How to start a renovation project?

EVGR · 15-07-2020 2:51pm #1

Bought a house a couple of months ago, and have had enough time to stare at the walls during the covid.

How should I go about doing house renovation, with no extension or remodelling? Google for “house renovation contractor”, engage a quantity surveyor or architect, find separate trades people, or any other methods?

The types of work needed are: attic insulation, levelling of ground floor, close up fireplace, new front door, maybe new windows, some acoustic insulation, new bathroom, heating system to be inspected and probably more.

The deep retrofit sounds thorough but I don’t think the budget will allow this.

Any advice to get me started appreciated

Thanks

BryanF · 15-07-2020 3:33pm

What’s your budget and what size is the house

MrMusician18 · 15-07-2020 3:38pm

EVGR wrote: »

Bought a house a couple of months ago, and have had enough time to stare at the walls during the covid.

How should I go about doing house renovation, with no extension or remodelling? Google for “house renovation contractor”, engage a quantity surveyor or architect, find separate trades people, or any other methods?

The types of work needed are: attic insulation, levelling of ground floor, close up fireplace, new front door, maybe new windows, some acoustic insulation, new bathroom, heating system to be inspected and probably more.

The deep retrofit sounds thorough but I don’t think the budget will allow this.

Any advice to get me started appreciated
Thanks

It really depends on how comfortable you are with managing such a project. If you are not at all comfortable, then getting an architect on board would be a good idea. Helps when it comes to certification and compliance.

If you are reasonably comfortable and have a really good idea of what you want and know how it should be executed then you could go directly to a builder. I'm not sure how applying for deep retrofit grants works in that instance however.

Feets · 23-07-2020 9:14pm

A structural engineer and an architect on an initial fee basis. Then decide how much you want to take on. Builders are not engineers or architects and the initial stages u need things done by the books. Lighting /soundbars /wifi are a consideration also.

looksee · 23-07-2020 9:39pm

Agreed, get a professional to survey the house and offer suggestions of what needs to be done - if for example you need rewiring or additional electrics then you plan for this early in the proceedings - it involves floors being lifted and channels chased in walls. Then you will need a plasterer, so better to get all jobs done that need holes in walls so you only have the plasterer in once.

I did something similar last autumn and organised it myself. I was very lucky to find a handyman who was there most of the time, he took up and replaced floors for electricians, heating, plumbers, did some tiling and some woodwork, built a stud partition etc. He generally acted as the glue that held the job together - while his advice was helpful he was not a manager. I made the decisions and organised. Figuring out the order of the work is the main thing. The electrician, heating engineer, plumber, plasterer, window fitters slotted in very well and the whole job went efficiently with very little hassle.

If you think you can juggle all the people to come in when needed and not mess you about then go for it. If you are not sure I would recommend getting a project manager on the job - which I have also done on previous jobs and they can easily save you the cost of their fee.

SC024 · 24-07-2020 7:46pm

find a decent builder, by the sounds of what you discussed doing you dont need an engineer, A good reputable builder ( which you will require anyways) will advise if you need any engineer anyways.

You don't describe any structural work above so I don't see the need to pay an engineer

EVGR · 27-07-2020 10:00am

Thank you for your replies.

Just to clarify, I’m NOT looking to do an extension or attic conversion. I’m looking to improve what’s already there.

It’s a two bedroom, end of terrace, 75m2.

I’m not sure what the budget is. I don’t know what things cost yet and what best value for money is.

We had a pre purchase survey done before buying the house, which pointed out things which could be improved, and now we are looking to have these things done.

Am I right you suggest I get an architect, and a engineer, and then builder? I suppose the builder who has all the different trades (plumber, electrician etc) would coordinate them?

Or just a reputable builder? And how do I find a reputable builder? Just put in “builder renovation” in my favourite search engine?

