Hi Andy mate, one thing you didn't mention, with all the work you and yours have done to the house, if i was doing the same thing, it would have cost double, possibly even treble simply through the labour costs. you have saved a fortune just by doing it yourself.
Thanks for sharing the cost breakdown for the renovation Andy, people think a lick of paint and that's that for renovating. Renovating and modernising properties should be broadcasted more often. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see the finished product!
It's great that you stepped in and saved that home. I have done the same thing on several homes in my city, living in one currently, the largest yet. Now that it's almost complete, my wife and I are looking for the next challenge. Maybe I'll video the process on this side of the pond. Cheers and well done.
Currently renovating my 4 bed detached in south Lincs right now which we got the keys for in Sept 2020. Late 70's build that's been rented most of its life so very little to zero investment to maintain and upkeep prior to us moving in. So far I've ripped out all the old insulation in the loft and replaced to 300mm, moved and enlarged the loft hatch, installed loftzone flooring throughout myself and that come to 700 quid alone as I did all the work. Removed all the interior upstairs walls as it was that horrendous paramount board with cardboard hex in the middle, installed all new stud work myself and adjusted rooms slightly to improve flow of upstairs. Sparky is upstairs as I type this doing first fix and installing co axial and Cat 6a throughout. Bathroom was made about 50% bigger and got a full walk in shower now. Central heating changed from a dying combi to a system boiler and 180 litre tank so we can enjoy the shower properly (only of us so no chance of hot water shortage). Hoping to get the upstairs finished this year (been here 18 months and never spent a night upstairs!!) so we can then focus on downstairs but windows are on our list. Did you use a local company or is it a nationwide brand? I cannot abide window sales people so hoping to avoid the typical 3 hour lingering after you've told them to jog on bs. Also done (what feels like) 200 trips to the tip and cleared the garden massively (generally that's free to do so when we get short on funds!) When all said and done, I think we've pumped almost 15k into the house so far, but like you I've not got to kitchen, lounge or w/c yet. That'll be next year...or 2024 even! I reckon once complete with extension I'll be looking at 60-75k ish. My mrs loves George Clarke and Homes under the Hammer but I find them incredibly misleading so I avoid watching where possible! I am enjoying the challenge and have learnt plenty of new skills since moving in, and it's nice to see the fruits of our labour happening before our eyes - but patience and keeping focussed on the end goal is super important. Thanks for all the time you take to narrate, video and put all the videos together - I've found them very informative and inspiring! Keep up the grand work pal!
I spent probably in the region of £60k on my renovations going back almost 4 years ago on a property in the Bristol area, although my costed spreadsheet went by the wayside at some point along the way! My costs were fairly similar with about a 30% uplift on things like central heating. I had full electrics done throughout inc security which was fully laboured though so that was probably in the region of about 5k. I also had walls and chimney stacks taken out and new walls put in which stacks up fairly quickly and if I remember rightly was about £2.5k. I had a kitchen fitted by a reputable DIY store. They do discounts and recommend their own fitters but my experience was pretty horrific. Including French doors to replace a window the whole expenses including moving drains, new electrics for kitchen etc was about £15k. So easy to see where the £30k stacks up to a £60k. A decent amount I got trades in where I could have had a go myself but just didn't have the confidence to do it myself at the time including drains etc. But I'm thinking of doing an extension / loft conversion soon and I'd be willing to do a lot more myself in terms of plumbing, bathroom fit outs. I had a real good go in the garden and garage. Garden I spent a few thousand building retaining walls and constructing patios and new pathways. The main patio is about 16m2, and whilst I'm sure would be a lot better second time around was fairly good for a first effort. Garage was a big cost replacing foot doors and main doors, electrics for EV chargepoints required substantial electric supplies to be installed down garden. I also had a single skin breeze block wall without any treatment which suffered from damp ingress - had to treat them, install membranes, boarded with insulated plasterboard then skimmed on the inside. Did all the rendering outside myself - looks a little continental! Not pretty but you can get away with it in a garage I guess. I find a good trick for carpets is to search out offcuts for the premium brands on Burts carpets, and buy the cumulus underlay off Amazon. You could get the quality carpets worth £27 in the shops for about £8-10 and the underlay a carpet shop would charge like £8 for, for less than £2. Quality stuff!
Insulation should always be the priority, regardless of what heating system is used but especially with heat pumps, as they trickle heat the house, which is useless if it keeps just being lost.
We are long term landlords, both private and commercial and are getting out because of government regulations and attitudes, it’s just not worth it anymore. Paying half rent on empty shops is a quick way to get rid of money big time. Love the breakdown, it’s very realistic. We had a wood stove in our last house for nearly 50 years and miss it in this new ( to us) one, they are great when the power goes off - heating AND cooking!
One of the major problems any homeowner has is the availability of decent contractors. I live in Newcastle as well and the amount of people that you ring and arrange to call out to give estimates for work work that a customer wants done who just don’t bother turning up is staggering. This in turn ends up increasing the price as it. Is a supply and demand issue. I rang 3 fencing contractors for prices recently, 2 said they were fully booked for 2 months and the other just never turned up.
Great stuff Andy. Love your channel and have watched the series from the start. It's been super interesting and really appreciate your time and efforts in sharing all of this with us. Best wishes to you and family.
We had our windows all replaced and had a quote of 15k from one well advertised pressure selling company and more reasonable quotes of around the 3k mark from local smaller companies! stupid how big companies can take the P with the quotes! Very happy with my 3k windows they look nice and do the job of keeping me warm
Like some earlier comments, insulation is so important. Our house is only 18 years old and we moved here 15 months back yet we quickly found it had no cavity wall insulation and a polycarbonate roof to the conservatory which is part of the kitchen. So we insulated the cavities and replaced the conservatory roof last year and the difference was immediate. I await the monthly gas bills to see the improvement. You make some very important points. Renovation is not a cheap option or for the faint-hearted. Cheers.
