We have a stunning doer upper to care for. Any tips?

[LemonSwan]

Hi All,

Our offer was accepted on the house of our dreams. We have to care for this beauty of a house and renovate it to its former glory.

Think sash windows, double fronted edwardian style, beautiful materials and original features.

We need new central heating, new wiring, window renovations, new lime plaster etc.

Any advice welcome as we prepare to start this journey?

Already realised I needed to have the sash man booked a year ago!
Anything else we need to know?

don't start adding up how much its costing . wait until you can afford what you really want rather than just make do to get the job done
Before you start anything work out how the house can work for you and decide on things you really don't want or like and don't be persuaded by sales people
I'm very envious , good luck

We have a large Edwardian house that needed/still needs loads of work. It takes a lot if time, particularly in our case as we can't afford tradesmen so are doing most of it ourselves.

My advice would be to concentrate on getting it watertight and warm, so:

Roof
Plumbing
Insulation

Then electrics as you're bound to find a catastrophic mish mash of dangerous wiring when you dig down.

That lot will take a suitable amount of time, money and mess so brace yourselves.

Just to add, if your offer has only just been accepted, then get a proper structural survey done before you get too carried away.

Are you going to live in it while you are doing it? We are... we got one room done so we had somewhere to retreat to. Then the lath and plaster beautiful decorated ceiling collapsed...

Anyway.

Work out what order to do things in, so you don’t end up redoing.

Ask around to get builders, joiners etc who have worked on and understand old houses.

Get yourself on period property forum and read lots about damp. Congrats. We did similar about 3 years ago and are loving it. Don't rush decision unless they are for a temporary solution. 1st thing to do is fix anything which is causing further damage like leaky roof or Windows. Then if you are living in it, set up a loo, sink and bath/shower and get a room done so you have somewhere to chill. You don't need as much as people think to live somewhere reasonably comfortably and you really appreciate stuff if you have done without for a bit.

Agree with PPs - roof/electrics/plumbing first. Floors - last, after absolutely everything else has been done.

Here's a good guide to damp: www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html

Everyone has their one room they wish in hindsight they had done first. We did our bedroom first so we had somewhere to retreat to. Next time, we will do the bathroom first. It's different for everyone so think hard!

Live in the house for a while (minimum 6 months if you can) before drastically changing layouts (e.g. for a kitchen). Same with big decorating decisions (unless you don't mind repainting once you've changed your mind )

Set up a renovation instagram so we can all see how you get on!! (Or just look through the thousands of others on there - it's incredible what you can learn from fellow DIYers/renovators).

Hi @Geneticsbunny -which forums would you recommend?

I'm 18 months into this - it's a money pit but SO rewarding.

1. do NOT add up the predicted costs at the outset, you'll scare yourself silly
2. definitely live in for 6 months before doing anything
3. make a list of everything that needs doing and prioritise by year, then cost the next project you're embarking on.
4. put small things on the list so you can tick them off and feel a sense of achievement
5. consider which rooms can be done piecemeal ie we didn't floor our library til a month ago but sorted the shelves and joinery as one of our first jobs and which have to done in a oner ie kitchen

Good luck!

I'm going to lower the time somewhat. Acquaint yourself with something I believe is known amongst some trades people as 'wanker tax' ..the extra they add on to the quote/bill .The assumption being that if you've bought the house of your dreams you also have a never ending supply of money because you're obviously a rich/posh wanker.
It sounds fab, I hope it all goes well.

• lower the tone

Think about future proofing the house so you won't need to retrofit it in future. No gas boiler - insulate well so that you can have a heat pump. And no gas cooker. Solar panels on the roof if you can. Grey water recycling and rainwater harvesting if possible.

In last month's Living Etc there is a feature about a house which the owners lived in for a year, before actually choosing new paint colours etc, to get used to the way the light falls in different rooms at different times of the day. You could be doing this whilst you are doing the less exciting but necessary structural work the PPs mention

@NewHouseNewMe www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=1

This is the one I have found most useful. Lots of people all learning from each other. People are very friendly and helpful.

