About to gut a house, where do we start?!!

[bluewisteria]

We have had an offer on a house accepted, and it is likely to go through in the next 6-8 weeks, subject to full structural survey.

Assuming it all goes through, er, where the hell do we start?!! I've rennovated sections of houses before, but never the whole thing. What I'm confused on is the order... Obviously and structural/roof/damp proofing work first, then plumbing, then electrics, then plastering and painting??

We are also asking local builders for quotes to come in and do the heavy duty work. Any tips on what to ask, asking for quotes etc? We have had good and bad previous experiences, but any sage advice and stories very welcome here!!
Thanking you

It's a very big question and am typing on my phone so am going to cheat and strongly recommend you buy and read (quickly) the book "house builders bible".

Try and plan so you schedule each trade at least a month in advance as anyone decent is busy. Could relay our whole saga and lessons learned but afraid I can't face all that typing!

Might be easier if you have a main contractor, architect, designer etc (we had none) but otherwise assume it is a full time job sourcing materials, making decisions and dealing with all the trades.

We ended up doing a minor renovation because our survey suggested asbestos and the tests confirmed it. We didn't realise until too late that it meant replacing ceilings and removing radiators, electrical fixtures, etc. Which then had to be put back. Basically because there wasn't one of us onsite each day keeping an eye there were some mistakes (radiators leaks, hole cut in wrong place for old light fittings, etc) and it wasn't clear who was at fault or we weren't there to check with. So would definitely recommend someone experienced (if that's not you) is keeping a beady eye on proceedings. Good luck!

Consider a project manAger if you plan to do it all at once. Will pay for themself in reduced costs and wastage. If not then consider doing it on a room by room basis - may be a bit more expensive overall but much easier to live with.

The only advice I'll give (unless you have sufficient funds to just do it all in one hit - in which case employ a project manager and go from top to bottom) is that you should do the bathroom and lounge first (unless you have open plan downstairs). For us, it was important to be able to have somewhere to bath/shower and then somewhere to shut ourselves off from the mess.

Thanks so much for all the replies!
We are doing it all at once and I will be around but maybe a project manager is a good idea. I assume this should be some independent of the various builders? My own experience of 'master builders' was a terrible one!

I second a PM. We've done it ourselves (DH in the business) but it has taken far more time & energy than we ever anticipated. We've saved quite a lot financially but lost all free time.

Marking place. I'm planning to project manage our renovation shortly and have similar questions.

We did it ourselves - all the trades, all the decisions etc. We both have project management backgrounds albeit in different fields and I'd second other comments about the amount of time it takes up - you're doing two jobs - PM and owner - the first coordinating, chasing, monitoring, scheduling etc. The second making all the decisions and shopping around for all the best prices. I was working full time - very demanding overall