House Purchase/Renovation

[dirtychinchilla]

That's an incredible house.

I would have thought that your uncle was sufficiently professional to be able to work with you. If you tell him from the start that you are a pedantic ******* and will want it perfect, then at least he knows. I expect he knows a lot more about achieving a perfect finish that you do, though. I would also be inclined to say that mates rates aren't a good idea - get it done for the right price by him.

 

[Martynt74]

I would also be inclined to say that mates rates aren't a good idea - get it done for the right price by him.

Agreed, sometimes this ends up putting you at the back of the queue and waiting longer for things to be done during their quiet period.

Get some quotes and if his are comparable and you're happy with the quality of his work then go for it. Great position to be in though to have someone you know/can trust.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Agreed, sometimes this ends up putting you at the back of the queue and waiting longer for things to be done during their quiet period.

Get some quotes and if his are comparable and you're happy with the quality of his work then go for it. Great position to be in though to have someone you know/can trust.

Absolutely. My sister-in-law was in a car crash recently. She was fine, but he car needed some work. My brother-in-law said someone from her family was doing the work and it was only costing them £300 or something but it was going to take a few weeks. So they were paying market rate to have it done, but they were waiting extra time because they're family?! Wtf, does not compute.

 

[toshj]

That's an incredible house.

I would have thought that your uncle was sufficiently professional to be able to work with you. If you tell him from the start that you are a pedantic ******* and will want it perfect, then at least he knows. I expect he knows a lot more about achieving a perfect finish that you do, though. I would also be inclined to say that mates rates aren't a good idea - get it done for the right price by him.

Yeah, good points. Having known me most of my life, I'd say my uncle has a fair idea of how much of a **** I am, but I think I'd surprise even him when it comes to renovation work. Also, the mates rates thing is fair - he's not really the sot of person I'd a) haggle with or b) expect anything other than good work from.

Went to look round a couple of kitchen show rooms today, looks like we're going down a smart shaker kitchen route. My younger sister - who I employ but is largely useless in the office, has been assigned "project designer" work as she's much more artistic and talented in this regard. She's put together the initial plans for the kitchen/diner.

I've got to go back to the structural engineer now and figure out if we can dig 10cmx10cm channels around the concrete floor/besides the concrete footings in order to install the waterproofing. We've got no idea whether they're supportive footings or what... they were simply required by the building society for the mortgage to be granted to the previous occupiers in 1977!

 

[Burned_Alive]

Surely you would need to replace the ground floor joists first of all, followed by the RSJs, if the joists are supporting the ground floor and the RSJs are on the ground floor supporting the first floor wall. I would then do the basement work in case extra access is required and then finish the ground floor replacement.

And to be honest, if i was having all that done I'd personally want the same builder to be doing at least 1+2, maybe 1,2 and 3 with the waterproofing done by a specialist.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Went to look round a couple of kitchen show rooms today, looks like we're going down a smart shaker kitchen route. My younger sister - who I employ but is largely useless in the office, has been assigned "project designer" work as she's much more artistic and talented in this regard. She's put together the initial plans for the kitchen/diner.

What is it that you do?

 

[toshj]

What is it that you do?

I run a small headhunting firm... which is more like a community outreach program as I seem to just employ family and friends!

 

[dirtychinchilla]

I run a small headhunting firm... which is more like a community outreach program as I seem to just employ family and friends!

Haha nice!

 

[eviled]

Another pedantic guy here!

I’ve been doing my house for about 5 years.
Down kitchen, lounge, bathrooms, roof+ loft conversion

Just planning my basement tanking. And fishing off a couple of bedrooms and ensuites.

Order isn’t super important as long as you have good planning and foresight - blanked of runs of pipes to use later, cables etc.

I found as soon as I have the loft done it was a perfect hide away from the chaos, and remember dust settles with gravity

 

[toshj]

The garden.

This requires so much work. The soil (and crap) that was excavated from the basement dig out was dumped in the back garden instead of completely removed. They then built a paved raised platform to house this soil and turn it into a feature. We've been estimated 20-25 skips worth of rubbish. The garden has an enormous yew tree, and two leylandii which we've applied to have removed. I imagine we'll be able to get the leylandii out, but the yew may have to be crowned as the local council tend to block yew trees being removed.

We've had two quotes for the garden work. One, an award-winning landscape gardener indicated ~£30k... the second quote is from a gardening company that seem a lot more rough and ready, but have had a few good references from locals in the area; £10k, which we're going to go for. We have to pay for skip hire and any upgrades to the paving materials they've chosen, but everything is included in that price - paving, fences, soil, lawn, etc. It should take 4-6 weeks and involves:

• the removal of all trees, shrubs and plants
• replacing the fence on two sides of the garden - one length, and the read
• supplying and installation of sleepers running the length of each side of the garden
• part-removal of the raised platform down to two foot high (it's currently about 5 foot)
• installation of a new patio at the rear of the garden (the only place we get the sun, during the late afternoon)
• replacing of the existing lawn

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Looking back at the house from the raised platform

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The of the existing raised platform view from within the basement

Spoiler

 

[Bunka]

Your outside space looks great - loads of potential!

