[Closed] Getting the house to spec, how long for you?

I took a shortcut and built my own from scratch 🙂

But now it;s coming up to 5yrs old, it's time to start redecorating again. Oh joys.

Twop Twip: Use the same colour everywhere and dont change it just because some girl on TV tells you that Teal and Violet is this season's colourway int he living room. I just have to go and buy another 20 Litres of Dulux Calico 4 and work around the house. No detailed cutting in required.

God knows, we only moved in 2 weeks ago, so I'll be happy just to have the house cleared of crap and boxes.
The house is pretty much together at the moment, just need to put our own mark on it over time.

18yrs and we're still not done!

Generally just before putting it up for sale.

But you see pics on here of people's living rooms etc and get slightly envious of the below par decor you are living in.

Our first took 8 years and then we sold it. Finally finished a few days before the estate agent took his photos.

15 years so far here, not there yet. Aside from selling the place, I'm not bothered. Since becoming a property magnate and doing this stuff to houses for other people to live in, I can't be bothered at home too. Oh, and "current standard" can get tae ****, I like rambling Victorian shabbiness so long as we keep the draughts out.

13 1/2 years and nowhere near done.

Currently have the builders in for a fairly significant job. Once that's done, we'll start working our way round the house. All of the rest of the house!

To be fair to us (ignoring much time spent staring at things thinking 'we really need to sort that') we had to get rid of one hell of a lot of crap from the previous occupants. That included hideous 'deep pile foam backed' carpet. that horrible 'blown patter' wallpaper, random things plastered over (plastering a curve from the crappy wallpaper onto the wood trim on the stairs was a particular joy..) not to mention the abysmal plumbing and downright dangerous wiring!

We've been here 3 years.

Kitchen took about 8 months and has been 95% done for the remainder of the time.
Bathroom has been done this year and just finishing touches to do.
1 bedroom is done, the other 2 still require woodwork, skirting, floor coverings.
Hallway and lounge not even started. Lounge currently looks something like this 🙂
[img] [/img]

That picture ^^ makes me feel so much better

Happy to help!

^Oh, I can do waay better than that.

I won't though, becuase it depresses me.

what is spec ?

i change stuff as i see fit - but so long as the water stays outside and the heat stays in im happy.

although i did rewire and replumb/new rads/new boiler and insulate the place within the first year because those are critical safety items that i wasnt happy with the previous owners attempts at.

spent 3 years so far making good - no intention of rushing it any faster over the next 3 years.....

Been in the house since Feb 2011 (so 4.5 yrs).

We've done:

dining room
living room (was gonna give it a full going over, but decided for the time being to just give it a new lick of paint, so it needs revisiting)
Our bedroom
Guest bedroom
Currently doing third bedroom as 'nursery'

+ stuff in the garden:
Get rid of pond, fill it in and cover with temp patio to blend into what is already there until we can re-do the whole lot.
Get rid of slabs where greenhouse & pots were. Level ground & sow grass seed.
Lots of general tidying & keeping on top of it

To do:
Kitchen - gonna be a while as we don't have the budget for what we want to do
Hall/stairs/landing - big job and will need all re-plastering, plus I wanna get a new bannister put in - again, budget issue
Downstairs loo - low priority, but needs doing
Dining room - already looking a bit 'worn' 🙄 😕
4th bedroom needs decorating & turning into an 'office/study' type room.
Garage roof leaks in heavy prolonged rain so that needs doing at some point.
Better security in garage - ground anchors etc. & alarm
New garage door for improved security
New side gate on one side (wooden & falling to bits) & paint wrought iron gate on other side.....
Paint all garden fences & shed

Hmmmm. That's still quite a to-do list.

EDIT - oh yeah. Forgot.

We had all the windows/doors double glazed that obviously knocked the savings a bit
I have laid a load of insulation in the loft.
Fitted an extractor into the bathroom.

I reckon about 20 years by the time it's finished.

