Rick wrote:
On 30 Jan 2006 12:37:29 -0800, "
wrote:

My partner and I are in the process of buying a house. its an
ex-student house but in really good condition because the father bought
it for his son.

although we plan to do a lot of the work on it ourselves what we really
need are ballpark figures for certain things.

so

very small bathroom - total refurb, old for new basically + tiling
plumbing etc, this is assuming a bathroom suite cost of around £500

total redecoration - 2 downstairs rooms, hall, stairs, landing, 2
medium sized bedrooms and 1 tiny box room. This is assuming a modest
budget for carpets and painting

we're ignoring the kitchen as its quite usable at the moment, we'll
save up for that.

this isnt some sort of renovation job. we're buying this house to live
in so there's not rush with anything.

our overall budget is about £5000.

I know its probably impossible to say without more info but is this
realistic?

Sounds OK to me. I get tempted into thinking 5K is a lot, and splash
out on a really wow bathroom, and have nothing left for the rest, this
is best avoided. Those endless odd trips to B&Q for just a paintbrush,
really add up in the end.

Rick


Its very hard to say.

The approach I would take on the bathroom, is buy the cheapest
acceptable bath, basin and loo, but shop around for decent TAPS and pay
a little more..and spend the money on

- 1 mounting the thin plasticky bath with LOTS of woodwork and car body
filler so it doesn't flex. And case it in yourself with tileabl ply, or MDF.

- spend teh money you have saved on really good tiles ....they make ALL
the difference. With bathrooms, the labour is the cost - a full suite
for 4000 is easiliy achieved..but you can spend twice that on tiles and
fittings..and maybe ten times that on installing it all.

I'd say that I'd expect to spend a grand on a decent bathroom. Ive done
em for about 600 - small ones without showers - and its Ok..but the
tiles end up being a bit plain.

decoration is really cheap..on materials...but HUGELY labour intensive.
Surface prep., filling all the cracks and holes, sanding it all
down..then loads of careful work with paint brushes..and you may want to
re carpet etc..not a short job..but very satisfying.

Id say a grand for the bathroom and two for the redecoration.