Love these videos... We had an extension completed during 2020... Well a conservatory knock down and extension with a knock through... I agree you don't realise the costs it takes... All in it was about 50% more than what I thought before we got quotes... However we did get it all completely project managed plus new windows all round. Were very happy with it but if you mentioned cost be people they are shocked... Truth is to move to a similar property would have costed more to get it to the same specifications. Sometimes you need to appreciate a home as a home... Very impressed with what you have achieved and love to see the progression you have made. Be interesting to see the costs of the extension....we had to have a concrete raft for ours ekk! All the best
"Fabric first" approach! Very much on point. It's not visible or glamorous, but it works when you can actually do it (heritage rules like listing protection and conservation areas rule out some options for some of us in pre-1900 properties).
Hats off to you for bringing in your renovation under £30k. You and the missus certainly paid plenty in sweat equity with a fantastic result. With Post Covid pricing and the cost of the materials going completely daft, a builder could have easily asked £80k to £100k for a job like this, again very very well done on a brilliant job. Many thanks for sharing this labour of love for the rest of us to enjoy!
How are you. Mate as long I have Internet wherever I live I will watch you Because always learn and improving useful video very professional work Thank you
Argh was 2k over. As you were laying the pics out I was totting it up at had £30k. The standard of work completed is very good would dread to think what it would have been if you had full trades in.
Great update / coatings review. Completely agree about insulation - false economy without proper insulation, a real government policy that would ‘level up’ and give employment would be tackling insulation in countries housing stock.
I estimated £40k. Expected the plastering, CH / plumbing, bathroom, living room (floor) and electrical works to cost a fair bit more than you did them for. The damp and structural issues you encountered would have scared me :). Good savings made (albeit with very hard graft!) on the water supply. I guessed at £550 per window for double glazing, not sure if that's high or low. If you were just renovating and not extending I guess a new kitchen would have to be included as well which would be a fair whack. Will be a night and day difference when you're done with it :)
Great vid Andy. Coming from the south east I'd have to pretty much double your figures. We've spent more than your whole budget just on a bog standard loft extension.
Hi sir very interesting indeed, you touched on a very valid point regarding the viability of such projects as yours . I would assume in your location property values are relatively high , but of course this is not always the case . As a fairly seasoned property upgrader I can see why a lot of property is in such a state of disrepair. Unless it’s a building company that is involved in bringing these property’s up to standard it’s just never going to happen . As an example I have just sold my late mother’s semi , which by comparison was in a good state of repair but looking very tired as they say . We got the going rate of 165 thousand , and that’s in a reasonable aria close to schools etc . So for any one to spend even more to achieve what yours will be , would be pointless . This is why we see loads of new properties being built while you can drive past streets and streets of property that are just not practical to repair. As for your reference to air source, I couldn’t agree more . For most houses in the Uk it’s a non starter , yet the government and many companies are hell bent on pushing them onto a unsuspecting public . Thanks again for your videos they are spot on in showing just what is involved in a project , and the shear hard work required . Best wishes and kind regards as always. 😀👍👍👍
Thank you for putting together such a comprehensive video really enlightening if also a little frightening because I've got to go through the same thing with my 1950s bungalow. Have the same problem here bungalows in this area are as rare as hens teeth so you have to pick up whatever you find whatever condition is in, I did have a builder quote for the work just before I bought it so I knew I had enough money to do it, but just as i bought it the materials crisis has happened and now all building cost of doubled, may no longer be economically viable but there is no other alternative. New build bungalows dont exist. I also have to live here while the works are being done, that'll be entertaining :)
Totally agree on your point that insulation should be every ones first priority, but together with the other important bit, which is solving damp issues. Some may be caused purely by bad insulation jobs done before, and creating cold spots like in your bedrooms. But also substandard construction or damage to constructional parts of the house, like was the case with your kitchen floor. I'm going trough the same routine, and when you start to take something that's faulty out then often more misery is waiting for you as I discovered. I have to reinforce part of the foundation work and replace the whole living floor because of improperly constructed footings which were less than a foot deep under a bay window which was built onto the house later. Moisture got under the floor and rotted the joists, plastering is falling from the wall in that part.
Brilliant breakdown I love your videos mate I’m currently in the process of renovating my 1930s house and Vlogging it on UA-cam also your a inspiration👍🏻 keep up the great content
looking @ your window prices i was to say the least surprised 7 years ago i fitted over 2 seperate occassions triple glazed windows to my whole, the 1st visit was 6 triple glazed units roughly £2000, the second visit was wwhen my extension was done which was 3 windows and a half glazed new back door, this cost £1900, and my most recent was 1 new front half glazed door 1 large opener in the porch and a small non opener in the porch, all of my windows have been triple glazed units made by Camden windows of Ireland, admittdely i have used two seperate fitting firms here in Cumbria(workington), but i have found the heat retention and the ability to turn down & off the central heating a big plus, the first 12 months after the intial window fit the gas bill was 68% lower, now my gas is more standing charge than use mainly due to the house being warm and staying warm, oh and for the record my house(the original part) is of solid stone construction with 2 ft thick walls, the side extension(built 1988) standard cavity wall, and the rear extension built in 2016 blockwork cavity walls 8 pallets of to be precise :) (i carried them off the pallets in the drive around the back for the brickies), re the triple glazed Camden windows in all the time they have been fitted they are faultless and do the job 110%
Great video, very instructive. You did list the trades used, but on the top level spreadsheet it would be good to have a couple pof cols with what you did, and what that would cost. And a really big well done. Will be following the completion and the extension (and all the back catalogue to watch to see how you got to where you did). If it's not covered in those a video on BCO and which way you approached that would be good. Many thanks again.
The most shocking part for me was hearing you talk about the UK rental situation. I pay equivalent of £1050/month for 3 bed, 1bath, 1 car house. And there is no way I could afford to pay 12 months up front. We saw another rental at £980/month. No oven. Owner refuses to put one in. There was a microwave and a double electric hotplate. also no lights in the bathroom.