Moved in 3 years ago.
Done:-
LOADS of insulation
Double glazing all rear windows
Had the front and side repointed this summer
Decorated 2 rooms
Fair amount of work in the cellar.
Should get another room decorated early 2016.

April - October riding takes priority. Nov/Dec I'm really busy at work. Ho hum...

The red and purple walls that we "had to paint as soon as we move in" are still there 6 years later. I have built a new kitchen, laundry and downstairs loo so the house works better for us though. Its a long way from finished but very livable.

When I see pics of immaculate lounges and minimalist kitchens I just think I couldn't live like that, no envy.

Dunno, the Miss'ers has decided that tonight I have to strip out the downstairs loo and sink.

This has 2 issues:
1) It means that all delays are now my fault, not for example that she hasn't chosen a color yet, and we have have no carpet or taps.
2) She will want to poo while I'm in the shower or brushing my teeth in the bathroom, her poo could clear a third world slum it's that potent.

And she is the worst project manager ever, she cannot plan ANYTHING. I swear she probably only knows to put up the lining paper then paint it by trial and error.

You've got to hold on to the fact too, that it's far more satisfying getting stuff done if your before photos look like this

[img] [/img]

Been in our house for 13 months now, still have boxes in what will eventually be my office and our bedroom is half stripped ready for re-plastering.

Only room which has had anything done is the bathroom due to needing to replace the shower when it broke, so took the opportunity to redecorate and tidy a few things up.

workshop on the other hand is perfectly kitted out with shelves and workbench built by my dad and me.

we've been in for two years this month, so far built a dormer, including installing new floor structure to gain the head height, stairs to dormer, new roof. new bathroom, two new bedrooms, half of the wiring. all the rooms are getting the full treatment, plaster off, back to brick, start again. jobs to do.... living room to knock through into kitchen, kitchen to do, cellar converting into snug and recording studio, downstairs bathroom to fit, and front and back gardens. same level of work, back to brick etc, more on recording studio ie all soundproofing/isolating. toying with the idea of excavating front garden to build a live room for the studio...i reckon another 2 years, better half says double that

We've been in our place 5 1/2 years. It started out as a tiny 2 bed semi-detached bungalow.

So we've -

Totally gutted it, adding a 3m deep extension right the way across the back, and taking out several internal walls so we now have a 7m x 7m lounge/kitchen/diner.
Added a 2 bedroom + 1 bathroom Dorma loft conversion.
total rewire
totally re-plumbed
new heating/boiler throughout
built a 15m2 brick shed in the garden (fully insulated with electricity etc)
removed to huge hawthorn bushes from the garden and taken out various trees.
added a block-paved patio area with retaining wall and lighting

Currently ongoing -
New roof on bit which wasn't removed to do the Dorma.

still to do -
finish decorating - mostly cosmetic.
sort out various groundwork outside - new front steps, tidy up paved driveway
sort out back garden

it never ends -

Does one ever finish a house and garden? Unless you spend a vast sum on getting the trades in to do everything, it all just takes time and expense....and then before you know it you have to do it again! 🙁

I'd forgotten we'd done this also:

+ stuff in the garden:
Get rid of pond, fill it in and cover with [s]temp[/s] patio to blend into what is already there [s]until we can re-do the whole lot[/s].
Get rid of slabs where greenhouse & pots were. Level ground & [s]sow grass seed[/s] lay lawn.

And installed an alarm system, had 2 new windows & a door installed.

Hopefully when Mrs K finds the time to choose the "right" one's our Victorian curtains will be replaced before Chsristmas.

moved in 2 months ago. so far painted a few walls, painted the kitchen cupboards (this made so much more of a difference than i expected), put up some shelves.

gonna put up some more shelves and look at getting a stove and that'll do for now 🙂

Finally got round to repainting the hall and the dining room this year, we'd bought the paint two years ago... DIY is not my thing, must be said.

Never. Maybe a serious push if we are selling. Last place I sold was half bare plaster though, so didn't get that far even then.