If the only area of your garden that gets light is where the raised platform is situated, I'd be tempted to remove all of it to maximise space. An extra few skip loads would make a massive difference long term. Either that or work out a way of making the raised area work for you somehow (raised bed, seating area etc.)

 

[toshj]

We had the architect come round today to give us her thoughts on the project. If we engage her then she'll put together the drawings and has a network of two or three builders that she'd be happy introducing us too - she gave us a couple of figures. Firstly, the estimated time taken for the full renovation (if we were to vacate the property); this was four months. The second was an estimated cost... which came in quite a bit higher than I'd expected.

ToshJ: "Would we get much change out of £XYZk?" (a figure I thought I was being overly conservative about...)

Architect: "Toshj... are you being silly? Please tell me you're being silly! Add an extra 25% on to that amount and that's going to be the lowest figure..."

Wonderful

 

[toshj]

Garden. My sister put together some fairly accurate sketches of what our plans are in the garden. Our plan is to reduce the amount of skips required by re-purposing much of the soil and crap in the raised platform outside the back door. Also, we would like for the garden to be as easily maintained as possible, as we're definitely not gardeners.

 

[toshj]

Bit of an update.

Slow going. Although some overwhelmingly positive news, in that the council are letting us chop down the yew tree that completely ruins our garden. Normally they refuse and insist on yew trees being crowned, but we've got permission to raze it as well as the two leylandii towards the back. Being felled in late January, with the rest of the garden project commencing as soon as possible thereafter.

The rest of the house it... interesting. We're going to have to sell our flat in order to finance the renovation, which means paying a hefty early repayment penalty Some of the quotes we've been getting are insane. We're looking to get our windows "done" as they're 100+ years old, rotting and some are producing mold. We have 17 windows and thought about replacing the casement/frame, the windows and the glass for all. We've been quoted £36k...

I understand that we can actually renovate the house without having to gain planning permission, and instead go through building regs instead - basement and loft conversions typically only need party wall agreements and building regs approval it seems, although the requirement of planning permission for such conversions in conservation areas seems to be cloudy at best. No one seems to be able to answer this. That said, should we decide to install two (small) dormer windows then we'd need to seek planning permission, and I think we might go down that route as one or two of the other houses on our road have done so.

Lastly, something that's driving me nuts, is that due to the old lady who previously occupied our house having lived there for so long, we're being treated as tenants rather the full owners by our neighbours. They keep on saying things like "well... Mrs X never did anything like that and it's shame you want to change her house so much". One neighbour yesterday said of our plans to update the windows "Mrs X would be turning in her grave if she knew you were going to do that". It's so ******* unhelpful. Given it's a terrace. Given it's a conservation area. Given most of our neighbours have lived there for 20-30 years. We ideally need to keep best relations with them. But if there's no planning permission required for the loft and basement, and party wall disputes only go so far, I'm thinking of just ploughing ahead with all the works regardless.

 

[sja360]

It might be your neighbours have not touched their property in regards to new windows or anything and hearing you wishing to repair or replace them is like a big deal. It could also be concerns regarding the amount of work they'll be living next to.

My neighbours did a rear single storey extension and it's not enjoyable hearing drilling and hammering, that said I'm sure they heard me sanding my floorboards so I got some revenge

 

[eviled]

We've been quoted £36k...

That seems steep I've had in the past 6 years.....

10x double glazed sash in original frames, 4x double glazed casement in new frames, 1x set of 4 triple glazed bifolds, 1x triple galzed skylight, 3x double glazed Velux, 1x double glazed door

all in hardwood and its cost ~£16k - although fitting of the skylights was included in the roofing cost, and bifolds in the extension cost.

By far my cheapest option was a local joinery company with a passion for conservation. If your in an area with large or several conservation areas I reckon you'll find a similar company not far from you.

 

[toshj]

That seems steep I've had in the past 6 years.....

10x double glazed sash in original frames, 4x double glazed casement in new frames, 1x set of 4 triple glazed bifolds, 1x triple galzed skylight, 3x double glazed Velux, 1x double glazed door

all in hardwood and its cost ~£16k - although fitting of the skylights was included in the roofing cost, and bifolds in the extension cost.

By far my cheapest option was a local joinery company with a passion for conservation. If your in an area with large or several conservation areas I reckon you'll find a similar company not far from you.

That quote was from one of the local joinery firms that specialise in this stuff. 10 sash windows and 6 bay in a Victorian house in smarmy SW London... wasn't sure if that was simply the regional premium we have to pay here or if they were fleecing us. They seem a good firm with excellent recommendations though.

 

[Burned_Alive]

I'd do a great job if you paid me £36k as well! That's on average over £2k per window. Get some other quotes.

 

[toshj]

I'd do a great job if you paid me £36k as well! That's on average over £2k per window. Get some other quotes.

Yeah, have a few other firms coming over to look.

Our neighbours on one side have suggested that we use a restoration company that can amend, update/make good and "chemically treat" the windows to prevent or halt the rot. We may go down that route as the windows are the originals.

 

[Alex_L]

For London that sounds about the going rate. I had 5 London companies (including Ayrton and SPS timber who seemed the most well known) quote for us in North London including one that would do restoration (a lot are adamant it’s a false economy) and they all came out at that kind of cost for new double glazed sash windows. Its even worse when you have stained glass to replace as well as that really adds to the costs