New to renovation - estimating costs NE UK

[Clockworkitten]

Hi all, we are considering making an offer on a 3 bed semi that needs a bit of work. It’s structurally sound with a new boiler and double glazed windows in good condition. We would like to remove some internal walls downstairs to open the kitchen/dining room & add a new kitchen/bathroom with some additional plastering in the living room/hall. The bedrooms just need redecorating and of course the house will need flooring, carpets & blinds.

We have saved hard and will have a bigger mortgage but this will be our forever home. I really want to make the most of this opportunity and get it right - I’m aware I need as much help and advice as possible!

I understand that there’s a wide range of finishes and quality out there so it’s not always easy to compare costs. One person may choose IKEA kitchen and another a bespoke hardwood! Costs in the SE may be higher than for us in Newcastle too. Ballpark figures will at least give me an idea of how far our money will go

If you have Renovated recently and can help with ballpark figures for:

• Medium kitchen reno with island
• Which kitchen company to recommend?
• Kitchen fitting costs
• Mid range bathroom 8SqM
• Full rewire average size Rightmove 3 bed semi

Any tips for a first time renovator would be gratefully received!!

I would consider replacing the gas fire and surround with something a little more up to date whilst you are doing all of the works. The balustrading on the landing and stairs looks extremely dated too and you might want to consider replacing it and ensure the height is to current regulations. We love our Howdens kitchen, but a lot of people recommend DIY kitchens. I think we spent around £12k including appliances and fitting by a friend. I would budget for new plastering in the bedrooms just in case it starts to drop off when you remove the wallpaper (but hopefully not). Bathroom wise, you could get fittings from a local plumbers merchant if you are on a budget, but remember that it costs the same to fit an expensive bathroom suite as it does a cheap one. It reminds me very much of our first home. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

If you want a full rewire you will also need to budget for replastering and redecorating in which case maybe £100,000 for the lot?

My main concern with that house would be how well insulated is it? You might need internal wall insulation on all external walls.

Does it actually need rewiring and replastering? Looks fine to me. I wouldn't knock down wall between kitchen and dining room until you have lived there for a year. Open plan is less desirable now. It all looks in very good nick once you have repainted. Trends change so quickly. That kitchen for example looks very recent...ten years max?? My only bit of advice is don't waste money on laminate or LVT flooring...you will always want to rip it out later.
And the fireplace is fine too, it's a feature of the era, imitation Georgian! Just check the fire with a gas engineer, nothing wrong with a safe gas fire. It's nice to have a source of heat. Wood burning stoves don't really suit the style of the house.
Anyway paint it white all over, buy some blinds from Next and put in a neutral carpet throughout upstairs (you can check price by assessing square metreage of rooms needed, from any carpet shop to fit and supply.
You can paint yourself, following some YouTube clips for prep.
I don't know about Bannisters but again I think they suit the style of the house and replacing with Victorian or 30s would be a travesty. Maybe glass?

Wall insulation is a red herring. You don't NEED it. People lived in that house with thick curtains, fitted carpets, vests and ventilation, they survived. Wall insulation can cause serious issues with damp if badly done. As can cavity wall insulation.

I just wanted to comment on the flooring. We replaced carpet with LVP in much of the house many years ago and still love it. It’s held up beautifully. We just did a full kitchen remodel and replaced the tile floor with LVP. It’s much more comfortable to walk and stand on and looks great. Perhaps some of that is down to the quality you select.

Next has lots of good quality curtains online too (Laura Ashley for example) You can buy separate thermal linings to add to curtains (John Lewis?), the cotton lined ones are nicer and washable then you up the tog with detachable thermal linings in winter. Engineered wood floors are less likely to degrade or rot if there's a leak than laminate imho. My mum's laminate floor is buckling and crumbling after 30 years. My 120 year old pine boards are still going strong. My kitchen floor is engineered oak and seems pretty tough, also forgiving underfoot. Wool carpets have lasted 25 years

You can do water permiable insulation like wood wool now days so there are ways to prevent damp issues. Plus that wouldn't be an issue in upstairs rooms.

Looks like lots of lovely space. I agree with pp about living somewhere first for a while and I really like the balustrade too but not if you have small children.

Sorry, that's no use at all but good luck! There are lots of knowledgeable people on here who are generous with their ideas.

My mum's laminate floor is buckling and crumbling after 30 years.

The buckling is caused by thermal expansion. The installer should have left a quarter inch gap by the walls. If it's crumbling, the wrong grade of flooring was installed for the level of traffic in that area.

https://www.hardwood-guys.com/single-post/wear-layer-vs-overall-thickness-of-lvp-why-it-s-important

This is what our LVP flooring looks like. It was installed in 2003. Because the hallway is a high-traffic area, we selected a product with a 22mm wear layer, which is rated for commercial use (see article linked above). Note the quarter-round molding by the walls, which covers the small gap left to prevent buckling caused by thermal expansion.

First thing to check is the consumer box. Is the wiring OK ? Does the consumer box need upgrading. A rewire will mean plastering .Arrange an EICR.
as long as the house doesn’t need rewiring you may not need much plastering , I assume no artex ceilings ? Any Artex would need overboarding and skimming.
the whole house needs decorating and new carpets . I would replace all the radiators as well as the boiler .Are the windows ok? Check none of the sealed units have blown, it is possible to replace the seals and the individual sealed units rather than all the windows.

The walls you'd like to remove inside- are they structural? We recently renovated and a big expense was the cost of the steels. In fact, the quote was only valid for 7days, because the cost of steel was going up that fast! Access is another thing to consider. It looks like you have a path down the side of the house. Our neighbours had a similar width available, but the steel and dolly used to carry it wouldn't fit down the side. They had to crane the steels over the top of their house!

I can't give any idea of costs, because we are SE and had to re-do a completely derelict property- from new roof, rewire, all new windows etc.

We did our kitchen remodel in January, and it cost about 50,000 USD. The countertops are quartz, the floors are commercial grade LVP, and the cabinets are new. We didn't replace the fridge, stove or mircowave. The windows were replaced during the remodel, and we installed 4" dimmable LED lighting.

The worst part of the remodel was removing the old tile floor and leveling the subfloor. Everything else was fairly straightforward.

When the kitchen designer came to the house to measure for the cabinets, he asked if the flooring we installed in 2003 was new.

I'd be the first to say "does it really need rewiring" normally, but in this case I can see it's pretty skimpy on sockets and open-planning downstairs would mean the lighting layout would need to change a lot, so there probably is a lot of electrical work to do, so there are benefits to at least a partial rewire.
I would say, especially if you plan to be there a long time, don't feel you have to rush and get it all done the second you move in. Taking a longer slower approach makes costs easier to manage and usually you end up making better decisions because you do it based on how you live in the house, rather than just what you THINK you want.

I’d live a bit in it first before making any greet changes
looks 70’s so might not need full rewire just new consumer unit
bathroom new shower cubicle frame
paint everything in the kitchen
new flooring a couple of tops
then work your way through it there incredibly easy to renovate house like this nothing major we had one similar they were very warm the tiled bit on the front might need some new insulation behind as it’s normally just felt and battens under the tiles

I would suggest to anyone looking at renovating a 60s house (we did) to insulate. This is your chance. Our heating bills are tiny now - and I hate being cold. We also don't hear our neighbours.