Costs of refurbishing a house

[LovelyJubly12]

I have seen a house that has a lot of potential but it needs a lot doing to it. It is a 1920's house which has no central heating, a dated bathroom and kitchen and all windows painted shut! It looks like it's been painted white all through but we would want to redecorate it. The wiring will probably need updating. We would also put in a shower room somewhere as there is no shower. I haven't ever done anything like this, what would be a reasonable idea of the overall cost? It's just gone on the market and haven't seen it yet but it's a great area and has an amazing garden. It could be a fabulous house. If we did offer on it it would be much lower than they are asking, another house on the other side of the road in better condition has taken about 10 months to sell.

Respect! Neither of us are any good at painting or DIY sadly.

If it's your forever home then a refurb taking years is still an option - but you'd need to get the big jobs done first like central heating and wiring

The thing is renovating whether you do it yourself or get trades in is exhausting and stressful. It's the job that never ends - especially one taking years - by the time you finish it's time to start revisiting the first rooms you did and the cycle starts again

We bought a 1930s refurb. Large 4 bed.

Weve managed to make it half decent with 50k. I think I need another 20k to finish so 70–80k. This was doing lots of work ourselves with the help of YouTube! It’s also taken us 5 years so far.

No extensions or any major works though. All just updating or replacing.

I think I’ve seen sense so thanks to everyone who replied. My dad bought a house when I was a teenager in a similar state and same age . We had no central heating for several years and he redecorated it all himself. He was very practical though.

We've done this and spent about £150k which came from equity from our previous house. We stayed in rental during the renovation so avoided the worst of it but paying mortgage and rent at the same time wasn't great!

We have no DIY skills and no interest in acquiring any. A local builder managed the whole project for us. There are still some parts we need to do as we save up but nothing too disruptive.

It's been well worth it but I doubt we'd make any money back. But this is a house we intend to live in for at least 20 years so it doesn't matter. And it got us into a wonderful area with great neighbours and schools.

Where you are in the country makes a big difference - labour costs in the South are a LOT more expensive.

We had fencing panels replaced after the storm seven in total. Labour cost £250 per day. We paid for the panels, he paid for the cement. Three days work.

We're in the north Wales area I still reckon £200-300k depending on the size of the home.

We can get labour round here (east anglia) for 200-300 a day depending on what labour it is. Electricians are a lot more expensive. But I often see labour costs on here quoted at over 400 a day in the SE. 250 a day makes quite a difference compared to 400 a day.

Depends on size of the property and the sort of fittings you might chose. We live in a bog standard family home - just had bathroom fitted which was £6.5k (were previously going to go with Wickes which would have been £6.3k plus flooring and files). Next project is our kitchen, currently running at £10,300 plus cost of tiler/floor fitter and electrician (latter possibly won't be needed). Both of these are far cheaper than someone quoted above. You haven't mentioned a roof, but ours was £10,300 last year.

Glad for your sake you've decided against it - you're saving yourself a world of pain!

We went and looked round the outside and the garden (it’s an empty property). Not feeling any love, so it’s not an option now.

Remember to allow for insulation. It's a great chance to do it if the house needs gutting and will be well worth the cost.