First house, any pointers.

deus3x

deus3x

deus3x

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Just got my first house,

I plan to re-plaster the house and decorate. I have set aside some spare cash for this although as this is my first time I am trying to get any pointers before i jump 2feet in.

How much would a modern kitchen cost with appliances. Also bathroom etc.

I have the opinion of working upstairs first doing my bedroom then moving in and finishing upstairs then onto downstairs. Any views or tips, I plan to have the walls skimmed back or new plasterboard if needs be. Also ceilings and carpet.

Thanks
 
Depends on the size and quality! A kitchen can easily cost anywhere between £2000 to £20000. A bathroom less. Get a free quote! If you put them in yourself, you can do it substantially cheaper, but it is a LOT of work!
 
Modern kitchen can cost from a few hundred, to a few thousands. Depends what you want what you buy, new / secondhand etc.

Basically no1 rule is, keep enough money to run and maintain the property, any extra can be used to improve it.
 
thanks guys,

My best friend is a plaster tiler and he will be doing all this work. I have another very close friend who is a plumber and another is an electrician. So I can trust work will be done how i want it at a good price. Just want to get some more views as they havent seen the property yet either..

Routing the cables is my main focus at the moment, I need to have some pipe work hidden as it runs up the walls from the radiators..

Kitchen wise I had a quote for 15k, I was hoping no more than 5k would set me a nice one so will move around.

My route of work.
1. Remove plaster
2. Decide on placement of power sockets
3. Hide any cables for TV/Lights etc
4. plaster
5. skirting/door frame
6. Paint
7. Carpets

Sound about right?
 
Your friends will love you lol can you have a quick look at this etc.
Kitchens aint to bad to fit if honest, i have done 2 in 2 of my houses that i have owned. The hardest thing i found was joining the worktops.
 
deus3x said:
thanks guys,

My route of work.
1. Remove plaster
2. Decide on placement of power sockets
3. Hide any cables for TV/Lights etc
4. plaster
5. skirting/door frame
6. Paint
7. Carpets

Sound about right?
Click to expand...

Sounds good personally i would paint then fit skirting as it saves masking off etc, but thats just me.
 
Iceman, I know I am badgering them already lol I am lucky as nearly all my mates are in the trade i need to do the house, except kitchens. One of them I think can do it as he is a carpenter so will get him involved. :)

Ok Ill change the painting before the skirting, makes sense :)

Thanks.
 
Just completed few weeks ago on a flat in West London, my first place.

I originally thought £5k was enought, but I have ended up deciding to gut it completely. Phase 1 (next 4 weeks) I am doing the following (in order), not too far off £20k

- Full Rewire (inc Cat 6 all over, sky hd multiroom, speaker cabling chased in, remote dimmers)
- Partial replumbing + new combi
- New Kitchen (this is about 8k alone all in, all timber, nice Miele/Bosch/Panasonic appliances)
- Replastering/decorating
- Solid oak flooring throughout

Phase 2 is new bathroom, waiting on permission to knock down a wall to make an uber bathroom.

One thing I will say - there is no such thing as working to a budget, well not in my case! I found problem after problem when I tore up flooring etc, which ended up in a complete renovation, but reflected in price I paid anyway.

End of the day will end up with flat in my specification and with good quality workmanship.
 
Rafster,

The house i have was built in 1975, it has had some bodged decorating to help its sell but I want it a pimp pad.

I would love to renovate completely but its
4 bedroom
dinning room
living room
2 bathrooms
kitchen
also conservatory

I am planning to do the master bedroom 'ie mine' then work upstairs then down.

May I ask about the Cat 6, does this carry power. What will it be used for.

We both sound like we are on the same mission here, pimp pad tech'd out :) How much is the re wiring going to cost?

Thanks
 
Similiar, mines is a flat built in 1970 with concrete flooring.

Cat6 for networking, I will have my main TV with a htpc, Sky, PS3, Sonos, AV Amp, speakers etc, in the spare room is our gym/office with main pc (we got big bedrooms) and bedroom is another TV with a HTPC. Want to be able to stream at gigabit throughout and also make max use of 100mbit from Virgin cabled. Wireless will be used only by our laptops and iPad really. We have banana plug points as well setup on data grids to support rear speakers in the future.

