Finally bought a house! - advice on DIY (single woman doing all the work)

[Greenwitchhorse]

I finally managed to buy a small 3 bed house and I am now planning the work that is needed and I wonder what I can realistically do as a middle-aged woman on my own.

I bought a 1930 house. Decent condition but dated decor throughout.

How reasonable is it for me to:

• paint all the walls myself. I will have to remove some ugly adhesive decorative wall paper strips were put on some of the walls as well first
• remove the existing carpets to reveal the original floorboard then sand
• dismantle an old wardrobe that the sellers left behind that I have no use for. I could try to sell it on Marketplace but I am not even sure it would go through the door if it is not dismantled first...

Would it be more reasonable to find a handyman or have some of you managed to do this alone and have tips you could share?

I don't have a lot of money to spare so I am trying to do as much as I can myself.

I am mid 40s and just renovating another house - have done a few before so know the drill pretty well now. For me I start with the things I cannot do by myself ie plumbing, plastering and electrics. I strip wallpaper, lift carpets, sand floorboards, paint everything myself. I always take the carpets out in strip like mentioned above, bag it as i am going along then take it to the tip. Took down an old wardrobe a few days ago, cut it into pieces with a saw and took that to the tip yesterday too. I too have a limited budget so have prioritised getting the lounge and spare bedroom done for Christmas (so my DM can come and stay). Not so handy with a drill though and putting shelves up but am just watching videos on Youtube to learn!

Before you start painting can you check the wiring? It may need re-wired depending on last time it was done.

I would try to avoid sanding, nasty messy job. I think wooden floors look really good painted in neutral floor paint. If they are in decent condition you can do this rather than sand.
A good handy person might be worth cultivating. I have a few people (men and women) I use (fellow single middle aged woman).
I sold a nice wooden wardrobe on Gumtree, and I paid chap with a van to take it apart and deliver it (well the buyer paid for delivery).
The decorating is doable.
I have found various groups on FB which have been really helpful. Have a look on there if you have an account?

Aw come on OP, seriously?

I thought you were going to say you needed to build door frames, fit a new soil stack, move electric sockets, sledgehammer concrete to remove it & raise the damproof course, build kitchen cabinets from scratch, remove asbestos tiles, tear down a brick shed, fit new bathroom sink taps ... that kind of thing. Of course you can do that short list yourself. Heck, I know I'm incompetent at DIY & I could do your list.

nb: Being middled aged female is not why I'm incompetent, I'm no worse at DIY than my dad was at any age. I'm just not that practical.

@Northernsouloldies advice re cutting carpet into strips is good. I use to pull up entire carpets until shown this method. Have a few plastic sacks handy, cut with Stanley knife, roll up and put into sack. It's quick and not such a heavy job and easier to dispose of.

Have a good look at your floors to see what condition they are in. Then call a (recommended) floor sanding company. They will give good advice and do a long lasting job. Sanders need a skilled user.
Be sure to put masking tape on all cupboards, it will save you hours of cleaning sawdust out of insides.
Before sanders arrived, I filled gaps between floor boards with sawdust and Polybond and slats of wood (these saved time and effort). It was backbreaking, knee aching and took hours. Floors looked great but at night I'd hear loud cracks when the heating went off, expansion etc.

Re strips on walls. I take it you mean dado rails. If you remove them your walls may need re plastering. I would paint with a flat/satin wood the same as walls. You can take them off when you are redecorating. It will save you time, money and energy now.

Try to have someone with you when dismantling wardrobe. You just need someone to hold panels as you undo the last screws.

Congratulations and good luck. Take it slowly so that you don't exhaust yourself.

If you don't have dc's under your feet you'll be able to do a lot of the decorating by yourself bit by bit.

But I agree with the others that you need to check the electrics first. If it needs rewiring you want to find that out now.

Thank you so much everyone for such a great response!!

I think I am going to aim doing the painting and carpet removing myself and will have a go at the wardrobe but as suggested I will get someone to sand the floors.

I also want to get myself proper tools so I can put up shelves, pictures and do other bits. I started up-cycling furnitures as a hobby a few months ago so tools like an electric drill will come handy and be used longer term.

I am hoping the strips of decorative paper they in the middle of the wall won't prove too bothersome to removed.

I will get the wiring checked as well. Although I think the current owners did that fairly recently.

I was just going to suggest this. x

I have sanded floors alone and it is perfectly do-able. One thing that was difficult, though, was fitting the hired sander in a small hatchback! Have done up a do-er-upper, I would say these are my tips:

• buy Dulux paint if using pure brilliant white - massively better coverage than the other brands (never be tempted by Wickes own brand)
• get a really good drill - this makes a difference if you haven't got a lot of physical strength and have to put up curtain poles
• wear a hat when painting
• make friends with the people who work at the tip
• buy a big box of bungees for your car if it is a hatchback - you will probably need to take things to the tip with the boot a bit open
• assume that you will get progressively more tired if you are decorating in the evenings after work so try to get the physically demanding bits done early on (ceilings, stairwells, woodwork, corners and edges) and leave the big, straightforward bits (walls) for when you are knackered and want instant satisfaction after a tough week
• sanding is really good fun but it takes a long time. You have to get the maximum use out of the time you've hired it for and you will be exhausted. Buy lots more sanding disks than you think you need so you don't have to drive back for them - you can probably sell them back when you take the machine back. You will need a corner sander and a mouse sander as well.

Painting is totally doable, my advice is start with easier rooms or rooms you will use less because if you're like me you'll get progressively better at it so save the more used rooms to last for when you'll be a painting pro!

Limons makes an excellent point!