@Ihopeyourcakeisshit is absolutely correct. We are in a grade 2 listed building and as soon as I ring a tradesperson for a quote and they start talking about national trust I know we can't afford them. In terms of trades people you can have two out of these three things but never all three: cheap, good, available.

The more DIY/ practical house repair you learn about yourself, the more tradepeople take you seriously too. Also buy a large comfy boiler suit because then you can do bits of mucky stuff and stop quickly if you need to.( And you don't wreck all your nice clothes).

Thank you all :)

Very excited. I will go on to the period property forum.

We will definitely be doing an instagram but I want to wait until we have completed before I start obviously.

Luckily we have plumbing and electricians in family so we are covered for those.

I am getting really excited about all the breathable paints atm.

Has anyone tried Brouns Linseed Paint?

Wow that link is fabulous.. www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html

Really useful with the picture references. I cant believe they dont have damp proof courses in Holland. We really have been done over. How did I not know this before!

So glad I am going to have a house which was built properly!

Is your new home listed? Grade II, etc? If so, I think there’s special planning permission you need for all work done:

historicengland.org.uk/advice/your-home/owning-historic-property/listed-building/

Recommending this approach (and the rest of the blog):

www.penraevon.co.uk/zen-house-restoration/

Hi plan

No it is not listed, but we dont plan on changing the layout of the house. It is perfectly proportioned as it is.

I love that approach Aknife , we are big fans of letting the house take the lead and we certainly will be using exploration to find the furnishings. I have been looking at local auctions and the quality of furniture for a fraction of the price is incredible.

How wonderful! My advice would be to sympathetically restore rather than get stuck in the period. It will save money and it will make it your own.

I remodelled my favourite house and I would never buy porcelain tiles again because the buggers crack. I would also never spend that money again because mid range is often as good.

I would have the bedrooms done first though. And I would only do the bathroom and live there if I had a separate shower room. Those were a long two weeks.

Thanks User :)

Thankfully we do have a shower room, its a little worse for wear but will do for the meantime.

Luckily there is an older part of the house and a newer part of the house. So we will live in the newer part whilst we have any roof work done, all wiring, central heating and then remedial plastering done in the old house, before switching sides and living in their and saving whilst we understand the layout of the house and how we live before making any other alterations. We do not want to do work twice.

One thing I am struggling with is how we put the pipes in hidden so you cant see them without distrubing the original floors. I do not want these touched at all - they are immaculate. Can we work from the downstairs ceilings (needs redoing anyway), and then chase them down the walls so not to disturb the ground floor tiling or parquets? I do not want any boxing in.

Don't set a budget, you would never start 😂
Take lots of before photos.

Buy huge curtains on eBay that you can alter for your lovely windows.

Enjoy!

We did do a rough budget before offering. We had to make sure we could afford to care for the house and do any pressing works. It was eye watering but worth it to live in a house like that.

Decorating and the like I haven't budgeted for yet, but these we like the sound of the zen renovation approach and building it up bit by bit. I will confess to ordering every single paint card from every decent paint company yesterday. We absolutely love paint and colour which was the big appeal with this house. It has the proportions to hold colour which we previously have only just been able to get away with.

We have a few bits of nice furniture already that will suit the house but any ikea bits and bobs wont cut the mustard in there and will be slowly replaced when we find the right stuff. I have been looking at some lovely pieces at auction.

We have quite an eclectic taste and the previous owner did as well so we want to continue that and have a mix and match of good quality pieces rather than an 'era house'. We want the bones of the house restored to its timeless beauty and then the furnishings to be more fun IYSWIM.

None of that probably makes any sense but in my head it does lol

Has it got central heating already that needs upgrading or just electric or open fires? Do all the rooms have beautiful floors?