Feets · 27-07-2020 12:12pm

I did it in this order...architect, engineer, builder. Engineer was about a grand. The architect recommended the endineer and thank god she did cos had we gotten a builder only, the extension would have collapsed the roof. The engineer spotted that the roof needed work to support the extension before we started the extension. The pillars in the roof had been erected too far apart when they previously did a cheap attic conversion job. That was then corrected by us. With older houses, you dont know whats been done before hand by previous owners, shortcuts they took with modifying etc. Our builder was great but they are rarely trained in engineering and arcitecture.
We took a safety first precaution. Some dont and that can work too.

paul-2008 · 29-07-2020 9:43am

Recommending an architect and engineer to advise on "attic insulation, levelling of ground floor, close up fireplace, new front door, maybe new windows, some acoustic insulation, new bathroom, heating system to be inspected"?? Bit OTT no? The OP is not looking to build an extension or anything, i cant see what an eng or Architect would advise on any of the above? Maybe I'm wrong but seems like a waste of money to me

jonnybravo · 29-07-2020 11:41am

paul-2008 wrote: »

Recommending an architect and engineer to advise on "attic insulation, levelling of ground floor, close up fireplace, new front door, maybe new windows, some acoustic insulation, new bathroom, heating system to be inspected"?? Bit OTT no? The OP is not looking to build an extension or anything, i cant see what an eng or Architect would advise on any of the above? Maybe I'm wrong but seems like a waste of money to me

And depending on location you might find it hard to get an architect or Engineer. We were doing a small extension and full renovation in Dublin and architects had no interest as it was too small. Got an engineer eventually but if I wasn't doing an extension I would have probably left the engineer.

ebayissues · 09-10-2020 9:27am

How're you getting on with this?

I'm also in the same boat or considering the same. Just moved into a 2 bedroom mid-terraced house with the same size, relatively turnkey but I'd like to make it modern.

Top of my head this is what I'd like to do - possibly start summer next year.

Strip floors upstairs, strip carpets, skirting replaced, make the fireplace modern/close it up, re-do the bathroom, remove the front garden & turn it into something that needs less attention, paint external walls white & windows blue or something. Definitly no new kitchen, maybe costmetic changes - paint the press.

Layout of the bedrooms dont work - might contemplate removing the radiators to make it work.

The house was rewired between 2012 - 2015, plumber has visited and plumbing is fine. Has its mid terrace houe is relatively warm but I have been told attic insulation is beneficail - quoted 1.2k for this.

Budget wise 20k max knowing that bathroom might be 7/10k.

I guess how do I proceed this? or where do I start from and what to do first?

I must say architect visted as I flirted with extension for 40/50k and she said thats out of the question.

Thoughts???

Feets · 09-10-2020 3:03pm

If you are thinking of a new bathroom in your new mid terrace two bed I would suggest a devimat for a bit of heating for ur bathroom. They are an electric underfloor heating mat that goes under tiles. Quite cheap and runs off the electricity. It works well in small places where radiators can look bulky. It worked well when I installed one a few years back.

EVGR · 13-10-2020 5:27pm

We didnt go down the architect/engineer route. I googled "renovation Dublin" and sent my list to three of them. You are supposed to get recommendations, but we couldnt get them from friends/colleagues/family.
Then picked one of them, who will do a long list of tasks. Maybe it's cheaper to go separately to each trade, but we have decided to pay for the coordination.
The work hasnt started yet but is scheduled, so I couldnt comment on their ability, or on our chosen method.
Generally it's recommended to do the fabric of the house first, insulation etc, but if your house is at an ok standard, then go ahead with the cosmetics.
Good luck with your home!

ebayissues · 13-10-2020 8:42pm

EVGR wrote: »

We didnt go down the architect/engineer route. I googled "renovation Dublin" and sent my list to three of them. You are supposed to get recommendations, but we couldnt get them from friends/colleagues/family.
Then picked one of them, who will do a long list of tasks. Maybe it's cheaper to go separately to each trade, but we have decided to pay for the coordination.
The work hasnt started yet but is scheduled, so I couldnt comment on their ability, or on our chosen method.
Generally it's recommended to do the fabric of the house first, insulation etc, but if your house is at an ok standard, then go ahead with the cosmetics.
Good luck with your home!

I assume you mean that you sent your quote to 3 renovation companies after googling renovation dublin? Do you mind me asking how much you were quote for stuff you would like to do?

Truth be told I'm a bit confused as to costs and pricing... I guess this is from watching TV shows where a house in bits that needs rewiring, gutting, new kithen can be done for 30k and whilst 20k isnt much for cosmetics in a house in live in condition.

How to start a renovation project?

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