Thanks, this video is great! I'm jealous of your costings, I'm renovating a one bed terraced house in SW London, also hopefully doing a lot of the work myself, and can't get anywhere near those prices.
Think I was in the ballpark, but nice to see your a fan of "The restoration couple" as well, he gets through some amount of projects, I thought you never stopped and now he's bought a farm !
It'd be great if you could do a video on your thoughts about the rental market. I think it would be very interesting. I recently sold up, too much red tape these days. Much less hasle and costs and tax on other investments. Landlords have had a target on their back for a long time and soon enough the chickens will come home to roost for it.
That is a really good presentation of the cost of the renovation. I am sure many viewers would be interested to know: how much of that cost was not anticipated from your original survey of the property. I expect many people going into this type of renovation project would do a budget and expect the cost to meet the budget and then be very surprised and disgruntled at the actual cost. I expect that you, with your experience, added risk and contingency to your initial budget. So my question is: "What occurred that you did not anticipate and caused your budget to be exceeded?". Perhaps you could explain how you arrived at your budget and how that compared to the cost... Great work. Looking forward to the rest of the renovation, enhancements and improvements to the property.
Great question Charles! I think we originally hoped we could do it for £20k ish but quickly realised that would involve cutting a lot of corners so it would have been a false economy not going the extra mile - e.g. replacing all the windows and installing a more efficient stove. 👍
A tradesperson usually charges £120 to £300 a day depending on what they are and are doing/location. Costs can be a lot more if you can't do it yourself
Brilliant, well done Andy. I reckon you could have done those windows yourself mind ;) we're renovating a Victorian house and to have the original sash windows double glazed and restored cost more than your full reno! As you say at the start, we're just guardians taking care of three old properties!
If the property is empty you inform the council and they allow a six month holiday on the rates providing they inspect and there are no beds and no one can live there. I dont know if this appliys to all councils.
Hi Andy, could you please post the link to the video about the rental you were staying in whilst renovating your house, I can't seem to find it. Thanks.
Many many wise word's. I put a membrane and sheep's wool insulation under the floorboards and the difference is on a different level. But I often wonder if today it's better to complete knock an old property down or gut top to bottom back to brick and rebuild to latest standards.
Retrofit is difficult largely if people are trying to live in the place during it. A complete demolition and rebuild would be much more expensive than a long term accommodation whilst retrofitting.
@@Lewis_Standing Also in the UK you'd be very unlikely to get planning consent for that. And given that this is a 'semi-detached' - the next-door neighbour might not be at all happy :)))
@@stevemichael8458It would be better to knock both properties down, but planning permission would be a cinch if the visual appearance of the house doesn't change. I'd knock them down and build two 1930's semi's to Passivhaus standard in their place. Then a small heatpump (e.g. 4kW) would be fine for heating.
@@GosforthHandyman indeed. That was my point. I've personally done what you are doing on a smaller scale and knocked a semi back to brick ripping out the floor boards cleaning out underneath all whilst living upstairs and a mobile kitchen.
Was the window quote from Everest? 😂 I ended up getting quotes between 5000-10000 for around 9 windows in total. Ended up buying them from a supplier for less than £2k and installing myself in 2 days. I’d say anyone can install them with some thought process and research.
I thought the soundproofing would be a load more - pleasantly surprised and will remember that for my next property. Surprised that there were costs for the waste - I over estimated on things like water as building over a sewer pipe would cost £600 in London, but that maybe should be part of the extension. Gas, electricity & central heating were also a bit less than I thought, but I do live in London.
Was the cost of the building regulations included in the workings out? We did a pseudo extension last year and had to get Building Notice (technically should have been Planning Permission, but the council messed up so they allowed it as Building Notice instead). The cost of that alone was almost £400.
I thought you would be nearer £40k as we did the same to a 1970's 3 bed semi back in 2004 which cost us £45k - I presumed you had done a lot of the work yourself but we used trades to do the whole thing (re-plumb, re-wire, new central heating, new kitchen new, bathroom, new windows, replaster, repaint, new carpets) and did the whole job in 6 weeks! Took a bit of planning, organisation and a bit of luck too! My wife is Japanese and she doesn't understand why people don't sort their houses out before they move in! We've been here for nearly 20 years now - had to do nothing to the place and it still looks good.
What power output wood burner have you got there? Looking into getting one! And did you used raised beams to board the loft so there's enough room for the insulation?
Related questions.... With the house being so insulated, what is it like for heat/cooling in summer. Does it get overly hot, would you require air conditioning? I'm truly interested in how it works.
I mainly wondered because I hate being hot. I can hand on heart say I haven't had my heating on all winter and my place is very basically insulated. I also live in the UK.
It all adds up massively. Miscellaneous budget goes out the window and you need to be strict on accounting for it. What about the cost for the actual extension work?
I'm sitting here in Midwestern USA completely boggled by the fact that insulation isn't a priority in the UK. One of the first things done in a house renovation is updating the insulation bc what's already there is usually outdated tech and isn't efficient enough anymore. Where I live, the R value of a wall is hugely important. People can die in poorly insulated, underheated houses here. And the cost of heating one of those houses...I shudder to think. My newly renovated apartment is super-insulated and super-efficient. My electric bill (total electric building) is only about $40USD a month in winter. That's lights, hot water, heating, and cooking. Insulation makes the difference.
Loved the video again Andy...regarding rising damp i came across a web page saying it's a myth about rising damp and only the British seem to mention it ?
Yeah that's what i read Andy about damp experts taking advantage......and to the other Andy it wasn't just some mickey mouse website it was on the English Heritage or Something similar when I was researching about Lime mortar
Hi mate your vids are really useful. Im doing up a 1930s myself in Newcastle, could u please recommend someone good for windows and to fit a boiler? Cheers
Love your channel. Would love to do a similar project however it’s impossible for a first time buyer to do this if living in the South East. Your house in that condition, needing gutting , would cost £425,000. Northern England resident don’t realise how lucky they are regarding property. Its unaffordable to buy a home in the SE.