I am paying around £2200 for a full rewiring, I supplied all the facias which were flat stainless steel (http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_In...ome/index.html#Chelsea_Brushed_Chrome_Sockets). Wasn't the cheapest quote or anywhere near expensive (range I got was 1700-4000 but the guy I got was recommended well and a decent guy. He is going to do all the chasing for me so its all hidden in the wall and a lot of work in the kitchen to put everything in the right place

You may not need a rewire TBH, maybe partial if you wanna add more points or chase in some wiring for Sky, networking etc, previous owner done it all DIY which was probably the worst DIY ever, he even fitted the boiler himself which was leaking and dangerous piping. Plus a 4 bedroom rewire would probably be in excess of 4k I imagine.

Doing it bit by bit is probably sensible, especially if you are carpetting. It's more difficult with wooden flooring (we are going for a seemless look without joins between rooms) so now is our only real chance to plumb into the screed etc.
 
rafster said:
Just completed few weeks ago on a flat in West London, my first place.

I originally thought £5k was enought, but I have ended up deciding to gut it completely. Phase 1 (next 4 weeks) I am doing the following (in order), not too far off £20k
Click to expand...

I'm doing the same sort of thing to the house I bought, but also swapping all the windows & doors out for newer ones. Still massively in pocket considering the price I got the place for :) Winter is really not the ideal time to be doing all this stuff, though :(
 
The Banana plug points look great and I will definitely put them on my list for my Cinema room/lounge :) The Fascias you linked do look good, I want a clean modern look 'no clutter'.

Regards the cat 6. Will this be run to a Fascia in the room or just a loose cable? Your defiantly giving me some ideas, I will strip back my master bedroom walls and see how the cables look and test for any problems. I hope a rewire is not needed but ill still check.

What d you mean 'banana plug points as well setup on data grids to support rear speakers in the future.'

I only have ADSL in my area, a mind blowing max 6mb lol
 
PianoBasher said:
I'm doing the same sort of thing to the house I bought, but also swapping all the windows & doors out for newer ones. Still massively in pocket considering the price I got the place for :) Winter is really not the ideal time to be doing all this stuff, though :(
Click to expand...

tell me about it, we had to take a few days off and full weekends to project manage it properly, past two weekends have been like a working day in the place, 7am to 7pm.

It's like a rollercoaster too; you get happy when you solve something (e.g. sorting out the kitchen) then you find another problem that needs done...
 
deus3x said:
The Banana plug points look great and I will definitely put them on my list for my Cinema room/lounge :) The Fascias you linked do look good, I want a clean modern look 'no clutter'.

Regards the cat 6. Will this be run to a Fascia in the room or just a loose cable? Your defiantly giving me some ideas, I will strip back my master bedroom walls and see how the cables look and test for any problems. I hope a rewire is not needed but ill still check.

What d you mean 'banana plug points as well setup on data grids to support rear speakers in the future.'

I only have ADSL in my area, a mind blowing max 6mb lol
Click to expand...

Cat 6 is all terminated to face plates in that same range - http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/KNRJ2BCW.html to be specific

Banana plug points for the speaker...basically you can get multi gang data grids to put any modules in them...

e.g. take a face plate from http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_In...helsea_Index/Data_Grid_Plates_KN_W/index.html, and in the Data Grid Modules - White section, put anything you want in there. So I have http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/VLGSP4W.html in the face plate for speakers. I am also painting the modules grey to blend in better. You would use data grid modules if you cannot get the exact plugs you want. I had to use a 4 gang faceplate with 4x coax for the virgin media + sky for example to look good.
 
Arr I see, thanks for explaining. I see some of these setups in the more expensive hotels i stay in when working. Very nice :)

Do you have any designs or diagrams made for each room for the placements of sockets etc. Haven't got the keys yet, will be next week. I will then see the extent of the work needed :)

Got any photos you can put up?

I take it that website for the data grids and sockets is a good price as ill use that site.

thanks
 
sure, ill draw something in a bit, needed to put it into visio anyhow.

ill take pictures tonight or tomorrow, place is gutted at the moment as the electrician does his rewiring

I use them as they are close by to pick stuff up, prices are good, could prob get cheaper if you tried hard.
 
i suggest you tackle the practical over the cosmetic; check your services and the lagging and insulation as we are in for some pretty harsh weather!
 
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