Starting from scratch - new home

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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Joined
22 Oct 2005
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Moving...
I will potentially be moving house in the near future. Likelihood is that it will be fairly old and in need of modernisation, few walls knocked down, extension, new kitchen, etc. Very much a blank canvas.

We'd likely be in the house for the long term (15+ years), so I'm thinking about things that would save money, or make life easier over that sort of time period.

If you were in my position, what sort of things would you be looking at doing?

I'm mainly thinking energy related things at the moment. E.g solar panels+batteries, heat pumps, underfloor heating, decent insulation.

Or perhaps something that you've had done that you now regret?

Few errors I've made for example:
-Spending loads of money and effort running cat6 everywhere, when it turns out that WiFi is perfectly adequate 95% of the the time.

-Get the loft boarded on stilts to allow for more insulation underneath, as well as using a loft hatch that can be easily insulated.

- Don't waste money on fancy faceplates for sockets when most of them will be hidden away.

- Washing machines and tumble driers are loud. Move them into a utility room if possible.
 
I agree on what you say about your past errors, regarding the wifi unless you have particular network need. For me a wifi mesh network is more than fine.

In your position I would look at the house and fix the things that may or will cause damage in the long term if not addressed sooner. Things like the guttering can cause issues elsewhere, a neglected roof, if the electrics need doing it's best to do it before decorating, same with plumbing.

Good luck!
 
This is the type of project we would be interested in doing ourselves. The energy source and storage is certainly high up on the list.

We visited a renovation and homebuilding show recently and spoke to a finance broker briefly and they mentioned how some projects get VAT relief. I was aware new builds get this, but (check this yourself) I was informed that total renovation of a property that hasn't been lived in for some time would also qualify for VAT relief.

If you do go for a property that qualifies for this, I was advised by a builder to go for as many hard furnishings as possible. One example was to go for hardwood floors and get the VAT back, rather than going for carpet and not getting anything back on it. Of course it doesn't necessarily make it cheaper, but it gives the options for heavy discounts on arguably better products.

Depending on the level of refurb I'd imagine it may not be too difficult to run Cat6 cables throughout the house again. I myself have gone WiFi but I definitely prefer hard wired and would do it if I was messing about with the walls in my house.

I personally would avoid an open plan kitchen and lounge area and would have a door between the kitchen and the stairs/hall to bedrooms. One of my biggest gripes with this house is how open it is - the smell of food can travel almost everywhere.
 
Live in it for a while before committing any funds beyond what is absolutely required (washer, fridge, etc.).

I was planning on going into sequence A > B > C, but it turns out the most logical has been C > A > B or something. I only realised this after several nights sleeping on it.

Given you're doing majors I'd be printing out floorplans and planning boiler location, fuse box, gas main etc. (my threads may or may not be helpful! They're all prefixed with 1930s Semi Refurb).

A major quick win for me has been loft insulation. It has made the room so much nicer in the evenings. It dropped to 2 degrees last night and it was still much nicer than my old, much smaller, cottage.
 
RockLobster said:
@dLockers did you have your loft boarded on stilts?
Click to expand...
Still in progress but yes I am using stilts - much to the hatred of my plumber lol (old school guy who hates plastic but then starts using JG SpeedFit pipework!).

1930s Semi Refurb - Part 4 of ... (Edition: Loft Insulation)

Hi folks, Me again - given the turn in weather, the boiler man being booked for early November, and a Christmas visit from my mum planned - I am thinking I may hold off on any major progress on the bathroom until the new year. Cue the perfect opportunity for a low effort (lol), high impact...
forums.overclockers.co.uk forums.overclockers.co.uk
 
If doing a full renovation job+ extension its really worth considering if it's not worth just buying a larger house, unless you have very specific /unusual requirements. Reason being high cost to build might out weigh the cost of just buying a bigger property and/or exceed the house value/ Street ceiling property values.
 
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I bought an absolute shed of a house in May last year.
Nothing has really been touched in decades, I've got plugs from the 50s, I've got heating from the 50s, I've got some windows from 80s and a mixture of single and double glazing. I only have two working radiators and they get luke warm at best because of the age (also it's a single pipe system). Zero insulation in or around the house.
It's been an absolute mishmash and it's terrible.

Last winter was almost unbearable, it would get to about 15-18c in the living room and the rest of the house would be 9-10c. When it was really cold my living room might hit 15c at best.

I'm waiting for my planning to be approved, I've had two rejections in that time, but apart from that I've been reading as much as possible to understand what I need to do to make my house as good as it can be.
In no order but these are somethings I've got planned or have learned:

  1. Living in the house helps you plan out where furniture should go due to sun positioning etc
  2. I've got a suspended timber floor so can't use underfloor heating to it's full effectiveness, therefore in the old parts of the house it'll be normal rads and in the extension it'll be underfloor heating
  3. I've worked out what size radiators I need for every room using the Stelrad calculator
  4. To insulate the ground floor I'll use 100mm wool hanging wool insulation
  5. For the ensuites I'll need to make sure I use rockwool acoustic slab and thicker plaster board to make sure I don't hear people go for a poop
  6. On the walls that aren't being knocked down I shall use some 100mm internal PIR insulation on a timber frame.
  7. There is a bunch of internet stuff I've figured out (switches/how many ports/where the ports should be/access points etc
I've found just asking random questions as they come into my mind on here and Reddit are really helpful
 
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Interesting thread. Hard to give generic answers as every house is different, but from my experience of moving into an old farmhouse, my folks previous having an old sandstone house, and them just moved into a victorian house which was previously a bedsit / bnb setup:

- insulation ... yes, makes a big difference, but in old houses I'm very much of the view that they need to breath internally and externally, and the mad drive to seal everything and insulate can work against you in terms of damp in an old house.

- speccing up the radiators makes a difference, and I tend to err a little on the larger side for older houses as the insulation isn't going to be as good as modern ones. So a radiator/room size ratio may be based on modern build, and not actually enough for an older room.

- I've looked at the notion of air-source heat pumps in our house, but I'm not convinced that I can get the place insulated well enough all round to make it viable at the moment. I think there is just too much area that I cant insulate, ( like a massive concrete kitchen floor at the rear that sits directly onto the ground. its freeeeeeezing in the winter! ), and so I'd not be saving much if anything on the outlay. As such I've figured I'll save the money meantime.

- Whilst I've not wired ethernet to every corner, I do feel that it is worth putting cables in if you get the opportunity to do so. Yes, wifi works fine generally, but data use is only going up. If I'm putting in cables for freeview/satellite, I'll run an ethernet to it as well for devices to use.

- outside render ... mine was previously rendered to the ground, which made it cold as the bottom of the wall couldn't breath to fresh air. Cutting away a lower section of the wall has dried up the walls and made a big difference to inside as well. Its not a case of dealing with rising damp, its a case of letting moisture escape that the wall absorbs in old houses.

- dont expect perfection in an old house. Whilst I'll fill in the worst of holes, small dents etc on a wall with filler, I dont try and achieve a perfect smooth finish all round. To me, the odd imperfection on walls gives houses character and shows they're lived in. This sort of approach will save you time and money when finishing a room, and you'll learn to not notice it, and nor will visitors.
 
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