Refurbishing before moving in

[unCliche]

DH and I are FTB currently living in rented property with tenancy ending mid Feb 2021 with potential to complete on the new house before Feb. We're chain free on both sides.

When do you think we should push to complete by to have enough time to get tradesmen in for quotes and have work started and completed by Feb?

Summary of work we're thinking of doing while the house is still empty:

• Wood floor restoration
• x2 new bathrooms (both about 3m2 in size)
• Some pipe work
• New carpets in loft room and on stairs
• Small stud wall + plastering
• Wall knocking through and door put it

I was thinking mid Jan will give us enough time? We'll do things like painting ourselves and some work can be done after we've moved in but the above would be the priority.

You need to put it into a schedule to see which jobs need to be done first and how long each will take. You'll also need all of your tradesmen and suppliers lined up to start once you have completed. A month is entirely do-able but it depends on the availability of plumbers etc.

Mid January if you’ve had quotes and have tradesmen lined up + you’ve chosen your white goods, taps, tiles and can have those delivered at short notice.

Bear in mind that trades are exceptionally busy at the moment, so I'd be phoning now to assess availability.

Ideally, I'd love for us to get the keys and start work immediately, but what would be the best way to get quotes before completion? I don't want to inconvenience the occupants of the house with tradesmen coming in and out for quotes, especially with COVID.

I think that you're unlikely to be able to get accurate quotes unless the current occupants will allow access by multiple tradespeople.

Maybe you could ask if you could take lots of detailed photos on the proviso you only share them with potential workmen?

Will you need building regulations permission to knock a wall down? You will need some drawings to apply to the Council.

@RhymesWithOrange I suppose taking photos, videos, sending floor plans would be an option. I'm not sure what they'll be looking out for but perhaps proposing they send me a list of things to report back to them about, like material of interior walls, pipes under floorboards or walls, etc. would be ok?

@fabulousathome I'm not sure tbh we wouldn't be knocking down the whole wall, just a partial hole for a doorway to create an ensuite.

Have you booked your trades already? My builder is currently booking for May, my plumber January/February.

I do wonder how likely it is for you to get quotes on a house you don't own yet. It takes time to do an accurate quote if I was a busy tradesperson I'd probably not want to quote for the job as the house isn't yours yet. I could be wrong but you need to find trades now.

All bathroom fitters round here are already fully booked until Feb.

So you've got 11 weeks? Sorry, but I think that even if you completed today, that wouldn't be soon enough for most of the jobs on your list. Replacing our bathrooms was a couple of weeks worth of work and the fitter was booked about 4 months in advance. I imagine builders will be similarly in-demand at the moment. You could probably get the flooring sorted within your timescale, but I imagine you'd want that doing last.

Most trades round here are booked solid until April. You might want to start by talking to a few and find out how booked up they are. Based on personal experience I dont think your timescales are realistic

Also bathrooms were way more expensive than I realised so you need to check your budget.

You do sound a bit naive, tbh, OP. You do know all these are doable when you're living in it, unless its actually inhabitable? Floors would be the priority I'd think as its a massive pain to move everything out to do them.

I guess in my naivety and I assumed that things would be more straightforward. I've never owned a home before so of course I need my expectations set to something more realistic, so thank you for all the insight into this whole home refurbishment thing. I suppose the floors would really be the only thing we could do, which is fine.

Never knew there was such a huge demand for tradespeople right now haha! And until April 😱 I've been imagining a fully refurbished home by then 😂 I'd have to talk to DH and set his expectations too. No one ever tells you these things, so thank you!!

I know some work is dependant on others but it's deciding whether floors should be last so that they can be sorted once more messier work is complete or first so that they can be done while the house is still devoid of furniture 🤷‍♀️

Having done floors before I would 100% recommend to prioritise them before you move in. Otherwise you have a sofa, table, chairs, bed, bedroom furniture etc you have to move elsewhere. You can always cover the flooring to protect it when you paint.

I did it but I work in property so I had everyone lined up and ready.

You need to get an appointment to go to the property with a builder/project manager so that they can be ready.

I completed at 1pm, by 5pm the floors were up and the bathroom was ripped out.

Prioritise the order that works need to happen. For example, does the doorway need to be made before the carpet goes down. Does the pipe work need to go under floors- in which case you need that done before floors.

In general flooring is the last thing that goes in and that's annoying as you want that in before your furniture.

