Talk to me like I’m clueless about house renovations

[Lettuceleafy]

I think I’ve found something I like but it needs a lot doing to it.walls down, walls up, new kitchen, new bathroom, create a laundry room downstairs shower room.

Where do you start? Architect or builder?

Very approximate costs. Any information gratefully accepted.

Architect first. And unless you have experience project managing; get them to PM the entire thing for you.

First decide whether the overall cost would be recouped in the value of the finished property.

Add 30% to any estimated costs and at least the same to any timeline. Building work that runs to time and stays in budget is rare.
If you do go for it, invest time and effort into planning electric and lighting positions (and where to put the loo roll)

I have just brought my third house. I always buy houses that need lots of work as I want the house how I want it.

however last one I did was 12 years ago. am utterly shocked at how much building work has gone up… the quotes I am getting in are insane and will not add the value to the house… I am thinking doer uppers are not quite such a good idea any more

Thanks, the cost is an issue. I’m new to this and I don’t want to get ripped off. I don’t know where to start. Is something like Checkatrade worth looking at?

Start with an architect or architectural technician — they'll help plan the space properly, especially with structural changes. Once you have drawings, get quotes from builders.
Very rough ballpark (UK):

• Knock down/build walls: £2–5k
• New kitchen: £8–15k
• Bathroom: £5–10k
• Downstairs shower room/laundry: £6–12k
• Architect fees: ~£1.5–3k

Always get multiple quotes — costs vary wildly!

Thank you, @LauraRobin , that’s brilliant.

30%? Seriously? I'd say double it. I did with ours, and it has worked out about right.That allows for work uncovering other work, deciding to do a little more here and there (when reslating, turning the flat roof into a pitch as it seemed a better solution and a good time to do it) and it covered the increased costs due to covid breaking a few months after we started, which I do admit was a bit exceptional w.r.t. how much costs went up.
Timing, it depends on how much you do yourselves. I estimated 3 years for the big stuff on this house, and another two for the cosmetics. This got screwed up by Covid lockdowns, I think we have one extra year to go but not as full-on now as things are getting finished. But we a) did a lot ourselves, and b) had experience.

We're just at the end of doing a doer-upper- a year to go and mostly stuff we don't have to do ourselves (like the drive and garage door) left. I'd say when we bought, just before covid, at that time, doer-uppers were just about worth it purely financially, but not really since - due to the cost increases for labour and materials since then. It can still be worth it if you plan to stay a long time and like things done your own way, as we do. For example, I'd not pay full whack for a 'made' house when my taste isn't currently fashionable and I'd be redoing a lot anyway. But you can't really make money on it unless you do even more yourselves than we did- and we have done a lot.
A lot depends whether it's really cosmetic stuff or real 'builder' stuff.
The other situation where a doer-upper may work is if you are happy to do the work over a long period of time as you can afford things. But never underestimate how depressing it can be to live in a mess. I care less than most, but at times it has even got me down a bit.

My problem is, ‘done’ properties are never to my taste. This applies particularly to kitchens. I hate islands or peninsulars that have a hob or sink on them. I also intensely dislike grey. What is it with grey?

@LauraRobin

• Knock down/build walls: £2–5k
• New kitchen: £8–15k

Sounds cheap.

We were looking at knocking down the wall between kitchen and utility to make one big space. Quoted around £50k minimum in the south east so decided against it.

Not in the south east it wouldn’t be.

OP, ask around friends and neighbours etc for a recommendation of a builder. See if you can find someone local having some work done and hit them up for how much they are paying.

Do you want all the work done in one go or are parts of the house livable?

You could go with an experienced builder if the walls are partition rather than supporting.

Make sure that you understand any quotes and exactly what you are paying for. Ask to see other examples of the builders work.

Allow double for any quotes, and be prepared to wait - good builders are booked up wel in advance.

Where are you OP? I'd agree that the costs up thread seem too low for London and the SE. Whether the walls are load bearing will also make a difference - steel is expensive. You should also budget for a structural engineer and building control sign off. For the latter I'd recommend going with a private company rather than the council as they tend to be a bit more flexible and responsive.

I would double these. We have recently done a full house renovation and spent well over £100k in the end. That was with us doing 95% of the work.
Knocking down the wall and putting RSJ in to open kitchen diner and then adding a wall the other side to create a hallway coat us £20k (Builders)
Kitchen from IKEA was £13k (installed by us)
Bathroom £5k (Installed and tiled by us)
No downstairs shower room but we do have an ensuite and utility. I bet the pair together was another £5k.
Labour is always the cost of materials +50% minimum.
We didn't go into this blind and are both very handy but even we were shocked with how expensive it is/was.
If you arent prepared and don't have a float, don't do it!!

Where are you?
I'm always horrified at some of the prices quoted on these threads from ppl in London/the SE. Costs have escalated wildly in the past couple years but there are clearly massive regional differences in labour costs. We have been doing work to our house for the past 4 years and some of the prices even quoted on this thread I find absolutely ridiculous - we are in the middle of a kitchen extension and redoing our bathroom so am talking about current pricing. So what it costs is going to massively depend on where you are!