Moving house and redecorating

[silversixpence]

Can I ask about your experiences of moving into houses that need some work. Do most people move in and then start redecorating? What if it needs a lot of work eg old carpets or has dire bathrooms? We are looking at some properties which are a bit cheaper but need a lot doing to them but can't imagine living in them with 3dc and don't really want the upheaval and expense of renting until the house is ready.

We're moving into a house that needs a lot of work, has old carpets, dire bathrooms and kitchen and dodgy electrics. We're moving in, deep cleaning and making do until the new year when we will do the work. The builders will have to work around us. The worst of it will be a few weeks months of take-aways and washing plates in the bath. The kids won't care about the decor and will be at school during the day when the heavy work is going on. It will be a pain but worth it in the long run so we just have to keep remembering that.

We looked at renting but it's very hard to get a rental for less than six months and rental properties tend not to be so nice anyway so are not worth the expense and hassle IMO.

Depends how bad the houses are - I have moved twice into houses that needed "updating" - i.e. full redecoration, new carpets, new bathroom, new kitchen and each time done it bit by bit as we could afford. Both times with young or primary age DC - in both cases we ended up with a house we would never have been able to afford if it had all been done.

So for us it was definitely worth it but, of course, it depends on the state of the house.

Carpets that are really bad can always be lifted and the floorboards painted - we've done that. And we've also painted over flowery wallpaper - you'd be surprised how many inexpensive quick fixes there are.

The problem is we will have dc3 in the house and he is only 4m now so limit to how much I could take him out. I'm also planning to return to work in March so need to have the worst of it done by then.

Our area has a lot of nice rental properties (purpose built flats/conversions) but rents are not cheap so a move of 4-6 months would cost around 6-10k. However similar houses which are newly decorated would be 50-100k more expensive and I do prefer to put in a kitchen and bathroom of my own choice.

This is the house we're considering. Does it look like we could live in it?

I've just moved into a house that needs every room doing. We moved in and are doing room by room. We haven't got any children though.

Currently sat in the living room with bare walls. We have got rid of the God awful gas fire thank God.

We would have had more done by now but we had a gas safety inspection and needed a brand new boiler as ours was ancient! So that wasn't great.

I don't think it's bad living in a house that needs doing up as long as it's not absolutely minging.

Ours was spotlessly clean and looked darter in that way just extremely old fashioned!

Silver, that house is fab and has huge potential but looks perfectly fine to live in in the medium term.

Maybe I'm a pessimist but I think you will struggle to get works completed by March especially if you are in a chain. If you're a FTB and the house has vacant possession and your offer is accepted today, the purchase will probably complete around Christmas. Are you really going to get builders in and out by March?

Holly, our new house has a horrible gas fire. Is it a big job getting them taken out? By big, I mean expensive obviously. What did you put in in its place?

Etoile you're probably right but would want at least upstairs carpets and the bathroom done asap. Ideally would also get rid of the conservatory and have a full width extension with bifold doors instead with open plan kitchen. Obviously will need proper architect plans etc before that can be done so its not realistic for that to be done by March .

You can totally live in that. All work is cosmetic, by the looks of it... So just do it room-by-room as you can.

There's also a lot to be said for living with things for a while so you can be absolutely sure what you want to do. Much better than rushing into things.

Looks totally liveable tbh! Very neutral colour scheme.

I'd make a list of priorities so bathroom first. Do things bit by bit but it's totally manageable.

That is definitely liveable!! It depends about the gas fire. As our boiler was so ancient it was actually in the chimney breast and pretty much attached to the gas fire. So to remove our gas fire we had to remove the boiler too.

Yours Jay just have to be capped off which isn't any trouble at all really. Obviously it depends if you're going to continue with gas or prefer an electric fire or dual burning?

So ours was more expensive as we had to take boiler out and buy a new boiler and relocate it! Luckily my dad is a gas man so we're only paying for the boiler.

Apart from that we chucked don't gas fire. Plasterboard over the hole so it's just a flat chimney breast and we're putting in a beautiful electric fire which has relationship logs in from Costco! 120 we paid for the fire it has different settings and colour shut I like the fire flow to make it realistic. It just hangs on the wall like a TV bracket and TV would. Luckilywr have a friend who plasters so he charged us 50 for the work and 10 for materials. Bargain!

It's definitely good to know people who can help.out with certain things. My dad is a God send otherwise it would have cost us more like 3-5k for new boiler nsf relocation and pipework. But it's costing just the boiler about £800!!

