House Purchase/Renovation

[Martynt74]

Ah that's a shame

You checked out DIY kitchens?

They don't tend to do sales but still excellent value and quality seems to compete with much higher end stuff (Depending on how far you want to go anyway)

 

[toshj]

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Looking back at the house from the raised platform

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The of the existing raised platform view from within the basement

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Trees are down!









A lot more sun and light in the garden:




There's a lot more general light hitting the upstairs - bedrooms, landing, etc. - as well as certain parts of the basement. We've got gardeners in on Wednesday to dig a trial bit alongside our neighbour's extension to ensure the work won't interfere with their foundations (it should be nowhere near) and then work should start at the end of the month on the full garden works. Expecting a month in total.

We had the full crew over on during the week - builder, project manager, structural engineer (who also does the architectural drawings, etc.) - to evaluate our new plans and talk through the process. Due to not being able to put the kitchen downstairs we're going to place it in the knocked-through rear rooms.

Does anyone have any experience and advice on relocating water and gas pipes? The builders were quite keen for the new kitchen to sit in the same location as the original one (to the right of the larger room) but this results in less kitchen floor space and us having to squeeze the kitchen units into a tighter space. We've now thought about relocating the kitchen over to the left hand side of the room, removing a fireplace to house the cooker and given us more room. We initially had the island running sideways rather then top to bottom, and may change it back.

These are rough ideas, but any thoughts or advice would be welcome.

 

[touch]

I'd guess that moving the supply pipes wouldn't be much of a problem but moving the waste pipe could be more difficult. It's not pressurised so it needs gravity for the flow. You're already in the basement so there's probably not much scope for lowering one end of the pipe. There's ways around that though.

For the layout, I would say the fridge is too far away from the cooker but that's just personal preference really.

 

[toshj]

I'd guess that moving the supply pipes wouldn't be much of a problem but moving the waste pipe could be more difficult. It's not pressurised so it needs gravity for the flow. You're already in the basement so there's probably not much scope for lowering one end of the pipe. There's ways around that though.

For the layout, I would say the fridge is too far away from the cooker but that's just personal preference really.

Good point on the waste - there are get arounds, but we're also going to have an RSJ sat beneath the middle of the floor, running top to bottom of the plan, so would need to figure that out.

Also, the fridge is too far away. I've moved it on the plan to the either next to the cooker (the cooker would actually in a chimney breast which isn't visible on that plan) or against the lower wall instead of worktop and cabinet.

 

[toshj]

Been a while but we're back on this. Back in Feb we'd been to see a house that the builders had worked on a couple of years ago. Very impressive. We were expecting things to run on until the end of the year before being able to make a start on ours, but a cancelled job due to lockdown has resulted in us moving up the chain - we're due to start in mid-June!

Got the quote in - I'm fairly pleased with it, it's a bit high in places but the scale of the plumbing and wiring work is huge - essentially ripping out and installing anew across four floors, modernising everything. My wife and I are just dreaming of the shower... not had one that is more than a trickle in seven months!

We've reverted to the plan to install the kitchen in the basement - the cost of the works involved would have resulted in a less valuable house had we have stuck an office and living room in the basement. We're replacing every single joist on the ground floor just to gain an extra 5cm in height in the basement! Although most of the joists are either cracked, warped or have rot.

Waterproofing firm and electricians are here this afternoon to scope the place out. Basement to be done first, as the 50mm screed can take up to 50 days to fully dry out, we'll then go to the kitchen company with precise directions once the membrane, plastering and floor is down.

Going to be a mammoth task. Was planning on putting our flat on the market to fund the work, but any kind of proper drop in house prices would see us draw too little in cash from selling it. Need to go find a short term rental somewhere close by... but they're like gold dust in this area.

They've said to expect four months, but we're planning on six. Will post the architectural drawings in the next week or so once they come through.

 

[tom_nieto]

Good luck! Will be interesting to see the architect’s plans. I’m hoping that your builders are amazing, it’s a huge job! Summer is also a good time to be doing work.

 

[Semple]

We've reverted to the plan to install the kitchen in the basement - the cost of the works involved would have resulted in a less valuable house had we have stuck an office and living room in the basement. We're replacing every single joist on the ground floor just to gain an extra 5cm in height in the basement! Although most of the joists are either cracked, warped or have rot.

Ah good, the design did look much better with a huge kitchen in the basement. Like you say, if you had to go to the lengths of repairing the floors and a number of joists anyway, it's normally much easier to just rip the entire thing out and start again, so i can't imagine cost wise there would be a massive amount of difference (extra materials plus a little bit more labour).

 

[toshj]

Good luck! Will be interesting to see the architect’s plans. I’m hoping that your builders are amazing, it’s a huge job! Summer is also a good time to be doing work.

Not according to our neighbours! They're active on the road's facebook group complaining over the slightest noise during lockdown! The inter-house politics on our road is excessive and totally boring. They're going to ******* hate us

We've shelved plans to do the loft conversion and will go back to it next year. We'd like to get the work started on the rest of the place as soon as possible, and going for planning permission will draw things out considerably.

Ah good, the design did look much better with a huge kitchen in the basement. Like you say, if you had to go to the lengths of repairing the floors and a number of joists anyway, it's normally much easier to just rip the entire thing out and start again, so i can't imagine cost wise there would be a massive amount of difference (extra materials plus a little bit more labour).

That was our thinking. We can maybe steal an extra 15-20mm from raising the ground floor slightly, and also we're switching out the 200mm joists for 150mm ones. We should gain an extra ~65mm in total, whilst losing 150mm through the waterproofing.

Head height is going to be an issue, we're just going to have to accept it. For normal height people it'll be totally fine, but being 6'4" will I'm going to have 25cm above me to the ceiling. As the room is quite squat as opposed to long and thin, our thinking is that it should work out fine.

