Home renovation - advice/reassurance on how to start!

[timtam23]

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed as DH and I have agreed to renovate & improve our house, rather than move (well, I finally took my head out of the sand and admitted we definitely need to do something about the house) but the amount of work needed seems huge and I think we would have to put everything into storage & move into a rental for at least part of it.

We only talked about a rough idea last night but on the list so far is a dormer loft conversion, new bathroom, new kitchen (moving positions of kitchen door and back door), replacement of all flooring on ground floor (it needs done and would be wrecked by what needs to be done on the kitchen) removal of woodchip/Artex in various places (likely to need a reskim afterwards), replacement of all radiators, replacement of all windows, new front door, general tidy up, redecoration, skirting boards etc. We have no diagram, we haven't been to kitchen showrooms, haven't looked at tiles etc (no idea how or where to start with this, the choices seem so many)

The house seemed big when I bought it but with 2 DCs now getting older we are straining at the seams and both DCs would love their own room (v small 3rd bedroom currently an office/workroom and we do need to keep a small space for this).

I am so unsure where to even start with this. How organised with choices and plans should we be before we even try to find someone to quote let alone get the work started?

DH has self-renovated a similar house a long time ago so does have some background knowledge but I'm clueless apart from having done all of the decorating (now very shabby-looking) in the current house.

Any suggestions would be so welcome from those who have done, or are doing, similar!

I would get a price for a dormer first it will be the job that will create the most mess. That would probably be the most expensive job. Get a specialist loft conversion company in to have a look and give you some idea of price.

Thank you very much, yes I will do that, a lot of the neighbours have had dormer extensions so I'll maybe get a couple of those companies round to have a look. We are lucky to have the layout for an L shaped dormer (most houses round here can only do the standard dormer) so it would be well worth it for the space, if I can forget about the mess!

Honestly - get an architect to come in and assess your home and want you what in terms of living space, then they can help you work out what you actually need, and do some detailed drawings for you. Then you can get bathroom/kitchen/floor quotes etc based on the new dimensions of your living space.

Hey everything planned, down to the number of lights and sockets and then you have a better chance of getting like for like builders quotes. Costs go up during a build when the builder assumes one central,light and 2 plug sockets and you ask for 20 downlights (please don't do a grid of downlights) and 10 sockets.

In my experience a loft conversion can be done while living in the property and although messy and dirty, because it is all new space it's a lot less disruptive than a new kitchen. So you can do the loft first and then the other rooms in stages.

A big builder may be able to do the whole lot in 6 months and you have to move out of a smaller builder can tackle one after the other, which obviously takes longer but you may not have to move out and it may cost the same overall.

Start with planning. Look up the planning permission of similar houses nearby. It's all in the council planning portal. All architect drawings will have the architects contact details so if you find a design you like on a house similar to you then contact the architect. And ask for recommendations on local FB pages.

Fun stuff - start looking at images on Pinterest. Get a measuring tape and measure the room your new kitchen will be in and book a local kitchen company appointment. Knock on the front door of homes that area having loft conversions done right now or just finished....people are generally lovely and happy to show off their new rooms!! Good luck. It can change your life having more room in the same house. We've lived in the same house for 20 years and have a fantastic master bedroom in the loft and a big kitchen extension in an otherwise small terrace and it is amazing for 2 adults and 2 teenagers.

Thank you - I'm going to take a look at a friend's loft conversion which is a similar layout to what we're thinking of, and take it from there with the loft while looking at planning for the other projects.

I agree - start with the loft and work top down. If you are not doing anything structural other than moving the door (back door will need support above as will other door if wall is structural), you may not need an architect.
I'm doing dormer to already converted loft, redoing bathrooms, extending kitchen and adding understairs loo. I plan on doing the bathrooms and redecorating bedrooms on middle floor so I have somewhere to sleep while waiting for dormer design/permissions/builder availability. Then I'll tackle the extension, with the livingroom already decorated so I have one reception room (with microwave). Lots of takeaways!

Thanks, yes we are starting with the loft, we've got an architect and have submitted the plans to the council to register them for building regs (planning permission not needed fortunately). Just on hold now awaiting a date from the builder and to get the party wall agreements signed. Once we have a loft done it'll be easier to tackle the rest of the work, as we can hopefully then retreat to the 2nd floor away from the mess and have a space there for a microwave etc

We are in a similar position but it is a new house and we haven’t moved in yet. We need to take off the current loft conversion and rebuild it, and do everything else you’ve described. I have been comforting myself by ordering lots of samples and putting the finer details together whilst we wait to meet with architects.