Help me strategise home improvements please?
Discussion
I bought and moved into a 1930s 3-bed semi in July 2024. I chose it because it has a nicely done kitchen extension and is generally in pretty good decorative order with no need for immediate work.
I'm really happy with it and I want to start making improvements.
The problem is I can be pretty indecisive and I have all kinds of rules in my head about how these improvements should be done which may or may not be complete rubbish. I could do with some guidance from the PH massif.
The house has no structural issues. The clay tile roof was re-tiled within the past 30 years or so and shows no issues. Chimney stack needs repointing pretty badly, that's about it.
Inside, elements of the house which initially presented as quite fresh have turned out to be quite old. The windows, the kitchen extension and kitchen, the consumer unit, all over 20 years old now. The conventional gas boiler, 10.
I have bought a house which had no need for immediate work, which cosmetically I'd be happy with decorating, getting a plasterer in to deal with a couple of artex ceilings, and replacing all floor coverings... but logically, I should deal with at least the electrics before I do anything cosmetic?
My loose plan is something like this:
2026/27
Get an electrician in. Add some sockets, extractor fan, loft lighting, get some existing sockets flushed in where surface mounted, move some light switches (expect full re-wire and new consumer unit?)
External windows as required (probably all)
Plasterer. Sort out artex ceilings in living room and landing. Spotlight holes in the 1st bedroom. Tidy things up (window reliefs, small cracks here and there)
Decorate
Floor coverings
Later
In later years I will want bathrooms and eventually kitchen.
Does this sequence make sense? Any tips? My main concern is that I will then have a cosmetically sorted and decorated house with a conventional gas heating system, most of which is very old, and will then ugly the place up with a pretty extensive ASHP or gas central heating modernisation, ruining all my nice floors etc.
'Should' I try and modernise the central heating system before I do the cosmetic stuff? I can consider it but it feels like a can of worms.
While nothing needs immediate work, it feels like everything is going to pretty much need doing during my ownership (8+ years, poss much more). Do I need to bite the bullet and do the whole thing from the utilities upward?
Thanks in advance for any help
I'm really happy with it and I want to start making improvements.
The problem is I can be pretty indecisive and I have all kinds of rules in my head about how these improvements should be done which may or may not be complete rubbish. I could do with some guidance from the PH massif.
The house has no structural issues. The clay tile roof was re-tiled within the past 30 years or so and shows no issues. Chimney stack needs repointing pretty badly, that's about it.
Inside, elements of the house which initially presented as quite fresh have turned out to be quite old. The windows, the kitchen extension and kitchen, the consumer unit, all over 20 years old now. The conventional gas boiler, 10.
I have bought a house which had no need for immediate work, which cosmetically I'd be happy with decorating, getting a plasterer in to deal with a couple of artex ceilings, and replacing all floor coverings... but logically, I should deal with at least the electrics before I do anything cosmetic?
My loose plan is something like this:
2026/27
Get an electrician in. Add some sockets, extractor fan, loft lighting, get some existing sockets flushed in where surface mounted, move some light switches (expect full re-wire and new consumer unit?)
External windows as required (probably all)
Plasterer. Sort out artex ceilings in living room and landing. Spotlight holes in the 1st bedroom. Tidy things up (window reliefs, small cracks here and there)
Decorate
Floor coverings
Later
In later years I will want bathrooms and eventually kitchen.
Does this sequence make sense? Any tips? My main concern is that I will then have a cosmetically sorted and decorated house with a conventional gas heating system, most of which is very old, and will then ugly the place up with a pretty extensive ASHP or gas central heating modernisation, ruining all my nice floors etc.
'Should' I try and modernise the central heating system before I do the cosmetic stuff? I can consider it but it feels like a can of worms.
While nothing needs immediate work, it feels like everything is going to pretty much need doing during my ownership (8+ years, poss much more). Do I need to bite the bullet and do the whole thing from the utilities upward?
Thanks in advance for any help
The first thing in your favour is you seem to have your head screwed on. You have bought a good house and want to do things in the right order.
I would suggest you get the electrics and plumbing checked by someone who knows what they’re doing. It’ll probably cost an annoying amount of money but it’ll be worth it in the long run. Get those sorted and future proofed and then worry about the cosmetic stuff. A rewire or replumb phenomenally messy and destructive. I suspect that once you have the results of the surveys you’ll be back on here with a million questions about the best way to proceed.