Definitely yours is liveable looks very clean and tidy. Ours is similarly decorated to yours. Lovely aren't they the orangey red tinged carpets?! Haha. Oh and the textured wallpaper, we even have it on the ceilings!!

Realistic logs * chucked out gas fire** bloody phone!

Natural Fire glow ** I give up now haha

You can live in that no bother. You should have seen what we put up with for 18 months! 70 year old bathroom, yes really. It is now a thing of beauty and totally to my taste so was definitely worth it. Go for it!

Thanks for the info Holly. Bet you're looking forward to winter now.

Well we've been without the boiler for 1 week and the chill is creeping in we did have electric heater on last night as I'm ill at the moment.

Good luck and BTW it is a very beautiful house that you could easily make your home. I do think it's more fun making it your own than if we bought an already done house.

We didn't have much choice though. Were 20 and live in south West. We know we want children in future so wanted 3 bed minimum and got ours for 148,000 about 5 months ago we put the offer in. Three houses just sold on our road for 175,000 for 3 bed and no conservatory. We have 3/4 bed and conservatory and large drive so think we've made money already but once done up I'm hoping even more! Can't wait to compare before and after photographs. :-)

Crazy how housing prices differ up by down the country.

Good luck x

I have done this, but dont have kids, 3 cats if that counts though!! Moved in 4 months ago and had a really ropey few weeks of ripping the old kitchen out, getting joists replaced and getting the upstairs and loft for woodworm. The cats were in a cattery while this was going on.

Only got the heating and hot water turned back on a few days ago, and hopefully the kitchen will be finished this time next week. Been almost 4 months without all those things, but have been able to use my boyfriends kitchen and washing machine up till now. But thats got to do with my builder, he's a family friend and is doing it for cheap. As a consequence he's been very unreliable, not being available etc, but I think he's had family trouble, so its a difficult situation. I'm praying for my new kitchen to be finished.

Whole house has still to be redecorated, but thats mainly cosmetic. Apart from my ensuite plans, oh and the logburner I want to install in the living room........

Its a work in progress, but it will be worth it in the end!!

That house is very different from how I imagined it from your post OP! The work is cosmetic from the look of the photos. Room by room is the way to tackle it.

bloody hell - what's wrong with that house apart from being not to your taste? I imagined a tatty dump. It's very far from that.

obviously I can't see the electrical problems, and you should sort those first, but that place is perfectly liveable. Equally obviously, carpets will need to wait until last.

but you've got a baby and a lot of mess coming, why not wait until he/she is a bit older?

can I also suggest living with it for a year before you start major works? There might be a reason why things are as they are, and before you put in the identikit box extension, see where the sun goes, what the real overlooking situation is once the leaves are down and so on.

Move in, take your time and enjoy choosing what to do slowly. We've always changed our mind on what to do after being in a house for 9 months or so. Unless it's a wreck (which it CLEARLY isn't!!!!) chill and enjoy the choices.

Yeah, that house looks in great condition, yes maybe not to your tastes though. As penfold says, take your time doing it up and do exactly what you want, I've changed my mind several times as to what to put into my house and I've only been there 4 months!

ok it seems I am being a bit precious . I think it is because we are leaving a beautiful Victorian terraced house (so we can have a bigger garden, off street parking etc) and the houses that need doing up don't seem as though they will be as nice!

I've got a kitchen like that, although with bonus country-style tiles with pictures of vegetables on them. But it works, and is spacious. It will get done one day. It does have a slight 'little old lady' feel but it is hardly floral everything and carpets up the walls. Looks a lot of house for the area and the money.

I also don't like fussy frills on bathroom suites (or on anything..) but keep a few old toothbrushes and you can keep them clean. And you'll be able to sell a lot of the suite on ebay.

I detest bars on window panes but it will cost you a fortune to re-do all that. It's a good DG job though, nice equal sightlines. Don't forget your FENSA check.

anyway, it looks fine to me and I re-iterate that you should think of doing no more than painting and pictures until you've lived there a while.

That is definitely liveable OP We're renovation veterans and have previously lived in far worse, with DC too. That looks like the Ritz compared to our last house. We had no hot water or heating (except a woodburner & electric fires) for almost six months, although it was just me and DH that time......

We always live on site and are mugs DIYers though and have learned an awful lot over the years.....it can be fun - each to their own though and I doubt everyone would agree!

Before and after (last two pics taken from same position)