25-year-old completely transforms 90s home for less…

25-year-old completely transforms 90s home for less than £10k

A 25-year-old managed to save £7,000 on a stunning home renovation, completely transforming the property.

James Reeve, 25, completed his project for a fraction of what he was quoted, getting a huge job done for under £10k. By doing most of the work himself, he saved more than £4k in labour fees alone renovating his 1990s semi-detached property.

James, from Suffolk, got quotes for a professional painter to repaint the home, and a local builder to do the demolition and repair work that the house needed. With these, James, who works as a property developer, estimated that he saved around £4k just in labour fees, particularly with the demolition and repair work, which he estimates would have taken a builder 25 days to complete.

James told LatestDeals.co.uk: "This project was an 11-week renovation of a 1990s semi-detached house in Suffolk. I wanted to replace the kitchen and upstairs shower, as well as update the decor throughout the property.

"The living room had been fitted with a dado rail and was painted in pale yellow and blue; the kitchen had tiling which looked old-fashioned. I wanted to create a clean and minimalist feel for this home, but not to break the bank doing so.

"A local builder gave me a quote of £160 per day to carry out the demo and repair works. I estimated that by doing it myself, I saved £4,000 just in labouring fees - because the project would have taken roughly 25 days to complete if a labourer had been there full time.

"I was quoted £3,000 for a professional painting job, alongside £300 per room for ceiling plastering. I estimated that I saved myself £7,000 by doing these jobs myself, as I did the painting myself and worked out a fix for the plastering without doing the complete process."

James did need some professional help during his renovation, but was still able to keep costs low by using apps like MyBuilder and working with local tradesman that he knew through his work.

He said: "The areas I got tradesmen in for were the plumbing, kitchen installation, electrical work and installing the shower. In each room, I replaced the floors with either new carpet or hardwood flooring. The whole house was carpeted before, and the kitchen previously had tiled floors, but each room had a dated feel to it with these floors so I wanted to upgrade them."

He added: "Now that the project is done, the house has been transformed from a dated and old-fashioned property to a house which has clean white walls, fresh units and a minimalist style. It was hard work but I saved a lot of money and I’m proud of the result."

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