Renovating a small 1920's 3 bed semi-detached house (Part 1)

Welcome back to this little mini-series about past renovations we've done. Last time it was a 2 bedroom terraced flat. This time it's a 1920's semi-detached house. This is a very typical small semi - technically it's 3 bedrooms but the 3rd bedroom is barely big enough for a single bet. Fine for a young family with a baby and cot though... which we were at the time! Budget of £20k - what would you do? I'll let you know same time next week. Enjoy!

#Renovation #DIY

[Bobrogers]

After watching two of your house renovation videos I craved more, but nobody else does it as clearly as you do! You lead us through every step of the work, and showing floor plans is brilliant! Your videos are all about the renovation, whereas for other vloggers it's all about them and the work is incidental. Now we have to find a lot more houses for you to renovate in a hurry so I can watch the videos! ;-)

[kyrrekar]

Must be done: Replace led water pipe, change roof of the garden shed or replace the whole shed, fix crack's around windows. Close most of the openings in the crawl space.
Great updates: trim trees in the back garden. Make outdoor seating area towards the sunny area. Put up a small greenhouse.

[BGCW_]

Fantastic find! We have a similar property and I can highly recommend the following to consider;
- gravel the front garden, remove wall for extra parking, easy maintenance.
- downstairs wc if enough room under stairs? If not, can any space be stolen from the kitchen to facilitate?
- deck out from the back around 3-4 metres to have a lovely outdoor space maximizing the views! Will also create additional storage area underneath?
- sell off that kitchen, unless it can be altered, upcycled etc. Storage is KEY in small kitchens, we’ve invested in ceiling height wall cabinets and kickboard drawers under the units, aswell as shelves over windows for non essential items / plants for example.
- the boiler being replaced could remove the need for that massive water tank, which could be knocked out and a pshaped bath with shower over installed. I wouldn’t go for both shower and bath in a small space.
- stair box in little bedroom, try build cabin bed/storage around it to utilize space around. Or a walk in wardrobe works well!
That’s my thoughts, thanks for sharing! Brought back memories for us! Looking forward to seeing the next installment! Take care 👍🏻

[skirtingsrus]

Love this series! It's always great to hear renovation stories.

[dustyjoe]

Bedroom 3 you can build a single bed over the box with storage underneath

[martinmoser]

I would make a hole in the hedge at the bottom of the garden and nip for a few rounds whilst leaving the Mrs to sort out the wasps nest and lead pipe.

[bekabeka]

Working on renovation semi detached house as a labourer myself in Dublin. Learning as I go along

[jamesgallagher]

I love the format for these projects Andy. Perfect for a retired old fossil like me.

[seanoreilly]

If the roof on the shed it OK then spray the asbestos roof with a stabilizing compound. Water pipe maybe enter from the back if possible. Condensing boiler for heating. If budget allows extend the kitchen and put a downstairs loo.

[MBHOMEIMPROVE]

Awesome man! I would extend the rear with some nice bio folding doors with a open kitchen diner!

[rosyclaire]

40 yrs ago we needed a 3 bed property, the only way we could buy one was to get one like yours. What we did was to extend the 'box' in the 3rd bedroom and built a cupboard under. We made sure it was big enough to take a 3ft wide and 6'3" long mattress. The cupboard under was lovely for boxes of toys such as small cars and Lego. We then got a small wardrobe with drawers under, to go against the opp wall. This served us well, and our son who slept there for a good few years until we moved again loved it.

[dtulip]

Ooowwww..this is my first video of yours..and I am loving the humour in the narration :D

[judithjordan]

Okay. I would replace th lead water supply line (obviously). Retain the current footprint of the house (you've only got $20K), and keep the wall between the kitchen and living room (again, $$$). But, take down the wall that separates the living room from the hall and move the door to the under-stair storage area so it comes out in the kitchen (Pantry!). Paint, and a good organization system in the new pantry and your downstairs is done (inside). Upstairs, forget bedroom 3. Turn it into a walk-in closet for the master and you can move the door to the master to the side of the stairs, making the Master a larger, more spacious room. How much $$ do you have left? If you can, now is the time to consider adding indoor space in the form of a 4-season sunroom to the cement patio space out back. If not, hey, it's still better than it was and maybe you can do a nice deck (I'm assuming here that the shed is going to be a workshop, or I'd suggest making it into a covered gazebo/dining area for hosting outdoor parties rather than trying to host people inside what will be a small house).

[iainohalloran]

Think I would have a two bed property but have en-suite’s off both bedrooms and I would look at opening the kitchen and living / dining room up to make it open living it would possibly help make it look a larger sized living space. Good look with the renovations what ever you do. Congratulations on your new family member. What ever you decide to do with your new property I know you’ll do a first class job. ✌🏼🤝

[tonihoward]

That small bedroom is still bigger than the 3rd bedroom in our previous house, that was built in the 90s. It was only 180cm by 180cm, so didnt even fut a single bed. We had to put a shorty midi bed in there for our daughter and that only just fitted in. To put it together i had to make sure all bolts were inserted before putting in the end pieces of bed. Our largest bedroom was only 2.7 by 3.4

[childearth]

Love the work you do - freeze beautiful houses in time.

[honestguy]

From the perspective of someone living a flar in Madrid, those houses are very nice. Not huge, but with lots of possibilities and a tiny garden enough to comfort your sight but tiny enough not to be a burden.

[laurambai]

You explain things really well. Just buying my first property so very interesting stuff here.

[xsbxsbxsb]

Put in a discrete door at the end of the garden for midnight golfball collecting to help finance the project. Build a two storey extension, including a single car garage, along the side and across the rear of the property, adding space for larger kitchen / dining / utility rooms and allowing for a bigger bath upstairs and larger bedrooms.

[regiondeltas]

Just as an aside, as people do tend to worry about lead, but we had a water quality test done on ours (I can't even remember how - but I think the water company did it!) and it came back fine. Because it furs up, this actually keeps the water contamination very low a lot of the time.
That said, there are huge advantages to replacing it which we also did. Not least of which is water pressure as you say!