Townhouse in the country!

[STUART27]

Hello Folks....new to the forum so here goes....

I've just bought a beautiful 4 storey townhouse in a little village near Darlington. Its quite a unique propery...one of only 5 in a Terrace. It's on 4 levels, with a basement and 3 other floors. It was built in 1881 and covers approx. 3100 sq ft. All reception rooms and bedrooms have working fireplaces, sash windows are original as is all internal woodwork, including floors.

A lot of work has been done by the existing owners, including new heating, electrics, plastering, bathrooms, tiling and more. The only things I want to do reasonably soon after moving in are:

1) Stripping of rather horrible blown vinyl from the hallway walls and replastering.

2)
New Kitchen

3)
Convert double stone built carport into a garage.

I know 1) will be a messy and costly job....probably why the current owners haven't tackled it. Does anyone have a feel for the cost of this. I was figuring £20-£25 /m2.....is this realistic? I'm assuming lime plaster will be a must.

2) will be nice to do as the existing stone walls of the carport are good. Just need to heighten by a couple of feet and replace the flat roof with a pitched / tiled roof. I'm budgeting about £12k for this....does this sound realistic? Its about 5.5m x 4.7m.

Hope someone can give me some pointers.



Stuart

 

[STUART27]

Thanks for all your great advice!

 

[Moo]

"Thanks for all your great advice" - but no messages from anyone since the first request for help.

Does this mean that the helpful advice has disappeared, or is Stuart27 just being understandably sarcastic?

 

[biffvernon]

Probably.

It just shows that it is really difficult to estimate the cost of any job - especially when you havn't seen the site.

So the answer to Stuart's question is, Yes (give or take an order of magnitude).

 

[middi]

Stuart27, your questions are very simple unfortunately the answers are very complex, there is a substantial amount of work which you propose to undertake which, for your benefit, should require a quantifiable work shedule and thereafter estimation of cost.

No one could advise you as to how much a kitchen should cost, or the cost of converting a car port.

Some people spend £ 3,000.00, some £ 130,000.00 on a kitchen
Similarly regarding a car port.

You need to get estimates for what you want , this will give you a starting figure to work on.

 

[Ian Bond]

I bought myself a steam stripper and a scraper and stripped the many layers of modern paper off the walls of my whole house.

It was very hard, hot and steamy work indeed, but I DIY'd it so it was cheap (apart from in my time).

Lime plasterer - good luck finding one, and it will be expensive. So why not have a go yourself, and learn a new skill?

You may find that it's only the wall paper holding the plaster onto the wall in places. Don't knock all the plaster off because it is 'a bit loose'. A bit loose is fine. You want to aim to keep as much original historic plaster as possible.

Sorry, can't help with car-ports. I keep my horseless carriage outside because it won't fit in the stable!

Kitchens. I prefer to have a furnished kitchen rather than a fitted one. I'd never spend £000s on a fully fitted kitchen, with everything neatly stowed away behind doors. I prefer a simple collection of individual units, some open shelves, a table, sink on stone piers and so on. Perhaps you can adapt what you've got.

It seems that whenever people move into a 'new' house, the first thing to do is rip stuff out (like the kitchen) and chuck it away. What a waste of money - but understandable I suppose, given the terrible quality of some modern (and expensive) fitted kitchens.

 

[STUART27]

Hi Folks

I guess I should first apologise for my sarcastic post. In my defence...I was just in the process of moving and probably under a bit of pressure. I'm also very impatient so please don't take any notice!

I do appreciate the advice and will of course get a good few estimates for the jobs after I move in.....this Friday!

I may well give the plastering a go. The sheer area is a bit daunting, but like a lot of these things, you're paying for people's time, rather than materials. I would be a whole lot slower, but I figure I have plenty to practice on....and it's my time, which is a lot cheaper than using someone else.

As for the kitchen, I'll probably leave it for a while before I jump in.


Many thanks.....and again apologies





Stuart

 

[CHRIS]

I would leave the Kitchen till very last as it will get messy very quickly. It will end up with brushes in sinks and lime plaster down drains or blood all over it etc.

It will be a nice treat to have it at the end as well.

Also try and start at the furthest point from the front door as no point in draging buckets of plaster over nice new carpets etc just try and think in order to not have to redo work.

 

[middi]

Also tell your wife or partner not to start putting up new curtains, buying new beds or get lumbered with a new kitchen in the middle of the living room for a few weeks.

It must be a genetic thing, they just cannot wait untill you are ready for it :wink: