House Renovations - Hints / Tips / Recommendations (1 Viewer)

mrtrench · Feb 14, 2021

Marty said:
I wouldn't necessarily say it's a rich man's game, I'm not rich and we had no luxuries at all growing up, have you thought about a second job? even just stacking shelves in tesco's or in a warehouse picking orders. I did 4 jobs for about 10-12 weeks over Christmas period. I think you may have kids? so obviously working that much probably isn't an option, but there's plenty of jobs where it's just like a weekend mornings.

I was the same. On a very low salary so I worked in the evenings to fund our first house. This house was a mess when we moved here 25 years ago too. As we'd no money we saved and did bits as we could afford it. It took us until 2011 before we'd got it as we wanted.

Another thing we did to fund was let rooms. Our first house was tiny (2 up 2 down) but we took foreign students over summer and our daughter slept with us. Our next house had two spare bedrooms so we let to students at the Uni.

Marty · Feb 14, 2021

mrtrench said:
I was the same. On a very low salary so I worked in the evenings to fund our first house. This house was a mess when we moved here 25 years ago too. As we'd no money we saved and did bits as we could afford it. It took us until 2011 before we'd got it as we wanted.

Another thing we did to fund was let rooms. Our first house was tiny (2 up 2 down) but we took foreign students over summer and our daughter slept with us. Our next house had two spare bedrooms so we let to students at the Uni.

Can't like this post enough, I also let out a bedroom and my dining room as another bedroom. Did it for 3-4 years too foreign students studying at Warwick Uni. Made a killing on it really and dumped it all on the mortgage (which in hindsight I probably should have invested it instead).

mrtrench · Feb 14, 2021

Marty said:
Can't like this post enough, I also let out a bedroom and my dining room as another bedroom. Did it for 3-4 years too foreign students studying at Warwick Uni. Made a killing on it really and dumped it all on the mortgage (which in hindsight I probably should have invested it instead).

I always prioritised mortgage and pension too. I'd have been devastated to lose it on a bad investment after all that work.

Marty · Feb 14, 2021

mrtrench said:
I always prioritised mortgage and pension too. I'd have been devastated to lose it on a bad investment after all that work.

That's very true, I suppose the peace of mind once it's paid off knowing nobody can take it away is worth it's weight in gold. More then any return from investments.

Sky_Blue_Daz · Feb 14, 2021

We are planning on renovating our garage it’s too small for a car , so we were thinking of putting in a downstairs bathroom and dining room

Grendel · Feb 14, 2021

mrtrench said:
I always prioritised mortgage and pension too. I'd have been devastated to lose it on a bad investment after all that work.

Same. My first flat I purchased on a 16% mortgage that was eating 70% of my salary. I worked overtime sometimes to 11 and night from an 8 30 start and did a weekend job. The notion people of my age have just benighted from their age is laughable. I’ve also also ploughed everything into pensions and AVC and now am reaping the benefits

shmmeee · Feb 14, 2021

Grendel said:
Same. My first flat I purchased on a 16% mortgage that was eating 70% of my salary. I worked overtime sometimes to 11 and night from an 8 30 start and did a weekend job. The notion people of my age have just benighted from their age is laughable. I’ve also also ploughed everything into pensions and AVC and now am reaping the benefits

Firstly you were allowed to buy a housethat ate 70% of your salary. Today you wouldn’t even get close to meeting the affordability requirements.

Secondly you got regular overtime, probably paid at a higher rate. This increasingly rare these days.

Thirdly you were able to survive on 30% of your wage outside of living costs, that’s most people starting outs food and travel allowance alone.

Fourthly the wage to house price ratio was significantly smaller and you’ve owned through the largest bubble in history, massively inflating your wealth with no work from you.

Absolutely delusional.

shmmeee · Feb 14, 2021

“Spend less money on avocados”

Why Aren't Millennials Spending? They're Poorer Than Previous Generations, Fed Says

Millennials are less well off than members of earlier generations when they were young. They have lower earnings, fewer assets and less wealth, a new Federal Reserve study says.

www.npr.org

Grendel · Feb 14, 2021

shmmeee said:
Firstly you were allowed to buy a housethat ate 70% of your salary. Today you wouldn’t even get close to meeting the affordability requirements.