Was the stupidly big quite from safestyle? We ended up using them but got initial price of £5k+ for £1600 to replace front double doors and a couple of big windows at back too.
Safestyle make me laugh how they start out at 100% and quickly drop down by 50% on the phone to their 'manager' and then give you a further 10% off before they leave. I had my main set of DG done by a company who employed similar tactics but after being told on the day that I wasn't interested called me up a few days later and gave me a "very special trade deal" at actually a decent price. I had a set of French doors to replace a window from a different company that were local in the Bristol area - Polar Bear Windows, that don't play the silly games and just give you their best price from the off.
Andy…a question, if I may? Your windows were £4.5k. You were quoted over 10k by other firms (presumably one/some of the large national companies?). We had a quote, out of interest, from one of the national companies that come door knocking for our house a while back. The quote came back at £14k, and like you I laughed them off the phone. Given that quote, what sort of ballpark prices do you think a good local firm would cost? I know there’s many variables like location, type of house (slightly larger than average 4 bed detached in our case), type of windows etc, but I’m curious whether your opinion lines up with mine as to how much we’d save.
Great Watch Andy And An Amazing Insight Into What It Really Costs In The Real World. I wounder If The Price Would Be A lot Cheaper If we Didn't Have The Pandemic. Who Knows. Stay Safe Buddy.
Hi Andy, I've finally moved into my 1st house, over in Forest Hall. I've got a full renovation to do. Do you have a double glazing company you'd recommend? Cheers
I can’t remember what I guessed - what video did you invite the guesses? I think you did very well to achieve what you did on the renovation and control the costs so well. It’s sobering to think that the rental and associated costs which enabled you to undertake the cost were roughly half of the Reno costs or a third of total costs. Well done.😀. Edited - Oh dear I guessed £12k.😫
😂 Don't worry Norman! But yes, the hidden costs such as renting etc. are considerable. We've lived with the parents before, but not when we have a family. 😁
I would like to point out the only reason your electrics cost £1k ish is because your electrician was happy to sign off cables installed by you. The average RCBO consumer unit by itself is £400, if a sparks isn't NICEIC etc registered you're looking at an average of £300 for building control to sign it off. The other £300 does not cover the rewire of the house, average cost £5k so getting it for effectively 20% of the national average is pretty damn rare.
Yup, wasn't a re-wire as the existing cabling was fine. But our fully populated BG RCBO consumer unit was £140 from Toolstation. Did seem like a good deal at the time - www.toolstation.com/bg-metal-consumer-unit-8-type-a-rcbos/p49597 👍
Many of your charges seem astonishingly low compared to services I get in the USA, e.g. $1, 000 to replace 9 feet of cast iron sewer stack in my basement that took two men about 5 hours. I’m in the middle of replacing 75 feet of deep sewer across my front garden that will cost me about $12,000 and still leave my landscaping totally ruined.
Hi Andy mate, one thing you didn't mention, with all the work you and yours have done to the house, if i was doing the same thing, it would have cost double, possibly even treble simply through the labour costs. you have saved a fortune just by doing it yourself.
Thanks for sharing the cost breakdown for the renovation Andy, people think a lick of paint and that's that for renovating. Renovating and modernising properties should be broadcasted more often. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see the finished product!
It's great that you stepped in and saved that home. I have done the same thing on several homes in my city, living in one currently, the largest yet. Now that it's almost complete, my wife and I are looking for the next challenge. Maybe I'll video the process on this side of the pond. Cheers and well done.
You should do! Would love to watch that! 👍
Currently renovating my 4 bed detached in south Lincs right now which we got the keys for in Sept 2020. Late 70's build that's been rented most of its life so very little to zero investment to maintain and upkeep prior to us moving in.
So far I've ripped out all the old insulation in the loft and replaced to 300mm, moved and enlarged the loft hatch, installed loftzone flooring throughout myself and that come to 700 quid alone as I did all the work.
Removed all the interior upstairs walls as it was that horrendous paramount board with cardboard hex in the middle, installed all new stud work myself and adjusted rooms slightly to improve flow of upstairs. Sparky is upstairs as I type this doing first fix and installing co axial and Cat 6a throughout.
Bathroom was made about 50% bigger and got a full walk in shower now.
Central heating changed from a dying combi to a system boiler and 180 litre tank so we can enjoy the shower properly (only of us so no chance of hot water shortage).
Hoping to get the upstairs finished this year (been here 18 months and never spent a night upstairs!!) so we can then focus on downstairs but windows are on our list. Did you use a local company or is it a nationwide brand? I cannot abide window sales people so hoping to avoid the typical 3 hour lingering after you've told them to jog on bs.
Also done (what feels like) 200 trips to the tip and cleared the garden massively (generally that's free to do so when we get short on funds!) When all said and done, I think we've pumped almost 15k into the house so far, but like you I've not got to kitchen, lounge or w/c yet. That'll be next year...or 2024 even! I reckon once complete with extension I'll be looking at 60-75k ish.
My mrs loves George Clarke and Homes under the Hammer but I find them incredibly misleading so I avoid watching where possible!
I am enjoying the challenge and have learnt plenty of new skills since moving in, and it's nice to see the fruits of our labour happening before our eyes - but patience and keeping focussed on the end goal is super important. Thanks for all the time you take to narrate, video and put all the videos together - I've found them very informative and inspiring!
Keep up the grand work pal!
9:00 The figures showed don’t actually help others to estimate their own renovation unless you know the quantity and the specs.
A good breakdown of the costs. I really like your point about insulating houses. It is such an important issue.
Oh to have a man about the house with your skills and work ethic ! I had thought double the amount so well done.
Cheers! Would easily be double if you had to pay builders to do the whole lot. 👍💪
2:45 I buy the exact same combo of dilute juice from Aldi.