Kryton57 - thank you for this thread. Makes me feel much better. We moved into a house in 2008 that needed a lot of work (re-plastering, central heating, new kitchen, bathroom etc). I think all the DIY shows on TV at the time convinced me that it was not such a big undertaking. We have finished now but it took a long time and i would never do it again.

I moved in 12 years ago and have barely started let alone finished. I want to wait until I've got enough cash to do a half decent job of it and don't mind living in a bit of a tip til then. Half the house is given over to bike storage anyway so it's never going to be a show home...

Generally just before putting it up for sale.

Still working on mine, bought it 18 years ago....

No I don't. I spend it on bike bits, canoes, days out and other more important things in life.

this, but without the canoes

we've got enough stuff cluttering the place up without one of those great big things as well

I'm sure some people whose houses you're envying would be envious of the amount of time you get to ride

I've been sorting out previous owners DIY efforts for the last 3 years. At some point soon I'm going to have to sort out the garage electrics, and shift a poorly sited soakaway

11 years and £125,000 so far. Wouldn't have bought it if we'd realised it was going to cost so much. Happily the structure and exterior are excellent and all that money has been spent on a complete refit of the interior including the plumbing, boiler, kitchen, bathrooms, windows, insulation etc.

I've been in my house 18 months. Quite a slow start as bad a back op after 2 weeks in house, however in what is realistically the last year, have done both kids room, the spare room, mostly our room (1 wall of wall paper to hang, I don't know how to do this!!), living room done, kitchen painted, garage converted to a play room, lots of work in the garden including splitting off a grazing paddock and a wild life garden at the bottom, office completed although needs better furniture, hallway landing and stairs done. I'll do our ensuit before Christmas, and possibly do a partial new kitchen as well.
I hate living in a scaby house, I like working and I bloody hate TV!

We've moved into our "1940s 'old person bungalow'" that was modernised (new 'lectrics, plumbing, plaster and ceilings) and extended (large loft/dormer conversion.
This took 4 months from the start of the builders coming in.

I'd say it's 98% finished and 'brand new' now - just a downstairs WC that I'll be doing myself.
I'll update you on that in 2017...

DrP

Moved in 4.5 years ago. Only managed to do two bedrooms and convert another room into a study. Only reasonably minor work required.

We've been dithering over what we should do with the rest of the house, with ideas from fairly minor mods to major building work - and if we do the major stuff there's no point in doing the other minor stuff beforehand.

And Mrs North regularly threatens to leave her job - I'm not prepared to commit piles of cash with that level of uncertainty!

So we continue to dither and live in a house we don't quite love as much as we could. Frustrating.

If it's wind and water tight that just about does me. Plod along with bits and bobs as and when I get the time or inclination to. Before making any decisions to redecorate/replace anything I ask the following two questions - Is it currently functioning? Is it safe as it is? If the answer is yes then it can stay that way for now. Currently a mixture of 80s/90s/00s fixtures and decor.

My house is only a place to sleep and keep my stuff in. Been here nearly 15 years.

Maybe if I ever sell the place I will give it a quick makeover, then again maybe not, for now as others have said I have hobbies to spend my time and money on. Homemaking ain't one of them.

Been in our house 14 years. It's all been done except the kitchen.

Trouble is it all needs redoing again now.....

We moved into a shithole of a place 12 years ago. We did big jobs at the time like kitchen, bathroom, windows, built a porch, full rewire, etc., and then went round everywhere in dulux Hessian, fitted make-do carpets, and cardboard and plywood doors.

Since then 2 daughters have been born so both their rooms have become nurseries and subsequently their rooms in their own colour schemes.

So it's all been 'done' but not 'to spec' - yet.

