redecorating old house

emilbronte

Hi,
I need some advice about redecorating an old house. The work is cosmetic, wiring, heating, windows, roof & plumbing are fine. The walls have awful peeling wallpaper throughout, horrible floors and the kitchen & bathroom are in rag order.

So I will need to completely refit the kitchen & buy all the appliances, same with the bathroom, tiling, the works. And I'll need to strip all the walls and paint in the rest of the house. it's 103 square metres.

I'm not handy in any way but a friend of mine is an unemployed surveyor so I'd like to employ him as a project manager. Can anyone help me with costing all this? I want to do it as cheaply as possible, I was thinking of Ikea-ing it. I also want to pay my friend a decent wage but not more than what's out there in this climate but I don't have a clue. Please help!

John Mason

i am currently pricing for something similiar myself.

gutting of bathroom and kitchen - insulating both rooms, new floors, ceilings, now kitchen, tiling etc. but i am not buying appliances or bathroom suite and i already have the new kitchen


i have received the following quotes so far


qoute a - 3.5k just for insulation


quote b - 3k for everything except tiles

quote c - 8.7k for everything except tiles

quote d - waiting for this, the guy was around on saturday

AckwelFoley

emilbronte wrote: »

I'm not handy in any way but a friend of mine is an unemployed surveyor so I'd like to employ him as a project manager. Can anyone help me with costing all this? I want to do it as cheaply as possible, I was thinking of Ikea-ing it. I also want to pay my friend a decent wage but not more than what's out there in this climate but I don't have a clue. Please help!

Project manager? Will be be doing any work? Are you talking about getting him to orgainse the workers and materials?

If its only to "manage" or oversee the work, i wouldnt be talking about paying him an aweful lot as from what i read, there isnt an awful lot to be done..

emilbronte

hmm, there seems to be a huge variation in quotes, some people say you pay for what you get but others seem to think that tradesmen are still asking ridiculous prices. My problem is I won't know what's too cheap till it starts to go wrong but I've a small budget. I was hoping my surveyor friend could do all that pricing, measuring, haggling, organising the different steps, i.e. fitter/plumber, tiler, wallpaper stripper/painter etc. I'll be working so won't be able to chase people up, meet people to let them in and out, the usual rubbish that goes along with renovations from what I've heard. was just wondering what might be reasonable to pay for this? Also, is 3 weeks too little time to allow for all this work to be done?

looksee

We recently employed a project manager for a major heating job, and it was money very well spent. I've always done that kind of organising myself before, but I am convinced that even after paying him, he saved us money, certainly saved us hassle.

makfli

I have a similar job but bigger as house needs windows , heating system and some renovations. I think a project manager would be well worth the money, but I am unsure as to how to find one. Grateful if someone could recommend or is there an institute I could get an approved list ?

emilbronte

Hiya, my friend is really good, he's a quantity surveyor, knows his stuff & has lots of contacts in the building/engineering industry. I've pm-ed you his number.

John Mason

personally i want one person to do the whole job, they have to organise the different tradesmen themselves.

i have been renovating my house over the last 6 years and this is final part and the worse part was trying to organise all the different trade people to be there at the approporiate times.

if you have access to someone who can project manage it, i suggest you go for it.

there is a huge differences in my quotes which is why i got a 3rd one for the whole job. i cant wait to see what that will come in at.

at the moment i am thinking of going with the more expensive price, cheaper isnt always best but neither is the most expensive.

i felt he had a better understanding of what needs to be done.

but sure we will see

GreeBo

3 weeks would be too tight unless you are getting 1 contractor to do the whole job as you will never get individual guys to line up to fit your timescale, and if you miss a slot with the painter you could be another 3 weeks waiting for example.

Back in boom time I had 5 polish lads strip and skim half the walls, paint everything and fit new doors and skirting and it was 2.5k. That said Ive spent the last 3 years redoing most of it because it was junk. So you do get what you pay for.
Personally I would get an SEI approved company to do all of your insulation and plastering. Working with a sparks and plumber so you get your wiring and pipes where you want them without having to chase walls etc afterwards.
That way you have some come back but also you will get a grant to offset the insulation work.

IMO its cheaper, faster and better to get a plasterer to re-skim all of your internal walls (they will be doing the external ones anyway) and it will make decorating much easier and better in the end.
To save money get some mates over and gut everything and skip it. That means carpets, old tiles, bathroom fixtures, kitchen and even the plaster right down to the bare block/brick. (assuming you are not living here at the moment)

That means your contractors can come in and get working straight away. Id get the plumber and electrician in at this stage for first fix, to work out where you want rads, switches, sockets, toilets, sinks , dishwasher, oven etc etc.
Next is plasterer and insulation guys.
Next is chippie to do doors, skirting, architrave, wooden floors etc.
(Though you will need to figure out where you want tiles etc so skirting goes on top)
Then its decorating, painting everything.
Then carpets.
Then fixtures (bathroom furniture, new kitchen)
Get the sparks and plumber back to do 2nd fix.
Then snags for painter.
Then enjoy.