In what order should we do kitchen, bathroom, painting, flooring + BIRS?

Title says it all! House is 1940s, and needs a bit of modernising. Things we'd like to tackle:

- New kitchen
- New bathroom (that fibreglass shower is...rough
- BIRs (there are none)
- New carpet
- Painting
- (potentially) sanding and repainting/finishing the mission brown architraves, skirting boards picture rails - not sure if this is too much of a PITA though

The thing is, we have no idea what order to do these things in. We live here right now, and we'd probably be looking at cosmetic reno and sale early next year.

Kitchen and bathroom seem like they're not dependant on flooring and painting, but should we do BIRS, paint and carpets all in the one go? One before the other?

Also how likely is paint colour choice going to affect value?

 

Option 1

Step 1 Move into a rental property
Step 2 Let the builder go hell for leather
Step 3 Move back into a new house

Option 2
Step 1 Start in one room
Step 2 Complain about the dust
Step 3 Argue bitterly over the most minor things
Step 4 Throw in the towel & engage a builder

 

Hah!

We've considered this. When you say "builder", do you mean contracting an actual builder (like one company) to do all this work? Or do you mean it as a shorthand for handyment/carpeters etc?

If we were to move out (so empty house), how long would you say that these sorts of improvements take to do?

 

You sure renovating then selling is worth it? Compared to selling as is?

 

Not sure! How would we calculate that?

At present we're tossing up whether extending is still an option - we believe going open plan at the back + adding a bedroom could add maybe $300k - $400k to the value, but it seems that these kinds of extensions cost...about $400k...

(knockdown rebuild isn't an option as we're in a heritage overlay. House backs directly onto parkland and the Maribyrnong river so if we extended we'd like to capture some views at least)

 

How much of the proposed reno are you able to tackle yourself? I'm guessing very little, hence the questions.

If I was doing it, I'd do the painting prior to flooring and kitchen. I'd do the ceilings white and the walls a light neutral colour. I'm partial to a light grey. Like @Scott No Mates said, much easier to do it if you aren't living there.

 

@wylie Nice! Do you have any before/after pics that you can share? That would be extremely helpful. Below is a really crappy floor plan - there is a window between the kitchen and living, these rooms are 4m x 5m.

The bedrooms + living are original 1940s, the kitchen + bathroom is a 1960s/70s (asbestosy) extension.

Block is small, 7m x 40m. House is built along the south boundary, there's a 2m passageway between house's north wall and boundary. Back yard is about 15m x 7m

 

About to get a revaluation done, we're guessing in its current state around $1.07 - $1.1.

Similar block sizes in the area are getting $1.2m - 1.3m with a cosmetic reno @ 2br, and closer to $1.5m with 3br and an open plan kitchen living. What we've heard from friends doing similar things in the area (Moonee Ponds), we're looking at probably $400k to knock down and extend the back, which definitely wouldn't be worth it.

 

A builder by definition is licensed to engage, undertake, coordinate & supervise other trades. Handy person or chippy is only permitted to undertake works covered by their licences or up to the value prescribed. You will need to have an owner-builder licence to supervise all trades if the cost exceeds about $20k in total.

 

This!

The property is quite old and dated, so if you can't add value yourself it may not be cost effective to get a professional in to do it. Ask the Agent what he thinks it's currently worth, and what it may be worth if X & Y is done to it.

 

I am thinking of doing tiling before kitchen. But normally would do it the other way around?

 

Floor or wall ? I would normally tile after a kitchen. Nothing is ever square and kitcehns are adapted to fit the space. Base cabinets need to consider floor level too. Cabinets without leg adjustment wont suit a tiled floor unless ists absolutely flat and then its a water issue as water creeps into cabinet frames.

Those window bars terrify me. Its death in a fire. An agent once told me houses with bars on windows can be hard to sell. Its both dangerous and suggests theft is a concern. "Mothers dont buy homes with bars on windows" sticks in my mind from love it or list it's Andrew Winter.

That backyard may benefit from a complete bobcat and remove all the concrete and render / bag + paint the brick walls (or surface fill with render then Moroka# using a mitt) which have spalling anyway. The old driveway etc and garden beds is a sad patchwork quilt of concerete and just looks tired and layer on layer of it. Rip it all out (even the awning ?). Simple quality returf and it will look much bigger and open. The shed collection - Is it necessary ? If so, respray neutral colour to match. Side fence looks like its falling over. A paved area with table joining from house may create a sense of outdoor use. For a small house this will lift it in use and value.

#Moroko is a Taubmans specialist acrylic surface coating that is tintable that makes brick walls look like a million dollars. Sticks like #### to a blanket. DONT apply to the spalled wall until its surface levelled (remove excess sand / cement render and level while drying) . Thats DIY and easy and super cheap as its a cheap sand cement mix. Moroka hand applied with a mitt looks bagged rendered but never needs a repaint unlike render which will...Or use Armawall - also a specialist Taubmans coating. Can use roller with Morokoa but it will sand grain-up more than a mitt which will have smoother texture but still be coarse so it hides all imperfections. Costs a bit for 15litres but its worth it. Sample pot colour over 4m2 before buying.