Could you live in a doer upper dream house and renovate gradually?

[Otter1986]

Has anyone bought a house that is a true state and just lived with it? How hellish was it?

Our dream home has come on the market. It is wildly overpriced - as is everything locally - but the house will be insanely amazing when it is done. Currently it is two flats and it is a total state.

After payng for the house - including fees - we could waterproof the house (roof, windows, pointing, render). Then we'd have a slosh fund that would cover plastering the third floor bedrooms so we and our kids had a decent room to sleep in. Then, we could redo the bathroom cheaply and could put in a really cheap / second-hand kitchen.

But that is it really. The heating, electrics, other rooms would have to wait. It is would be - at best - a 'boho chic' style of living. Think sagging ceilings, horrible old wallpaper that is in poor condition etc.

Everything else would have to just be done slowly or not at all. We'd have to do lots of stuff ourselves - skirtings etc... We've done it before but it was a much smaller house.

Would we regret it? Or would we say - in five years when it is done - wow, look at our awesome and enormous house on an absolutely ideal road!

We're in 2 minds - we can tighten our belt and totally do it. We could even borrow more in a couple of years when it came to remortgage if we were struggling. But is it really worth it?

Our two kids aren't old but aren't so young that it would be dangerous. And when they are teens it will give us lots of space.

Thoughts?

We are doing just that, though the (30s) house isn't in quite such a bad a state - neglected and full of 80s decor, but sound. It fortunately has a new-ish kitchen, not my taste, but fully functional. And the many windows are double glazed

However it has no working bathroom, but does have downstairs loo and a functioning ensuite shower room. Needs a full rewire, replumb and new roof. We are very handy though and happy to tackle most DIY jobs, barring electrics - in fact the electrician is starting next week.

We have also just got planning approval for the new roof - but that's a job we're doing ourselves. The worst thing has been the dust - it is horredous. Plus the fact that poor DS is doing his GCSEs at the moment, just as we had to move him out of his room for the chimney to come down! I'm extremely glad we have teens and not toddlers though tbh.

This is our forever home though (I'm never moving again) so I don't care how long this all takes.

We have that now. We (DH) is doing one room at a time. Fortunately wiring and plumbing are sound. In your situation you really need to do these first ideally before you move it.

We have done it, pregnant with babies with toddlers with older children. And we are about to possibly do it all again now(our youngest is 3). It's worth it to us because we can't afford the properties and lifestyle we want without doing it in a fixer upper way.

In the scheme of things it's a blink of an eye the concrete dust and feeling like you're living in a squatters house. We do pretty much everything ourselves and love it. We do have a high tolerance for mess and dust 😂

Bought our house in 2020, thought we were going to spend 100k on it. We have easily spent 250K so far - getting work done has increased in cost soo soo much.

Would I do it again? Yes.
Am I glad we have a really good wage coming in and could cover the extra cost - absolutely! Otherwise 6 year renovation would be 12 years.

ah, we bought our dream house a couple of months ago and that was in a total state. It’s liveable but we have old carpets, peeling wall paper - the lot.

it’s clean though and we’re doing a quick refresh of each room so it’s bearable and then we’ll do each room to our taste and a better standard as and when we have money one room at a time

I love the house and know it’s a long term home for us so it’s worth it completely to me x x

We have done it with most houses we have owned, it is the only way we could afford to buy a home. Did it with 4 children too.
It’s kind of fun at times and hell at others! And everything always costs more than you expect.

Yep

Im still living in it
The same as yours but part is still being held up with scaffolding
We still don’t have a proper kitchen. The real one has a hole in the chimney. Sloping brick floors no water, heating, electrics and the ceiling is still on the floor
We have a well under the house which needs sorting as when it rains we are a river in the back hall
We only have one bathroom which is a walk through to a bedroom. For a 7 bed that’s a no no. So we need another two toilets and ensuits

14th century. Some 15th century areas. Listed. Bought in 2019. Moved in just as the pandemic hit after just painting some bedrooms.

We did the same with our previous house when we had 3 yr old twins and a 6 year old

Its a slog but rewarding

We’ve done it, and I agree doing the bedrooms first is a good plan - everyone should have a sanctuary to relax in. As long as the bathroom and kitchen are clean and functional, you’ll manage.

I'm on my third and final home to do up and now that I'm older it's so much hard. I'm never doing this again.

