Selling a flat that needs replastering. Would you buy it?!

[goteam]

We want to put our flat on the market after Christmas. We have awful wood chip in most of the rooms. It's a 3 bed flat and only one bedroom has nice smooth walls, the other two have old wood chip, as does the living room and hallway. Painted over several times and peeling with surface cracks.

Bathroom and kitchen are less than a year old, new expensive carpets but we just can't do this work on the walls but worried that it will prevent a sale. We would have to move out and move our stuff out for two weeks and we just can't with young children. I work from home and the kids are at school nearby.

Would you buy a flat that needed replastering? We would take 15-20k off the asking price, maybe more.

The flat has a lot going for it. Zone 2, a decent sized garden, big rooms, 3 bedrooms, high ceilings, a lot of light...it's just the issue with the walls.

It only really started bothering us in lockdown when we had nothing better to do than stare at the walls! It always bothered me more than DH though but the size of the job put us off doing anything about it.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

We would take 15-20k off the asking price, maybe more

Your asking price should reflect it's current condition. Pricing it as 'done up' then negotiating down because of it being 'not done up' just isn't the right thing to do.

Just ask the EA to say what it is worth now and put into the wording of the listing that the price reflects it's current condition.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Also, as someone who has stripped only woodchip off walls in a Victorian home it is not as simple as it sounds.

The walls will likely be whattle and daub underneath and need reboarding. Add insulation in too.

Plus, as a pp said - sockets and rewiring are likely to be needed.

[ILoveAnOwl]

You can do a plastering course for £350. That plus expense of buying the plaster and paint and your time and you've just saved yourselves £20k.

[goteam]

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz rewiring isn't needed I wouldn't have thought. We live here. The flat is in very good condition apart from the walls and even then its just cosmetic. They are actually painted nice neutral colours, it's just on top of woodchip. The flat isn't a complete renovation job Most things have been done. Brand new (as in done in the last 2 years) boiler, carpets, kitchen, bathroom, radiators, windows etc. We have done a lot of work just not this one thing, just because of the upheaval involved.

I will speak to the EA though as I don't want the wording to suggest the flat is a renovation job. As PPs have said maybe we let ourselves down not doing the walls as it does make it sound like a do-er upper when it really isn't.

[Saz12]

That’s a huge reduction in price, I think you need to see what EA values at. I don’t see how paying to get the work done would come in at that.

How long would it take you to earn £20k (net salary?). It just doesn’t sound like a smart financial decision, but obviouy I don’t know your house/area/etc.

You’re not looking to sell for another 4 months. Why not do the sitting room (sensible to assume walls would need skimmed, but maybe you’ll be lucky when you strip the paper and you might find the walls just need some bits filled and sanded).

[Wingedharpy]

@goteam :
Any potential buyer who wants a 3 bed flat in the area you're selling, will see past the wood chip.

It really is a minor detail in the scheme of things.

Good luck with it all.

[Ontheboardwalk]

Woodchip in nearly every room can be an expensive issue to resolve. I know that from bitter experience

My first house I bought had lots of shelving units and fabrics on the wall. Only when i moved in did I realise they were hiding woodchip

Trades were reluctant to take on the job as the amount of time as effort it took made the estimates seem extortionate. They said they also ended up having to quote more to repair the wall under the woodchip

[Whenwillthisbeover]

WoodChip is not that bad to get off if you know what you are doing and prepared to put in the hard graft.

First score the walls with a Stanley knife in diagonals. Then soak thoroughly with a heated steamer stripper. Whilst one person is scoring and soaking the other is taking off the paper with good quality tools.

It will probably take a weekend a room though depending on size.

Agree that well decorated wall with heavy duty lining paper filled along the seams and painted can look very good.

Depending on the age of the walls you can’t always just reskim them, sometimes if they’re Lath and plaster And poor, the plaster will have to all be knocked off and start again.

[ivykaty44]

Whilst wood chip is seen as the work of the devil it can be sorted cheaply.
But it takes HOURS to get it off and fill sand the walls and paper with 2000g lining paper the stuffs like cardboard will cover most war wounds

Pay a decorator to do this, it’s not going to cost £20k

[juneisbustingout]

I bought a five bedroomed Victorian house with wood chip on every wall. It took me the twenty years I lived there to remove every bit, make good and hang lining paper. I can recall that not a single tradesperson would contemplate doing it and I used to pay the children to do it over summer holidays.
I'm currently buying and am happy to do lots of things but wood chip is a big No.
I'd ask around locally, put a message up on local FB page for anyone who needs some extra work as it's not a skilled job just time consuming. You could offer £10 an hour cash and have it done in a couple of weeks ( you really may not need to re plaster)

[BluebellsGreenbells]

We had it in an old bathroom.

It actually came off in near enough full sheets. Not all wood chip is bad to get off. Test an area first.

[Seeingadistance]

My name is Seeing and I quite like woodchip.

When I was growing up, in an old farmhouse, our living room had gloss paint on the walls, and linoleum tiles on the floor. When we upgraded to woodchip and carpet tiles it was luxury! Luxury, I tell ya!

[LionLily]

I would just put it on the market at the lower end of the range for similar properties. Incoming owners will not have to worry about the kitchen and bathroom which are two of the biggest projects, and with 3 bedrooms it must be possible to rotate use in order to deal with the wood chip room by room. You are coming to end of your tenure there, you feel you've done everything you can there, you're weary and ready to move on to pastures anew. Understandable, but the new owners will be refreshed and ready to personalise their new space.
I bought my first property in the 80s, so I've had my fair share of wood chipped walls to deal with but I've never contemplated replastering before actually seeing the state of the walls underneath. Yes, removing woodchip is a messy and time consuming job even with the most efficient equipment but it's a labourer's job really rather than a qualified painter/decorator. Pare down your belongings, put stuff into store as you will do anyway prior to putting the flat on the market, then get a contractor to send in a couple of labourers for a week, even at their London wages it's not going to cost £15k.
Although my chosen course would be just to leave it and see what happens.

[goteam]

Ha ha @Seeingadistance do you want to buy a flat?! There is something rustic and wholesome about colourful painted woodchip. It reminds me of going to community cafes as a child with vegetarian food and notice boards full of adverts for CND campaigns etc!

Goodness @juneisbustingout maybe we need to get the kids to do it for pocket money..

@LionLily thanks for that, you've hit the nail on the head. We have done the flat up as much as we can and had quite a bit of upheaval with kids around, both working full time etc and we hope we have buyers who were like us 12 years ago, childless professionals. We were late 20's when we bought and really should have got everything done then before furnishing it and certainly before having kids but ho hum. Other things seemed more important...

We will see what the EA suggests. We would rather just leave it....

[goteam]

Had estate agent visit. Interestingly he didnt mention the woodchip / walls. I pointed them out and asked if we should get them done and he said no, it's not worth the money or upheaval for us.

[user1471538283]

It depends on the age of the flat. If its older I would expect some work and all the walls may not need completely replastering. Our walls here aren't great but it's an old house

[goteam]

Old here too @user1471538283 but a Victorian conversion so some walls are newer but done in the 80s (when woodchip was in vogue). Lots of original features like original tiles and fireplaces so sometimes people have to take the bad with the good!