I spent probably in the region of £60k on my renovations going back almost 4 years ago on a property in the Bristol area, although my costed spreadsheet went by the wayside at some point along the way!
My costs were fairly similar with about a 30% uplift on things like central heating. I had full electrics done throughout inc security which was fully laboured though so that was probably in the region of about 5k. I also had walls and chimney stacks taken out and new walls put in which stacks up fairly quickly and if I remember rightly was about £2.5k.
I had a kitchen fitted by a reputable DIY store. They do discounts and recommend their own fitters but my experience was pretty horrific. Including French doors to replace a window the whole expenses including moving drains, new electrics for kitchen etc was about £15k. So easy to see where the £30k stacks up to a £60k.
A decent amount I got trades in where I could have had a go myself but just didn't have the confidence to do it myself at the time including drains etc. But I'm thinking of doing an extension / loft conversion soon and I'd be willing to do a lot more myself in terms of plumbing, bathroom fit outs.
I had a real good go in the garden and garage. Garden I spent a few thousand building retaining walls and constructing patios and new pathways. The main patio is about 16m2, and whilst I'm sure would be a lot better second time around was fairly good for a first effort.
Garage was a big cost replacing foot doors and main doors, electrics for EV chargepoints required substantial electric supplies to be installed down garden. I also had a single skin breeze block wall without any treatment which suffered from damp ingress - had to treat them, install membranes, boarded with insulated plasterboard then skimmed on the inside. Did all the rendering outside myself - looks a little continental! Not pretty but you can get away with it in a garage I guess.
I find a good trick for carpets is to search out offcuts for the premium brands on Burts carpets, and buy the cumulus underlay off Amazon. You could get the quality carpets worth £27 in the shops for about £8-10 and the underlay a carpet shop would charge like £8 for, for less than £2. Quality stuff!
Yes MJW!!!! Sounds a cracking job you've done there. Fancy seeing you here!
Insulation should always be the priority, regardless of what heating system is used but especially with heat pumps, as they trickle heat the house, which is useless if it keeps just being lost.
We are long term landlords, both private and commercial and are getting out because of government regulations and attitudes, it’s just not worth it anymore. Paying half rent on empty shops is a quick way to get rid of money big time.
Love the breakdown, it’s very realistic.
We had a wood stove in our last house for nearly 50 years and miss it in this new ( to us) one, they are great when the power goes off - heating AND cooking!
One of the major problems any homeowner has is the availability of decent contractors. I live in Newcastle as well and the amount of people that you ring and arrange to call out to give estimates for work work that a customer wants done who just don’t bother turning up is staggering. This in turn ends up increasing the price as it. Is a supply and demand issue. I rang 3 fencing contractors for prices recently, 2 said they were fully booked for 2 months and the other just never turned up.
Great stuff Andy. Love your channel and have watched the series from the start. It's been super interesting and really appreciate your time and efforts in sharing all of this with us. Best wishes to you and family.
This is amazing! The house is beautiful! So excited for your family!
Cheers! Should be good once it's done! 👍
We had our windows all replaced and had a quote of 15k from one well advertised pressure selling company and more reasonable quotes of around the 3k mark from local smaller companies! stupid how big companies can take the P with the quotes! Very happy with my 3k windows they look nice and do the job of keeping me warm
Like some earlier comments, insulation is so important. Our house is only 18 years old and we moved here 15 months back yet we quickly found it had no cavity wall insulation and a polycarbonate roof to the conservatory which is part of the kitchen. So we insulated the cavities and replaced the conservatory roof last year and the difference was immediate. I await the monthly gas bills to see the improvement. You make some very important points. Renovation is not a cheap option or for the faint-hearted. Cheers.
Love these videos... We had an extension completed during 2020... Well a conservatory knock down and extension with a knock through... I agree you don't realise the costs it takes... All in it was about 50% more than what I thought before we got quotes... However we did get it all completely project managed plus new windows all round. Were very happy with it but if you mentioned cost be people they are shocked... Truth is to move to a similar property would have costed more to get it to the same specifications. Sometimes you need to appreciate a home as a home... Very impressed with what you have achieved and love to see the progression you have made. Be interesting to see the costs of the extension....we had to have a concrete raft for ours ekk! All the best
"Fabric first" approach! Very much on point. It's not visible or glamorous, but it works when you can actually do it (heritage rules like listing protection and conservation areas rule out some options for some of us in pre-1900 properties).
Defo! Probably the only chance the property will ever have. 👍😁
Nice to see the progress with the extension at 6:19. Cheeky!! Come on post the video Andy
Ha little spoiler there! 😁
The materials alone for my smallish bare bones bathroom renovation came to £7500... Great video
Amazing Reno made possible by your expertise and thorough understanding of building process and the permits involved.
Hats off to you for bringing in your renovation under £30k. You and the missus certainly paid plenty in sweat equity with a fantastic result. With Post Covid pricing and the cost of the materials going completely daft, a builder could have easily asked £80k to £100k for a job like this, again very very well done on a brilliant job. Many thanks for sharing this labour of love for the rest of us to enjoy!
How are you. Mate as long I have Internet wherever I live I will watch you
Because always learn and improving useful video very professional work
Thank you
Bei manchem Posten dachte ich schon, dass es teurer sein würde, wie zum Beispiel neue Haustechnik, neue Fenster. Alles Gute weiterhin !
And the cost of wood etc has just continued to rise exponentially! Good job you are both such good grafters👏🥳.
Cheers Moira! Timber prices are killing us. 😭
Argh was 2k over. As you were laying the pics out I was totting it up at had £30k. The standard of work completed is very good would dread to think what it would have been if you had full trades in.
im so glad you went the wood burner route especialy with the abundance of fuel when usauly people waste money dumping the wood
Thank you ever so much Andy for your time and explaining it all so well and for being so honest!