You need to do electrics etc before anything else. Is the kitchen and bathroom serviceable?

What I've done here that's really helped is getting the bedrooms done first. My kitchen will finally be finished next weekend.

It's definitely rewarding. But, whilst I'm not convinced we'll stay here, I really don't fancy doing another (this is our eighth, although we've downsized so this is considerably smaller than the 3500 square footer!)

We currently have no boiler/heating - except a wood burner and an Everhot electric stove heater - so no hot water/tap in the kitchen. I'm forever bringing kettles and jugs of cold water through from the lootility...and it's been like that for fifteen months, so bathing has been fun 😆

The boiler died a few months after we'd moved in and was beyond saving.

Our bedroom was the first room we tackled too @user1471538283. Previously we've made the mistake of leaving it till last, but it's great having an oasis of calm to escape to after knocking walls down all day 🤣

All of ours have been like this.
I was three stories up scaffolding painting at 7 months pregnant. Stupid thing to do I do realise now that im older

We will move again. You can’t choose or renovate away aggressive neighbours, sadly.

No idea what we’ll find but painting, new kitchens, bathrooms etc is not a problem. Part falling down we may steer clear of next time

Absolutely agree. Always do the bedroom first.
We all need a haven

My second priority is to plant trees and hedges etc
The few years working on a place gives them time to establish. You do the garden last you’ll never enjoy it. If people are planning to move on that is.

@DrPrunesqualer totally agree re the garden - I can never understand why people leave the outside spaces till last!

Our last house (a repossessed 400 year old converted mill we purchased in early 2018) had 0.5 acre of overgrown, weed-infested gardens which the estate agent marketing it described as 'magical'. The only redeeming features were some huge trees.

Despite the house being a wreck (typical repo!), we decided to make a start on the garden before anything else. In addition to the front and rear gardens, there was a walled courtyard accessed from a lobby to the side of the house. This was a grim, plant-free space that had been partially decked, with a covered pergola and outbuilding adjoining the house.

We decided to make this our vegetable garden with somewhere to sit when the weather wasn't conducive to gardening. Within a couple of months the decking was replaced with oak raised veg beds set amongst gravel and stone paving laid in the pergola area. Some rambling roses soon provided colour and soul!

The rest of the gardens followed and by the time we sold six and a half years later, it did actually look quite magical.

We did it. Still doing it 5 years in!

But yes you can’t just leave the electrics and heating. These are jobs you do in the beginning no matter what state that leaves you in. They literally rip up your whole house to do these.

🤣 I’ve just read the last sentence! While never say beaver could become popular, I typed ‘never say never’.

I'd do the roof first, and then possibly the windows but only if they're really bad, then the electrics and heating, and then the render and pointing last.

The reason for leaving the render/pointing until last is because you don't want damp sealed in if the house has been open to the elements/empty/unheated for a while - you'd want to run the heating and warm the house thoroughly to get rid of any damp and then cover up the outside again once the walls are properly dry.

Well done in deciding to go for it!

We’ve done it twice, once with toddler/preschool children and once with primary/starting secondary school age. It’s so been worth it both times, it has been tough at times but it’s a bit like childbirth once you’ve done it and have a fantastic house you forget about the difficult bits😂. The children have also always enjoyed the adventure. My DH might view it differently but I’m the optimist in the family and am desperate to do a third🫣

Go for it! We've done it a couple of times. We coped, the kids coped, nobody died 😅Yes, a lot to put up with at times but so worth it in the end. You get the bathroom, kitchen etc that you want, not someone else's choices. Think how satisfying it will be to say you did all that yourselves!

I've done it a few times. It's pointless replastering some rooms and fitting a kitchen/bathroom before doing the heating and wiring. It will all be hacked into again when you eventually go back and do the basics.

We’re doing just that now. We had expected to have already started by now but our architects move at a glacial pace. However, we’ve got planning permission, and while we wait for the Building Regs application to go through we’re prepping like mad and trying to discover all the possible ‘nasties’ and deal with them or at least know about them before the main building work starts.

We always live in our ‘do-er up-ers’ as we like to be on hand and to see things progress throughout. Some builders like that, others don’t, so we make that clear up front.

