much further than painting (easy!). I think what you pay for, hopefully, is knowledge of materials and pitfalls. But if you can find a good DIY forum then there are always a lot of (conflicting!) answers on those.

YANB unrealistic. I do most of this stuff and have learned through trial and error, night school courses and frequent reference to things like my lovely copy of the Readers Digest DIY Manual!! Can do a passable job of tiling, laying flooring and can even turn my hand to some simple carpentry and electronics. Tips... start small, work accurately and know your limitations. Tiling a splashback is not like tiling a whole bathroom.

You tube have tons of videos showing how to do stuff.

Also if the place needs re wiring, you can actually put all the wires in place yourself and just pay an electrician to connect it all

Really cognito you do most of this stuff?

What projects have you completed and what would you advise leaving to a professional?

Any good recommendations for DIY books?

I'll be honest in that I a) want to save money b) am not working right now so want some projects.

Three key factors = Time / Quality / Cost. In building, you can only ever have TWO of those three. (i.e. a quality job can be done quickly but it will cost you / a cheap job can be done to a high quality but it will take a much longer time etc etc)

If you have plenty of free time, enjoy learning new skills, are pretty handy in the first place then it makes sense to have a go. If you're short of time generally, then not such a great idea.

Could you look for something like this in your area?

Thanks wwwy will look into it.
Am quite handy and already restore old bits of furniture so I thought to myself, why not take it a little further.

YANBU.

DIY is probably the most widely enjoyed (or endured) hobby in the UK and the skills involved in nearly all the common tasks are not too difficult to pick up.

Just be prepared to get things wrong, waste materials, waste time, cut and bruise yorself, make a lot of mess (and at the same time learn some new swear words)! :)

You can definitely do it. I plastered the walls of my bathroom myself, and my brother plumbed in the suite (he is not a plumber, just taught himself from YouTube). The feeling of satisfaction is amazing.

Just saw your post ACT Wow, you do all that

I honestly think I'll leave all that to the electrician.

YouTube ...completely forgot about that, but you're right, it's very handy.

You have all convinced me, especially your post LeBOF.

You did your own plastering? I'm very impressed indeed.

Self-taught plumbing from youtube.

Music to my ears I tell you

Be careful. It can become addictive. I love it. I can spend hours looking at power tools on the internet. DIY porn.

DIY porn

DIY shops (eg Homebase) have free leaflets to help you through tasks eg changing a tap or tiling. All sorts of leaflets including some for gardening of different types.

What about a new kitchen?
Anyone managed to do that?

Getting very excited now.

Does anyone have any ideas about budget?

I do realise this will vary a lot depending on the quality of various items but assuming I can get end of line stuff at trade prices (have a magazine that tells me where to do this) I'm just wondering if there are some ballpark figures.

How much was your bathroom refurb LeBOF?

Oh yes, you'll be grunting your way through the screwfix catalogue in no time

We did all of it- tiling, floor tiles, shower, bath, basin and toilet, lighting, plastering from the brick, for just under two grand.

Kitchens anyone, talk to me about kitchens?