2023 reno support thread

[succulentlove]

Hi, just wondering if there are a few of us who are renovating in 2023 / expecting to start this year? Maybe a thread to chat would be nice?

We are maybe 50% of the way there- not extending but doing work on pretty much every surface of the house, adding in lots of glazing, moving the kitchen, removing chimneys etc.. A bit worried if we are spending too much given we are not adding square footage, just making better use of what is already there.

Hope to hear from others on their Reno journeys!

We are getting our kitchen worktop installed Monday, then the plumber/electrician comes back to fit the final parts of the kitchen...tiler for the splashback then we are done! Well we still have to clean yet again because we clean a room that's finished, then clean it again and again - the neverending dust!
I am however painting our kitchen units so my job isn't over as I'll need to do any touch-ups once everything else is done

I have a really strange question for those of you doing the kitchen renovations. I can’t get my builder to knock down a wall until October and in the meantime, I am literally living with a dishwasher in the middle of the kitchen and in absolute mayhem because I’ve got no wall cupboards.

Would it be complete madness to do the left of the kitchen, knowing that the right will be completed in October?

I was thinking I could get the tiles off, smash them up and then as long as I don’t put the kick boards down. Surely we can still tile underneath the units. They certainly aren’t tiled all the way to the back at the moment, although maybe there should be ? Does that sound nuts?

Hello all! What a lovely support thread!

We are in the last 20% of work now. All structural work done. Floors done next week, kitchen end of July, other decorative efforts ongoing.

One thing I am having a wobble about- we decided against having a box extension at the back as the previous owners already had a generous L-shaped extension and so we thought it would be better to follow the existing footprint.

However we went to a neighbour's house today (also doing work at the same time) with a box extension and it looks so good! Not sure if it's just FOMO or whether we have indeed made a mistake, but too late to change our minds now I suppose!

@grannycake congratulations on the kitchen being in! @succulentlove that is understandable but honestly at this stage I would stick with the original plan. There are always a few things that could have been done but as long as you have what you need and are happy with what has been done would quit at least for a time whilst ahead. I have spent the whole weekend pretty much glossing front door, buying more light fittings and am about to paint downstairs loo, trying to get some rooms finished before site starts up again on Monday..

@CountryCob thank you for the advice and I agree. Sounds like a productive weekend!

Not sure if it counts as a Reno but I’ve had to do lots to my 1970s house since moving in -

Two new windows to replace ones that wouldn’t fasten shut and kept blowing open loudly in the wind

Repainting hallway and filling in holes (did myself)

New bathroom (involving living without a bathroom for a month, I can’t afford to move out while it’s done)

New front door (my fave thing so far)

To do:

Adding ventilation to roof

New garage door to replace the old one that’s rusting and can’t lock

Wallpapering and more painting (going to try to do myself)

More windows replaced

Manky old carpets replaced

@Diymesss of course you are welcome. Anyone who's life is dominated by house repairs and is without essential amenities is part of the gang. Sounds like you have been busy!

@CountryCob thank you! How is your work going?

Its going pretty much according to plan, today I tried to locate last minute ironmongery again and tried paint samples and picked up a table. Also had school pick up and drop off and after school chats. 5 people in house working so lots of chats about stuff. No toliet in house only builders porta loo don't like that! Hopefully loo in today for us. Really hoping to be able to move in after 4 months away soon, it's rubbish being so far away from the house as I have animals to look after there, staying with family and living out of bags. Am absolutely sick of it honestly but hoping will get easier soon. House is looking nice but won't have carpets for months yet as not finished extension so limit to what can do with that. Lots of daily mini expenses. I do think renovation is a huge challenge and never want to do it again. Grew up doing it and this is our second and last project but it is a massive one.....

@CountryCob I really feel for you having to live out of bags. Hopefully will all be worth it and you can settle in soon and not have to think about building work ever again!

Fingers crossed I will have a full size working oven and hob by the end of today for the first time in 3 years - I am beyond excited!

Fingers crossed @grannycake !

Light switches. Ours need to be surface mounted with pattress box and I am slightly losing the plot over them.

