Buying a doer upper - what do I need to know?

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To ery excited after having an offer accepted on a house after looking for months. We have never done this before. We need to put new heating in, rewire, replace windows, new bathroom and new kitchen. Ideally we would like to add an extension but not sure we have the budget. We don't have a clue about builders, planning, etc. All tips are welcome.

How exciting! Have you got to live in it while doing up?
Will be able to advise you better if know this .

Whatever you think your going to spend double it and however long you think it's going to take double it too. Above all have fun doing it and don't get too stressed about it all.

It's gonna cost so much more than you think

We plan on renting elsewhere whilst the work is done (don't think I could take the stress of a live-in work) plus I hope this will make the whole thing quicker. How do I find a good builder? Is it a good idea to have a clause in the contract about time scales? Just thinking of a friend whose loft took twice as long due to the builder starting another job.

All builders will start other jobs whilst on yours... It's how they work. You will find it hard to tie any builder down to a timescale and have them stick to it.

Go on personal recommendations to find a builder. Someone who has used that builder for big jobs and would use them again.

Not all builders juggle jobs. Mine was difficult to pin down on a start date but once he started, he threw everything into it. He tended to do the bigger jobs.

If you need planning permission, that could mean delays because you will need an architect to draw up the plans and then the approval process could take months. Time is money because you are renting. It would be better, but not critical, to use a local architect because they will know the local authorities and procedures. If any of your neighbours have done extensive works/extension, ask them who they used and whether they would recommend them.

1. Go for personal recommendations.

1. Take your budget. Double it, then throw it out of the window. Pretty much take the cost of the house and expect to spend that or is it just us who expected to be able to renovate a house for under £100k.

1. If your extension needs planning permission, get that sorted first. We've decided against a first floor extension because it would add 10 weeks on to the timescale as a minimum - even more if someone objects.

1. Don't necessarily go with the cheapest - or the most expensive - go with who you click with best (unless their quote is ridiculous) because you're going to be working closely with them.

1. Ask what their plans are for contingencies - is it an "all in, we'll suck up the extra if a wall falls down" price or will they charge you more?

We are doing something similar - no extension as can't afford it but central heating, rewiring, taking out a chimney and widening a doorway, new bathroom and kitchen, new timber sashes at front of house, new carpet and painting. We are living in it and trying to do quite a lot ourselves ie stripping wallpaper, gutting kitchen etc. I'm exhausted already! We didn't have any useful recommendations for builders but I am using checka trade. I costed up all the work before I put the offer in plus a contingency and so far all quotes have come in within a few hundred quid of my estimates so I'm pleased with that. I'm project managing which is the hardest part trying to coordinate different trades and who does what when. Most frustrating bit so far is waiting for quotes to come in -some have been within days but others taken weeks. If you can afford it lots of builders will offer a renovation service and do the whole thing which is much easier but we are on a tight budget. Word of warning check builders with companies house the ones we were going to use turned out to have been in insolvency proceedings a few months ago and just changed their name a bit!

I don't necessarily agree that your budget will double, unless you are hugely unrealistic. Make a list of what needs to be done, get some advice and quotes from the relevant tradesmen, and remember to list everything and price it (i.e. you don't just need to buy a door, you need handles and hinges too). If your budget doesn't fit,

My top tips would be:
a) don't live there while you are doing it (check), and
b) if you are going to project manage yourself, make sure you do your homework and work out what order you need to do things in. i.e. don't lay new carpets upstairs and then realise you need to get under the floorboards to get to the electrics downstairs, do all of the big and messy jobs first (i.e. electrics, heating, windows, knocking down of walls).
c) enjoy it! I learned loads doing our first house and we are just about to start over again on a new one. Thankfully not as much needs to be done, but this time we have to live there, with a 1 year old, while we do it so it may not be as simple!

That was meant to be - if your budget doesn't fit, then look at where you can save money and make changes. unless money is no object of course, then go mad!

We are on budget so far but it has taken us years longer than we thought. Some of that is due to circumstances (2 DC under 2), others due to over optimistic thinking on our part.

There are some good builders - like a pp ours was hard to pin down for a start date but once he started, he was on time and on budget.

By the end of it you will not give a shiny shite about Natural Hessian vs Organic Cotton, or about the precise design of sockets. You won't care as long as you aren't looking at holes in your walls.