Good luck
I would suggest you get the electrics and plumbing checked by someone who knows what they’re doing. It’ll probably cost an annoying amount of money but it’ll be worth it in the long run. Get those sorted and future proofed and then worry about the cosmetic stuff. A rewire or replumb phenomenally messy and destructive. I suspect that once you have the results of the surveys you’ll be back on here with a million questions about the best way to proceed.
Good luck
Thanks. For inspections like that I'm just looking for a general electrician and plumber, the same folk I might engage to do the work?
I am trying not to make the same mistake as my mum- buy a presentable, livable house and do nothing to it for over 15 years, eventually having to vacate and do everything at once, at the latest prices...
Oh, also relevant, my two year mortgage is up in July- if necessary I could borrow more.
I am trying not to make the same mistake as my mum- buy a presentable, livable house and do nothing to it for over 15 years, eventually having to vacate and do everything at once, at the latest prices...
Oh, also relevant, my two year mortgage is up in July- if necessary I could borrow more.
Edited by Hustle_ on Monday 5th January 19:36
Hustle_ said:
Inside, elements of the house which initially presented as quite fresh have turned out to be quite old. The windows, the kitchen extension and kitchen, the consumer unit, all over 20 years old now. The conventional gas boiler, 10.
I'm pretty sure someone on here was recently advocating anything that has been around for 40 years isn't worth buying/using on a house. So by that measure you really should be looking at another 2-3 decades before doing any renovations 
.There was a mention about looking after the foundations......so you should look into that first!!
Yes, an electrician and a plumber/central heating engineer. I reckon they’ll charge £100 or so each to take a look. Chances are you’ll be fine and it’ll be small changes. If bigger ones are recommended you can ask on this forum what other plumbers and electricians think. A thorough survey and a considered plan of action will be time and money well spent.
lizardbrain said:
Following as I m in very similar situation
What are the signs that the electrics need doing?
Sorry I ve nothing helpful to say, just hikacking the thread to think aloud
Judging by the wiring on mine about 2/3 of the house was done about 20 years ago but other than having to replace halogens with LEDs it seems serviceable enough
I think when the extension was done 20 years ago they knocked through half of the house into the extension so 2/3 of the house is 20 years old and the other third is who knows how old there is no neutral in the light socket for example in the old side, but other than this, I can t really see anything that urgently needs doing but I m no electrician
Garage has a ancient fuse box which looks about 70 years old, but it seems to be doing its job
Plumbing is a slightly different story. It all seems to work but it s a bit mouse trap and cobbled together. I m wondering if it s ignorable. I m sure a plumber is only going to give me one answer. On the plus side it s all very visible in the subfloor so I can see if anything goes wrong some of the pipes are held up on precariously balanced planks that kind of thing but it must ve been like this for decades so who knows
I was anticipating lots of damp and structural work due to cracks it all seems very superficial and i m leaning now to thinking that no work he s doing at all other than cosmetic patching
So I guess to stay away from my attempt to hijack the thread, I would leave the house for a year to settle, you might find things worse or better than your first impressions
I am a sort of engineer on facilities so I am bought in on pre-investment, futureproofing etc.What are the signs that the electrics need doing?
Sorry I ve nothing helpful to say, just hikacking the thread to think aloud
Judging by the wiring on mine about 2/3 of the house was done about 20 years ago but other than having to replace halogens with LEDs it seems serviceable enough
I think when the extension was done 20 years ago they knocked through half of the house into the extension so 2/3 of the house is 20 years old and the other third is who knows how old there is no neutral in the light socket for example in the old side, but other than this, I can t really see anything that urgently needs doing but I m no electrician
Garage has a ancient fuse box which looks about 70 years old, but it seems to be doing its job
Plumbing is a slightly different story. It all seems to work but it s a bit mouse trap and cobbled together. I m wondering if it s ignorable. I m sure a plumber is only going to give me one answer. On the plus side it s all very visible in the subfloor so I can see if anything goes wrong some of the pipes are held up on precariously balanced planks that kind of thing but it must ve been like this for decades so who knows
I was anticipating lots of damp and structural work due to cracks it all seems very superficial and i m leaning now to thinking that no work he s doing at all other than cosmetic patching
So I guess to stay away from my attempt to hijack the thread, I would leave the house for a year to settle, you might find things worse or better than your first impressions
My electrics are also completely livable. I could do with some sockets etc adding but other than that I could just replace light switches and fixtures. I doubt any of it is unsafe. It's just I know the consumer unit is circa y2k and has no spare slots, so I am expecting the task to snowball towards full re-wire, not because it needs it right now but for future proofing and to avoid re-work on the walls and floors.