Don't underestimate the cost and difficulty of putting bathrooms in. As you have two I would give up on the concept of them being done before you move in and concentrate on the other stuff. Bathrooms tend to be quite self contained and have their own flooring.

What is your budget?

I would prioritise, as others have said, the things that are most important to do before you move in.

Ie: the basics of: are you happy with wiring, heating and plumbing through the house, as all these should be done before you get your dream floors? Also better to do any wiring/plumbing/heating upgrades before painting so any plaster can be repaired.

Also think about if there is any old wallpaper that needs removed - are you happy with ceilings etc? Get any repairs done so plaster can be touched up as it is very very dusty and messy.

Then get your floors done.

You may well need drawings done for moving door into en suite - don't forget that if it's a load bearing wall, you'll need to have buildings control (local council) sign it off. Find a local architect OR architectural technician, read reviews, see if they have a presence on social media (not that it matters that they're good with social media, but the great ones in my area all post photos of projects on insta and fb and have lots of authentic reviews) and email them to ask them about your project (do they have time, have they done this type of thing before, what would they suggest).

Find a builder and line up all your tradesmen. Again, the local fb mums group in our county has always got great suggestions.

If you have two bathrooms then that is actually easier to do when you move in. If you wanted to say e.g. refinish a wooden floor, that would be a nightmare to do after you've moved unless you have lots of rooms/not very much stuff.

I'm not an expert but have done up several houses and moved several times! Interested to hear others' tips as well as we are thinking of moving into our biggest project yet!

I had to book my builder in July to start work this January, they are so busy at the moment.

Yes agree with a pp heating, wiring, replastering and floors first. In our current house we had to skim the vast majority of the walls as the plaster had blown.

It is hard work, and stressful but also fun and immensely satisfying.

Finally whatever your budget is double it! And keep 15% back for contingency.

Also I am in the south, trades may not be so busy in your area. I think lockdown has made people more motivated to fix all the things wrong with their house. So builders get booked up.
Finally make any layout changes now

My daughter completed 6 weeks ago, she had three ceilings skimmed, and some extra sockets put in/light fittings replaced, plus an electric safety check. Carpets are being done tomorrow. There's more to do, lots more painting, and eventually she needs a new kitchen, but she's hoping to be in next week and do jobs when she gets around to them.

There's a lot of waiting for trades, everything takes longer than you imagine!

Thanks lovelies 💕 You're right, it's definitely is all about prioritising the work we do. I think we'll probably only carpet (or laminate) the loft room, as that will be our room, then do the rest of the floors later as the house will still be pretty empty (no kids, so no other occupied rooms). Sofas and tables can be moved around I guess.

We got back our homebuyers survey yesterday so there's other work to be done before we can even start considering refurbishing so I can't really see us getting keys on day 1 and having a completely refurbished house on day 30. That dream died quickly 😅

New priority is to get tradespeople into the house for quotes the moment we move in!

@dalrympy how did you manage that?? Please share your secrets. Sounds like it's impossible to get quotes and dates booked in without owning the house. How soon in advance did you start arranging everything?

@dalrympy how did you manage that?? Please share your secrets. Sounds like it's impossible to get quotes and dates booked in without owning the house. How soon in advance did you start arranging everything?

I’m arranging things now for a flat I’m buying in February. I don’t need to get multiple quotes because I’m using tradespeople I’ve used for years AND I know what’s a reasonable price for the work.

I’ve already chosen all my tiles, fixtures and fittings for bathroom and kitchen, had quotes and checked current availability and delivery time scales. I will have alternatives in case my first choices are out of stock.

Im researching electric heating right now as there’s no gas in the block - any advice welcome !

Ive written a spec for each trade and will discuss it with them next month . We’ve agreed a start date and they know roughly how many days work it is.

I’ve got an agreement to go into the property in December to “ measure up “ . I already have rough measurements but I want to look at all the things I couldn’t see with the vendor looking over my shoulder.

Of course there will be some changes to the plan as when we do the strip out we will find problems no doubt. The finishes are very poor so I suspect there will be a few surprises.

There’s nothing structural and it’s just a small one bed flat.

OP - fitting carpets and having floors finished is the LAST job you want to do, not one of the first .

Do your building work , plumbing ( and heating ) and electrics first.

Your project sounds a lot for a FTB with no experience. Do you have advice from family and friends?

@unCliche I work in the property trade so I knew the people and I knew what I wanted. They were all lined up in advance (and owed me some favours!).