That process is just starting now. We're taking out a built in cupboard in one bedroom to make more space, which means we'll need to strip and replaster in there (might be patchable, might be 2 walls and ceiling) before it can be redecorated and carpeted. The upstairs doors are all being replaced with nice wood panelled ones (each door is more than the original 5 cost) and coupled to that the chippy who's doing them who's a friend has refused to cut them to fit the frames because the frames are so far out that he says it'd be criminal to bugger the doors up and he'd prefer to remove and refit square door linings for the same price. But that's damaged the surrounding plaster so instead of just being a repaint on the hall stairs and landing it'll be another plastering job. Then the carpet needs doing, and then the wife wants our room done. So that's next year's jobs......by which time downstairs will be ready again!

I view it like my trigger's broom approach to bikes. The house is the frame which is the best I could get at the time even if it meant compromising with deore level fittings. Now they're wearing out, I'm replacing it bit by bit with xt and xtr quality, but the bikes still rideable in the meantime.

Ummm, 2 weeks!
Bought a house while we were renting, so didn't live in the new one while we were working, which made a massive difference.
We stripped the new place and had new windows fitted. I then fitted a new kitchen (plus laid a new floor), new bathroom, knocked the fireplace out in the living room then redecorated the whole house (along with new carpets top to bottom) in a two week 'holiday' with Mrs fettlin.

That was 7 years ago, we haven't redecorated yet, it's looking a bit tired!

The garden on the other hand, I've re done it twice since we've been here, I need a project to sink my teeth into (currently replacing the fence and lean too, when it stops raining!).

Currently in the process of chiselling the old wall paper off my hallway walls. Steamer wont touch it and it simply won't peel off the wall if you manage to get a scraper underneath a section.

Not sure what's happened, maybe the bodgetastic **** who used to live here used superglue rather than wallpaper paste. Reckon that'll take me a good 18 more months to complete 👿

I need to show this thread to my Mrs 😆 We move into our new house next week. The boy's bedrooms are a priority as I am not sure purple flowery and grey flowery wallpaper is how they role at 4 & 6!!

I am not looking forward to it, as I hate decorating.

We have two little houses, next door to each other. Both done out in identical F and B colours, cheated with the Wimborn White and got it copied. I always keep pots of paint for touching up. Bought a 3m roller extension pole and painted the rendered front of both houses and the tunnel in a morning without the worry of swinging around up a ladder. Once I've built up a head of steam (it can take some time) it's all do-able and pretty quick.

15 years and still my place looks 90s or earlier 😀

Only room I've done is the Kitchen, and that was 10 years ago now so already out of date.

I have just no desire to sort it out. It's functional so does me.

I have a need though as I want to sell to buy a bigger place. Just it seems a mammoth task to get it to the state where potential buyers aren't going to just walk away. Daft thing is people look around commenting on cosmetic things they don't like and that turns them off, and yet almost certainly whatever they buy they'll redecorate anyway.

Anyway, woodchip wallpaper. Yes, woodchip! 😮 😀 I put off tackling it as I suspect it's there to hide the awful state of the walls. And then there's the other sin of artex ceilings. I don't give a crap but everyone else hates them so needs sorting out to sell the place.

^^yes. When Mrs MC was selling a house she had a vendor walk away as a fence panel needed replacing, 'too much work to do'. You can't anticipate people's responses. My place needed everything doing and that cheered me as it was reflected in the price and I ended up with what I wanted, others probably saw it as a nightmare.

I couldn't have afforded a house where I live without it having been a fixed upper

Just moved into our 1960s house 2 weeks ago. The whole interior is dated and decidedly past its best at that. And to be perfectly honest, I don't give a shit. It's all functional. When something requires maintenance then I'll be right on top of it but tbh I don't see the house as a status symbol and I don't feel the need to live up to others' expectations with the decor.

I drive an old car that, while mechanically impeccably maintained and in top order, I can throw muddy stuff in the boot and not care, park anywhere and not worry about etc and it's very liberating. My nature is to take the same approach to my abode.

However I fear that my girlfriend/wife in 2 months time, sees things slightly differently. 😐

13 years, recently had it redecorated in exactly the same colours as before (if it ain't broke...). Added some nice but random bits of furniture over time. There is no cohesion or consistency. But all our visitors say they love how it looks. We like it and it's very comfortable.

Currently selling another house; estate agents advised giving it a lick of paint, but it's just not worth the hassle for the limited amount extra it might bring in. Whoever buys it will want to do their own thing anyway (it's very much stuck in the era in which it was built, post war), and to be honest, it's sad that it will lose it's character. I can imagine the next owners will do all manner f hideous 'improvements' to the place. It won't be our problem by then though.

I've finally accepted that avocado bathroom suites aren't going to come back into fashion.

5 years later:

Ripped out the under stair cupboard, repapered where necessary and moved into magnolia hell.
Cavity wall insulation fitted.
Insulated and floored loft.
Threw out the bathroom carpet and replaced with cheap lino.
Replaced jurassic era electric shower.
Redone the back room (skimmed, painted, carpeted).
Ripped up front garden
Knocked down deathtrap extension. Destroyed back garden in process
Built new extension, had kitchen, new consumer unit & new combi boiler fitted. Replumbed house throughout & new rads.

To Do

Finish kitchen *sigh*
Fence & turf the garden
Rip out old kitchen & convert into study, possibly fit internal window to living room.
Fir glass doors downstairs

Then I'm allowed to start something else. Probably bathroom.
Fit glass doors

But you see pics on here of people's living rooms etc and get slightly envious of the below par decor you are living in.

That made me laugh. A lot.

Flash man Stan - if you ever want to feel better about the mess in which you live then come and visit my humble abode. Serious invitation - you know where I am.

I care not for the more material things...

8)

With a family of 3 and a busy job each, my parents took about 28 to go from having a stone built 5 bedroom Victorian semi detached house go from needing replumbing and rewiring to become habitable (which was why it was cheap and they could afford it) to being actually quite nice and posh even, what with their pay fluctuating over the years and other things to spend the money on, like holidays and records and clothes and alcohol and that kind of thing, and nice food...and their three children most of all(!).

It was never grim, though, as layers of paint and a practical dad can cover a multitude. Thanks mum and dad. 🙂

I've been in pretty much a year to the day

It's been a busy year during which I have...

Lounge: Painted walls, ceiling, skirting boards, mantlepiece, radiator & door. All plug sockets have been replaced, as have the light switches & ceiling roses. I've also laid a new floor.

Dining Room: Painted walls, ceiling, skirting boards, radiator & door. All plug sockets have been replaced, as have the light switches & ceiling roses. I've also laid a new floor.

Kitchen: Painted walls & ceiling (units are fine so no plans to replace any time soon)

All Bedrooms (of which there are four): Painted walls, ceiling, skirting boards, radiator & door(s). All plug sockets have been replaced, as have the light switches & ceiling roses. Two bedrooms had 80's fitted wardrobes so I had to get rid of those. I also did coving in two bedrooms (two were aleady done). There was alot of making good to do in two bedrooms which previously had wallpaper and are now painted.

Hall, stairs & landing: Painted walls, ceiling, skirting boards, radiator & door(s). All plug sockets have been replaced, as have the light switches & ceiling roses.

I am currently fitting the new downstairs loo, after which I move on to the bathroom.

Then the new carpets go down in all bedrooms & on the stairs, the final job will be to lay the floor in the hallway.

The previous owner turned out to be a bit of a bodger, so I've had a bit more to do than I expected (very sloppy painting - some poor electricals)

I've done all the work myself so far, I've got a mate coming to do the carpets & another mate who'll help a bit with the bathroom.

We bought a do-er upper 18 months ago.ran out of money and still need to do the kitchen.
Lived in it ,sans toddler whilst we rewired,renewed plumbing ,new bathroom ,plastered,painted,new windows,flat bastid roofs,shed& sorted the garden . No carpets and the kitchen is awful.
Also had a gas leak and we have the boiler on life support til the kitchen is done!!then there's the gutters and the mystery damp patch..agh
I could have done a lot more tbh but you have to live your life & ride your bike!..
I give it five years to be finished....fingers crossed.

I've simply not the time/motivation currently to do anything DIY, if i had to buy a house again tomorrow, id but one that didn't need anything doing to it,

1st house, was a repo, you could have live there for 10+ years and not done anything, was good

2nd house was a horror, within 12 weeks i replaced the kitchen/bathroom/removed windows/levelled floors/replaced parts of the central heating system/installed fires/repainted/recarpeted - it helped to have some money to chuck at it and we could see the potential in the "shell" - wouldn't have bought it had we had no money to spend

3rd house, bought on the strength of refurbing no2, replaced the boiler system from a bodged GSHP to LPG bottles, needs painting throughout and new woodburner (condemned) - very liveable though

carpets in one of the bedrooms of no2 looked like this

[URL= http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y394/dansipods2/image_zps0ae7e63c.jpe g" target="_blank">http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y394/dansipods2/image_zps0ae7e63c.jpe g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
[URL= http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y394/dansipods2/photo-8_zps7e38296f.jp g" target="_blank">http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y394/dansipods2/photo-8_zps7e38296f.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
[URL= http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y394/dansipods2/image-1_zpsffabe642.jpe g" target="_blank">http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y394/dansipods2/image-1_zpsffabe642.jpe g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Someone been doing bike maintenance indoors?

[taggart voice]

"There's been a Mur-der..."

[/taggart voice]

About 4 months here in total, with an extra couple for a final few niggly jobs. Okay so the place is only 11 years old, 2 bed and we were renting previously so had 2-3 weeks with it vacant to get if recarpeted and decorated before we moved in.

So far replaced full kitchen, all flooring including laminates, new recessed lights throughout, garden tidied and decking stained, new blinds and curtains throughout, new locks, lots of furniture assembly, some plumbing work, some additional painting (highlight walls), new fitted doors to all recessed wardrobes, plus loads more little stuff. Bathrooms are fine.

Couldn't stand living in a place that's not as we'd want it or having all those jobs hanging over us, would rather get it done, and get on with life, riding bikes etc. We paid someone to paint the flat and make good in white before we moved in. Best £650 we ever spent.

You also have to think, by paying someone else to do stuff, it actually saves money sometimes. I'm a self employed contractor and my daily rate is higher than the daily rate I was paying the painter and decorator. The painter finished the job in 1/2 the time it would have taken me (if I'd have taken time off work to do it) - took him a full week, so estimate 2+ weeks for me. He did a better job than I would have too. No brainier really. Obviously we also got the kitchen fitted by professionals, did think about it ourselves but seeing what they did in just 3 days, so glad we didn't.

The key to doing up a house and also living there is to make sure that you've 'habitable' rooms along with the ones that aren't. And you ALWAYS need somewhere to cook/wash plus a toilet and bath or shower.

So while our house looked chaotic, we could still live happily in it:

[URL= http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af45/bruce_nikki/P7210034_zpsed7f61e4.jp g" target="_blank">http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af45/bruce_nikki/P7210034_zpsed7f61e4.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Even now, 3 years later we've still 5h1t loads to do - but it isn't in such a state that I/we have to work on it every 'waking hour'.

We haven't "done up" the kitchen or bathroom as I'm sure our original 1930s tiles are "vintage" and therefore very trendy - I just hope we find someone who agrees fairly soon, it's up for sale...

Been in ours 3 years, house was only 15 years old, so far have all on my own, fitted second hand 9 x 3 conservatory out the back

[URL= http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/DSC_0237_zpsad891a0b.jp g" target="_blank">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/DSC_0237_zpsad891a0b.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Replaced the family bathroom, new suite and tiled top to bottom, with pumped shower fitted over bath.

Removed Kitchen / dining room wall, moved understairs opening, moved double door opening, new Kitchen, flooring, hallway etc...