Heating is conventional, completely serviceable, but I feel if I pull on that thread I will end up having a pressurised hot water tank installed, some new radiators, and then I will still have a 10 year old boiler so you have to wonder if it's ASHP time. (I wonder if I can make most of the system 'ASHP ready' somehow...)
Water distribution. I had the water company come out and replace the lead supply pipe to the house with HDPE. Apparently when they removed the old lead / copper union / stopcock the copper pipe fractured! So like you, it has me looking with suspicion at all of this old 5/8" copper pipe- but at least I have a nice new stopcock.
Edited by Hustle_ on Monday 5th January 19:56
Hustle_ said:
Inside, elements of the house which initially presented as quite fresh have turned out to be quite old. The windows, the kitchen extension and kitchen, the consumer unit, all over 20 years old now. The conventional gas boiler, 10.
My house is 37 years old, and so is the boiler and electrics including the consumer unit. They still work perfectly well, and if they break I'll replace them.Over the years I've replaced the bathroom, kitchen, WC, fireplace, windows, carpets and decorated every room at least once, but only when I felt like doing it and had the inspiration, not to any master plan.
So I would say you're overthinking it. Enjoy your house and just do things as you want to.
Your house sounds similar to ours. Get the electrics checked and upgraded where required. Plumbing wise a new boiler if it needs it but wouldn't worry for now unless you have a great desire to fit an ASHP. Do the cosmetics room by room. We've had a bedroom replastered to replace an artex ceiling which bowed. We also had a side return extension done which ticked off new consumer unit, boiler and kitchen / utility in one swoop (whereas yours is cosmetic and not big structural stuff)
Our living room still has a 70s brick fire place and textured wallpaper - we'll sort that at some point as a mini project - £5kish with log burner and insulating underfloor, plastering etc.
The dining / playroom has knackered laminate but no point replacing currently as its solid and will only get trashed further, probably.
Bathroom will get sorted at some point, again a mini project in its own right - £5kish?
As others have said, dont overthink it, work room by room but get the electric sorted first I'd say so if chasing out for sockets and switches you're not undoing any decorative work. Plumbing wise its going to be hard to know what needs doing unless you go ripping all the floors up which seems overkill.
If you try and do everything at once it will be a mega job and possibly overwhelming.
Why do you feel the windows need replacing? Are they wood? Or just old double glazing? The glass can be replaced if its blown rather than the whole lot.
We still have the original roof on ours and got the ridge tiles repointed and chimney stack when doing the extension - all good for now, no need to mess with it.
It depends on your expectations too, I guess. My first house everything had to spot on, fresh plaster etc but this one I realise is a bit old and wonky which gives it charcter. It has the original plaster in most rooms and the wood has many layers of paint on it. I dont lose sleep over perfection anymore, if I wanted a new build finish it would mean a full refurb which is just not going to happen. I understand what it feels like to move in and things not quite be as you'd remembered when viewing though, but dont worry about it. Just chip away job by job would be my advice.
Our living room still has a 70s brick fire place and textured wallpaper - we'll sort that at some point as a mini project - £5kish with log burner and insulating underfloor, plastering etc.
The dining / playroom has knackered laminate but no point replacing currently as its solid and will only get trashed further, probably.
Bathroom will get sorted at some point, again a mini project in its own right - £5kish?
As others have said, dont overthink it, work room by room but get the electric sorted first I'd say so if chasing out for sockets and switches you're not undoing any decorative work. Plumbing wise its going to be hard to know what needs doing unless you go ripping all the floors up which seems overkill.
If you try and do everything at once it will be a mega job and possibly overwhelming.
Why do you feel the windows need replacing? Are they wood? Or just old double glazing? The glass can be replaced if its blown rather than the whole lot.
We still have the original roof on ours and got the ridge tiles repointed and chimney stack when doing the extension - all good for now, no need to mess with it.