Secondly you got regular overtime, probably paid at a higher rate. This increasingly rare these days.

Thirdly you were able to survive on 30% of your wage outside of living costs, that’s most people starting outs food and travel allowance alone.

Fourthly the wage to house price ratio was significantly smaller and you’ve owned through the largest bubble in history, massively inflating your wealth with no work from you.

Absolutely delusional.

You really are delusional and your constant lack of acceptance of your limitations and abilities and blaming everything on society is your downfall and always will be

chiefdave · Feb 14, 2021

shmmeee said:
Secondly you got regular overtime, probably paid at a higher rate. This increasingly rare these days.

Regular overtime is still a thing. Can’t remember the last time I had a week where I only worked my 8am-6pm hours.

Don't get paid for it though, as I’m salaried I’m just expected to out the extra hours in to get the work done while cuts are made to the workforce.

Grendel · Feb 14, 2021

chiefdave said:
Regular overtime is still a thing. Can’t remember the last time I had a week where I only worked my 8am-6pm hours.

Don't get paid for it though, as I’m salaried I’m just expected to out the extra hours in to get the work done while cuts are made to the workforce.

I didn’t as a staff member get overtime post 1997 (and even then it was hardly anything) and still stayed as many hours as needed as I knew it would get me noticed

hill83 · Feb 14, 2021

Grendel said:
Same. My first flat I purchased on a 16% mortgage that was eating 70% of my salary. I worked overtime sometimes to 11 and night from an 8 30 start and did a weekend job. The notion people of my age have just benighted from their age is laughable. I’ve also also ploughed everything into pensions and AVC and now am reaping the benefits

shmmeee said:
Firstly you were allowed to buy a housethat ate 70% of your salary. Today you wouldn’t even get close to meeting the affordability requirements.

Secondly you got regular overtime, probably paid at a higher rate. This increasingly rare these days.

Thirdly you were able to survive on 30% of your wage outside of living costs, that’s most people starting outs food and travel allowance alone.

Fourthly the wage to house price ratio was significantly smaller and you’ve owned through the largest bubble in history, massively inflating your wealth with no work from you.

Absolutely delusional.

And we’re off.

Interesting thread while it lasted.

Marty · Feb 14, 2021

shmmeee said:
Firstly you were allowed to buy a housethat ate 70% of your salary. Today you wouldn’t even get close to meeting the affordability requirements.

Secondly you got regular overtime, probably paid at a higher rate. This increasingly rare these days.

Thirdly you were able to survive on 30% of your wage outside of living costs, that’s most people starting outs food and travel allowance alone.

Fourthly the wage to house price ratio was significantly smaller and you’ve owned through the largest bubble in history, massively inflating your wealth with no work from you.

Absolutely delusional.

Give it a rest, every generation has had there issues and battles.

fernandopartridge · Feb 14, 2021

shepardo01 said:
Sorry to send this slightly off track....
I have a question about tiling.

I have a 10m sq space that I'd like tiling in thr kitchen. Splashback type job.

I have the tiles

Been quoted £300 to do this including supply of grout/adhesive and trim....

Any good?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers guys and gals.

How many day's work is it?

fernandopartridge · Feb 14, 2021

Grendel said:
Lol typical - the solicitor should be able to find on a search - it’s their job. How very odd - the only time I’d ever think it would have applied would be on a property requiring improvement which the occupier refused to do.

Unless there is something related to when the house was part of a construction site that hasn't been addressed, you can get weird glitches like this with databases

shepardo01 · Feb 14, 2021

fernandopartridge said:
How many day's work is it?

Said three quarters of a day roughly.

