DD has bought a “dooer upper “. - what projects to do first?

Thank you pascal. £20k for the complete refurbishment should be ample, depending on what work needs doing, how much they can do themselves and whether they will be happy with a Wickes or Howden kitchen rather than a high end make - and some Doer-uppers, do sometimes have delusions of grandeur.

I’m glad they had a full survey. Sensible people. It’s a big expense when you haven’t got much spare cash but so worthwhile.

CoolCoco

Yes they had an enhanced structural survey done, plus electrical survey and boiler and heating survey. Bathroom leaks from badly tiled floor and old shower cubicle so that will have to go. Electrics were surveyed by our electrician who said everything basically sound, one or two minor improvements should be made. The boiler has been recently serviced and is working, though some of the radiators are 50 years old and would benefit from being replaced.

Well done them.

We had structural and plumbing survey done on a home we purchased several years ago. Plumbing leaks, that did not appears to exist were found, much work was needed in a bathroom and surrounding rooms because water was under floors. New bathroom and new flooring - nice for our renters!

Yes they had an enhanced structural survey done, plus electrical survey and boiler and heating survey. Bathroom leaks from badly tiled floor and old shower cubicle so that will have to go. Electrics were surveyed by our electrician who said everything basically sound, one or two minor improvements should be made. The boiler has been recently serviced and is working, though some of the radiators are 50 years old and would benefit from being replaced.

Germanshepherdsmum

Perhaps OP will say whether or not a survey was undertaken. As the things she mentions are items that anyone could see needed to be dealt with, I wonder if anything unseen is lurking - wiring, roof, damp …

I hoped perhaps a survey was done - bathroom leaks seem hard to discern. Condition of boiler, radiators is also not easy to work out?

Perhaps OP will say whether or not a survey was undertaken. As the things she mentions are items that anyone could see needed to be dealt with, I wonder if anything unseen is lurking - wiring, roof, damp …

Germanshepherdsmum

I wonder if they did have a full survey? So many people seem not to bother. It’s money well spent. If a full survey was undertaken the surveyor would have highlighted the work most urgently needed.

Agreed. I assume they know all that must be done.

manky carpets, discoloured wood chip wallpaper, one dated bathroom unusable due to leaks, the other is useable but also dated, kitchen 1970s but not in a good way, boiler working but old and in the wrong place, radiators old and need replacing, garden overgrown with broken decking

New bathroom, leaks, and boiler plus radiators will use most of the money I'd think. Plus OP said they'd need furniture (as anyone would). Of course no need to re-do dated but useable, bathroom and kitchen, tight budget.

I think Monica that it is £20.000 for the whole refurb!!

£20,000 on furniture? Good grief. get down to the local auction rooms or charity furniture shop or junk shop or ebay and you will be able to furnish a house with good quality clean furniture for under £1,000.

Both our children started homeownership in 2 bedroomed flats and both funished them for under £5,00, Both are on their third property and much of that original furniture is still in use, just added to with larger houses or swapped out for other furniture from similar sources.

I wonder if they did have a full survey? So many people seem not to bother. It’s money well spent. If a full survey was undertaken the surveyor would have highlighted the work most urgently needed.

And have the gutters cleared as a priority..

You will have paid for a surveyor read the report. If you have paid for a full structural survey everything should be on there.

I would consider the following the most important things to be done before anything else.

Heating engineer to check boiler and heating system, If you are needing a new boiler or a complete system this is expensive and intrusive certainly something which needs to be done first.

It's very important to have the roof checked, if you had a good survey this should have been checked.

Any damp/mold

Check on Electrics and how old the consumer box is.

I think those are the biggies before any wallpaper is hung. It's always going to be a project that's life you can't do everything at once not if you are the average working couple. My advice would be to not get into debt that you can't afford on one wage.

My husband and I started out in a 2 up and 2 down with an outside toilet with no bathroom in 1970 and second hand furniture.
Hubby build our first kitchen by himself with tools his dad loaned him.

Best of luck it will be fun.

After the purchase they will have about 20k left to spend immediately, the rest will be have to be done bit by bit, plus they’ll need furniture to fill it up!

