My First Renovation

Author
Discussion

Calum95

Original Poster:

38 posts

114 months

Friday 5th August 2016
quotequote all
Hi Guys

I have just taken the plunge and bought myself a house to do up with the plan of living in it for a short time then renting it out. It is in need of quite an extensive renovation so i'm starting this thread to both document it and hopefully get some advice as I go along.

Here is the rightmove link: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
It gives you a rough idea of what i'm dealing with, however its much worse in real life.

So far I have only managed to strip the carpets and wallpaper out of some of the rooms, i'm waiting to get quotes to replace all the rear windows and need some advice on where's best to get structural calcs done for an rsj when I knock the wall down between the kitchen and dining room. I'm planning on doing as much as possible myself.

I'll get some pics and post them up soon, in the meantime can anyone recommend the best way to have a standard size front door instead of having it split like it is?

Cheers, Cal


Planet Claire

3,316 posts

208 months

Friday 5th August 2016
quotequote all
Oooh, we all love a renovation thread.
Looks a nice property, congratulations on your purchase. Now get on and start doing the work so we can see the pictures! biggrin

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 5th August 2016
quotequote all
Looks like a lovely house, congrats, I look forward to updates

It also makes me cry as that the sort of place I would like next but I am looking at almost double that price cry

Calum95

Original Poster:

38 posts

114 months

Friday 5th August 2016
quotequote all
Thanks guys! Looking forward to getting stuck in and getting my hands dirty!

It's a lovely house and I'm very happy happy with the price I paid for it!

richatnort

3,018 posts

130 months

Friday 5th August 2016
quotequote all
Congrats looks like you can do a bit at a time and it's certainly livable! As for strucural calcs i've just had a structural engineer round today in fact to do some calculations at taking out a 2nd chimney in our dining room and knock through to the kitchen. Expect to pay about £400-500 for this lovely service. The guy was here maybe 20 mins, did some calculations and then i get my drawings and calculations next week. Certainly not bad for what will probably take him an hour (been doing it 35 years)

Hope to see lots of pictues as everyone says we love a good renovation thread in Homes, Garden and DIY!

kiethton

13,883 posts

179 months

Friday 5th August 2016
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
likewise but triple here! - bloody London frown

RC1807

12,482 posts

167 months

Friday 5th August 2016
quotequote all
Nice looking house, and seemingly not overlooked at the back - playing fields, perhaps?

Good luck with the work and I hope to see photo updates on here, sharpish! wink

8-P

2,756 posts

259 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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Lots of potential and a nice size garden. A dream price too!

Little Lofty

3,275 posts

150 months

Friday 5th August 2016
quotequote all
Nice property, I renovated something similar about 2 years ago.
The wall between the kitchen and dining room may not be load bearing, even if it's built with block/brick, they often run parallel with the upper floor joists and are not supporting anything above. Check what's above it, you may save yourself some time and money.
Here are some before and afters of the one I done.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/151-dryde...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatc...

Edited by Little Lofty on Friday 5th August 21:17

roofer

5,136 posts

210 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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Nice starting point. Good luck with it.

uluru

221 posts

107 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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You might not need calcs. When we took out our load bearing wall, building control came round and said as long as rsj was a certain size we didn't need calcs.

21TonyK

11,494 posts

208 months

Saturday 6th August 2016
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Nice starting point. Love older houses. As above, we did as you describe, knocking two rooms into one. The local steel co. that supplied the RSJ gave use the sizes, ie. over specced but still only cost £120.

croakey

1,193 posts

187 months

Saturday 6th August 2016
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Will follow with interest

Calum95

Original Poster:

38 posts

114 months

Sunday 7th August 2016
quotequote all
Here's a few more pictures as promised.









kiethton

13,883 posts

179 months

Sunday 7th August 2016
quotequote all
Great effort - you living there whilst doing the work?

How long do you think it'll take you?

