Please, need some advice on what essential refurbishments to prioritize on the house

[QuintessentialyHollow]

Our house is a 1940s end of terrace in a conservation area. From the outside it is the ugliest house in the terrace, though not the most badly maintained, just plain, and with a horrible front garden lacking in kerb appeal.

We share a path with a woman who is very untidy and who fill her side of the path with broken furniture, rubbish, etc. The rubbis frequently spills to our side of the path.

Our house has been tenanted for the last 4 1/2 years, and it shows. The first tenant trashed the place, and we did major renovations work, mostly cosmetic after she left. There is a new beautiful tile floor in the kitchen, all the walls were painted and repaired two years ago.

The house has again been tenanted for 2 years, 4 student sharers.

This is the work that should be done:

1. New Carpets upstairs and down the staircase (In the budget, will happen September 2012 just before we return to the house)

1. Fresh lick of paint. (Will also happen before we move in)

But here are the killers:

3. Bathroom: New units for the bathroom, new flooring. Total cost 5k.

4. New Windows: The current windows are old, they are not according to the guidelines of the conservation area, they are really ugly and let the house down. They are ONE big pane on the bottom, and two small 30 cm windows that can be open on top. We need wood sash windows, with three partitions and Edwardian bars. Quotes range between 8 and 11.3 k.

5. Front garden separated out from Next door and landscaped. It is impossible to keep our area looking nice when we are sharing a path and gate with next door. It is necessary for both our sanity and the kerb appeal that the front looks nice. Quote: 8k this includes railway sleepers, sandstone path, quite a lot of digging up old crazy paving, fresh soil, weedsupressing membrane, and pebbles on top, including a 30 m2 deck outside the front door (to cover old patio on different levels) and steps down from one level in front of the house to the other. It is complicated. We can leave the deck out and it will be cheaper, but it looks terrible.

We will live there a year, and then put the house on the market.

Not sure what to prioritize as we cannot afford all of the above.

My husband says the bathroom is least important, and windows most important.

What do you think?

If you aren't staying then surely yoi can get a cheaper bathroom to improve appearances/keep clean/look good for selling.

Windows good for kerb appeal but won't get your money back.

I wouldnt spend that much on the garden if I wasn't staying

Personally, I would do Windows, then garden, then bathroom, unless the bathroom is truly too grim to live with.

Think about the value of your house before you start spending money. You're talking about £10-20k. That may well be worthwhile to attract buyers if it's an area where you'll get 300k for the house. But if the house is say 150k then you may be better offering it as it is.
I sold a house recently and all the advice was not to do it up first (had no kitchen, no bathrooms, needed windows, full decor etc)

If you're going to live there, then do garden (perhaps look at cheaper options - .i.e. separate it out professionally then landscape it yourself) and bathroom. Windows are a nice to have - leave them as they are and if the buyers want to negotiate a price reduction so be it.

Agree that it depends on the value of the house.

Does your conservation area require timber windows or could you have those extremely convincing Upvc ones (Quickslide).

Sorry, went to upload some photos, but I dont seem to have any of the front, which is a shame.

Houses in the area are marketed from 425 upwards, to 540 as the highest price a house in the neighborhood has achieved. That house had a full loft extension, was mid terraced, so the dormer could go out nearly the entire width, and the back of the house was extended out making open plan living and kitchen.

I was all set to do the bathroom now. It is not grim exactly, but tired. The shower unit is falling apart, the vanity is "flaking", so not exactly looking good. The mirror is dated and have seen better days. The bathroom is over 10 years old.

The kitchen is another project, but will have to do for now. We re-varnished the fronts 2 years ago, as the honeyed tint worked well with the floor.

The windows are the most expensive improvement, and I think they are causing some mould on the inside upstairs, because the surrounds are literally "drinking" water.

The conservation rules says timber. I guess we could get away with upvc in the back garden, but that would mean two different companies in, as non of the local joiners supply upvc, I have a list of council approved joiners I need to stick to.

I will go and see if I can find some pictures from the front.

Prorites

1. Garden -but that sounds like a lot of money - any chance you could DIY some of it - or sometimes you can get a design from somewhere but get cheaper people to do it - I would continue looking around for cheaper opitions
2. Bathroom - needs doing - both for living in and forsales -5K flooring and units that sounds like loads - ikea?
3. Windows would be my least important - unlikely to get money back and if the rest of the house is ok then on sales won't make that much difference- if I was going to live in long term would think about doing it at some point

The only thing with the garden I can diy is the actual planting, and it is not even in the quote. It is only hard landscaping, due to levels built around the house, and fencing. They need to dig through concrete, and remove masses.