Great update / coatings review. Completely agree about insulation - false economy without proper insulation, a real government policy that would ‘level up’ and give employment would be tackling insulation in countries housing stock.
especially bg thank you fo the info on the log burner. was on the fence
I estimated £40k. Expected the plastering, CH / plumbing, bathroom, living room (floor) and electrical works to cost a fair bit more than you did them for. The damp and structural issues you encountered would have scared me :). Good savings made (albeit with very hard graft!) on the water supply. I guessed at £550 per window for double glazing, not sure if that's high or low. If you were just renovating and not extending I guess a new kitchen would have to be included as well which would be a fair whack. Will be a night and day difference when you're done with it :)
Great vid Andy. Coming from the south east I'd have to pretty much double your figures. We've spent more than your whole budget just on a bog standard loft extension.
Great seeing this house come alive, It's probably singing it's heart out to Elton John's...I'm still standing 😁
Ha too right! Cosy little house now!
@@GosforthHandyman Hope all A OK after the gales late fri/early sat...sounds like pickin' up again.
it seems just like tomorrow with the garden and the drains
that's a lot of work well done super series
Hi sir very interesting indeed, you touched on a very valid point regarding the viability of such projects as yours . I would assume in your location property values are relatively high , but of course this is not always the case . As a fairly seasoned property upgrader I can see why a lot of property is in such a state of disrepair. Unless it’s a building company that is involved in bringing these property’s up to standard it’s just never going to happen . As an example I have just sold my late mother’s semi , which by comparison was in a good state of repair but looking very tired as they say . We got the going rate of 165 thousand , and that’s in a reasonable aria close to schools etc . So for any one to spend even more to achieve what yours will be , would be pointless . This is why we see loads of new properties being built while you can drive past streets and streets of property that are just not practical to repair. As for your reference to air source, I couldn’t agree more . For most houses in the Uk it’s a non starter , yet the government and many companies are hell bent on pushing them onto a unsuspecting public . Thanks again for your videos they are spot on in showing just what is involved in a project , and the shear hard work required . Best wishes and kind regards as always. 😀👍👍👍
Thank you for putting together such a comprehensive video really enlightening if also a little frightening because I've got to go through the same thing with my 1950s bungalow.
Have the same problem here bungalows in this area are as rare as hens teeth so you have to pick up whatever you find whatever condition is in, I did have a builder quote for the work just before I bought it so I knew I had enough money to do it, but just as i bought it the materials crisis has happened and now all building cost of doubled, may no longer be economically viable but there is no other alternative. New build bungalows dont exist. I also have to live here while the works are being done, that'll be entertaining :)
Great work and thanks for sharing this with us take care
Totally agree on your point that insulation should be every ones first priority, but together with the other important bit, which is solving damp issues.
Some may be caused purely by bad insulation jobs done before, and creating cold spots like in your bedrooms.
But also substandard construction or damage to constructional parts of the house, like was the case with your kitchen floor.
I'm going trough the same routine, and when you start to take something that's faulty out then often more misery is waiting for you as I discovered.
I have to reinforce part of the foundation work and replace the whole living floor because of improperly constructed footings which were less than a foot deep under a bay window which was built onto the house later.
Moisture got under the floor and rotted the joists, plastering is falling from the wall in that part.
Brilliant breakdown I love your videos mate I’m currently in the process of renovating my 1930s house and Vlogging it on UA-cam also your a inspiration👍🏻 keep up the great content
So interesting, Andy. Thank you for taking me on your journey with you. 🌞
No worries - glad you enjoyed it Ray!
looking @ your window prices i was to say the least surprised 7 years ago i fitted over 2 seperate occassions triple glazed windows to my whole, the 1st visit was 6 triple glazed units roughly £2000, the second visit was wwhen my extension was done which was 3 windows and a half glazed new back door, this cost £1900, and my most recent was 1 new front half glazed door 1 large opener in the porch and a small non opener in the porch, all of my windows have been triple glazed units made by Camden windows of Ireland, admittdely i have used two seperate fitting firms here in Cumbria(workington), but i have found the heat retention and the ability to turn down & off the central heating a big plus, the first 12 months after the intial window fit the gas bill was 68% lower, now my gas is more standing charge than use mainly due to the house being warm and staying warm, oh and for the record my house(the original part) is of solid stone construction with 2 ft thick walls, the side extension(built 1988) standard cavity wall, and the rear extension built in 2016 blockwork cavity walls 8 pallets of to be precise :) (i carried them off the pallets in the drive around the back for the brickies), re the triple glazed Camden windows in all the time they have been fitted they are faultless and do the job 110%
Great video, very instructive. You did list the trades used, but on the top level spreadsheet it would be good to have a couple pof cols with what you did, and what that would cost. And a really big well done. Will be following the completion and the extension (and all the back catalogue to watch to see how you got to where you did). If it's not covered in those a video on BCO and which way you approached that would be good. Many thanks again.
I guessed about £30k (in my head, you just have to believe me), so pretty happy with that estimate.
The most shocking part for me was hearing you talk about the UK rental situation. I pay equivalent of £1050/month for 3 bed, 1bath, 1 car house. And there is no way I could afford to pay 12 months up front.
We saw another rental at £980/month. No oven. Owner refuses to put one in. There was a microwave and a double electric hotplate. also no lights in the bathroom.
@A Twinspark I'm in Australia and the cheapest of the capital cities. Not the cheapest suburb of the city, but also not the most expensive.
Thanks, this video is great! I'm jealous of your costings, I'm renovating a one bed terraced house in SW London, also hopefully doing a lot of the work myself, and can't get anywhere near those prices.
Think I was in the ballpark, but nice to see your a fan of "The restoration couple" as well, he gets through some amount of projects, I thought you never stopped and now he's bought a farm !
Mm very interesting Andy. We were looking at a house, needed a similar amount of work, I said 20-30k
Excellent series. Very impressed how much you came in at.
Cheers! 👍
It'd be great if you could do a video on your thoughts about the rental market. I think it would be very interesting. I recently sold up, too much red tape these days. Much less hasle and costs and tax on other investments. Landlords have had a target on their back for a long time and soon enough the chickens will come home to roost for it.
