What would you do with this house?

[AgadorSpartacus]

We are considering buying this house based very much on the location and that we (mainly DH) loves the quirkiness. If our offer is accepted we’ll have between 14,000 and 20,000 to make it liveable (it also smells like pets). The beams above the alcove to the kitchen and all round the kitchen are a strange plastic that we think we purposely put in by previous owner as decoration. I’d like them removed but worried about cost. I do want a new kitchen to be honest.
What would you do with it? The beams and the house generally? www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121150577

Sorry op but I'd have to completely gut it /
1980s meets Middle Ages is not a good look.
New glass panes, lose the plastic beams, nee carpets and underlay. New kitchen and bathroom. Sort the garden. Decorate. I think you'd be looking at 40k min.

Honestly I think you’d need well over double, maybe triple your budget to make it liveable.

liveable? 😆

I would trim the trees at the front.
Paint all the dark wood/stairs as it's very dated.
kitchen I would leave for now, but have the cupboards sprayed.
change the fireplace
change carpets/flooring
Ideally I would want new windows.

@statetrooperstacey and @fogglez exactly!

If you can take out the plastic bits near the kitchen/knock through I would do that.

@AgadorSpartacus

Thanks so much for replies. We’d decided that new carpets all through, decorated throughout, new kitchen, interior doors were a must then anything after that. The dark wood was why DH loved it so much (it really wouldn’t bother me to paint it all white). I’d always said I didn’t want a fixer upper but this is in a lovely location for us and not too far from work.

My dear Op, these are the last things that you need to do in that property.

It needs major changes to the layout and probably rewired and a new heating system, more insulation and substantial replastering.

The windows need attention and the conservatory alone will take up a lot of your budget. That’s before you think about the garden.

I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you don’t have the time, budget or knowledge and experience to make a success of this .

@statetrooperstacey

Cant believe pps saying you’ll need double your budget /£50,000 plus to make it liveable !!! There’s nowt wrong with it!! It’s just dated 🤷‍♀️ . I’d live in it for a bit and work out your priorities , it’s only cosmetic work that it needs surely! Going by some of these replies I’m beginning to see why there are so many people in the property boards complaining they can’t find anything !

Liveable is not what the OP asked about

Overtheseas

Pull up carpets and underlay and replace underlay and carpets throughout - mid range £4k

New kitchen - remove old and full replace with applicants , mid range £18k

New internal doors throughout to FS standard - £3.5k

Repainted throughout and probably will require at least patch work te plastering. £5k. If full re plastering required closer to £7k

Removal of beams (and presuming doesn’t result is serious cosmetic damage)…. And to make good - upwards of £4k given how extensive.

And the work that will actually almost certainly be needed…. Conservatory sorted, windows probably at least needed attention, insulation and new heating and likely re wiring - £15k

It’s a tradesperson market
They are turnin down work due to demand
Quotes are reflecting that
Added to which, cost of materials has exponentially increased

it is the windows that I really couldn't live with - it feels like being in a cage all the time with that fake leading all over everything.

and the conservatory looks like it would be absolutely freezing in the winter with that plastic roof.

I'd get rid of all the large trees in the garden to give more light.

I think neutral decor and new flooring will be a good start too. I could live with the kitchen. I'd maybe reconfigure the front and have a porch. I'd also consider heating costs as the open plan design may take a lot to keep warm?

I think it's a lovely house.

@implantreplace I recently ripped out and replaced a kitchen slightly larger.

New kitchen from Wren including new cupboards, front, drawers, plinths, splashbacks, worktop, sink, taps, free intergrated dishwasher thrown in £3.5k

Labour for 4 days to fit £2.8k

Plus new flooring, new fridge freezer and washing/dryer, integrated oven and hob.

I decorated myself. Total £6,950

You wouldn’t spend £18k on a kitchen that size and value of house! You’d make an instant loss 🤣

[quote FAQs]@implantreplace I recently ripped out and replaced a kitchen slightly larger.

