My First Renovation

[Calum95]

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

[Calum95]

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!

[Calum95]

Here's a few more pictures as promised.

[Calum95]

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.

[Calum95]

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

[Calum95]

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

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 , 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.

[Calum95]

This is the proposed floor plan for now, the kitchen "L" island will be further over to the left with the leftover wall hidden in the units.



I was removing the coving in the dinning room last night and found the old lath and plaster ceiling is dis-bonded and crumbling so that's going to have to come down and be replaced with plasterboard.

I'm also going to need quite a lot of cement on my kitchen floor to bring it back up to the level of the other wooden floors as it has sagged over 90 years of use. Would this job be best to leave until the wall is knocked through so I can see the level to bring it to?

That's good news about the FENSA cert, I'll have a chat to my mate and see if its something he's done before.

I believe my garage roof is made of concrete, not wooden boards so hopefully its just a re-felt that it needs. What is the best way to insulate the utility floor?

Thanks for all your responses so far!

[Calum95]

KTF said:

Why steal the space from the garage and leave the dead space behind the utility?

Would it not be better to keep the garage as it is but extend the utility into the current dead area behind it instead?

Having the hob on the end is maybe not the best location for it. Is there nowhere else it could go?

The dead space behind the utility has a long step down to the utility level so would be more of a pain to move, also the wall would have to come down too and would have to be supported so that's an extra cost. The end goal is to rent this place out so I'm trying to keep costs as low as possible. Also the garage is too narrow for any modern car so the extra space in the utility for a dryer and more storage for bulky kitchen items makes more sense. There is still plenty of space for a work bench and my motocross bikes! I now have a door into my garage from the house which I prefer too.

The hob placement isn't set in stone, I'm open to suggestions regarding the best placement for kitchen appliances, it made sense in my head as having it there wont take away any wall unit space as it's on an island, however I understand it's probably not the safest if little ones are running around.

I'll get more pictures tonight showing the layout of the kitchen and utility.

[Calum95]

Had a very busy weekend over the bank holiday!

After taking down the dining room ceiling I realised the kitchen-dining room wall wasn't load bearing (As i was told by the surveyor) so that came down leaving me with a very good sized room. After seeing the space in person i'm making some changes to the floorplan, the "L" island is now going on the opposite wall and i'm changing the way the doors open. Does anyone have an idea on cost of underfloor heating per sq/m?

Pictures will follow shortly!

Cal

[Calum95]

Here's the pictures as promised...

This is the layout of the utility before I changed it, the gap between the beam and the small wall had kitchen units on a frame that was built in between. As you can see, the garage gets very narrow towards the end.




This is the stud wall I have built instead, behind the two courses of brick is the gas pipe to the boiler, I left the wall there so no one stands on it or breaks it until it gets moved next week.



This is the dead space behind the utility that you suggested would be best to use, I don't think it would be an easy job and would certainly not be cheap. There is about a foot drop in total over the two steps and the wall to the right looks structural for the garage roof.



I also changed the old cast iron soil pipe to plastic over the weekend, here's the original join, looked a very shoddy job!



Here's the kitchen wall I knocked through





These are just an extra few I've taken









If I have time today i'll do a revised floor plan too.

Cal

[Calum95]

KTF said:

Ok, I see what you mean about the gap behind the utility now. Looks like it was originally part of the 'outside' that has been boxed in rather than part of the house.

Yes I believe it was part of an extension in the 30's when the square bay window was added too.

[Calum95]

Here's the updated floor plan.



On another note, as the ceilings are down and its very easy to run cables to wherever I like, what does everyone suggest regarding wiring? I'm frequently seeing people running cat5 all around the house and I've never understood why?

Also, does anyone know if the wall separating the toilet and the bathroom is load bearing? Its perpendicular to the joists on the first floor, I'm not sure whether to assume the roof is 100% supported by the external walls.

Cheers,
Cal

[Calum95]

Little Lofty said:

That's often the case, that's why I mentioned the wall may not be load bearing earlier in the thread. Off the top of my head I'd say 8 out of the last 10 I've removed weren't load bearing even though most of them were built with brick.

Yeah I presume the surveyor was just covering himself by saying it was load bearing, I also didn't want to get my hopes up so it was a nice surprise when I realised.

KTF said:

I would move the cooker to the middle rather than jammed in the corner if thats the only wall it can go on.

I like to have stuff either side of me when I am cooking so having it in the corner would drive me crazy after a while

That's a good idea, whats the best way to add an extraction fan if its in the middle? Can the flue bit just be run in the joists? Also will their be enough space for a breakfast bar area if the hob is also sharing the space, is there an average sized area that is recommended?

Craikeybaby said:

There's another thread about rewires, I had my house wired with CAT5e to most rooms as wireless isn't as fast or reliable. I have iMac, printer, back up drives and Apple TV connected to it, with phones/tablets etc wireless. It is easy to run the cables now, even if you don't use them. Another thing that is worth considering is where you would put an electric car charger, as that seems to be the way things are heading - I have run a thick cable to above my porch, ready to be connected if I get an electric car.

