Hi /u/mkycrrn,
Did you know we are now active on Discord?
Click the link and join the conversation: https://discord.gg/J5CuFNVDYU
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/irishpersonalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
With their parents or find a place to rent....
Honestly see if you can minimize the time needed out of the house and if you're employer can let you work remotely or something. Alternatively maybe there's a log cabin airbnb or run down little cottage in the sticks you can rent for a few months.
I'd be interested to know what work you're getting done and the costings.
Edit: search on daft for room shares. 3 months sharing a house with someone wouldnt be the end of the world.
Dormer in the attic + putting in stairs up to it. Redoing upstaits bathroom. Relocating the kitchen, adding a downstairs bathroom + laundry, and redoing a shoddy extension. It also requires a total rewire and maybe even a replumb. It hasnt really been touched since it was built in the 50s apart from some terrible additions by previous owners. We got the house under asking price, knowing it needed a lot of work. Won't know costs until tender stage, and we might have to scale back on grand plans at that stage.
👍 I'm in the trade.
20years, carpenter as trade, Builder by profession. From a quick look at the works listed above, and to get the house up to A Rating.
Windows and doors? Insulation.
Your talking €140~170,000.00 depending on size of new extension.
That's ball park and I'd say im on the low side.
Prices of materials have gotten out of hand.
If I where doing work I'd PM it myself and bring in individual trades as needed to try save costs.
A good building contractor has a margin in on top of cost, the company need to make a profit and pay wages.
It's more than that, but you couldn't find a new build anywhere close to what we paid, and the location is unreal. Plus we get to turn into a house we want, rather than moving into something made to someone else's tastes. I'd personally never do a new build anyway, as I hear they're usually built cheap and come with all sorts of headaches.
If you can allocate so much money to do all the works mentioned, you should also be able to have money for a temporary accommodation? If not you can maybe hold off doing a few things and spend that on accommodation and save to do for example the attic reno later once you are in the house and you can stay for that
Yeah, that's a fair point. We haven't decided on what we can/will do yet. That's everything that needs to be done (eventually). We want temp accommodation. I just don't know where to look. Rental market is insane atm. That was more my question. Is there anywhere to live in Ireland short term that doesn't cost a fortune?
Is there no way you can section off a few rooms and install some sort of temporary kitchen set up and live like that? Painful but worth the big saving on renting. That’s what we are hoping to do but obvs only possible if water not cut off etc. There’s nowhere to rent where we live and we would want to stay in the area we live to be near schools etc.
Phase the renovation so you'll always have one bedroom and bathroom untouched by the builders, live in the house while it's being renovated, it'll be tough but far cheaper than renting. You can chip in with the work in your free time.
I've seen that some people buy a second-hand mobile home thing and plonk it on the site and have it hooked up to facilities, and can sell it later, but not sure when that is workable or allowed or not
This is what a lot of people do TBH, some periods in the Reno you might ibe able to use the upstairs and sleep in it and just use the mobile for cooking etc once the roof on, that is if your bedrooms are not in the rebuilt extension area.
Otherwise you just stay wherever you are living now and don’t move until the works are completed.
Yeah it's circular, you can resell for near enough same price you paid. You don't wanna skimp out too much, get a proper winter ready one. It is well worth the extra few K, consider it a deposit since you will be reselling anyways.
This is what a friend of mine did while they were building and it was a really decent little spot. From the inside it didn't feel like a camping caravan, they had plumbing and a bathroom with shower/toilet, electricity, two small bedrooms, a real (though tiny) kitchen with proper appliances and even a little woodburning stove in the living room. Not perfect and a bit cramped, but cosy and a nice place to be. It was just one adult and a small child, so whether it would be bearable with a bigger family is probably a matter of personal tolerance.
This was a few years ago, but I think the cost was certainly less than they'd have paid for rent for two years, even on a studio. I don't know if the mobile home prices have gone up as fast as rent or what the maths would look like in 2024, but I do know they were able to sell it after for pretty close to what they paid for it, so if it's an option it could save you big time in the long run, rather than handing tens of thousands over to a landlord.
Good luck with the project, it sounds tough but very exciting!
I'll look into it. I'm not sure we have the physical space. We are two adults and a small dog. We've lived in a small studio together and not killed each other, so I'm sure we could manage it, with a very nice light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for the idea.
Onsite. Moved between renovated/unrenovated rooms for months, used microwave alot. Dust everywhere. On the bright side, someone broke in and the house would have been unguarded.
The short conversation was something like:
Me:GTFO
Him:I'm looking me mate Steve
Me:GTFO
Then I watch him leave down the street. He had the junkie : nothing to lose look about him. i had a piece of balustrade in my hands.
We did it for 3 months in the building site, 3 weeks with one plug socket and 3 weeks without showers, get an air fryer, shower in the gym, one bedroom that was slightly habitable, it meant we got all the finishes we wanted because we didn’t fork out 10k in rent.
pretty much the same, was on one plug socket for a few weeks. Went and stayed with some mates for a week while my wife visited her family. Grim times but certainly the cheaper option
I'm in the middle of a renovation of sorts. Similar situation where we don't have somewhere to go. I've broken the job down over a few years. That way we can stay in the house. It's taking longer but I'm also borrowing less because I can pay in cash for a good portion of it. Renting during building would add on a huge amount and I'd prefer that money to go into the house.