That is a really good presentation of the cost of the renovation. I am sure many viewers would be interested to know: how much of that cost was not anticipated from your original survey of the property. I expect many people going into this type of renovation project would do a budget and expect the cost to meet the budget and then be very surprised and disgruntled at the actual cost. I expect that you, with your experience, added risk and contingency to your initial budget. So my question is: "What occurred that you did not anticipate and caused your budget to be exceeded?". Perhaps you could explain how you arrived at your budget and how that compared to the cost... Great work. Looking forward to the rest of the renovation, enhancements and improvements to the property.
Great question Charles! I think we originally hoped we could do it for £20k ish but quickly realised that would involve cutting a lot of corners so it would have been a false economy not going the extra mile - e.g. replacing all the windows and installing a more efficient stove. 👍
That’s incredible value for money!
It's a lot of jobs when you add it all up! 👍😁
Been a great series so far Andy,a lot of sweat equity tied-up so far,and more to come!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎
A tradesperson usually charges £120 to £300 a day depending on what they are and are doing/location. Costs can be a lot more if you can't do it yourself
Brilliant, well done Andy. I reckon you could have done those windows yourself mind ;) we're renovating a Victorian house and to have the original sash windows double glazed and restored cost more than your full reno! As you say at the start, we're just guardians taking care of three old properties!
If the property is empty you inform the council and they allow a six month holiday on the rates providing they inspect and there are no beds and no one can live there. I dont know if this appliys to all councils.
The empty house exemption went out with the Ark !! May be wrong, but don't think any councils give a deduction any more 😒
Thanks for sharing Andy
No worries!
That was a great price for your windows, I was quoted £3k for just 3 small windows.
I really need to find a decent window fitter
Another great vid. Thank you.
Hi Andy, could you please post the link to the video about the rental you were staying in whilst renovating your house, I can't seem to find it. Thanks.
Here you go: ua-cam.com/video/B151toYOJNw/v-deo.html
Many many wise word's. I put a membrane and sheep's wool insulation under the floorboards and the difference is on a different level. But I often wonder if today it's better to complete knock an old property down or gut top to bottom back to brick and rebuild to latest standards.
Retrofit is difficult largely if people are trying to live in the place during it. A complete demolition and rebuild would be much more expensive than a long term accommodation whilst retrofitting.
@@Lewis_Standing Also in the UK you'd be very unlikely to get planning consent for that. And given that this is a 'semi-detached' - the next-door neighbour might not be at all happy :)))
@@stevemichael8458It would be better to knock both properties down, but planning permission would be a cinch if the visual appearance of the house doesn't change. I'd knock them down and build two 1930's semi's to Passivhaus standard in their place. Then a small heatpump (e.g. 4kW) would be fine for heating.
It way easier to build a house from scratch than the work we've had to do on this place, if we include the extension. 😁👍
@@GosforthHandyman indeed. That was my point. I've personally done what you are doing on a smaller scale and knocked a semi back to brick ripping out the floor boards cleaning out underneath all whilst living upstairs and a mobile kitchen.
Hi Andy, Who did you get to install your woodburner? Did they certify the install?
Was the window quote from Everest? 😂 I ended up getting quotes between 5000-10000 for around 9 windows in total. Ended up buying them from a supplier for less than £2k and installing myself in 2 days. I’d say anyone can install them with some thought process and research.
Hi. Do you mind sharing the windows supplier 🙏
Can you please share the supplier?
Hi, great vids!, when you said nearly 3 grand for plastering, was that just a reskim?
The builders i work with charge about 2k per meter for single story extension and £2.5k for 2 story
Thanks for this. perfect
Hi Andy.. I was wondering what you're thoughts were on the soundproofing and was it successful.
I thought the soundproofing would be a load more - pleasantly surprised and will remember that for my next property. Surprised that there were costs for the waste - I over estimated on things like water as building over a sewer pipe would cost £600 in London, but that maybe should be part of the extension. Gas, electricity & central heating were also a bit less than I thought, but I do live in London.
Yeah, the soundproofing stuff isn't too expensive - the Tecsound is probably the biggest cost... and heaviest. 😂👍
Well done, totally amazing.
Cheers bud!
Was the cost of the building regulations included in the workings out? We did a pseudo extension last year and had to get Building Notice (technically should have been Planning Permission, but the council messed up so they allowed it as Building Notice instead). The cost of that alone was almost £400.
Saw a glimpse of your extension through your window!😉
Spoiler alert! 😂
I thought you would be nearer £40k as we did the same to a 1970's 3 bed semi back in 2004 which cost us £45k - I presumed you had done a lot of the work yourself but we used trades to do the whole thing (re-plumb, re-wire, new central heating, new kitchen new, bathroom, new windows, replaster, repaint, new carpets) and did the whole job in 6 weeks! Took a bit of planning, organisation and a bit of luck too!
My wife is Japanese and she doesn't understand why people don't sort their houses out before they move in! We've been here for nearly 20 years now - had to do nothing to the place and it still looks good.
What power output wood burner have you got there? Looking into getting one! And did you used raised beams to board the loft so there's enough room for the insulation?
Related questions.... With the house being so insulated, what is it like for heat/cooling in summer. Does it get overly hot, would you require air conditioning? I'm truly interested in how it works.
air con not required in UK.
On the one day a year it's hot enough to need air-con we just open a window. 😉👍
@@GosforthHandyman Yep !! that is what's called 'A Madam Butterfly' summer (one Fine Day 🎵 ) 😀💯
I mainly wondered because I hate being hot. I can hand on heart say I haven't had my heating on all winter and my place is very basically insulated. I also live in the UK.
Hi there. Europe is still a thing, and Britain not from the view. 34105,61 EUR. Love your channel!
It all adds up massively. Miscellaneous budget goes out the window and you need to be strict on accounting for it. What about the cost for the actual extension work?
By the way. Keeping heat out might become an issue too.
