If your brought a house that needed a lot of work

[IsabellaofFrance]

How long did it take you?

We got the keys yesterday. Its a fabulous house but it needs work to alomst every room and area. Damp problem downstairs (its a split level bungalow), garden needs completely re-doing. Bathrooms need replacing, kitchen needs gutting, plus DH has some rather grand plans for extensions within the house.

Please give me some hope that I wont live in a building ste for years. DH is very handy and gets things done, but still, with the scale of work that needs doing I fear we are in for the long haul.

Last house (our sixth) took three years....it was a 2000 sq ft, three-storey Georgian, non-listed thatch that we extended to 2500 sq ft. PO had re-thatched in 2008, we bought in 2011, when it was an unmortgageable wreck!

Spending around £100k we rewired, replumbed, replastered, three new bathrooms, kitchen extension & new kitchen, new oak & limestone flooring , garden landscaping, new timber DG sashes and redecoration throughout.

Originally it was intended to be a five year project but we decided to move on so pulled out all the stops to finish quicker.

We did much of the work ourselves, including all plastering, tiling, kitchen fitting, floor laying, garden landscaping......otherwise it would have been way more £££......

Our last house was complete when we sold it and it took 5 years to:

rewire
replaster
brick up a door
knock through to the coal shed
change oil heating to gas
insulate
get the new room up to building control (insulated plasterboard, extraction, floors)
change lead water pipe
strip and paint all floorboards
carpet stairs and box room
strip and repaint woodwork (including bannisters)
fit new kitchen windows
fit kitchen
fit utility
paint and decorate
clear and sort garden

BUT we were totally skint when we first started, and did absolutely everything except the kitchen fitting and plastering ourselves. Momney and enthusiasm came in fits and starts.

For that reason, once we have heating, windows and roofing sorted in this house, we are doing it room by room, to keep us focused, stop getting so overwhelmed by everyhting and make it feel like less of a building site.

SmellTheGlove,

would you share your estimates for these jobs and are you in london area or somewhere else?

We are have just had quote for the place we are hoping to buy:

New kitchen,
3 new bathrooms
all ceilings down and replaced
rewire,
new boiler & heating system
New staircase
replaster 1/2 the walls
rip out random walk in cupboards from around the house.

Neither of us have the time to do it ourselves and we have 2 DDs so the builder will do it all - he reckons 3months for works and 3 weeks for painting/decorating etc.

We are in the south west and we are looking at 65K including a small contingency.

Two years in and we've still got the front garden to do (lift horrid paving slabs) redo fencing etc etc.
so far we've had, damp course, damp protective sheeting upstairs and re plastered everywhere. Downstairs toilet put in. Redone render outside and exterior painted. Roofing work. New windows and front door. New bathroom. Back garden lawned. Complete decoration like painting, decorating, carpets, light fittings and new skirting boards.
It's been hard, a lot of inconvenience and a lot of money.
My next house will be a new build...