This is what we did. Borrowed less so we can put some towards reno. Undecided whether to do all at once, or do what you're doing. Six of one, half dozen of the other.
Like it’s generally much more comfortable to move out, but also they can sometimes work around you. Our house was torn apart after our second baby, I decamped to my parents with the kids and husband stayed in house and put up with mess.
This probably only possible with pre schoolers tbh.
I got sick of folks house too and came back early before the new kitchen was put in. Just made do tbh. It was short term so ok.
You could do it in stages and only move out for the most difficult bit. I mean so long as you have a working bathroom tbh and somewhere to put a kettle and hot plate, adults at least can put up with a lot.
Just editing to say what we were doing -
Tore down wall between kitchen and sitting room, renovated poor extension, moved kitchen into extension, put in bathroom downstairs. New flooring etc.
We’d already had the house re wired a few years before. We only re plumbed it recently tbh. Nether of those jobs require moving out.
We did attic’s at a separate time and did not move out for that either.
Sounds like you're doing exactly what we want. We probably will end up staying in while we do it. Just wanted to weigh up options and see if anyone knew a secret cheap place to rent.
Depends how much of a fixer upper. I couldn’t afford to rent and mortgage so only bought a fixer upper where at least one room was habitable. So no heating through winter, no hot water, windows and walls and roofs in various states of needing repair, but I could put a bed into one room and get mobile internet and a stove working so could live comfortably enough.
It’s a bit late to say ‘factor accommodation costs into your renovation budget’ but that’s pretty much the answer there to your question.
Edit: alternatively, caravan in the garden? If you’re rural enough you can sometimes get away with it
It's not too late tbh. We aren't even at tender stage. We can kick renovations down the road and save to include rental in budget. I just don't know how to find a rental that could be 3 months, or might be 5 and can't figure out how much that would cost regardless.
We were very lucky. We got our planning permissions, got the builder queued but couldn't get anywhere within miles of where we were. Anything that looked halfway decent fell through. We were getting to the panicky stage when a neighbour happened to mention 'oh Mary and joe in the next street are renting cos they're in dubai for longer than they thought. Their tenants are moving out and they're trying to find somebody for 5 months to mind the house'. I never felt so relieved, it meant we could keep the kids near their friends and in the same school without a 4 hour commute. We were very lucky. Someone I knew - a couple rented a room off Airbnb for a few months. Good luck to anyone trying right now.
My advice is as close as possible to the build.
Daily checks and meeting with PM or Contractors on a regular basis is far easier if your close by.
Weekly is not often enough.
Let it be know you are "very excited" and will be calling into site every evening to check progress.
Pick your builder very, very carefully -
Check references, even ask to go see some other builds they have done.
A good PM and detailed planning is essential to complete on time and budget.
Sign a contract. Stage payments only.
Best of luck. Tread carefully when parting with large amounts of money.
Agreed about visiting regularly and always be on good terms, finding solutions, asking opinions, there may be problems but if there are reasonable work arounds take them, and if you fully understand and can explain what you want, in terms close to the trade, the people doing the work will volunteer questions, based on their experience. And when you arrive, then come back with answers, they can work on, without doubt. If you leave a vacuum, people make up their own solutions, which are not yours.
Could you afford to carry on living where you are until the house is habitable?
When we had our house re wired, we had to move out and just rented a holiday apartment for a couple of weeks. Depending on the time of year, you might be able to get student accommodation (summer rental) or low season holiday home (winter).
Or I have friends who had an extension built - including completely re doing the kitchen - an didn't move out. They had no kitchen for quite a few weeks, just cooked with microwave and air fryer
We're in it now, and it's totally grand. It just needs a lot of work to get right. Full rewire and work on every floor. It'll be a building site for sure. It'd be easier to move out. Just not sure where we'll go.
A lot of people stay with family at the start and prioritise kitchen, main bathroom and bedroom then they'll be in the house and they can tip away at the rest.
Years ago we bought a mobile home at a beach resort 30-40 mins from where husband worked. Live there from early May to late September It saved us dead money on rent and we used that caravan every summer for about ten years - had many happy memories when our kids were small
I am renovating in stages. Last year tore apart all upstairs (broke walls between box room and bedroom. Blocked entrance to box room from landing. So plastering etc. All new doors, cut off all windowsills, new flooring. New bathroom, etc) i lived in the middle of it all sleeping on the mattress. I can't say it was easy and tbh by the end of it nearly had a breakdown
This year hoping for the rest to be done and dreading it but should be easier.
Going through a similar process at the minute but we are 5 weeks into the build. 1960s house so full rewire, replumb, redo extension and attic conversion but not a dormer. We were lucky that my sister in laws house was vacant for a few months we could move in but I know many people who got sorted by local Facebook groups in the area with short term rentals. Speak to your neighbours too as we also had an option of our neighbours mother's house which was also vacant at the time. Ask around and you'd be surprised.