RummerBlue · Feb 15, 2021

We did the same with a 1930's semi, and the house needed gutting. We didn't have a generous budget, so we picked our battles and did as much of it ourselves as we could and saved a fortune. Know your limits though. So for us, we got people in to do electrics and structural work, but we did all the decoration, fitted the flooring, kitchen and plumbing and decorating etc as much as we could. We worked out that we spent about £25k but saved about £30k - £40k on top of that. Some of it looks a bit rough, but that was 6 years ago and we're going back round again now we've got more experience. We chose cost over finish - that might not be how your priorities fall though, I appreciate that.

Honestly, give it a go, and it doesn't work, get someone in. My first attempt at tiling was sketchy AF, but it did the trick, cost something like £100 for materials instead £1,000 for a tradesperson, and now I'm going back round with more experience and it's looking mint. I can now decorate, do plumbing, fit hard flooring, fit carpets, carpentry the works. Can't get my head around electrics beyond changing fittings, and plastering is the work of the devil, but I give everything else a go that doesn't need certification.

Again, be careful what you try, anything dangerous or that could cause a LOT of damage you should probably get the pros in, but you'll probably surprise yourself at what you can do if you research it enough.

Kneeza · Feb 15, 2021

Adge said:
Bathrooms etc I always find Cov Plumbing on Swan Lane decent enough. Don’t bother with your cheap B and Q crap unless you are planning on selling etc.
Tiles I always find Al Murad on the Henley Rd good. When he gives you a price just laugh and they always come down in the end.

Is Al Murad the place nearly opposite where Aldi was? Used to be a petrol station I think?

Kneeza · Feb 15, 2021

It's OK, just answered my own question. Next door to the petrol station that, surprisingly these days, still exists.
Well that's according to Google Earth anyway.

Great_Expectations · Mar 9, 2021

Not for this renovation, but it makes sense to use this thread....

Does anyone have any experience with Wren kitchens?

Ian1779 · Mar 9, 2021

Great_Expectations said:
Not for this renovation, but it makes sense to use this thread....

Does anyone have any experience with Wren kitchens?

Only that we got a quote for a kitchen that was ludicrously expensive in comparison to other fitters like Wickes.

Sky_Blue_Daz · Mar 10, 2021

Great_Expectations said:
Not for this renovation, but it makes sense to use this thread....

Does anyone have any experience with Wren kitchens?

Not used wren but we got our kitchen from howdens. They were a nightmare to deal with they sent the wrong items on several occasions . After sale service was crap we were passed from pillar to post . The washing machine they sent us broke down after 3 months it took 2 months to get a new one . Won’t use them again

skybluetony176 · Mar 10, 2021

Sky_Blue_Daz said:
Not used wren but we got our kitchen from howdens. They were a nightmare to deal with they sent the wrong items on several occasions . After sale service was crap we were passed from pillar to post . The washing machine they sent us broke down after 3 months it took 2 months to get a new one . Won’t use them again

I had nothing but issues with them either. Insisted on doing a survey, wouldn’t let me order what I wanted. We just wanted the layout exactly the same as before so all they had to do was count the existing cupboards and log the sizes, they fucked that up, fucked up measuring the worktop so that was short, sent too many corner post and not enough cornice. Ended up costing us more than it would have had we used somewhere else.
My advice is go with Homebase, last one I had came flat pack but was very easy to put together and decent quality.
My other top tip is get a pro in to fit the worktops. Makes all the difference.

Adge · Mar 10, 2021

I used Howdens for years and had an account. Never had any problems really.

Nick · Mar 10, 2021

My kitchen was howdens and it was fine. Went through the kitchen fitter.

Great_Expectations · Mar 10, 2021

Thanks everyone. We are in the process of getting a quote from Howdens for mine.

I did a rough quote with Wren after the initial post and as Ian said the fitting cost was essentially the same as the kitchen (including appliances) itself.

Fortunately we won’t need a fitter for mine or the potential Wren one!

SBAndy · Mar 10, 2021

Nick said:
My kitchen was howdens and it was fine. Went through the kitchen fitter.

Blimey, must have been a good kitchen.

Nick · Mar 11, 2021

SBAndy said:
Blimey, must have been a good kitchen.

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House Renovations - Hints / Tips / Recommendations (1 Viewer)

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