Anyone know about renovating houses?

[houselikeashed]

if we were to buy a house that needed completely gutting - two storey extension, wiring, heating, plumbing, everything really;
Where do we start?
What would we do first? Before we buy it?
Any help at all appreciated.
Thanks

Well you can't do anything to it before you buy it. Or, even if the sellers did allow you to do stuff, you shouldn't want to.

Heating and plumbing are the same thing, as far as renovation goes. Wiring will happen contemporaneously, or slightly after. It can happen once the plumbing has finished, but that would take unnecessary extra time.

Sounds like you need a general contractor, a grand word for an overseer/ coordinator.

Does the roof need doing? It sounds pretty pricey, all this work.

That's like asking, how long is a piece of string. We have done several renovations, and all while we were living in them.
My priority was always the bathroom first. So in answer to one of your questions: it has to be the plumbing. Although it's not always as simple as that. Do you have any DIY skills?

BUY SOMETHING ELSE! - especially if you're going to have to be living in it while the work is done.

DH and I bought a victorian house last month. Got damp, wet rot, woodworm, woefully inadequate wiring (mostly from pre-1950), may as well not have a boiler etc.

It's going to cost us the best part of £150,000 (which is nearly as much as we paid for the bloody house) to get it to a decently liveable standard. Fortunately we have the cash, and we are still in our rented place, but I have never regretted anything as much as I regret this purchase (I know that once it's done and I'm living there then I will love it; it truly is my Forever House and three paces into it, I was buying it, but I am never going with my heart over my head again).

Get a builder to walk round with you pre-offer and guve you a ballpark figure. Then double it. Then do your sums

Don't consuder living there while the works being done- it will take twice as long and potentially bring an end to your marriage. So where would you live- rented house or caravan? How does that effect your sums?

Ask around for reputable architect/ project manager- don't be thinking this is something you can do with a phone and the yellow pages. You will need many specialist contractors who need to do their thing in a particular order. You cannot do the planning of this unless it is your job.

Seek advice from planning about what is permitted re extension- do this before you buy if without the extension it's not viable.

I've done this kind of ruin to dream home twice, but both times have been able to do it at reasonable arms length via a project manager. It still near,y broke us in all sorts of ways. Both times.

Find a local surveyor, who knows local builders and get them to give you an estimate. They will then draw up a tender document so the builders quote a fixed price for each individual piece of the job.

Get planning permission using the same surveyors drawings... Get an estimate of the timescale and appropriate penalties for overruns.... Let the surveyor project manage the whole thing...

Then move out for the duration!

we have done it 3 times. lived there pre kids and for the first two as babies. Didn't live in 2nd property and are currently living in through the 3rd with 4 kids. various reasons why we've done it this way. prob quicker to do it when not living there. prob would go for 2 storey ext first and get that livable then do rest but it does depend what the ext will have in it. ie is it kitchen and bathroom?

we have done it arse about face yet again. Rewired and replumbed everything. put in new bathroom and downstairs utility room. Now doing loft. Will end up decorating bedrooms after loft finished. Nothing is perfect. We had an end in sight when we did replumb and rewire so we allowed for extensions at that point.

Thanks everyone. The house is in the most PERFECT location we could ask for. It could potentially be our 'forever' home. We have never done anything like this!!!!!
From the price of the house, we could afford up to £150k to do it up, which I'm hoping would be enough(???)
I have e mailed the planning office as the house is in a conservation area, to see if they would give me an idea if it theoretically would be possible.
SO, husband viewing again tomorrow, and we'll see if we can get a surveyor to look at it with us.

That it's in a good location is a good thing.

That it's in a conservation area is less good. Do your research into planning consents and any other consents you will need. At best, this will add time (and therefore money) to your project.

But it really is location, location, location. So could be a good one!

Your £150k is "enough" if the cost if the works come in at under about £90k. There will always be things that almost literally come out of the woodwork during a major gutting like this. Don't scrimp on a full structural survey obvs, and be realistic about the costs of finishing- bathrooms, kitchen, decoration, curtains, windows etc etc

Depends what the conservation area consent means - does it have its article 4 rights removed? If so you will need permission for pretty much everything external. If not then it may not effect too much.
We are in a conservation area and the only thing we needed permission for was to remove & trim some of the trees. We will also need PP for a building in the garden that we are doing but we'd need that anywhere.
We have renovated a big Victorian villa - £120k budget (no fees as I'm an architect and did it for myself)
We only needed to repair and insulate the roof not replace it but otherwise we've pretty much done the lot.
I'd go with sorting out electrics first - preferably with little or no furniture in as its a messy job and they need good access to do it quickly.
Whatever you do make comprehensive lists of what you think doing even if you employ somebody else to manage the job for you (which if you are not confident I would recommend) this may throw up things that matter to you that other people wouldn't know about & v.v
Plan a big contingency in your budget. You will probably need it, if not then woohooo you can spend it on some luxury.
Insulate, insulate, insulate but also ventilate. Whilst you are making a mess and have access under floors, in roof spaces etc insulate to reduce your future running costs & make your house cosy but whilst doing that also make sure you have adequate vents (windows, kitchens, bathrooms, loft) to keep airflow & avoid problems with damp.
Don't do it if you can take mess or stress - both come in bucket loads (even if you usually do it for a job like me - it matters more when it's your home)
Good luck - ours is gorgeous now so for us it really was worth it and we wouldn't have got what we wanted any other way.

If there's one thing that will save you money, it's taking your time. Don't rush anything.
Totally agree with the comment about insulation. It's a bugger because it costs and you never see it lol. But worth every penny.