Renovating to get the Parents Moved in...

[Powerjen]

Hello from a Rainy Southern Scotland.

 

I bought an old 1840's farm workers stone cottage 18 months ago, which has been extended with brick still many years ago. We moved to be nearer both our parents and for my parents to move in and be cared for by me, hopefully never putting them in a Home, though if they are bad, I can threaten them with it

 

We had some rough verbal estimates from a builder friend before we bought it but since  we have been dealing with an architect to get things moving and involving a QS we have very quickly realised that it is going to cost ALOT more than our 100/120k budget.  I am handy and am thinking about trying to do as much as I can myself, however I will be much slower than a builder and time is not on our side as parents are becoming more infirm. I fear we will kill each other if we don't maximise space and I need somewhere to go to get away from them when times are tough. We are both used to having our own homes, it's going to be difficult. The downstairs already ends itself quite well to being informally divided into to but I am keen to try do something with the low attic rooms upstairs so me and hubby have some escape space.

 

We are already on our second architect as the first ones were idiots who didn't listen and though we picked their cheapest simplest plan it was still 3 times out budget. We are trying to do everything under permitted development to cut down on the time things will take and have just had a builder round to show him preliminary sketches to see what sort of costs he thinks things will be and are also waiting for a QS to get back to us too.

 

Any advice or help very gratefully received!

Thanks.

[newhome]

Welcome! You must be in a different part of southern Scotland to me as the weather is nae bad here ?. What would be really helpful is a copy of the current plans and some photos and then people here can get a feel for your project and provide better advice. 

[Powerjen]

4 minutes ago, newhome said:

Welcome! You must be in a different part of southern Scotland to me as the weather is nae bad here ?. What would be really helpful is a copy of the current plans and some photos and then people here can get a feel for your project and provide better advice. 

 

Hi Newhome, thanks for the welcome. I'm East Dumfriesshire but nice to meet a friendly neighbour! Should I post stuff here or in another category? Grateful of any advice...

[newhome]

Probably best to post a new topic in the right sub forum as then you are likely to get a better range of replies. I can see that you’ve done that now ?. 

 

You need to to break the work down and try to cost each job separately both in terms of materials and labour, then see where you can / want to do the work to save some cash. 

 

I don’t suppose either of your parents are registered disabled? I think there may be some VAT concessions for specific work for a disabled person. 

[Powerjen]

Thanks @newhome, I will be brave and post the plan as is and also the ideas sketch to see what people say. Parents have blue badges but not registered disabled but I have read that if you are altering your home for an elderly person even if not disabled there is some VAT you can claim back

[Ferdinand]

Welcome. Reposted from the other thread.

 

-----------------

Right, useful questions. I think there are still a couple that you have not covered.

 

1 - Where are you *roughly* (ie county) for weather and Regulations background?

2 -  Is it listed or protected in any other way?

3 - Can you upload a site plan (square drawn on a Google sat-view would do)?

4 - Is there anything serious wrong with it - are we into major floor renovation, new roofs, new windows etc?

5 - Are you in a compulsory rush, or is there a reasonable amount of time?

6 - Is everything roughly level?

7 - Can you give us at least a couple of known dimensions, which would really help? A scale if there is one in the top plan would do, or a room size or two.

8 - How many decades (roughly) is your planning horizon? Say 10 years, 25 years etc.

 

The more we know, the better we can help you think.

 

The general approach that often finds favour here - subject to constraints - is "fabric first", which prioritises long term easy-to-run-ness / liveability.

 

I'm sure I saw something not dissimilar on Escape to the Country, over my mum's shoulder. So you are not alone. We are in the throes of redoing bathrooms for accessibility ourselves, as it was one of just a few things the previous self-builder got wrong (bath downstairs, shower upstairs).

 

(Update - I see you have already answered some of these in the intro forum - cheers. Trust me to choose the wrong one.)

 

F

 

"A ‘fabric first’ approach to building design involves maximising the performance of the components and materials that make up the building fabric itself, before considering the use of mechanical or electrical building services systems. This can help reduce capital and operational costs, improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. A fabric first method can also reduce the need for maintenance during the building’s life."

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Fabric_first

"

Edited May 29, 2019 by Ferdinand