New home: What would you do first?

[Carpetmonkey]

Hello

We will be moving into our new home in the not so distant future. We are hoping to get the keys before we move out of our current place, we thought it could be a good idea to get some dirty jobs done before we move in. But deciding (prioritising) what to do is harder than I thought!

It seems a good solid build, clean, but untouched since the 80s so there is a lot of beige, pine and general bleugh (bathroom carpets etc!). It will need replastering, reflooring, decorating, new boiler, new kitchen, new bathroom, new WC and new windows and insulation :(

If it were just me and the husband we would happily wait and live in there a year or so before making any changes BUT we have 4 kids so the thought of getting a few things done during the 6 weeks we are living elsewhere is really appealling.

Initially I thought to get the plastering, insulation and boiler done so we can decorate and then leave the bathrooms/ kitchens until we have experience living in the house first.

Husband said that maybe it's the floors we ought do while there's no stuff in the way. He also thinks windows (but sanding and painting rather than brand new UPVC)

Sadly funds are not infinite :) and as I said I'd happily wait but I know once we are all living there and the chaos ensues it's going to be really difficult to proceed!

What would you do first?

Oh and the plastering is only required over the artex ceilings....at the moment anyway!

Congratulations on your new home. When we've moved we've always done our bedroom first as a sanctuary to escape too at the end of the day ❤️

Given the phasing out of gas boilers and plans for everyone to use heat pumps, I would first look at how insulated your house is and get that in order before anything else.

Would not do floors first, surely they’ll just get mucky when you get the other work done and would be a complete hassle to protect.

would def get insulation and plastering done first.

Before you do plastering, make sure you have enough sockets in all the right places. Check your boiler and make sure your radiators are decent sizes.

@mrsmacmc thank you! It's been a loooong time coming! Bedroom is a nice idea. Definitely would like to get the kids rooms lovely as it's been a really tricky year for them.

@WomensLandArmy that's a good point, I will have to research. I know for a fact the boiler needs replacing and moving. I assume that'll be a costly pain! The survey said insulation completely inadequate so think that had to be a priority.

@Sewaccidentprone Yes you are definitely right. I agree. I think the husband was thinking what a nightmare it is to move furniture but it would be worse to ruin a new floor!

@OhYouBadBadKitten that's a good point about sockets. Would never have thought of it, thanks!

We partly renovated our last house and we made a fair few mistakes which I'm hoping translate as lessons in this house (although the fact I can't remember much, poss due to trauma, is not encouraging!).

What I think I need to do is prioritise in terms of essentials. After that is done (for instance plastering/ sockets/ insulation/ boiler) is it best to take a room by room approach?

Also, would you paint everything white to freshen it up? (It's the usual magnolia, kinda dirty, earthy colours) or just leave until we know what we decide to do with floors/ kitchen etc?

If the carpets are truly horrible I would put the plastic covering down as I agree with @Sewaccidentprone that floors should be one of the last things as you don't want them ruined by works

@reindeesandchristmastrees I am going to change my husband's mind on this. Our floorboards were trashed in our last house by workmen... I might just rip up the bathroom carpets and live with what's underneath for a bit, purely for hygiene reasons!

Get the electrics checked out. A friend has had to move out while her house is tewired and redecorated a few months after moving in. Nightmare!