First House Renovation / Do-er upper

First House Renovation / Do-er upper

Author
Discussion

dionbee93

Original Poster:

227 posts

88 months

Monday 28th November 2016
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As some of you might have read in the other thread for the paint staining etc.. I've recently bough myself a 2 bedroom terraced house in my home village in North Wales.

Being only 23 I couldn't really afford to splash out on an all singing all dancing property, but rather have made a few compromises and after over 18 months of searching I've found myself a house that ticked all the boxes except for a garage (But has room at the back to build one)

So rather than posting multiple question threads I thought I'd collate everything into one thread and post the progress here - I'm aiming to 'complete' in two weeks.. everything has gone through just waiting on funds to be released by the mortgage company. Can't wait!

First time renovating a house so will no doubt have a LOT of questions..

So.. about the house..
2 bedroom terraced house,
New boiler and central heating,
New roof,
Interior is VERY dated/old and just needs replacing and freshening up.
Needs New kitchen/bathroom suite,
No damp or any building work needed (Which was my main searching criteria)

Pictures:
Outside (The one with the little porch)


Rear: - The garden is very 'long' as supposed to wide.. Could get three cars parked nicely if the shed and trees were removed..







Kitchen:





Living Room:


You can see through to the kitchen here..

Bedrooms:




Bathroom: (VERY dated!)




Downstairs toilet/sink (was another reason that swayed me towards this house..)


I'm VERY happy with the house and just looking forward to moving in sometime next yr, plans are (in order)

Strip all wallpaper and kitchen/bathroom so I have a blank canvas.
Plaster living room and kitchen ceilings (get rid of artex)
fit log burner and flue
Plaster living room walls
Paint bedrooms
Clad bathroom and fit new suite
carpet upstairs
New kitchen and tile floor
Replace downstairs toilet and sink and paint room
Paint and carpet living room

Somewhere in there I'll chase cables and replace all sockets just to freshen them up too.

Wish me luck!!

Dion

dionbee93

Original Poster:

227 posts

88 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Another reason for this thread is to gather hints/tips or to get more experienced peoples' opinions on board - so if you see anything and think "hmm that's a good idea" or not so..

let me know!

Dion

greygoose

8,224 posts

194 months

Monday 28th November 2016
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Bonus to have a downstairs toilet in a house that size, 70s bathrooms are always a treat! Good luck.

2lefthands

400 posts

138 months

Monday 28th November 2016
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Well done on doing this at your age. Did similar from 21 and at 32 am on house number 7.

My advice would be to modernise and move on. Depending on ceiling value for street, 3-4 times materials value on sale price if done right. You do it a couple of times, then you find you longer term home and add things like log burners, top end kitchen/bathroom etc.

As a tradie, only advice is get the experts to do the bits that can damage the property or kill you (plumbing, electrics and gas) unless competent.

Harry Flashman

19,282 posts

241 months

Monday 28th November 2016
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Congratulations, and good luck!

dionbee93

Original Poster:

227 posts

88 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Cheers, yes.. a Downstairs toilet was certainly a deal maker, I'm used to having one at my parents house too.

I was in two minds whether to modernise and move on but I've decided I'd like to keep it for at least 5-10 years until I've gathered enough money to be able to move on. I intend on doing it all on a 7K budget doing a lot of the work myself (Design and Technology Teacher) and as you said getting tradesmen in to do gas/plumbing and electrics. (Which shouldn't need much doing hopefully)!

Dion

Craikeybaby

10,369 posts

224 months

Monday 28th November 2016
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Congratulations, that looks like a good project!

dionbee93

Original Poster:

227 posts

88 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Cheers - looking forward to the steep learning curve!

Dion

dionbee93

Original Poster:

227 posts

88 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
So - Completing next week. Date has been set and I'm looking at firstly tidying the front of the house and making it presentable straight after the 'sold' sign comes down.

So I'm thinking, new guttering (Black I think) and fascia, painting front door a tidy colour to freshen up and just paint the little fence and wall at the front - I'm off work (School) for two weeks over christmas so hoping to get the outisde sorted before going back!)