I'm sitting here in Midwestern USA completely boggled by the fact that insulation isn't a priority in the UK. One of the first things done in a house renovation is updating the insulation bc what's already there is usually outdated tech and isn't efficient enough anymore. Where I live, the R value of a wall is hugely important. People can die in poorly insulated, underheated houses here. And the cost of heating one of those houses...I shudder to think.
My newly renovated apartment is super-insulated and super-efficient. My electric bill (total electric building) is only about $40USD a month in winter. That's lights, hot water, heating, and cooking. Insulation makes the difference.
Loved the video again Andy...regarding rising damp i came across a web page saying it's a myth about rising damp and only the British seem to mention it ?
... You believed something on the Internet......?!
Rising damp is very real... but it's often misdiagnosed and taken advantage of by 'damp experts'. 😂👍
Yeah that's what i read Andy about damp experts taking advantage......and to the other Andy it wasn't just some mickey mouse website it was on the English Heritage or Something similar when I was researching about Lime mortar
Hi mate your vids are really useful. Im doing up a 1930s myself in Newcastle, could u please recommend someone good for windows and to fit a boiler? Cheers
what did it cost you to dig up an fit new floor in kitchen
Good breakdown Andy....I estimated between £55k and £65k so I'll sleep easy tonight 😉
Sounds very reasonable for what you’ve achieved so far
If you have a convection fan on top of the stove that would spread the heat out even more! 🤔
Love your channel. Would love to do a similar project however it’s impossible for a first time buyer to do this if living in the South East.
Your house in that condition, needing gutting , would cost £425,000. Northern England resident don’t realise how lucky they are regarding property. Its unaffordable to buy a home in the SE.
Yeah, would like to do this as a first time buyer - but we were lucky to find this one! A very rare find. 👍
Even cost of trades... electrics in London just for a garden shed. 1200 quid. No new consumer unit included either. Crazy
Was the stupidly big quite from safestyle? We ended up using them but got initial price of £5k+ for £1600 to replace front double doors and a couple of big windows at back too.
Safestyle make me laugh how they start out at 100% and quickly drop down by 50% on the phone to their 'manager' and then give you a further 10% off before they leave.
I had my main set of DG done by a company who employed similar tactics but after being told on the day that I wasn't interested called me up a few days later and gave me a "very special trade deal" at actually a decent price.
I had a set of French doors to replace a window from a different company that were local in the Bristol area - Polar Bear Windows, that don't play the silly games and just give you their best price from the off.
Andy…a question, if I may?
Your windows were £4.5k. You were quoted over 10k by other firms (presumably one/some of the large national companies?).
We had a quote, out of interest, from one of the national companies that come door knocking for our house a while back. The quote came back at £14k, and like you I laughed them off the phone.
Given that quote, what sort of ballpark prices do you think a good local firm would cost?
I know there’s many variables like location, type of house (slightly larger than average 4 bed detached in our case), type of windows etc, but I’m curious whether your opinion lines up with mine as to how much we’d save.
When you are renovating do you need to get permission from the council?
Great Watch Andy And An Amazing Insight Into What It Really Costs In The Real World. I wounder If The Price Would Be A lot Cheaper If we Didn't Have The Pandemic. Who Knows. Stay Safe Buddy.
Hi Andy, I've finally moved into my 1st house, over in Forest Hall. I've got a full renovation to do. Do you have a double glazing company you'd recommend? Cheers
There’s a man like myself who loves a wood burning stove. They are great.
Been watching u for long before this house, Did u do a video re repairing staircase?!
Here you go! ua-cam.com/video/dxmDiDjWuzo/v-deo.html
I can’t remember what I guessed - what video did you invite the guesses? I think you did very well to achieve what you did on the renovation and control the costs so well. It’s sobering to think that the rental and associated costs which enabled you to undertake the cost were roughly half of the Reno costs or a third of total costs. Well done.😀. Edited - Oh dear I guessed £12k.😫
😂 Don't worry Norman! But yes, the hidden costs such as renting etc. are considerable. We've lived with the parents before, but not when we have a family. 😁
i'll not hold you in suspense any longer... 🤣
was that deliberate, or just youtube playing silly buggers?
Ha, that was deliberate 😁👍
can'r remember my guess now, stick a link in for the original vid please.
Did you have to pay any sort of fees for the various approvals and inspectors?
No 'cause everything that needed inspection was done by approved trades (gas, stove, consumer unit etc.). 👍
I would like to point out the only reason your electrics cost £1k ish is because your electrician was happy to sign off cables installed by you. The average RCBO consumer unit by itself is £400, if a sparks isn't NICEIC etc registered you're looking at an average of £300 for building control to sign it off. The other £300 does not cover the rewire of the house, average cost £5k so getting it for effectively 20% of the national average is pretty damn rare.
Didn't hd say the electrics were 'refreshed'...?!
That could mean anything......
MK 13 way metal dual split consumer unit with SPD 2 x 100A RCDs & 12 MCBs
£147 Including VAT
.........?!?!?!
Yup, wasn't a re-wire as the existing cabling was fine. But our fully populated BG RCBO consumer unit was £140 from Toolstation. Did seem like a good deal at the time - www.toolstation.com/bg-metal-consumer-unit-8-type-a-rcbos/p49597 👍
After all that Andy, I hope your neighbours are sound 😉
Hey Andy. Which company did the windows in the end? We're looking at new glazing for our home and have been quoted £11k for 8 new windows.
That is an absolute bargain. I had 60k in my head (had no idea about gas and electric costs).
As I say, think it's about the cheapest we could have possibly done it... and that's with no kitchen costs. 👍😁
Many of your charges seem astonishingly low compared to services I get in the USA, e.g. $1, 000 to replace 9 feet of cast iron sewer stack in my basement that took two men about 5 hours. I’m in the middle of replacing 75 feet of deep sewer across my front garden that will cost me about $12,000 and still leave my landscaping totally ruined.