Does anyone know about renovating a house?

[MrsKoala]

We have had an offer accepted on a 3 bed Victorian semi, which needs a lot of work. I don't really know what're to start. I have a 20k budget for work, decorating and some furniture. I could do with some realistic advice on what different things will cost.

So if you would be willing to give me a bit of advice I'd be most grateful.

As well as some work on the roof and guttering and fixing/replacing the boiler and doing a bit of water damage repair (which the surveyor said would all come to about 7k) we need to:

• put in 2 velux windows and turn the loft into a usable space.
• move loft hatch to hallway ceiling (rather than second bedroom) and put in a decent pull down ladder
• strip all the wood chip paper off and replaster the whole house
• put in and tile a new bathroom
• replace cupboard doors and put in a new sink and work surface (I'd like cream doors and a wood work surface if poss) in kitchen
• Have 2 fireplaces moved from the bedrooms to the living and dining rooms
• knock out chimney breasts in 2 bedrooms
• have fitted wardrobes built in 2 bedrooms
• some floor boards need replacing
• replace banisters and landing balustrade

After this we would need to decorate, but will decide on that once we have established a budget for the above. So we could probably stretch to about 15k for the above. Is that wildly unrealistic?

Any advice would be wonderful :)
Thanks

Sorry - you're right, my Maths were rubbish

Re the damp - that's not as bad as I suspected.

Surveyors always err on the side of caution - they will mention anything they find or suspect. I've even seen a surveryor's report recommend the prospective purchaser put a concrete path down the middle of the lawn to reach the back gate!

It does sound as though it is pretty run down though and if your surveryor was just doing a valuation report and not a fullscale survey I'd be wary about other problems you may uncover in the future.

It was a building survey report that we got. Not sure if that is a valuation report. We will need a separate valuation report done for the bank tho. You have to use their people and they only do them after the sale is agreed and going thru, so we wanted to get more info upfront.

Glad your stress levels are coming down again.

Given you're probably going to leave the chimney breast for now, would moving the bedroom door/s be a possibility instead?

Also, I'd definitely recommend getting rid of the en-suite and using that for storage space. Just make sure you keep a record of where the soil stack is so 'plumbing in place for en-suite in Master bedroom' can be a selling point when you do move on.

And agree with previous poster who said itemise and agree everything (particularly quality of finish) with the builders before the work starts. We did this, and used to have a daily meeting with the builders as to what was happening that day. We ran a week over schedule (so eleven instead of ten week build) but came in under budget.

Good, as it's a survey rather than an evaluation the surveyor should have identified all the problems and noted the potential problems. The valuation report is mandated by the lender and will be another mini-survey. It may throw up further problems and could insist on some faults being rectified within certain timesacles.

Don't underesimate how disruptive major building work can be, especially with young children. You have the noise, the early starts, the dust, the electric and water going off at intervals, the loss of bathroom /kitchen facilities, workmen tramping through the house... It's not easy to cope with. I wouldn't want to be faced with that while I had a young baby in the house.

Sorry - i thought i had said. We are currently renting and can't get out of our lease till Sept. So we are hoping to have all the major work done while we are still in the flat. This is why we want to get it done all in one go and then move in rather than a bit at a time.

My dad will come down and stay and do some of the work himself and oversee the other work which is being done and i am local to pop in and check. That's why if we take it we need to move quick to get it done in time.

Also we have a great labourer/jack of all trades we use for bits and bobs who only charges £60 a day, so if my dad is there too he can supervise him. Apart from the velux, i suppose they could insulate and plaster board the loft themselves.

It all depends on what the builder says today. I have said i want each job itemised so we can then pick which ones we want and have budget for.

I spoke to dh about possibly not having the loft converted and just making it insulated and basic for storage if it's too much as i think that is what will take the bulk of the budget. He agreed in principle and we said we'd discuss it once the prices came in.

Thanks so much for all your help.

I'm meeting the builder in 2 hrs, anything specific i need to ask? tell him?

Sounds a good plan. I hope you enjoy your future home.

Went back to the house this morning and spent an hour and a half going thru it with the builder. i really really like it. so we have decided to proceed with the sale and do what we can and live with what we can't.

- I look forward to the update threads!

Best of luck. Given that you will be living next to the station and the primary user of the car - I'd tell your DH to do one about insisting on a manual over an automatic by the way.

Ah this is a zombie thread, but I hope you got the house mrs koala! We did eventually buy the house I mentioned earlier, and yes, it does need a very expensive renovation...

How funny. I was reading this thinking "MrsK has removed chimney breasts, you should ask her." I didn't spot the OP's name or that it was a zombie thread

We ended up getting few quotes, for the work and doing the final decorating ourselves, we used visionarylofts.co.uk who were flexible in their approach and got the job done.

The best thing is to get a few quotes and compare them, and you need to be confident and ask what exactly you are getting cos the quotes just arent the like for like!!