It depends on your expectations too, I guess. My first house everything had to spot on, fresh plaster etc but this one I realise is a bit old and wonky which gives it charcter. It has the original plaster in most rooms and the wood has many layers of paint on it. I dont lose sleep over perfection anymore, if I wanted a new build finish it would mean a full refurb which is just not going to happen. I understand what it feels like to move in and things not quite be as you'd remembered when viewing though, but dont worry about it. Just chip away job by job would be my advice.
Edited by Willber on Monday 5th January 21:30
We have always done a boiler really early on in our houses. Just seems the most logical first step, but in each case we were replacing biolers that were 40/20/20 years old and the oldest one really was on its last legs, so we had choice.
Ultimately the new boiler was cheaper to run and, in a better location and I believe we had issues trying toa dd a wireless smart thermos stat on one of them too.
Ultimately the new boiler was cheaper to run and, in a better location and I believe we had issues trying toa dd a wireless smart thermos stat on one of them too.
Lots of good advice on here already. Makes sense to sequence things as much as you can, as you're planning to do. We've done a lot on our current house and some lessons I've learnt are:
- if in doubt then re-plaster. We did all our ceilings, but only a few walls initially. There are now other walls which we're going back to because they are uneven/poor surface quality, but having to replaster over walls we've already decorated, in rooms with new carpets etc which isn't ideal. Should have just done them all in the first place.
- Upgrading windows and doors to modern units makes a massive difference. We did ours relatively early on, from a mix of old single glazed units and very old double glazing to the latest double glazing, and the house is so much warmer and more comfortable as a result. They also look much nicer. So if you are going to do windows then I'd say don't delay, as they have a big effect on quality-of-life. Timber windows are insanely expensive though, so if you are needing those then be prepared for the cost!
- Are going going to replace any radiators? Similar to above point about plastering, wish we'd changed some of ours first, as pipes we have come out of the ground rather than wall, and so very difficult to change width of radiators now without taking floors up (unappealing!). In retrospect I'd have changed them first, or at least chased the pipes into the walls for easier future changes.
- if in doubt then re-plaster. We did all our ceilings, but only a few walls initially. There are now other walls which we're going back to because they are uneven/poor surface quality, but having to replaster over walls we've already decorated, in rooms with new carpets etc which isn't ideal. Should have just done them all in the first place.
- Upgrading windows and doors to modern units makes a massive difference. We did ours relatively early on, from a mix of old single glazed units and very old double glazing to the latest double glazing, and the house is so much warmer and more comfortable as a result. They also look much nicer. So if you are going to do windows then I'd say don't delay, as they have a big effect on quality-of-life. Timber windows are insanely expensive though, so if you are needing those then be prepared for the cost!
- Are going going to replace any radiators? Similar to above point about plastering, wish we'd changed some of ours first, as pipes we have come out of the ground rather than wall, and so very difficult to change width of radiators now without taking floors up (unappealing!). In retrospect I'd have changed them first, or at least chased the pipes into the walls for easier future changes.
If you're putting in new sockets think about what the future requirements might be in the kitchen. If you currently have a gas oven/hob then make sure you get sufficient cabling put in to run an electric oven and hob if you want in the future.
Do you think you're ever likely to want to get solar panels? If so think about where you might need cabling for that. We've just had some work done and the builder suggested running an extra duct up to the top floor in case in case we ever decide to fit solar.
Use ducts where possible rather than just hiding a cable in the wall, so you can run extra cables through them later if needed.
If you're digging in to walls to put in electrical cables/ducts, think about ethernet too. A wired connection will always beat a wireless one. A cable from your router to any wifi extenders will speed up the connection on any devices on those extenders, and putting heavy users like games consoles or network drives on ethernet frees up the wifi bandwidth for your other devices.
Are you ever likely to want any "smart" stuff in your house? If so then neutrals to light switches is helpful, along with sockets in odd places like the corners of rooms for motion sensors, and by windows for electric blinds/curtains.
Do you think you're ever likely to want to get solar panels? If so think about where you might need cabling for that. We've just had some work done and the builder suggested running an extra duct up to the top floor in case in case we ever decide to fit solar.
Use ducts where possible rather than just hiding a cable in the wall, so you can run extra cables through them later if needed.
If you're digging in to walls to put in electrical cables/ducts, think about ethernet too. A wired connection will always beat a wireless one. A cable from your router to any wifi extenders will speed up the connection on any devices on those extenders, and putting heavy users like games consoles or network drives on ethernet frees up the wifi bandwidth for your other devices.