All I would say is live in it first. Work out from that how you would like things to be then start methodically.

We didn't, we moved in did the kitchen a month later and everything else piece meal. if we had been less hasty then things would have been done differently. If you know you can afford an extension then do that first and rearrange the kitchen around that.

this is what no one told us!

Nell actually I agree that's its useful to live in it first but we couldn't have done that in our first place as it was dire. Our renovation was pretty basic though, apart from adding an extra double socket in the wall behind where the TV was to go and a dimmer switch in the bedroom I wouldn't have changed anything I don't think.

HOWEVER, now we have moved into our new house i'm wavering on our plans for layout changes. But if we hadn't lived here at all and just got on with it though I wouldn't have known any difference.

I agree that living in the house for a while before work starts can be beneficial. We've done several projects now and with the last one particularly it paid dividends living there a few months and getting a feel of how the layout would work best for us, as we changed our minds about how we'd originally intended to do the layout.

I should say this was a major project - the house was unmortgageable when we bought it - so needed everything with the exception of a new thatch! We needed to build an extension and completely reconfigure the layout as well as rewire, three bathrooms, new flooring, kitchen, replumb, remove walls and plaster internally as the walls were all exposed stone. As well as redecoration throughout we also landscaped a large garden and had hardwood sashes fitted to seven windows at the front.

We always live onsite and do as much as we can ourselves - our budget for 2500 sq ft was £100k and we went slightly over, mainly due to me wanting high-end fixtures, but we sourced loads online and got some good deals with ex-display sanitaryware etc as well as getting a local joinery co to make bespoke kitchen units for a fraction of high street cost. DIYing has taught us lots and it can be very rewarding - if back-breaking!

Thanks all. I hadn't thought about living there first. Itsa real mess though.

We moved out while we were doing our work. The schedule was 4 months, and we arranged to rent for 6.

We were ahead of schedule until it was time to lay the wood floor. The (well known flooring company) didn't order our floor, despite us paying well in advance, and so when it was time for delivery, they could only provide some. I think they wanted to fob us off with a different, similar floor, and that if they left it, we would be so desperate, we would agree.

Once the floor was laid, it was found to be faulty. I think the manufacture had been rushed.

So, in the end, they provided a much more expensive floor for the same money (not what I had chosen, though). We were also given some compensation, but it didn't even cover our additional costs, let alone anything for "distress".

All his added an extra 4 months to the schedule, and we had to extend our rental for another two months. Luckily, the LL agreed to do it on a rolling agreement, rather than us having to sign up for a second six months.

So, my advice is, have a contingency fund!

If you cant live there or don't want to live there in the state its in OP then don't. Just spend some time there imagining yourself living there and act out making a cuppa (where will the mugs go, where will the fridge be etc), walk into rooms and imagine turning the light on (is the switch in the right place or does it need moving?) and things like that.

If you don't extend will the layout stay the same? any walls coming down/going up etc?

We couldn't live in ours it was awful, but it was good to spend some time there, I then did a plan for each room, what needed doing etc then added more. Some things take ages to order in etc like windows, do these first if the walls they are going into are sound As otherwise everything thing else is waiting. We had a must have and a would like list and also a what can wait list. We have only used independent people so far and the work quality has been great. We are running out of money now and still have to do floors, which is pretty vita! An electrician in early is also important as they and gas people make a terrible mess where you wouldn't imimagine.

My builder explained that for big jobs it can end up more expensive if you are living in the property whilst the work is going on. If you are not living in it, the builders can basically just leave things at the end of the day without tidying and cleaning up. If you are living there, they have to clean up every day and work around the family. He asked whether you really wanted to pay builders rates for them to do cleaning. It will also take them longer to finish the job. You might not end up saving that much by living on site during the works.

However, I agree that it is better to live in the property first before the building works start in ernest to get a feel. We could not do that because the property was very dated and the kitchen too basic. Therefore we rented and just focused on the major extension done and kept the decor quite neutral in order to move in soonest. We were going to do the interiors up properly after we moved in but having been in the property for 2 years now, still have not got round to it.

Add 15% to what you think your budget and time scale will be.
Be thankful you can afford to live somewhere else whilst it's done and that you can afford builders.
Don't go for the cheapest quote necessarily and word of mouth is the best place to find a good builder.
Ask around, any neighbours, family and friends recommendations.
Hope you enjoy your new home.