You are reading a single comment by @jeff80 and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
-
This is more or less what I'm hoping to do, Although no parents in London would mean we'd have to try and rent somewhere during big structural work, which could get pricey if there are delays. I did all the work in our current place so it doesn't phase me too much, but I did have my Dad's help for structural things and he's really too old to ask for this again (he was an engineer/small scale handy-man/builder before he retired).
jeff80
On the kid + renovation: we ended up moving to my parents for three months with a 4 month old, after overlapping renting and new house ownership for 3 months.
We worked with trades to get the biggest parts (electrics, plumbing, kitchen and bathroom, most of the skimming) then aimed to do finishing like floors and decorating ourselves to save a few Bob - 2.5y down the line we’re still on it. Small babies make it a bit trickier (probably shouldn’t fill their lungs with dust eh?) and toddlers have a habit of escaping with your chisel/paint brush/drill…
We also did the “quote today, work in 12 months” for some outside work last year and material costs increases really kicked hard on the final bill!
So: all very doable, but factor in that a baby adds a challenge and the current universe makes the finances less predictable - if that feels ok, get some quotes in with a set time in the diary for work to start and don’t be surprised if that becomes a moving target. That’s my two cents!