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By *loth280 OP Man 9 weeks ago
Caversham |
After a couple of years of getting things sorted, I am now in a position to renovate my house 🎉🎉🎉
Looking to do a lot of it myself, what are the traps I need to look out for?
I know this is a bit ransom for here, but worth getting as much advice as possible.....I am bricking it! |
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Legislation and certification
If you don’t have the skill sets don’t do it. Wiring needs to be checked and certification passed to the relevant people and in worse case scenario insurance companies
Know where all the emergency stop points are such as for water and gas.
Do a room at a time and finish it
First fix can mainly be done by you but finishes I’d use someone who knows what they are doing or practice and research like mad
Poor tiling or any finishes can ruin a look
I did my house. I thought a few weekends. 3 years later and there’s still stuff to do.
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Get the dusty work out of the way 1st if you can. Be realistic on how much you have to spend. It's easy to get carried away. If you're planning on living there, do a room at a time. It's demotivating coming home to a building site every night. Don't do things on the cheap. Buy cheap, buy twice.
Jobs usually take twice as long as you expect and cost twice as much.
Good luck with your renovation  |
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By *loth280 OP Man 9 weeks ago
Caversham |
"Legislation and certification
If you don’t have the skill sets don’t do it. Wiring needs to be checked and certification passed to the relevant people and in worse case scenario insurance companies
Know where all the emergency stop points are such as for water and gas.
Do a room at a time and finish it
First fix can mainly be done by you but finishes I’d use someone who knows what they are doing or practice and research like mad
Poor tiling or any finishes can ruin a look
I did my house. I thought a few weekends. 3 years later and there’s still stuff to do.
"
Gas, electrics and to a certain extent plumbing are defo not for my skill level.....but most other things I want to at least be able to say I tried.
As for a time frame, I am thinking whatever I think it will be, it will be double that.
Great point with the shut offs! |
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"Legislation and certification
If you don’t have the skill sets don’t do it. Wiring needs to be checked and certification passed to the relevant people and in worse case scenario insurance companies
Know where all the emergency stop points are such as for water and gas.
Do a room at a time and finish it
First fix can mainly be done by you but finishes I’d use someone who knows what they are doing or practice and research like mad
Poor tiling or any finishes can ruin a look
I did my house. I thought a few weekends. 3 years later and there’s still stuff to do.
Gas, electrics and to a certain extent plumbing are defo not for my skill level.....but most other things I want to at least be able to say I tried.
As for a time frame, I am thinking whatever I think it will be, it will be double that.
Great point with the shut offs!"
If you know people in the trade offer to labour for them whilst they work at yours You may not save any money but you’ll pick little bits up as you go along |
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"After a couple of years of getting things sorted, I am now in a position to renovate my house 🎉🎉🎉
Looking to do a lot of it myself, what are the traps I need to look out for?
I know this is a bit ransom for here, but worth getting as much advice as possible.....I am bricking it!"
Depends on what you’re doing and what you mean by traps |
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"Legislation and certification
If you don’t have the skill sets don’t do it. Wiring needs to be checked and certification passed to the relevant people and in worse case scenario insurance companies
Know where all the emergency stop points are such as for water and gas.
Do a room at a time and finish it
First fix can mainly be done by you but finishes I’d use someone who knows what they are doing or practice and research like mad
Poor tiling or any finishes can ruin a look
I did my house. I thought a few weekends. 3 years later and there’s still stuff to do.
Gas, electrics and to a certain extent plumbing are defo not for my skill level.....but most other things I want to at least be able to say I tried.
As for a time frame, I am thinking whatever I think it will be, it will be double that.
Great point with the shut offs!"
gas do not touch your not experienced enough to touch that system please leave that alone.
a warning the building trade is not for diyers that have never done it before
stick to the casual jobs to do a house is another thing.
i can do all jobs and i have the experience to do so
plastering leave it alone but your more than welcome to try smaller areas its harder than it looks so be warned
bricklaying stick to outside walls learn there
electrical is easy but rules still need to be followed dont think you cant be thrown across the room or a wire goes bang and your blinded as it has happened even to me and thats through diyers fitting there stuff or someone getting power from somewhere else.
even ive helped out many others out when i was supposed to be the one doing the labour work but ended up dong the job.
im in the process of changing a 3 bed into a 2 bed split into 2 then changing mine into a 2 bed property
but i can do the jobs
im fine with anyone having a go but dont expect the jobs to be easy as they are not |
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If you’re paying for a tradesperson to do a job, you are paying for their expertise. If you must choose to do without any of the tradespeople to bring the job in on budget then start with those you are comfortable with doing yourself.
Between us we had the carpentry and plumbing covered from day 1. Plastering we went on a short course at the local college. Gas and electrics we pay for the reassurance that it’s been done right. |
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Getting the right tools, Some you will need to hire and buying materials so worth getting trade accounts to save money as well as monitoring local groups and being ready to move fast on Facebook for free or cheap stuff.
I just did 14 fence panels , so an auger for the day, two cordless drills and a paint sprayer saved a few days work.
The cost of my multi fuel project is 4000 but 2300 is labour , so looking to do myself as building regs are straightforward and hiring and getting in cherry picker is only scary part. |
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"If you’re paying for a tradesperson to do a job, you are paying for their expertise. If you must choose to do without any of the tradespeople to bring the job in on budget then start with those you are comfortable with doing yourself.
Between us we had the carpentry and plumbing covered from day 1. Plastering we went on a short course at the local college. Gas and electrics we pay for the reassurance that it’s been done right. "
I actually find electrics way simpler than plastering which is something you only get a good at lots of practice and mistakes on mixes.
electrics is mostly common sense and all the information you need is available online. I’ve fitted electric showers and new distribution boards without any problems, But I will not attempt to plaster a wall!
As long as you get it third-party tested its all legal.
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Since I've been in the house (5 years), I have had a new bathroom, a new kitchen, new doors and windows, new flooring throughout downstairs, a new roof on the extension and a new boiler
Still need to do the attic room (it's the biggest room in the house), the yard, the back garden, the front garden including fencing and, at some point, a new roof
It's cost a fkin fortune, but there's no way I could have done any of it myself
DIY is not my forte
My skills lie elsewhere  |
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My advice is to make sure everything’s straight, nothing worse than a wonky door or fireplace etc etc 
