Project with big impact

[Harry Leanord]

I am living in a beautiful, but old house. I have a list of "to do's" that seems to go on forever. I have walls that need to be redone and floors that I want restored. I am sure eventually I will have my dream home, but the process has been so drawn out. I have a smaller budget and big ideas. What are some things that you've done that has made the most difference? I think that I will do the floors first DYI style. Chipped exterior paint may have to speak to the house's character  for another year. would you paint before landscaping the garden? I just would like to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee without seeing a project unfinished!

[Alex H]

[quote user="Harry Leanord"] I think that I will do the floors first DYI style.

[/quote]

If you do, you will be doing them again and again.

Start at the top and work down (ceilings, walls, floors)

[Hoddy]

We renovated a large house in the UK

If we were doing it again we would have a major overall plan for the garden and do it as we went along. Our renovation took longer than we thought it would (don't they all ? ) and it would have been much better if we had been doing something toward the garden as we went along.

Definitely start at the top. In our three storey house the top floor was only ever going to be for occasional use, but when we got round to it at last it made a mess of some of the things we'd done on the lower floors.

Hoddy

[PaulT]

[quote user="Hoddy"]Our renovation took longer than we thought it would (don't they all ? )  Hoddy[/quote]

And I bet it cost more than you thought [:)]

[Hoddy]

You're absolutely right - especially where we tried to cut corners or used not so good workers. I remember in particular the men who sandblasted some of our beams.

Hoddy

[La Guerriere]

"Nothing ever gets done on time or within budget"  (Cheop's Law)

"They'll never be in by Christmas" (Kevin McLeod : Grand Designs)

 

 

[idun]

We nearly were in by xmas, almost the 24th and ended up moving a couple of days later, snow stopped the move.[:-))]

[nectarine]

there's a lot to be said for planting your trees and bushes now since in a year or two they will be flourishing and possibly even producing some fruit ... that will keep you motivated ! On our last house Mr. Nectarine was working on the kitchen and I planted roses ... by the time we'd finished the house I had the most magnificent line of mature roses which the new owner was most taken with.

[JandM]

Start at the top - unless you've got damp and/or drainage issues at ground level to tackle, in which case do these early on too. Get the hat and boots done first.

The first interior job in my house was to put in a warm and convenient bathroom - no matter what the rest of the house is like, you can always retreat there at the end of the day and get clean. Then the kitchen - everything else had to wait.

For me, the last job will be pointing the outside walls - in visual terms, probably the most dramatic and impactful job you can do.

[andyh4]

After roof and foundations (if they need doing) - INSULATION , then external windows and doors.

Working in a freezing or baking environment is not conducive to getting the job done quickly.

 

(8 years in and the list seems just as long - more detailed perhaps but just as long)

[Rob Roy]

I agree with Nectarine about the garden. In our first renovation here my husband had no time to bother with the garden and I struggled with it (starting from scratch) so it was never as nice as it could have been .

This time round we got the garden started early on, and it's made such a difference - for one thing it means we are self-sufficient in vegetables most of the year, plus when friends come we have somewhere to sit outside in the summer.

The first house job we had to do was installing hot water, followed by new windows, some of the old ones allowed both wind and rain in round the edges [blink] then isulation was the next priority, and a decent wood burner. The septic tank was next, which means we also now have a proper bathroom [:D]. Each job gets done as the money becomes available, which I'm sure is the same for most people. We now have all the insulation in the roof, new dormer window plus roof windows upstairs, a new sub-floor laid upstairs ready for a nice wood floor when we can and dividing walls up for the bathroom and bedroom (only one side of plasterboard at the moment though!).

What you do first depends on what you feel are essentials and priorities to you, but working from the top down in principle is a good idea.

[just john]

[quote user="JandM"]Start at the top - unless you've got damp and/or drainage issues at ground level to tackle, in which case do these early on too. Get the hat and boots done first. The first interior job in my house was to put in a warm and convenient bathroom - no matter what the rest of the house is like, you can always retreat there at the end of the day and get clean. Then the kitchen - everything else had to wait. For me, the last job will be pointing the outside walls - in visual terms, probably the most dramatic and impactful job you can do.[/quote]

There speaks the voice of experience, but I'd say first you have to have a plan, what you to intend to do, how and where, 
and a work plan, say 8-5 Mon-Fri.

Roof, rearranging openings (new windows & doors) and internal walls, followed by 1st fix plumbing and wiring, then plastering, floors;
At this stage if you expect to live in it, bathroom, and utility (washing machine etc). Kitchen, 2nd fix, decorate.

Likewise outside needs a plan and 'gardening duties' for a little light diversion at weekends, don't forget kerb appeal will also give you a change and a bit of satisfaction, especially clearance, tree/shrub planting, path and patio laying[:D]. Finally that finishing render and the roses round the door . . .[B]