Are you ever likely to want any "smart" stuff in your house? If so then neutrals to light switches is helpful, along with sockets in odd places like the corners of rooms for motion sensors, and by windows for electric blinds/curtains.
I appreciate the posts which are approving of my overly logical / methodical approach, but it does come with a pretty major downside which the two posts below have hit on. Being rules-ridden like this comes with a hefty does of decision paralysis and procrastination. Somebody who knew me personally would probably give my head a shake and implore me to 'just start!'
Simpo Two said:
So I would say you're overthinking it. Enjoy your house and just do things as you want to.
Willber said:
As others have said, don't overthink it...
...If you try and do everything at once it will be a mega job and possibly overwhelming...
...don't worry about it. Just chip away job by job would be my advice.
There is consensus on Electrical first though, and I am definitely pro getting the plumbing at least looked at....If you try and do everything at once it will be a mega job and possibly overwhelming...
...don't worry about it. Just chip away job by job would be my advice.
bakerstreet said:
We have always done a boiler really early on in our houses. Just seems the most logical first step, but in each case we were replacing biolers that were 40/20/20 years old and the oldest one really was on its last legs, so we had choice.
Ultimately the new boiler was cheaper to run and, in a better location and I believe we had issues trying toa dd a wireless smart thermos stat on one of them too.
It's a Worcester Bosch of a model still available now, installed Feb 2016. The boiler is the bit of the system I am least concerned about. I can't age the hot water tank but I believe it is at least 23 years old. It is vented. The shower has a booster pump to provide very good hot water pressure to the shower, but a pressurised cylinder is to be considered to do away with the rather noisy pump (also 10+ years old). Or a combi boiler, although I do prefer conventional.Ultimately the new boiler was cheaper to run and, in a better location and I believe we had issues trying toa dd a wireless smart thermos stat on one of them too.
Willber said:
Why do you feel the windows need replacing? Are they wood? Or just old double glazing? The glass can be replaced if its blown rather than the whole lot.
It's fully white uPVC double glased. All units are 22 years old minimum. None of the units are blown, it's more the handles and in some cases the hinges falling apart. The windows on the front elevation are the oldest. They're faux leaded. The road outside is pretty noisy so there is an impetus to upgrade from a visual and noise perspective, especially in the front bedroom where one of the hinges has gone bad and the window no longer seals properly, road noise the main issue. Hustle_ said:
It's fully white uPVC double glased. All units are 22 years old minimum. None of the units are blown, it's more the handles and in some cases the hinges falling apart. The windows on the front elevation are the oldest. They're faux leaded. The road outside is pretty noisy so there is an impetus to upgrade from a visual and noise perspective, especially in the front bedroom where one of the hinges has gone bad and the window no longer seals properly, road noise the main issue.
Fair enough. You could probably repair them (the handles definitely and they're cheap and easy to do) and extend the life a bit if that helps inform your plans. If you have the funds & are going to stay in the property for some time then I'd suggest that it's going to be best to bite the bullet & get the major works done in one messy hit.
New consumer unit & additional sockets (messy job) but wiring should be fine so no full re-wire needed. Think about allowing for EV charger & solar panels in the future if the house is suitable. Run a couple of biggish cables to the kitchen for future upgrade to induction hob/multiple ovens.
New windows & doors throughout - modern glass is better & maybe even triple glaze the widows on the front. May need new window sills & patching around the windows so do it before decorating.
Upgrade the heating - new boiler & oversize the radiators as a future ASHP system would run cooler so need bigger panels to get the rooms warm. Change to pressurised cylinder system.
That's the global messy backbone stuff, then you can upgrade room by room.
New consumer unit & additional sockets (messy job) but wiring should be fine so no full re-wire needed. Think about allowing for EV charger & solar panels in the future if the house is suitable. Run a couple of biggish cables to the kitchen for future upgrade to induction hob/multiple ovens.
New windows & doors throughout - modern glass is better & maybe even triple glaze the widows on the front. May need new window sills & patching around the windows so do it before decorating.
Upgrade the heating - new boiler & oversize the radiators as a future ASHP system would run cooler so need bigger panels to get the rooms warm. Change to pressurised cylinder system.
That's the global messy backbone stuff, then you can upgrade room by room.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff