Apartment re-furbishment....advice sought

Grandpa Hassan

I bought an apartment back in 2000 in Dublin, but had to move to a couple of years ago London with my job. It is rented out to graduate students.

It is a c. 90 sq m, well built apartment, with no structural or other major issues, but after 13 years it is looking shabby.....fine for the students living there now, but not so good when I come to re-let

It needs paint jobs, the kitchen re-tiled where things have been dropped, some re-plastering where the extractor fan was leaking for a while and a bit of damp damaged the kitchen ceiling, a bit of damp in the bathroom sorted out (nothing that you wouldn’t expect after 13 years in a bathroom with no window), re-installation of a light fitting where one of my tenants tried to put up a ceiling light and ballsed it up, new carpets in the two bedrooms (of the hard wearing landlord type rather than the deep pile type that I put in as an owner occupier, and which are now pretty filthy)

I’d also like the bathroom ripped out and a new one put in (albeit I should probably treat this as a job on its own and get tubs & tiles, or whoever I buy the bathroom from, to install it)

The problem is that I work in London, have hardly spare holidays left for 2013, and just don’t have the time to go over and do these jobs. None of them are very big, but they are relatively varied…..painting, plastering, tiling, fitting ceiling lights, carpet fitting (or at least supervising same)

Has anyone had experience of getting any one company do an apartment refurbishment like this? A refurbishment that is largely cosmetic, but entails a variety of different tasks. I have done some internet searches, but have not found any local firms advertising such a service. Just a plethora of interior designers

I will put a notice up on tradesmen.ie, but it may well be that I have to split into a number of separate jobs. I would much rather just task one firm with doing everything

The tenants will be away for much of the summer, and so is a good opportunity to get some work done. Ultimately I intend to tidy the place up in order that I can give the keys to an agency and rent to professionals for a little more money

Any advice / recommendations would be much appreciated

Thanks

Grandpa H

the_syco

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

The tenants will be away for much of the summer, and so is a good opportunity to get some work done. Ultimately I intend to tidy the place up in order that I can give the keys to an agency and rent to professionals for a little more money

By tenants being away for the summer, do you mean that no-one will be there? I wouldn't put any work into it if you'd be getting students back into it, tbh.

You should be able to get a jack of all trades to do this. Most of them will do most of the work themselves, and subcontract the plumbing and electrical to someone in the trade. Got any relatives or mates in Ireland? Check if they've got any extensions/refurbs done in their house, and get the contact details for who did it off them.

Grandpa Hassan

the_syco wrote: »

By tenants being away for the summer, do you mean that no-one will be there? I wouldn't put any work into it if you'd be getting students back into it, tbh.

You should be able to get a jack of all trades to do this. Most of them will do most of the work themselves, and subcontract the plumbing and electrical to someone in the trade. Got any relatives or mates in Ireland? Check if they've got any extensions/refurbs done in their house, and get the contact details for who did it off them.

No relatives in Ireland, and no-one I know who has done this before....not too many of my friends are homeowners. I plan to get professionals in so want a decent job done. I've only rented to students who I know and are friends of mine, and postgrads. Would never rent to random students. I plan to up the game once they've moved out and rent through an agency to proper professionals with references.

And been looking for a 'jack of all trades' on the Internet....with not much joy. I'll try tradesmen.ie I guess, and see who puts their name forward. I have about a 1month window when there'll be no-one there and can get them to tidy away their stuff before they go

Grandpa Hassan

the_syco wrote: »

By tenants being away for the summer, do you mean that no-one will be there? I wouldn't put any work into it if you'd be getting students back into it, tbh.

You should be able to get a jack of all trades to do this. Most of them will do most of the work themselves, and subcontract the plumbing and electrical to someone in the trade. Got any relatives or mates in Ireland? Check if they've got any extensions/refurbs done in their house, and get the contact details for who did it off them.

No relatives in Ireland, and no-one I know who has done this before....not too many of my friends are homeowners. I plan to get professionals in so want a decent job done. I've only rented to students who I know and are friends of mine, and postgrads. Would never rent to random students. I plan to up the game once they've moved out and rent through an agency to proper professionals with references.

And been looking for a 'jack of all trades' on the Internet....with not much joy. I'll try tradesmen.ie I guess, and see who puts their name forward. I have about a 1month window when there'll be no-one there and can get them to tidy away their stuff before they go