Apart from leaks, one bathroom, a boiler, and carpets - with only 20k to spend, I reckon the money will need to be spent on furniture

Monica's advice is Oh so true. If neither of you has ever done any DIY you are starting with a problem already.
I had a bit more knowledge than DH at least I knew what a cross-head Philips screwdriver was he didn't.
Our second move was next to a colleague of DH I can still picture his face when he came around and asked if he could borrow some of DH's tools. I brought out a plastic bag with a watchmakers screwdriver a 6''ruler, a joiners pencil and a penknife for sharpening it with a picture of a Scottish soldier on it. I told him to take his pick.

Assuming the house has been surveyed and is sound, I always start with a new (basic) bathroom and kitchen.

Second Monica's advice to be/get handy with the tools! When you consider that almost the entire budget for works accounts for labour it can be prudent to 'get up to speed' with skills.
Whitewavemark2, Oh my goodness, Arts and Crafts is my absolute dream, how very lovely for them after all their hard work!

Our son and DiL bought a large arts and crafts do-er upper - they asked our advise then proceeded to do exactly as they wanted - which is how it should be.

7 years later they have a most beautiful house, which has turned out to be the house that hosts the most family dos.

Roof (leaks)
Electrics (safety)
Plumbing (leaks)
Fireplaces (surveyed for safety)

Useable dated bathrooms and kitchens are fine, in my opinion.

However, opinions vary!

Electrics, plumbing, boiler, roof were done just before we purchased - apart from that our home has always been in want of some fix.

We'll never really be done, but it's an old farm house, we just happily slowly do what must be done. Needs must. Boiler maybe?

One warning, do not take on a do-upper, other than decorating and having a new kitchen fitted, unless you have some level of manual skill and 'feel' for DIY

We are now both aged both in age and experience of doing houses up. But what has made it possible for us is that, I swear, DH was born with a scredriver in his hand. He did his first DIY job at 14, one day when his parents were out, he decided to remove the bricked in copper in the kitchen that is mother swore at regularly. He did it, quite successfully, although closing doors and dustsheets wee perhaps a bit beyond a 14 year old. He also trained as an engineer when he left school.

However it meant when we took on our first doer-upper, we had a head start. DD is the clone of her father and she is about to buy her 3rd project, but again she has the knack and an instinctive eye for the job - and they both research every job they do to make sure it is safe and that their work meets all the standards required for electrics, heating, plumbing etc. They would never accidentally demolish a supporting wall, for example, and they know when to get tradesmen in.

We did not look to our parents for advice. Neither set had any experience of DIY. However DH and DD are already in cahoots over her next project.

Twenty seven years ago we bought our current house and it was in a similar state. The previous owners lived in it, but also had converted parts of it into self contained holiday lets, so two of the bedrooms had been split to make kitchenettes. We had young children so knocked down some walls to make the bedrooms habitable first, then tackled the kitchen. It took seven years to get the house to a reasonable state (both working, doing the jobs ourselves and living on a shoestring). My parents-in-law were very worried because lots of their friends had ended up getting divorced whilst doing up houses, but I’m delighted to say we’re still together. 😂

We are now re-doing the house (mostly prompted by last year’s house fire) and this time we’re enjoying it. The kitchen, utility room and dining room are all more or less finished and even as I speak my husband is working on replacing one of the en-suite bathrooms. We can now afford better materials and because we work for ourselves we can use our time more effectively.

As for furniture, Coolcoco, dd1 has found many fantastic bargains in charity shops and via Gumtree and Facebook marketplace. Good quality things at a fraction of the new price, and IMo vastly preferable to flat pack IKEA.

Casdon…..hands on labour in our case !

To those saying why am I asking when it’s their project - guess who’s going to be asked round with their wallpaper stripper/ decorating gear / toolkit ?

With only £20k to spend, I hope they won’t be tempted to use cheap cash in hand labour. It’s always worth paying for good tradesmen.

Theexwife

I doubt they would want advice from a grandparents forum, there are many sites covering this subject.

They may well seek advice from their own parents though, that’s the norm. I don’t see why it’s a problem for OP to ask for the collective wisdom of Gransnetters, lots of us have been through the same scenario (and asked our parents for advice).