Renovating a house

[WelshMoth]

I'd love to be able to renovate an older property.

How complex is the process? Obviously I need the cash but can someone tell me the next steps? Architect, builder, council for planning permission etc? What are the must do's?

When you say renovate what exactly do you mean? Are you talking about including an extension ? What level of renovation would you be looking at doing ?

In our experience, it's a nightmare. Everything costs three times what you expect, finding good tradesmen is really hard, you live in a permanent mess, everything is dusty. But we've got more space then if we'd bought any other house in our budget and one day it will be nice.

Depends what you do. There are loads of good renovation accounts on Instagram you can follow for ideas.
We are renovating our house at the moment. It was structurally fine though and most of the renovation has been cosmetic as the previous owners had lived in it for 60+ years and it was very dated. We started with having it completely rewired and replastered. We have taken a million layers of wallpaper down, painted the rooms and restored the floors. We then got an architect to make plans for a kitchen extension and have just received planning permission. It's been fun but tiring living in essentially chaos with a toddler and a baby. We only moved here as it was all we could afford in this area.

I'm at the start of renovation #2.

It's hard work and stressful, but it is worth it to add value and get what you actually want or need out of a house.

My big tip would be to live in the house for 6 months before starting anything (if possible). This allows you to understand the house and how you live in it as well as what actually needs doing.

If you're changing layout I'd recommend an architect. If you're just redecorating, it's not needed.

Expect things to cost more than you think.

Have a list of must do works and then would like to works. Figure out how long you can wait for the like to works.

I’m on renovation number 3 though this house has been 2 really .

You need to ask yourself why you want to do a renovation, what you want to gain from it, whether you are prepared to any any yourself, whether you have sufficient funds to do it all, whether you are happy giving up evenings and weekends as needed.

Agree with living in it for a bit. We’re putting house on market and hoping to buy another house which needs work . I have a shortlist of several as don’t know what will be available by the time we have sold and have an idea for each what I would like to do for each but wouldn’t start until having lived there for a bit .

If you can afford it, live somewhere else! If not, do one room at a time, though this is not possible with major refits.

Thanks everyone.
The house is a family home so it's very familiar to us. We've had a friend knock up some drawings (unofficially) and we have him a rough idea of our wishes. We like it.

I am a bit in the dark as to the next steps (obvs once the house is bought etc). Do I get the designer to submit drawings for planning? What other 'experts' apart from finding a builder domain need to get? Structural engineer? That type of stuff.

Will a builder do the same job/estimating as a structural engineer?

We still need more info from you. What exactly are you planning to do - are these drawings for an extension or to rearrange the existing space you have?

If it is an extension, would what is being proposed fall under permitted development (google it)?

We had a structural engineer. She did the calculations and drawings for where all the steels were required and this had to Building control for them to check.

Assuming it’s an extension that needs planning the first step is get plans drawn up then apply for planning.
Once you have this you will need detailed plans to submit to for Building Regs. There is a fee for applying for building regulations approval. They will come out at intervals to assess the work eg after the foundations have been dug. They need to be given notice before you start . Builders usually do this bit but you will need drawings, calculations etc to submit before you start.

Assuming you are talking extension not internal remodel then you need someone to do drawings for submission to planning and a builder. Our architect was able to guide us through the process and has a structural engineer he uses.

Its hell on earth and I wish I'd never started, it cost me £60k in the end just one thing after another. Layer after kayer of years of DIY and work having to be stripped back.
All the woodwork has to be removed before you even start, architraves, skirting boards, electricity - years of - radiators, everything has to be replastered. You'll find woodworm and beetles in the joists and all the floors will have to come up.
It costs a lot of money.
I won't do it anymore. Currently bought a 1990's house that initially seemed to be in good condition but it really isn't so I've had to do loads of work and I'm really pissed off with it.

So far, the plan would be to extend to the side, remodel the inside layout and the dream would be to life the roof to create 2 bedroom. All this is dependant on cost and available space.

I’d find a decent architect to start with who can hold your hand through the process and has contacts as that’s a lot to take on for first project. Sounds exciting, good luck!

@WelshMoth

So far, the plan would be to extend to the side, remodel the inside layout and the dream would be to life the roof to create 2 bedroom. All this is dependant on cost and available space.

Umm... why not just buy a different house? It seems crazy to put so much money and effort into a property that isn't even 'nearly' what you want!

Also - please don't 'renovate' the heart and soul out of it. When DH and I were house-hunting we saw so many houses where lovely old fireplaces and picture-rails had been removed to flatten walls and laminate crap had been slapped over the original wooden floors. Heart-breaking as we just wanted an old character property.

Who said anything about renovating the heart and soul out of it? You're making some hefty assumptions with your "laminating the crap out of it". The idea is to strip back the walls to its original walls and reinstalling the flooring, opening chimneys etc. A side extension would give us the room and we want it to be in character.

Just need to know the next step really. Thanks for your advice.

First step - wave goodbye to your savings
What we did was to employ a well recommended builder to come round for a couple of hours, go through our ideas and tell us if they were realistic. Luckily he was then able to draw the proper plans for us which saved a bit of money.
Everybody body says it but it's true - you will need more money than what you originally budgeted. Inevitably you will add more work to what you planned, and you will find problems that were't originally apparent, in our case an unmapped sewage run.