Help!! "A House in Need of Renovation" - Where do I start??!!

[queensansastark]

How do I approach it? It is a 4 BR house with family bathroom and ensuite bathroom upstairs. Downstairs are 2 reception rooms, kitchen/diner, toilet and hallway.

The kitchen/diner is 4 years old, so will leave as it is. The walls were last painted 4/6 years ago with Farrow & Ball Old White and various Laura Ashley and Fired Earth paints, woodworks painted in satin wood 67 years ago and the empty house is looking sad and jaded. The ceiling have that swirly rough random artex thing going on - not good. The Vaillant boiler is 5 years old and still works well.

2 Bathrooms are 10 years old and still look fine.

So far, I could only think that the windows definitely need replacing with double glazing (original single glazed windows in place atm) and that the loft needs reinsulating to make it more energy efficient.

Do I need to just get a good builder in and talk it through with him and then scope out what needs doing and a sequence?

TIA

[HauntedNoddyCar]

I'd start with exterior. Roof, gutters etc checked. Then windows and loft. Get it dry and warm.

Then come up with a room by room plan with painting and flooring last.

Make lists and think about how each thing impacts the others iyswim. So don't paint with new flooring etc.

[SunnyUpNorth]

Good advice above. I haven't done a full renovation of a house before, but generally it is the boring, expensive jobs which need to be done first such as making sure the roof is ok, any damp is sorted, possibly pointing, dealing with rotten windows and so on. Ie deal with the fabric of the house first. It's horrid spending money on those things as you can't really 'see them' but they are worth it.

Then it is probably a case of prioritising rooms by what needs doing and which you use the most. So I would prioritise my living room over my bedroom for example as I spend more time there. Usually rooms are quite cheap, quick fixes. Make sure to deal with any issues first like electrics, does it need more sockets, then you can skim the walls and decorate, flooring last. Bathrooms and kitchens will add value. Bathrooms can usually be freshened up quite cheaply and a new, clean bathroom has a big impact.

Good luck!

[karron]

We are renovating and did roof, gutters and re-rendered. We then put the central heating in. We've now put in a new bathroom and started on one of the bedrooms that needed the ceiling over boarding and the walls skimming. We now need to start saving to do the kitchen and put in an on suite.

The order of jobs was dictated for use by having a mortgage retention. We had to get certain things done within 6 months. If it was up to use we might have done things differently.

I would defiantly get a builder in to help figure out what order jobs need doing in and also what the knock on effects will be of getting them done. Also the prices for each and which make sense to do together as it will save a bit of money. A survey will probably say you need a new roof, as this seems to just be standard practice, but you may not need to. We did as you could see daylight in the loft and water damage in the the upstairs ceilings!

[Pinkje]

Do you own the house or are you figuring out what to offer?

Doesn't sound in too bad a state apart from maybe the artex on the ceiling. A 5 year old boiler is practically new!

And the windows, do you really need to replace? I would have loved if our house's previous owner's had left them in place rather than fitting the UPVC double glazed ones .

[queensansastark]

Thanks all. We own the house, but very conscious and aware that it needs updating, just looks jaded. Roof all looks ok still, gutter needs checking and maybe replacing.

The windows are the original single glazed ones, not very heat efficient and nothing special (like sash windows) the house was built mid 80's.

A similar house next door, which looks like it's still had the original kitchen and bathrooms, is up on sale on right move and the energy cert is E so insulation definitely needs ripping out and redoing.

How much do people generally budget for renovation?

[queensansastark]

In this case, more updating and redecoration.