[URL= http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/DSC_0288_zpsysarsdqg.jp g" target="_blank">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/DSC_0288_zpsysarsdqg.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

[URL= http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/IMG-20150222-WA0000_zpsuq2ragfd.jpe g" target="_blank">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/IMG-20150222-WA0000_zpsuq2ragfd.jpe g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

[URL= http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/IMG-20150404-WA0002_zpstw80nagd.jpe g" target="_blank">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/IMG-20150404-WA0002_zpstw80nagd.jpe g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

[URL= http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/DSC_0338_zpsva85txbf.jp g" target="_blank">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/marcelkerrou/DSC_0338_zpsva85txbf.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Lounge and En-suite next, then its onto the garden, so hopefully only a couple more years.

Marcel

We took on a massive project(full renovation of large 5 bed Victorian terrace) 3 years ago and are 80% done. Tips:

It isn't going to be possible to undertake this scale of thing over evenings and weekends single handed. You need time and money available.

We have been
Lucky in the form of my Mrs.being off work to look after kids (young school age) and also beinv around to both project manage/labour.

Lucky that I only have 15 min commute so can work in the evenings

Lucky that have some £ saved from inheritance and also our own savings

Also you need FOCUS. Don't be thinking you can flit between 1 hr of diy here and there and get stuff done. You can't. I have written last 2 winters off for anything other than working on the house. Ie working almost all evenings and weekends.

You can't work all the time. We take the summmers off. I'm just preparing to return to the diy ing for this winter, and dreading it! (last winter now though!)

Find good builders and tradesman for work you can't do, or that will simply be too disruptive or take too long for you to do.

Finishing is everything. How picky are you? I prefer to concentrate on finishing jobs because I'm a picky bugger. Always a bit disappointed with tradesman's finishing work (unless paying ££££ for specialists)

I've no regrets, well have made a good sum on our house and its a fantastic house to live in. Also the project has been very rewarding. Would I do it again? Erm............. Maybe

RETRO83
RETRO83

Dont piss about spending ages scraping wallpaper off. Either

Skim over (if wallpaper is very well stuck this is possible)

Overboard and skim

Take back to brick

You have to recognise the coat and.time associated with your labour! Many times it is better and cheaper to think of ways around pure sould destroting diy work.

Coat = cost

11 months in, 2.5 bed terrace. every room re-decorated bar the kitchen

70% of the way through putting a new kitchen floor in tonight - will need tomorrow eve to finish the tiles, and tues night to do the grouting. then on holiday for 2 weeks, so painting walls and refurbing the cupboard doors can wait until oct.

next job is re-staining the upstairs exterior woodwork. did all of downstairs in 3-4 hours, but don't have a ladder long enough to do upstairs. will prob just pay a handy man to do it... new worktop can wait until next year. would like new carpets throughout, and it's got ghastly dark stained door frames and skirting boards, but that's a massive job and i'm relatively ambivalent towards them really.

all done on a budget, so not perfect, but good enough for most people not to notice the imperfections, and it's my first house, so still learning really.

I have found it easier, cheaper and more convenient to "get used to" rather than "do up".

🙂

We took 3 years to get a lampshade over the naked bulb in the bedroom...
Porch light still naked... 5.5 years.
We procrastinate on some stuff.

We bought out first house in June, 1930's old person 3 bed semi.

We kept our rented place for 5 weeks after we got the keys to the new place. First 2 were spent on holiday, then there were 3 weeks of intensive DIY.

We stripped out the carpets from the living room, dining room, and the 3 bedrooms. Removed the woodchip wallpaper from 2 of the bedrooms, the other thankfully had "normal" wallpaper so we just painted over it. Had the 2 previously woodchipped rooms re skimmed (best decision ever) painted all the walls and picture rails in all 5 rooms. Painted the weird hard board ceilings, one of which was blue to start with, another was covered in polystyrene tiles which had to be removed, sanded back then beading replaced. must have used a gallon of caulk all round the place filling the cracks. The had laminate laid downstairs and carpets upstairs on teh final days of the 3 week period.

Hallway thankfully was inoffensive and recently decorated so we left it, the kitchen, bathroom and loo are all like stepping into a time machine to see how people lived in the 1950s, yet are functional so will likely be left for if we ever have any spare money.