Okay i'll have a look at that, I think i'll definitely run CAT5 to places where a tv could go so i've got points to hardwire the likes of SKY or similar. I never thought about running a point for electric cars, do they just run off standard 240v? I have power in my garage so I can always use that if required at a later date.

Welshbeef said:

Good effort - though looks like your getting the Mrs to do all the hard graft .


Seriously though you don't want the cooker in the corner put it in the middle of that island setup.

Front room and back room certainly look like they need log burners.
Oak doors with chrome dressing.

Haha she loves a good action shot. Luckily she loves a bit of DIY too so shes been very helpfull!

Oak doors would be lovely but I don't think I can justify the cost as its going to be a rental and the original doors will look fine with a new coat of paint and some new handles.

-

The weekend jobs were to sort the rotten garage frame out and move the gatepost over. I need to put the finishing coats on both the frame and the door and that'll be boxed off. The gatepost job turned out to be bigger than I thought however I got it mostly done with the help of a friend, just need some more mortar and a strong pair of hands to help lift the top of the post on.




I only managed to get a picture of the drive but you can see part of the new frame in the background. Obviously the drive isn't staying like that, I will eventually lay stones down and add a feature but that's low down on the priority list at the min.

Cal

[Calum95]

kiethton said:

Poor poor lawn....belongs in the council thread that!

Haha tell me about it, might make me more motivated to start the drive sooner! The neighbours must hate me.

[Calum95]

Craikeybaby said:

My understanding is that they can use 240v, but only for a slow charge. I couldn't have a fast charger in my garage as cable to the garage wasn't suitable for 32 amp. So while I had the ceiling down recently I ran a suitable cable for a fast charger to the front of the house.

So you've ran a cable from the fuse box area to the front of your house? Sorry if that's a stupid question, i'm no good with electrics yet. Luckily my fuse box is right next to the porch and on the shared wall to the garage so shouldn't be an issue to branch out of it.

[Calum95]

bunn89 said:

Hows things been progressing along Calum? Im just completing on a similar property this month and will be pretty much following in your footsteps with the majority of the work needing to be done so its nice watching someone a few weeks ahead

Hi Mate, it's slowed down a little as I've been working away from home the last two weeks. My new combi boiler has been installed and I have a date for my windows to be replaced too. Going to get stuck back into it tonight, I'm slowly seeing an end to the destruction phase so going to have to get sensible soon and start boxing some rooms off!

Congrats on the property, are you going to start a thread of your own? If you have any questions I'll answer anything I can!

Cal

[Calum95]

Hi Guys, I've had a busy last few days at the house.

The pointing on the garage was in a really sorry state so I've been waiting for a dry weekend to try and get through it. It took a hell of a lot longer than I imagined and didn't stay dry for long. I got through the bulk of it and will hopefully do odd bits here and there over the next week or two, definitely looks better now its done though.

Before and after side by side. I opted to go for red mortar as the front of the garage has previously been done like this and it looks better than the rest.






I did clean the bricks after I was finished so they're not covered in mortar like in the last pic.

The next job was to knock down the walls in the bathroom to turn it into a large family bathroom. It was originally a split toilet room and separate bathroom. I've ordered a skip so I can get rid of all the rubbish I've accumulated over the last few weeks.

Here's the before (minus the doors)


It came out very easily, only needed some slight persuasion from the sledge hammer towards to bottom.





The remainder of the wall is staying to separate the bath and toilet, I've seen it done before and liked the idea. I got lucky as the wooden vertical beam is only 20mm away from where I wanted to cut it.

After this is all tidied up I need to get on to re-plumbing the rest of the lead piping. I'm opting for plastic pipes, does anyone know a cheap supplier around the northwest/ wigan area? Or a good online provider?

I also managed to bag myself a kitchen off ebay over the weekend, the guy selling is local and is going to deliver it for me too, the next challenge will be trying to make it fit!

As the kitchen floor is concrete and has sagged over the years, what will be the easiest method to bring it back up to the level of the wooden floor? I was thinking fill it with a quite wet mix of concrete until its very close to the level I want it, then put a final layer of decent self leveler down? I'm always open to other suggestions though.

Just to clarify that although it looks like the girlfriend is doing all the work, I do help out in between pictures...

Thanks for reading,
Cal

[Calum95]

Maybe a total of 100-200mm at the lowest point, my surveyor told me there won't be any further subsidence and it all occurred when the property would have been relatively new.

[Calum95]

jimmyjimjim said:

Really 20cm?

I'll measure it the next time i'm there. Thinking about it, it had originally been tiled and they were about 30mm thick but the same level as the wooden floor so i'm down 30mm just from that. I may just be thinking its worse in my head!

[Calum95]

I checked the level last night and it is 100mm down at its lowest point. What would you suggest to bring this back up? Cheers