Hello,
we are planning to purchase a single-family house.
Here are some details:
Year built: 1957
Living area: 130 m² (1400 sq ft) / basement
Plot size: 830 m² (0.2 acres)
Price: €85,000
Gas heating from 2005
Garage
Windows from 1980
Double-layer exterior walls
3-core wiring without RCD
Clay roof tiles / no insulation
That should be enough for now.
We really like the room layout.
- Upstairs, only a non-load-bearing wall needs to be removed to create a large bathroom.
- Downstairs, there is a guest toilet that also needs to be renovated.
- Inside, everything must be completely stripped out, meaning carpets and wallpaper.
- The subfloor consists of wooden floorboards that we want to sand and restore, at least in the living room.
- In the upper rooms, we plan to just repaint the floorboards for now.
- The windows need to be replaced.
- New kitchen (relocating connections)
- Blown-in insulation or ETICS (external thermal insulation composite system)
The electrical distribution panel dates from around 1980 and has 3-core wiring but no RCD. The question is whether to completely renew the electrical system while the walls are already open.
The pipes are galvanized and according to the realtor do not need to be replaced.
We have an inspection by a building surveyor scheduled for tomorrow, who will thoroughly check the entire house.
So far we have optimistically estimated renovation costs at around €70,000.
Basically, we have a shell and plan to rebuild everything internally.
What are your experiences with such renovations? What additional issues could arise that we might not have considered? Where can problems occur?
We have already agreed with the realtor that he will "hold" the house for us. We are happy to pay the costs for the surveyor because if everything is okay we get a good feeling. If the surveyor advises us against it, he will have saved us from a bad purchase. He should also give us an approximate idea of what costs to expect.
Do you have general experience with houses from the 1950s regarding structural condition or durability?
Best regards
we are planning to purchase a single-family house.
Here are some details:
Year built: 1957
Living area: 130 m² (1400 sq ft) / basement
Plot size: 830 m² (0.2 acres)
Price: €85,000
Gas heating from 2005
Garage
Windows from 1980
Double-layer exterior walls
3-core wiring without RCD
Clay roof tiles / no insulation
That should be enough for now.
We really like the room layout.
- Upstairs, only a non-load-bearing wall needs to be removed to create a large bathroom.
- Downstairs, there is a guest toilet that also needs to be renovated.
- Inside, everything must be completely stripped out, meaning carpets and wallpaper.
- The subfloor consists of wooden floorboards that we want to sand and restore, at least in the living room.
- In the upper rooms, we plan to just repaint the floorboards for now.
- The windows need to be replaced.
- New kitchen (relocating connections)
- Blown-in insulation or ETICS (external thermal insulation composite system)
The electrical distribution panel dates from around 1980 and has 3-core wiring but no RCD. The question is whether to completely renew the electrical system while the walls are already open.
The pipes are galvanized and according to the realtor do not need to be replaced.
We have an inspection by a building surveyor scheduled for tomorrow, who will thoroughly check the entire house.
So far we have optimistically estimated renovation costs at around €70,000.
Basically, we have a shell and plan to rebuild everything internally.
What are your experiences with such renovations? What additional issues could arise that we might not have considered? Where can problems occur?
We have already agreed with the realtor that he will "hold" the house for us. We are happy to pay the costs for the surveyor because if everything is okay we get a good feeling. If the surveyor advises us against it, he will have saved us from a bad purchase. He should also give us an approximate idea of what costs to expect.
Do you have general experience with houses from the 1950s regarding structural condition or durability?
Best regards
A
Altbau19309 May 2017 14:57Hello Jan, I’m bringing this thread back up because I have a few questions for you:
What did you pay for:
- Roofing work
- Electrical installation
- Bathrooms
- Windows
We are taking over a 1930s house in good condition from the family, and the electrician estimates his work (complete rewiring since the original from 1960, 3 floors of 60sqm (645 sq ft) each) at around 11,000€; he will do everything, including chasing and installing boxes. If we decide on electric roller shutters, that adds about 1,500€.
Our roof needs partial repairs and new insulation. The roofer (who is also an energy consultant) will come the week after next for measurements. If a full renovation is necessary, two existing dormers will be removed (new ones are very expensive) and replaced with Velux windows instead. We plan to create an open roof structure there as a second large living room.
Since I don’t want to insulate the 60cm (24 inch) thick slate exterior walls, we probably have to choose double-glazed windows instead of triple-glazed ones (that’s what I’ve often read).
Because we are getting the house inexpensively, we have estimated renovation costs at 120,000€. Much of this is roughly calculable, except the roof. It could be done for 20,000€, or end up costing 60,000€. We are looking forward to the roofer’s assessment...
Good luck with your renovation, and thanks for the tips and suggestions!
What did you pay for:
- Roofing work
- Electrical installation
- Bathrooms
- Windows
We are taking over a 1930s house in good condition from the family, and the electrician estimates his work (complete rewiring since the original from 1960, 3 floors of 60sqm (645 sq ft) each) at around 11,000€; he will do everything, including chasing and installing boxes. If we decide on electric roller shutters, that adds about 1,500€.
Our roof needs partial repairs and new insulation. The roofer (who is also an energy consultant) will come the week after next for measurements. If a full renovation is necessary, two existing dormers will be removed (new ones are very expensive) and replaced with Velux windows instead. We plan to create an open roof structure there as a second large living room.
Since I don’t want to insulate the 60cm (24 inch) thick slate exterior walls, we probably have to choose double-glazed windows instead of triple-glazed ones (that’s what I’ve often read).
Because we are getting the house inexpensively, we have estimated renovation costs at 120,000€. Much of this is roughly calculable, except the roof. It could be done for 20,000€, or end up costing 60,000€. We are looking forward to the roofer’s assessment...
Good luck with your renovation, and thanks for the tips and suggestions!
P
Peanuts749 May 2017 15:1111,000 € for electrical work on 3 floors, including removal of old wiring, new installations, and materials, sounds reasonable to me.
Is the main distribution board included as well?
I estimate the material costs at 5,000-8,000 € (5,500-8,800 USD), depending on quantity, and the labor is quite a lot...
Is the main distribution board included as well?
I estimate the material costs at 5,000-8,000 € (5,500-8,800 USD), depending on quantity, and the labor is quite a lot...
A
Altbau19309 May 2017 17:54This is a cost estimate from the local electrical company that has carried out various work on the house over the years. They know the owner and the house well.
If installing the chases and sockets ended up being very expensive, that would be a good candidate for DIY work. However, I assume that two apprentices would handle such tasks, and the total cost would be around 1500€ (about $1,600). In that case, they should just complete the whole job.
During the preliminary discussion, it was made clear that the distribution boards would also be replaced, as the house still has old fuse switches and no RCD (residual current device) installed.
We won’t be able to start before the end of the year anyway, as the tenant still needs to move out.
The financing bank naturally wanted to see some cost estimates beforehand in order to list the renovation expenses.
If installing the chases and sockets ended up being very expensive, that would be a good candidate for DIY work. However, I assume that two apprentices would handle such tasks, and the total cost would be around 1500€ (about $1,600). In that case, they should just complete the whole job.
During the preliminary discussion, it was made clear that the distribution boards would also be replaced, as the house still has old fuse switches and no RCD (residual current device) installed.
We won’t be able to start before the end of the year anyway, as the tenant still needs to move out.
The financing bank naturally wanted to see some cost estimates beforehand in order to list the renovation expenses.
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