In the 8 or so weeks since we have been in I have done a million man hours of Ikea furniture building as we all needed wardrobes, beds etc. Worst bit was the littleuns cabin bed, with draws, shelves and desk all built in.

Changed all the light switches and fittings that were obviously from the time when electricity was first invented. Will need to get an electrician out to look at it all properly, again in the distant future when we can afford it.

Then there is the garden, between mowing, trimming, weeding, planting it's almost all I can be bothered to do to just stand still with that one, and thats before the tree house mrs-g wants built for the kids, or the driveway that needs widening.

Since the initial blast of the DIY things are now slowing down, but I try to set little goals as I know otherwise once I've lived with something for a little while I get used to it then it never gets updated. If I can gloss the doors and paint the shed this month I will have hit my target.

Longer term there is an extension to build, I have resigned myself to the fact that the house will never be finished

We lived in our 60 built/90s redcorated (badly) paradise for 20 months before we did a thing. Then we started to fix all at once, as we planned from before we even put an offer in. Planning started after about 6 months living in the house and work started 4 months ago, we are on the final stretch now.

We've done new boiler, re-wire, extension over 2 stories, 2 x bathrooms, kitchen, new doors, walls skimmed, carpets etc. The works.

It's a lot of work to do all at once, we had to move out for 2 months and have spend every spare minute doing decorating, and it costs a lot in one chunk but it's the best way IMO. Cheaper in the long run as you don't have to do everything twice. Also you get the full benefit and can relax afterwards rather than always having another job that you really should start.

years and then we sold it. Finally finished a few days before the estate agent took his photos.

This.

Also, think Forth Road Bridge - just when you think it's done it's actually time to start all over again...

Just moved into a 1930s semi that has had a serious lack of maintenance, in fact anything that has been done tends to be detrimental to the house with the exception of the central heating.
I'm in the trade so skipped the full survey, that was my first mistake!
I knew it had damp issues, rotten windows, facias etc but I way underestimated the amount of work needed.
Last couple of months have been spent lowering the ground level outside to expose the dpc ( something I knew that was going to have to be done, I found 4 different concrete paving levels!) fixing leaking gutters, fixing a leaking shower, replacing drains front and back, digging out the crap from under the floorboards and getting an airflow back under the floors. Last weekend was spent reclaiming about 40 sqm of land lost at the top of the garden because the previous owners stuck a fence up inside the boundary as it was easier.
Thing is all the jobs so far with the exception of the fence are temporary fixes till I can sort them properly!
Many many more jobs to do, as well as build an extension sometime next year.
I fixed the mortgage for 5 years hopefully by the time I come to renew I'll be done..... But I doubt it 🙁

Forth Bridge sounds about right with one caveat- if you do a proper job the first time the rework should be easy. For instance we fitted a proper drain to the central heating as well as draining lockshields meaning we can do part isolations whenever we want to take a radiator off a wall or drain and refill the system in under half an hour.

Its the little things that you do that make all the difference, costs pennies extra for the valves but the time they will save (as well as hassle) will be priceless.

2 years in to owning a 30 yr old house that still had 100% of decoration from when it was sold to the previous (and only other) owner.

About 40% in and about to tackle kitchen / wall removal / double glazing before Christmas which will have us almost done.

Been in the house 6 years. It's a late Victorian end-of-terrace.

After taking possession, but before moving in, my father ripped out the kitchen right down to the masonry, and we did the whole thing up.

After that, it was:

1. finishing the second reception room on the ground floor(it was a tip; it's now a library/guest room)

2. [Year 2] doing the main bathroom on the 1st floor

3. [Year 4] undertaking a loft conversion and adding second bathroom (done by a builder)

4. [Year 4] redoing all 3 bedrooms and the hallway that make up the rest of the 1st floor

5. [Present] re-doing the back garden (which we are now in the midst of)

6. [immanent] completely re-thinking and re-doing the library/guestroom