I would advise you need a clear plan, with as much as possible agreed beforehand. Things like, position and types of lighting, where electric points go and how many, ditto drains, kitchen, bathroom layouts, where builders can put equipment securely, where skips will go. Agree that there will be water and power to your bolt hole as much as possible and that you will be told when they have to be turned off. Before work starts, declutter and then pack away everything you are keeping but won’t need daily. Only keep out the bare minimum so you can manage normal life tasks. Accept that things will get broken or dirty no matter how careful you are, so pack away really precious stuff. And also make sure you have a place to sleep, at least a basin and working loo, and create a living/makeshift kitchen room that you can lock down away from the worst of the mess and in winter, keep warm. Be prepared to have to move into different spaces as the project goes along. A microwave, toaster, kettle, slow cooker, fridge and electric hob will be fine for a few months. Plug in electric fires are useful if work goes on over winter. Find out where your local laundrette is.

Pay for a porta-loo for contractors to use. Don’t share loos. Expect some unexpected hurdles but don’t allow too much to slide. Pay bills promptly when due and do include a contingency fund in your budget. The best reason for living in the building while the work is done, is you can spot mistakes and errors quicker and they be put right before racking up unnecessary cost or delays to rectify. But you have to be prepared to tell your builders if something’s not right. And tell them quickly.

Above all try to keep a sense of humour, cut everyone a bit of slack, stay on top of the paperwork and be civil and professional to your contractors.

We've done this several times, the only problem can be if the mortgage company won't release the full sum until you've carried out some essential work.
The first time we had young children and the house wasn't quite so bad, it was habitable. The second time my DH went in to do the really essential work before the rest of us moved it - it was very damp with no heating and we bought in February.

I'm 3 years into my renovation. In the first 3 months, we sorted the leaking roof and got cold and hot water plumbed in (hot tank is electric). We did the first winter without heating downstairs, it got to 5c inside and was the most miserable winter of my life. I burnt my hand on an old electrical socket and the lights often cut out randomly. We ended up with 2 working sockets in the whole house.
If we had kids I think we would have been in for a neglect case.

Anything that's leaking or dangerous you need to do right away. Hot water is essential and you'll need at least some heating before November. The windows might be able to wait. Re-plastering will make it's way to the bottom of the list.

You could also consider a static caravan in the front garden, a few of my neighbours have done this.

I did, we've been here 15 years. We moved in Oct 2011, as a single mum and ds, aged 3....

Feb 2012, installed a log burner and flue
Feb 2013 - applied to knock down crumbling diy extension and replace with professionally built. Same foot print.
July 2014, - got planning permission
April 2015 - demolition/building started, to include new kitchen and gas boiler.
2016 - replaced most remaining single glazed windows.
2017 - demolished another lean-to. Replaced French windows with double glazed units
2019 - general redecorating, new front door.
2020 - covid
2021 diagnosed with bc (work paused)
2022 - new lining & roof,
2023 - new bathroom
2024 - carpet and redecorate office.
2025 - demolish ghastly conservatory,

Still to be done

• replace 2 dining room windows & back door.
• Remove bricked up wall to garage and restore garage door
• Replace hideous tiles in the downstairs loo.

Hopefully I'll be finished in 2027. I've managed to do it all without adding to the mortgage which will be paid off next year
Then I can retire.

I'll be proud of my achievement. I've restored a neglected, damp, dangerous mess to a comfortable spacious detached Victorian house. ☺️

Oh, and a full rewire in 2016.

No. Ive followed muddlethroughmummy on insta and it seems really soul destroying to do this.

We moved to a similar sounding house when I was six months pregnant. We didn’t have a kitchen or a working bath so I stayed with my mum for a month while the very worst of the initial work was done and moved back once the bath and a new toilet had been installed, and the main bedroom had been replastered and decorated. We spent the next couple of months cooking on a two ring hot plate in one of the bedrooms and washing up in the bathroom sink. The bathroom was finally tiled whilst I was in hospital giving birth. I can still remember the night I came home from hospital with the baby, and I had to go and sit with the neighbours for a couple of hours while my husband finished sanding the parquet flooring in the hall because he had to return the sander the next morning 😆😆. It took us about six months to get the kitchen, living room, and dining room finished - we used the spare money that we had on major things like rewiring, plumbing work, and major replastering so had to do everything else ourselves. It took us about five years to get most of the house done and to get the garden under control, and probably 15 years to get everything finished in the end. It was difficult at times but we’ve never had any regrets. We’re in the process of moving now after 35 years, and for the first time we are buying a house that doesn’t need any significant work doing to it,