The bathroom is too small for chunky ikea units. I have chosen especially space saving units from Bathstore .com. It is however something we can do while we live in the property. Equally windows.

£8k on the garden is too much. The buyer might want it quite different. A token low fence and some turf will spruce up the appearance, once you clear it.

If you don't like the old concrete, get a price for removing it.

I don't like the sound of a deck in the front.

I'm glad to hear it doesn't need any plumbing or electrical work, or any replastering.

£5k is a lot for a bathroom. By units, you mean bath, basin, WC? What is the old floor made of? What new floor do you want? Are you including retiling the walls?

Piglet I agree deck in front not good - often slippy

Quint, can I point you in the direction of this bathroom site We recently bought stuff for three bath/shower rooms from this place (not a stealth boast; just a do-er/upper that's proved a right pig...) Very nice and helpful when you call them up. Shipped all our stuff safely. And incredibly good value, I think. Even cheaper then Ikea - certainly loads cheaper than Bathstore, who kept offering to price match and discovering they couldn't come close and quality gear.

My husband was amazed by it all. They came down even on the internet prices without me having to ask. Goodness knows how they make their money, but I think they basically have a vast warehouse in Middlesbrough (but ship all over the place for not much money; ours had to go to SW France, e.g.) and no staff overheads.

Otherwise...agree that you prob won't get your money back from windows and it sounds a real faff. Do you really have to go the whole hog on the garden, or could you do some of it and then take a view?

And beneath decks, you get...

RATS...

Breeding.

Yikes

Windows, then bathroom. Do a tidyup on the garden, but don't spend a lot on it.

We bought specially small stuff from the bathroom site i linked to, by the way...one of our bathrooms you kind of need to breathe in and wear a corset to fit through the door.

...just had a snoop on your profile pix. It all looks incredibly tidy and shipshape to me, including the garden! What a lovely conservatory. From what I could see of your bathroom, 5K seems one hell of a lot to be paying. I thought it would be grotty and it looks perfectly spick and span. Through the half open door. as it were.

I would do windows first, then garden, then bathroom, seeing as you are going to sell it. The buyer might well want to do the bathroom him/herself and that's not a massive item. The windows will add a lot to the value of the house I'm guessing, and the garden will improve its kerb appeal. Perhaps you can get away with a bit tidy of the garden, and re-instating the fence, then a buyer can put their mark on it?

Re the Bathroom! The worst bits are covered by the door!

The picture does not show the orange tint around the toilet, from the previous tenant never mopping.... Nor the fact that the lever is falling apart.

Neither does it show the broken shower cubicle, nor the sink unit!

The house was rewired a year ago, PigletJohn......

My only consolation is that the tiles are in good shape, and we dont need to do any re-tiling.

I would do the windows. That's a big chunk of money a buyer doesn't have to spend and you'll get the improvement on the energy performance certificate as well as the appearance.

Have you checked if the Local Authority have any grant funding available to your conservation area? If you approach them looking for help they usually do try to support people who are genuinely trying to work with the guidelines. There are often grants to be had if you can find out who to ask...

Have you got a copy of the Conservation Area Statement or any design guidance? It should be published on the Local Authority website.

Ah, you've posted since I opened the tab. You do have the design guidance.

I would still vote for the windows. I think the bathroom and garden are cosmetic, and you can have a tidy up but not do anything too major.

Thank you so much for mentioning the grant! Looks like the council will cover between 25-50% of the cost of the windows, because they cover:

The reinstatement of original style windows or roof material.

But I can only apply after April 2012, and not until we live there ourselves again, it seems.

so what are you spending the bathroom money on, and what's the floor made of? Is it vinyl on chipboard?

Pigletjohn, the bathroom:

New Toilet, New sink vanity unit and mirror with lights above. New 800 shower quadrant. The floor is wood, covered in a sheet of ply, then vinyl on top. Will go for similar vinyl, as it looks quite good with the tiles. This is 2300 with taps,etc.
The work is also 2300, and includes getting rid of old, putting up new, and re-plastering the ceiling and repainting.

Need to go get the kids

well, if it's an upmarket house that needs a £5,000 bathroom, then of course you must have one.

But if it's an ex-rental being polished up for sale, I'd want to be reassured that it would repay the investment better than a cheaper one. I'll confess I'm not keen on vanitory units as they don't withstand water as well as porcelain does.