@grannycake that is brilliant news

Carpets ordered for most of the house yesterday, just finishing off skirting boards and architraves today in preparation. Ordered our new front door and need to decide on hallway flooring to gondown once the door is in. I'd like tiles, a mid warm greige stone. We have an oak staircase so don't want too much wood in the small hall. DH wants LVT as he thinks tiles will be cold and could more easily gets damaged so we have some LVT samples on their way. I'm finding the quantity of design decisions exhausting. Particularly when I have a mental picture of what could look good and DH struggles to envisage it. For example, the DC have half painted walls and it looks really good to inject some colour into the room but he could not get his head round it looking unfinished.

Ikea have an offer on PAX this week which works out perfectly to order bedroom wardrobes for DC.

It's slow but progress is being made. I want the DC to have everything back in their rooms ASAP.

After the flooring, wardrobes and front door is on, we need some furniture (sideboards) and wall art for the dining room and then it's saving up for the bathroom renovations. I cannot wait, our old bathroom is horrible.

Hope everything is going smoothly.

@Instahome2 I think homebase were offering an interest free bathroom loan if you get tired of saving up.

My own bathroom is being done at the mo but it's going disastrously as the plumber in the building firm is in hospital, causing huge delays. And it's my only bathroom.

Really good to hear about other people's experiences. I'm in month 7 of a total renovation + rear extension to a bungalow, which was my mum's home before she passed away last year. Literally everything needed doing and the existing extensions were falling apart / leaking, so there was a lot of demolition before the real work began. The year kicked off with a party wall dispute with elderly neighbours, which my builders and PW Surveyor helped navigate, but it meant everything has been done in the wrong order. Inside wiring and plastering is all done, but the extension roof is still not on... Kitchen, bathroom, light tunnels and flooring still to be done inside, plus rendering and landscaping outside. One thing I did right (I think) was to take my time and make all of the design decisions in advance while the probate / planning / building control processes were going through, right down to the paint colour, which took me 3 months to choose!!

I must admit that the mental impact has been huge. I'm prone to anxiety at the best of times, but this experience has been off the scale. Thank heavens for medication - and wine! Like others above, there are times when I can handle it, and others when I feel completely fearful and overwhelmed. The worst aspect has been timelines continually slipping. I'd expected to be in by now so put my current house on the market a few weeks back, and, luckily, found a buyer quickly. I've really appreciated having somewhere familiar to live while all this is going on, but I might need to make a decision soon as to whether I will move out to an AirBnB to avoid the buyer losing patience.

I still believe it will all be worth it in the end. The bungalow was my childhood home, and I'd always fantasised about doing it up. I'd never do anything this huge again though, even if I do end up moving again.

@ClematisBlue49 it's tough isn't it. I feel its rude to complain when housing is such an issue but the upheaval is unbelievable. We are hoping to move back into some rooms upstairs and a makeshift kitchen tonight. No carpets for months as still building and they would be ruined but close to a bathroom being sorted with floor. Today I can't find any socks for myself and daughter in sandals, don't have proper coat and no idea where our iron is for work clothes. We are just back from a weekend away and I am usually very organised but being out of the house for 4 months with many items in storeage its an absolute pain. Have mostly stayed with family and no space to organise our things, been away a few times which has only added to the madness. Tired of waking up miles from where we need to be, really tricky looking after our pets and feel not doing a great job there at times which I feel awful about. Financial pressure and unexpected costs and jobs are unavoidable. Daily messages from the tradesmen and lack of privacy, materials to order and decisions to make. When we stay away I generally end up in bed with 7 year old so she can settle and really would like a break. House will be unbelievable in the end but I am also never doing this again. Makes me wonder who is going to deal with all the older housing stock in this country. Occasionally people say we will move or they would rather buy from someone who has done the work and its all i can do not to laugh at them, why the f## bar divorce/ death/ unemployment would I do that? After over a year of this there is no way I am not being the person who lives in the finished house. On the airb&b @ClematisBlue49 I would be cautious and agree about the anxiety. Many airb&bs don't like you to stay too long and it's precarious. There is one local to us we stayed in for 6 weeks which is their maximum, when we left it was for a family in the same position. I would find a way to move in to the house itself, rent for 6 months or keep going as you are now if you can and it was me. Its challenging enough without adding in more domestic disturbance. Just my opinion