Calum95

Original Poster:

38 posts

114 months

Monday 8th August 2016
quotequote all
Little Lofty said:
Nice property, I renovated something similar about 2 years ago.
The wall between the kitchen and dining room may not be load bearing, even if it's built with block/brick, they often run parallel with the upper floor joists and are not supporting anything above. Check what's above it, you may save yourself some time and money.
Here are some before and afters of the one I done.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/151-dryde...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatc...

Edited by Little Lofty on Friday 5th August 21:17
That looks great, hopefully I can get mine to a similar standard! Did you do a thread following it?

-

I had a plumber round over the weekend to have a look at changing the boiler to a combi and got a bit of a shock when he said 3.5k?! It's got original lead piping that all needs removing and apparently when the last boiler was installed it was done as cheaply as possible so could do with being re-routed. The plan now is to rip out all the piping myself and get a plumber in just to fit the boiler.

kiethton said:
Great effort - you living there whilst doing the work?

How long do you think it'll take you?
I'm living there over weekends and if it gets late doing work on it, it doesn't have a shower fitted and having a bath before work is too much effort for me!

I haven't put a time scale on it yet as I work away quite often so that will delay it if i'm busy.



Craikeybaby

10,369 posts

224 months

Sunday 14th August 2016
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That looks like a good project. £3.5k sounds comparable to what I paid at my house which seems to have a similar layout.

We didn't have a shower at our house for the first 6 months we were here, it did make us go to the gym a lot though.

Calum95

Original Poster:

38 posts

114 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Hi guys,

I've finally finished ripping all the old carpet out and almost finished stripping all the walls, I've got few questions that hopefully some of you can shed some light onto.

1) If I order my own double glazed windows and fit them with a friend who knows what he's doing, do I need to get some kind of certificate to say they've been fitted correctly?

2) My utility is part of my garage and was originally quite small, as the garage is too narrow for a modern car I've knocked down the old utility wall down and built a stud wall further back with a door to my garage (previously was just a wall with units). My utility and garage are on the same level however there is a step down from the kitchen to the utility, am I right in thinking the only place I need to have a fire door is from the kitchen to the utility?

3) How much on average will it cost to re felt my garage roof? Its approx. 6m x 2m and is leaking quite badly, causing damp on one wall inside the house and letting water into my garage.

4) What car to get next? Undecided on whether to go for a bmw/audi estate or go down the pick up route like a Navara or similar, I don't want to spend much and want something that will hold its value for when I come to sell in a couple years time.

I appreciate any input!
Cal

kiethton

13,883 posts

179 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Calum95 said:
4) What car to get next? Undecided on whether to go for a bmw/audi estate or go down the pick up route like a Navara or similar, I don't want to spend much and want something that will hold its value for when I come to sell in a couple years time.

I appreciate any input!
Cal
Was very close to getting a ~£500 volvo 740/760/940/960 but couldn't make it work owing to insurance. - Ended up with skips/deliveries/occasional borrowing of GF's dad's Zafira

Can fit a standard sheet of plasterboard in the boot without issue, are mechanically simple and if you get one with a decent amount of MOT left you'll sell it for what you paid (maybe a little more after a clean) when you're done.

Other than that something like a grand voyager with the seats out would work - I was going to avoid commercials (inc. pickup's) as my local dump can get a bit funny - multiple runs in a car or MPV is fine though smile

Calum95

Original Poster:

38 posts

114 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
kiethton said:
Was very close to getting a ~£500 volvo 740/760/940/960 but couldn't make it work owing to insurance. - Ended up with skips/deliveries/occasional borrowing of GF's dad's Zafira

Can fit a standard sheet of plasterboard in the boot without issue, are mechanically simple and if you get one with a decent amount of MOT left you'll sell it for what you paid (maybe a little more after a clean) when you're done.

Other than that something like a grand voyager with the seats out would work - I was going to avoid commercials (inc. pickup's) as my local dump can get a bit funny - multiple runs in a car or MPV is fine though smile
Although that would be the cheapest and easiest option, I'm too attached to gadgets and a bit of luxury and I'm unfortunately a badge snob rolleyes, does anyone have any experience or opinions on ex police cars? I've found a nice 5 series estate with high mileage but don't know what to expect from it.