Yet another person asking about the cost of renovations...

[sureIcandothiswhynot]

Hello all - been a frequent visitor but am a first time poster.

I've got my eye on a very cheap but structurally sound house which I want to buy for myself to live in. And I want to change the layout. It's a typical two up two down terrace, but hasn't seen a renovation since (what looks like) 1984. It still has the very steep, very narrow and rather creepy dark stairwell between the lounge and kit/diner, a microscopic downstairs bathroom (almost can't get to the loo without climbing into the bath before closing the door) and a single line of kitchen cabinets in a galley layout. However, upstairs there are two enormous bedrooms (for a terrace).

I want to move the bathroom upstairs (?£5000), turn the existing bathroom into the kitchen (?£5000)and knock down a wall, and move the stairwell (?£800) to open up the whole area. This will require RSJs in two walls and some stud wall building (?£4 000). So, my question is, is a budget of £20 000 reasonable?

The figures above are a guess based on what I've researched on the internet. I need to get as much value for money as possible but I'm also trying to be realistic. Most of the stripping/demolition work will be done by me, as well as much of the decoration, including tiling. The fittings will be good quality low spec (not the cheapest of the cheap) which I will source and upcycled second-hand bits. I just need to know the ballpark figure for professional people to do the building work, plumbing, wiring, gas work and plastering. An electrician and plumber will need to pass their beady eye over the property before the purchase, and I will be getting a structural survey to cover all bases. I also intend to get an architectural technician to do a proper assessment and draw up plans, if I go forward with the purchase.

I got nifty with my Paint program to make it a bit clearer. NOT TO SCALE.

Before anyone says anything, yes, I know that a job this big needs to be looked at before a quote can be given, and this question will earn me the response "how long is a piece of string" and there will be a lot of long-suffering sighs uttered in front of computer screens but I need to get a ballpark idea of costs before I put in an offer and end up out of pocket from the surveys, conveyancing and architectural costs etc. I love the building and it is on REALLY CHEAP but I won't touch it if it's not going to be worth it. I'm in the North.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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[joe-90]

Your estimates sound pretty close to me - maybe a bit less for the stud walls and steels.

 

[sureIcandothiswhynot]

Thanks for that - I feel better about my research skills as well as about the property plans!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Is £20K the figure you have in mind for just the works you've mentioned? Or are you saying you're going to re-plumb, re-wire, re-plaster and everything else all for that £20K?

 

[sureIcandothiswhynot]

Well, the pages I've seen quote for a whole new kitchen - all work included - for £5000, if they are given a blank canvas. I will probably need to arrange some builders firms with all the appropriate contacts to get me a quote for each part, once I'm in a position to do so. I've worked out and costed a kitchen already (NOT from one of the name brands) and the cost of a joiner to install it and hook up the utilities, and it comes to just under £3000 (not a very big kitchen), so I'm including the cost of plumbing, electricity and gas fitting to the room. The bathroom fittings, tiles, and sundries I've worked out and costed have come to around £1000. I'd be doing the tiling. I'd need the bathroom plumbed, electrically sound, tanked, and fittings installed properly once the tiling was finished. However, I'm leaving room in case I can't (for whatever reason) get the tiling done in a timely fashion. The stairwell I have no hope of doing myself, however the trade price for a staircase of around the right size (primed but not painted) is around £550, so I would need a joiner/builder to install it. The load bearing walls I could knock down myself (with supports hired out for the job), but I would prefer someone else to do that work just to be on the safe side. The partition walls I can do myself, but would prefer someone to build the new ones for me so they would be finished properly. I'm keeping an eye on the cost of skip hire etc. as well.

None of this includes the cost of decoration outside those rooms (no carpet, laminate, paint etc.)

 

[sureIcandothiswhynot]

Sorry, no, that 20k is not going toward replumbing/wiring/plastering THE WHOLE HOUSE, just a new kitchen and bathroom and the interior remodeling. I'm just moving things around. Electrically speaking the house looks sound and there are no obvious symptoms of damp or leaks, but that's why I'm getting a building survey rather than just a home buyers report done prior to purchase (if I decide to go that far). If anything scary like that is thrown up, I'm out. Seriously, the bathroom and kitchen are hopeless, and if it's going to cost £15-20k just to sort them out, it's not cost effective to have to spend another £10k to fix those problems, considering what else is on the market in the area. I've yet to have a second viewing to double check the fuse box and boiler etc.

It belongs to a housing commission who are selling it rather than spend the money to update it. I would have thought those houses would have a closer eye kept on them more than a private home. Whether that's true remains to be seen...

 

[jagillham]

We've done (doing!) something quite similar. Mixing DIY where we can with proper trades.

Two walls out by builders & steels £1750, plus BC signing it off £150.

Staircase was £550 delivered. We used stairbox, as the online builder let us tinker for ages. It came pre made up. A little bit of man power, and some big screws later it is installed. Quite easy really.

Bathroom moved upstairs cost A LOT more than I thought. Budgeted £1500... we going to finish a tad under £4k. Cost £900 for plumber to hook up everything upstairs, inc fitting a new soil pipe. It's the taps & bits that multiple the cost up without realising it!

Hope that helps, I've got to say taking the walls out was very much worth it. From tripping over each in the living room, with a pointless unused dining room, we now have a 7.5m x 3.8m room much better suited to family life.

 

[sureIcandothiswhynot]

Oh thanks for that! Stairbox hey, must Google... I've looked at www.tradestairs.com for pricing. I'm on my own for the remodelling and am only one little woman . I'd need help for anything heavier than a table - so a whole staircase is out of my league! But thanks for the link.

I've done a hell of a lot of research! I know what you mean by the little things costing so much tho - trying to balance a quality finish to enhance future resale vs not overspending because the area and likely resale values in the area won't be worth it! If you get what I mean.

The house as it exists is exactly as you say - two fairly small, pointless rooms, one with poor light for most of the day, separated by a dingy, dark staircase dominating the house whilst still being narrow and awkward! But I still love the house and want to make it lovely.