I'm thinking of painting the window reveals too but I don't know how this will look - anybody done this before? I was thinking grey and paint the little wall the same colour (Maybe uplighters on the side of the door of the porch too)

Getting the front of the house tidy will give me a proper boost to get going with it I think - But I've set my priorities of getting the front sorted first (As it's quite easy also)

Any ideas are welcomed: (Here it is for those who havent seen it in the first post)



Dion


Trophy Husband

3,924 posts

106 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
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Why do I recognise the terrace? Where are you? Obviously I live in North Wales too.
Looks ideal doer upper to flip and move on. You can get good little houses for not a lot of money in some places in North Wales. Others not so!!

KTF

9,788 posts

149 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
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Personally I would concentrate on the inside first then worry about the outside (assuming nothing major needs doing) as you are going to spend a lot more time inside it than on the street looking at it.

thebraketester

14,191 posts

137 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
To be fair the outside needs a lick of paint to the wall and new guttering? Job done In a day!

Looks like a great canvas to make a nice little house there. *thumbs up*

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
Good luck!

I started at your age in North Wales (Shotton) with a terrace then bought myself a nice little detached without ever really moving in and never sold! ... ended up moving away so never did buy-modernise-sell-rinse-repeat.

I know its not super high end like all the powerfully built company directors on here, but find a friend / family member with a B&Q card and you can buy things with VAT off, saved myself a few thousand over the course of my renovations.

If you are planning to stay, buy the best you can afford, buy cheap ... buy twice its is worth doing things right first time.

But ... keep an eye out for sales on victoriaplumb, Homebase, B&Q you would be surprised how little things like quality paint, sockets etc add up, its £100 here, £200 there, £80 here ...

Set yourself a target and go room by room ... I didn't do this the first time and my kitchen took me months to complete as I was flitting between different jobs.

Finally, enjoy it! Try and learn some new skills, I was useless at anything practical but managed to wire all new lighting (checked over my electrician friend), changed radiators, fitted bathrooms, removed fireplace (physically, got a professional for gas stuff).

I did get a professional to fit my floor wood / carpet though, S*** job and it needs to be done properly.

8-P

2,756 posts

259 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
Good luck, love the brown bath.

Amazing how at somepoint someone thought that garden looked good!

Craikeybaby

10,369 posts

224 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
I'd be wary about painting outside in this weather - check the minimum temperature for using the paint and how long it needs to dry without being rained on.

Will you be moving straight in? Or renovating first?

Kateg28

1,351 posts

162 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
8-P said:
Good luck, love the brown bath.

Amazing how at somepoint someone thought that garden looked good!
The bathroom suite is bad enough but what about the toilet seat with that colour?

There is nothing right about that décor so what a lovely place to start. Complete blank canvas.

hyphen

26,262 posts

89 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
thebraketester said:
To be fair the outside needs a lick of paint to the wall and new guttering?
Looks like pebble dash, so would have a think if cost of getting it rendered is worthwhile.

herewego

8,814 posts

212 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
Garden walls are always wet so paint doesn't stay on for long and they always need re-painting. I wouldn't paint the house walls either unless already done as repainting is a job for life.

dionbee93

Original Poster:

227 posts

88 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
I am planning on staying here long-ish term - 10 years maybe more, therefore I am looking at buying decent stuff but not splash cash where it's not needed either.

I'm on a fairly tight budget - but hopefully having the luxury of not having to move in straight away will come in handy. i.e. Being able to strip it all first and do it without having to get it livable at the same time.

The house is just outside Caernarfon for the ones who asked. about 5 miles south.

unfortunately yes, the house is pebble-dash and in fairly good condition (For what it is) so I wont be looking to spend on that - although one of the other houses in the street are currently having theirs done and I must say - it does look good!

Keep the ideas coming - I really appreciate them!

Dion

thebraketester

14,191 posts

137 months

Friday 2nd December 2016
quotequote all
hyphen said:
thebraketester said:
To be fair the outside needs a lick of paint to the wall and new guttering?
Looks like pebble dash, so would have a think if cost of getting it rendered is worthwhile.
I didn't mean the house exterior. Just the white wall at the front.

The grey pebble dash doesn't loook too bad IMO.