New kitchen from Wren including new cupboards, front, drawers, plinths, splashbacks, worktop, sink, taps, free intergrated dishwasher thrown in £3.5k

Labour for 4 days to fit £2.8k

Plus new flooring, new fridge freezer and washing/dryer, integrated oven and hob.

I decorated myself. Total £6,950

You wouldn’t spend £18k on a kitchen that size and value of house! You’d make an instant loss 🤣[/quote]
I’d love to actually see the itemised bill in total for your kitchen (not actually expecting it! )

Because to say your figures are not the norm would be understatement

You pulled out and disposed of kitchen? You did the decoration

The op doesn’t once mention doing anything herself

No oven or fridge freezer listed?

Nope I didn’t pull out the labourers did, their cost included skip hire, I’ve been renovating properties for over a decade. Your figures are way off!!! To even consider spending that on a house of that value shows how inexperienced you are.

Perfectly serviceable kitchen www.wrenkitchens.com/kitchens/j-pull-white-gloss/7284

That honestly isn't that much work! I can't see the home report though? Your budget will go through the roof if it needs rewiring, windows, new conservatory roof etc

Windows, I really hate those tiny pains.
Get rid of fake beams in kitchen.
Paint all dark wood. It is so depressing.
Paint throughout which you could do yourselves.
Hire carpet cleaner and clean all carpets.
Plant pretty flowers in gardens. Bulbs like daffodils and tulips grow anywhere.
Paint garden shed and pressure wash slabs.

The rooms look good sized and I would leave kitchen until I could afford a really nice one. If you blow all of your current budget on that you won't be able to do anything else.

If you got rid of glass in Windows everywhere and dark wood/beams the house would have a more modern feel to it. Kitchen could be painted for now as not broken.

The op will see when she gets quotes
Would love an update if poss op!

I'd think about that conservatory area - we had similar and made entire house either boiling or freezing and cost us about £10k to upgrade roof and insulation etc and really affected our comfort until it was sorted!

My gut reaction is that you would be better off finding somewhere else. This needs quite a bit of work just to get it back to comfortable IMO.
I have renovated several properties of various size and age so have a fair bit of experience.
Have you looked at other houses OP?

@trickyex

My gut reaction is that you would be better off finding somewhere else. This needs quite a bit of work just to get it back to comfortable IMO. I have renovated several properties of various size and age so have a fair bit of experience. Have you looked at other houses OP?

Agree, the conservatory would make me hesitate, op hasn’t included it in the refurb figures, although if it’s a long term home not such an issue but I’d use it to neg a lower price if possible because of the work involved in that. If it didn’t include that it would certainly be doable financially for a lovely home.

Looks like it has loads of potential to me and a good price! Wait for the survey - that conservatory looks a bit shoddy, especially its roof, and one of those trees is quite large and close so possibly potential for root damage....
Cosmetically, some white paint and a few weekends will go a long way to improving things. And pressure wash the outside space. I would prioritise improving/better integrating that conservatory over a new kitchen and bathroom for now if it were me.

Take down the trees before they affect the foundations.
The roof of the conservatory looks like perspex. It could prove unusable.
Artex ceiling could contain asbestos.
It looks like the original front door has been blocked up and one large room made from the space around the bottom of the stairs and the lounge.
The front steps look as if they could be hazardous in wet weather.

And that's before you do any decorative work.

I would remove the plastic beams and have plastering done where needed. I would paint any dark wood in the rooms white. I would take the conservatory down. I would knock through the kitchen to the diner, have a new kitchen and double doors/a bifold. New bathroom too. I would have hard floor throughout. All painted and decorated as well.

I would also want the drive redoing at the front and the back garden landscaping. Some of the concrete digging up and grass laying but that can wait.

18k on a kitchen this size is comedy gold 😂

I’d want to know what the situation is with the electrics, plumbing and roof really to make a decision and agree the conservatory is problematic.

I can see why your DH likes it. Do you have any friends who have sensible don’t take the piss tradesmen they can recommend, that always helps.