@CountryCob , that's spot on. So many people can't afford to buy a house, so I count myself lucky to be in this position. It's no wonder housing is a national obsession with problems at both ends of the spectrum. I also often wonder about the age and state of the housing stock in this country, especially with all the existing and forthcoming energy efficiency requirements. The bungalow will be fully insulated to the highest standards, but it's expensive, and something you can only really do as part of a total renovation. For anyone able to make changes, there are so many hurdles and anxieties to deal with.

And yes, it would be a very long time before I contemplate moving again. I'd only do it if I decided to live in another part of the country. I'd probably go for a new build at that point if I couldn't find somewhere that had already been updated. I suspect the market might start to diverge quite significantly as older houses get less saleable due to energy efficiency and building costs continue to increase.

Thanks for the advice on AirBnB. In my heart I know I would find the disruption unbearable and it may be worth the risk of losing the buyer for my house rather than put myself through it.

Found out today that the roof can't go on the extension until the rain stops, which looks like it won't be for some time, so I still have no firm completion date. Didn't help that there has been a mix-up at the window supplier - they were ordered months ago but still no sign of them. Hoping for an update this week. Even if they can't fit them, I'd liked them delivered to the site.

I hope you manage to move in this evening as planned.

Feel for those of you in the midst of everything

My house is liveable but having no bathroom is getting to me (have a working toilet and that’s it).Finding it hard having work people in and out and not knowing when things will be finished

@Diymesss that sounds like hard work, are you any closer on the bathroom? It's nice to have somewhere to vent as I worry about looking ungrateful and a lot of people don't understand the extent of the upheaval.

Carpets are going down in the downstairs rooms and stairs today. Yay. So excited. These rooms have been 90% done for a few months so it's good to finally finish them off. DH loved ripping up the old cheap laminate in the lounge that he'd hated from the first viewing. We've decided on cream carpet 🫣 not sure yet if this was a wise decision. Time will tell, it'll look good for a bit anyway.

The girls' rooms were done last week so they finally got all of their stuff back in their rooms after 2 months of sleeping in basically a cell. Their wardrobes arrive this week so their room will be finished other than some shelves.

Oh and my insta account was shut down last week, no idea why, so I've started again @ insta.home3 if you want a peek.

Carpets look fab. Ordered the front door and hallway flooring today.

Good to hear that things are progressing for you, @Instahome2 , and good luck keeping those carpets clean 😉.

Found out that my builders have apparently let down some other clients recently. I assume this just means delays and hopefully nothing more sinister. I had thought that supply chain issues were largely behind us, but it appears not. Am currently making plans for what to do if the project stalls completely or is significantly delayed. Fortunately I'm still on good terms with the builders and some materials were delivered last week on schedule, which is a good sign. I can't afford to start again with a new firm, so it's fingers crossed that it all works itself out eventually - the only way out is through.

Sounds like it is coming on well @Instahome2 .
@ClematisBlue49 fingers crossed everything arrives on time. It hasn’t been too much of an issue for us so far.

Woodburner going into day. Once in I have to send photo to plasterer who will quote apparently. After thinking dark thoughts about AWOL electrician in the middle of the night I woke to a text saying he will be in next week. Have a drains problem which is booked to sort next week after having had a camera down there. Builder back tomorrow and will be doing en-suite and have a plan to spruce up main bathroom as don’t want to do full refurb currently.

We are moving in next month so thought I had better get removals quote amd emailed them. Kitchen is unlikely to be in but we are moving it so can use the old one. Plumber due this week to sort leak that has appeared on a ceiling which he was trying to blame on a tiny leak from a tap that had thick vinyl under it rather than the new central heating system 🙄 Luckily he pressurised the system and said to keep an eye on pressure gauge which went to zero within a few hours so he’s coming back to sort.