The concrete shoulder that runs the perimeter is a real pain, as it means we can't have utilities pressed up against it. Having to be creative with where we place the oven, dishwasher, etc. The 1" screed we thought we could dig out to save on head height turned out to be 1mm deep

I've now got 24 days to get everything sorted, ordered, removed, etc. whilst also working! Going to be an intense period.

 

[Semple]

Head height is going to be an issue, we're just going to have to accept it. For normal height people it'll be totally fine, but being 6'4" will I'm going to have 25cm above me to the ceiling. As the room is quite squat as opposed to long and thin, our thinking is that it should work out fine.

Frankly, 25cm is plenty of room, i think the main criteria is that as long as you don't have to duck at all to move around then it's all good. Plus... you're way above average height , so would mean for the average person has nearly 40cm of headroom when you come to sell it at some point in the future.

The concrete shoulder that runs the perimeter is a real pain, as it means we can't have utilities pressed up against it. Having to be creative with where we place the oven, dishwasher, etc. The 1" screed we thought we could dig out to save on head height turned out to be 1mm deep

Is that for ventilation reasons?

 

[toshj]

Frankly, 25cm is plenty of room, i think the main criteria is that as long as you don't have to duck at all to move around then it's all good. Plus... you're way above average height , so would mean for the average person has nearly 40cm of headroom when you come to sell it at some point in the future.

Yeah the builder accidentally called me a freak without realising it when we were discussing head height

Is that for ventilation reasons?

The shoulder is structural - it's there to support the structural slab that was laid when the basement was excavated forty years ago. We can't chip into it or remove it - this means that many of the under-counter cabinets will likely be very shallow but hopefully with enough room for a full depth drawer between the shoulder and the worktop. I'll put a photo up soon.

We can put in a form of L-shaped island/worktop coming off the central plinth in the basement. These should allow us to install full depth electrical units.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Can I come and visit when work is underway? Kingston is my old stomping ground

 

[pingwing]

@toshj on the edge of my seat to see what happens next!

 

[toshj]

Right... we've started. This really is going to cost me an absolute fortune

Two days in and the builders have made a very encouraging start - ripped out kitchen, wardrobes, all rads, all carpets, much of the plumbing and taken down (and cleaned up) two lath and plaster ceilings. They've also repositioned the skip themselves as it was dropped off in front of a neiggbour's house, and have left the place very tidy each evening.

We had a neihghbour on one side kick off about wanting a party wall agreement. I completely see where she's coming from and if the roles were reversed I'd be making noises too, but I showed her the exact work we're doing and requested the structural engineer provide evidence that we don't need a PWA. As they were taking down the ceilings it sounded like the PW was crumbling away!

16 weeks apparently. Got the quote for the kitchen - ouch! It's got to be almost entirely bespoke due to the concrete curb going around the basement perimeter. Also, installation and fitting is expensive for the same reason too. Still having concerns about the ceiling height in the basement once it's completed, but we should be gaining around 30mm-50mm by installing new joists and hopeing to steal another 35mm from the ground floor too.

Fortunately, lots of stores have sales on at present so some of the white goods are coming in a little cheaper. But to replaster, repaint and refloor an entire house... it's all starting to add up.

The kitchen firm we're using had an offer at the time - £50 voucher for each £500 you spend. They have a huge range of other stuff (living, dining, gardens, etc.) but the voucher should take care of the dining table and chairs.

We've moved into a flat round the corner - so I'm trying to scramble together enough to pay for two mortgages and a flat each month... as well as four members of staff and all business costs!! - but should hopefully be able to make ends meet. Hoping to sell our flat in Whitechapel, which is back on the market, as it could ultimately cover half the cost of the renovation (plus tax I have to pay) but I can't see anyone offering what we'd need to accept. So that means we're going to be a little tighter for cash this year but will hang on to the flat as a long term asset.

 

[toshj]

I took these whilst on the phone to my wife... if you're lucky I might post a few that are less wonky!



Some very old ceilings:



Very tidy seeing as the ceiling was on the floor an hour or so beforehand:



Trying to preserve the cornicing:

 

[eviled]

lovely big architraves and skirting. Have you considered internally insulating at all? I've managed to while preserving the original cornice and architraves and its made quite a difference

 

[dirtychinchilla]

That's very exciting.

 

[toshj]

lovely big architraves and skirting. Have you considered internally insulating at all? I've managed to while preserving the original cornice and architraves and its made quite a difference

Yes, this is the preferred route. As we're going to be doing the loft at some point in the future when I'm no longer skint, we'll be doing that - good to hear it's worked for you.

 

[toshj]

More destruction:









Also the initial kitchen sketches are in. Those concrete curbs playing havoc. They've sent them as PDFs so please excuse the fact they're photos of my monitor...

 

[dirtychinchilla]

The destruction is incredible! I love this project; definitely inspired to renovate though in somewhere rather less expensive.

 

[toshj]

More - everything whipped out to fit the steels. They went in yesterday. Came to an agreement with the neighbours to structure an informal party wall agreement - but they've still not sent us their "before" photos.

Kitchen 3d designs are through too - will post those in a bit. Had a nasty shock on the quote for the windows. My wife was overseeing the dialogue with the carpenters and, due to being totally swamped with childcare, had overlooked that they'd only quoted us for half the work... They did a site visit yesterday and now the quote is double! Trying to replace and upgrade the sash windows to match the original Victorian wooden ones was expensive anyway, but we're now having the replace the six frames in the ground and first floor bay windows too. Ouch - I reckon I'm about to spend more on windows than it would cost to send my kid to university!!




Garden coming along nicely too. That's four skips worth of hardcore and crap that has come out of there, probably another two-three more to go.