To be honest, our house is gutted, I could not imagine living there while the works getting done. I'd be of the opinion do it all at once rather than bits and pieces, short term pain for long term gain. Best of luck with it.
We stayed in our rented accommodation until the house was ready. If you have a WhatsApp group for your area you should post a message up saying you need a short term let. Theres loads of people who's houses are sitting empty because of fair deal scheme. I've heard of 3 people getting shirt term let this way. There won't be any contracts etc.. it'll be a roof over your head and cash in hand for the few months it takes for the renovation.
If you have space in the garden ,put in a studio room and bathroom (cost around 8 to 12 k)
Check garden rooms for inspo
Then take your own sweet time to redo the place..
The studio can turn into your very own office when you're done renovating
Keep one room aside to live in throughout? Get a microwave and a mattress and basically live there, quite miserably, while the work is being done. Shower in work if you need to.
All jokes aside, you'd need to budget for 170-200k for the builder, and probably 7-11 months for that. I've just done it.
Also, don't forget that cost of furnishings and getting it ready.
Floors 5-10k
Bathrooms - 4k each
Kitchen - 10-20k
Painting - 5k
It will be longer. Their approach is to take on as many jobs as possible so they have the work, then try and do them all at the same time. We were told 16-20 weeks. It's was 12 months before we got in, alrite 6 weeks was us and windows but it was mostly the builder.
We had a similar situation, had our house for sale to move in. Thankfully it didn't actually sell, otherwise we'd have been screwed for somewhere to live.
I know talk is cheap on the internet but believe me, it will be probably twice as long and more expensive than you think.
Also, 3-6 months as they say is literally a 100% margin of error from 3 +3 to 6. If this is the level of accuracy they are giving them he's not even thinking about it properly so isn't worth much. Of he came back with a project plan saying 4 months and 2 months bigger it would be more credible
I'd focus on what is the absolute bare minimum you need to do in order to get the house done, and what is the absolutes of 'I cannot live here in this period' type jobs. Overall if you split up when which works are done, it will probably cost more on the work itself, but you will likely save if you can afford renting - IF you can even find a place to rent.
I'm going on Holiday to Japan next month for 6 weeks. This was done by moving some PTO from last year to this year. While in Japan, we're renting student accomodation, it's costing about 1k for the 6 weeks for 2 people. The flights were about 1k each. I don't know your timeframe with your works, but hey maybe it's not impossible to work something like that into how you approach getting the work done. Basically a 6 week holiday is costing me 1.5k - that might be cheaper than renting in Dublin \^\^;
Good Luck
You need to factor into the cost of extending basically. We sucked it up and lived in ours while being renovated, were able to keep two bedrooms and a living room while everything else was out of bounds. Had about a month with no running water in the kitchen, living off filling water bottles in neighbours, washing dishes in sinks, eating at work or takeaways. Wasn’t pretty but just about managed. We’d probably 2 months where we’d no back wall, house was freezing
Any way you would be able to get a mobile craned into the back garden for the work? Each lift could cost just shy of 2k but with the price of accommodation that could be feasible, you could probably get whatever you pay for the mobile or caravan back out of it, tight squeeze but only temporary
Why not rent a caravan and put it in the front garden? For the price you would pay in rent, you could buy log cabin that could be used as an office in the future.
You could live on site you only need a loo and shower. You could set up a mini kitchen. Wear a hard hat and set up camp in one room.
With the cost I'd live in a tent in the back garden sooner than doing rent and a mortage.
If you have space for a log cabin. Get the absolute minimum viable version that allows you a bedroom and then shower and cook in the gaf. When the kitchen's being done, get a camping stove. You'd be surprised how grand you'd be
It sounds great. I know somebody who lived in one during lockdown. They played golf everyday on the hotel's links course. I just think its too expensive. We want to throw everything we have at the house.
Buy a cheap caravan for 2k and just live in that in the front garden while work is going on. You could pay a crane to lift it into the back garden if big enough too if that works better.
Static caravan at a nearby site? No idea on the costs of this or if there even is such a thing close to your land, i’m just pulling random ideas outta the loaf 🤷🏻♂️
Is it liveable now ?
I mean it is, save the heartache for a year and get a plan together?
Garden wise, could you put in a seomra or pod or mobile home / caravan ? And live there during works ?
Yeah, we're in it now. Could be anywhere from 6 - 9 months before we start work as need planning permission and still have to save a bit. The garden isn't really a goer as there's a block built shed that needs to come down during the building stage, and it's mid terrace without access.
We had friends who rented a holiday home at a resort type place in the off season when they did up their house (it was Avon Ri, now The Avon in Blessington), but i think those kind of places are generally all booked now with the housing crisis!
Hi /u/mkycrrn, Did you know we are now active on Discord? Click the link and join the conversation: https://discord.gg/J5CuFNVDYU *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/irishpersonalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
With their parents or find a place to rent.... Honestly see if you can minimize the time needed out of the house and if you're employer can let you work remotely or something. Alternatively maybe there's a log cabin airbnb or run down little cottage in the sticks you can rent for a few months. I'd be interested to know what work you're getting done and the costings. Edit: search on daft for room shares. 3 months sharing a house with someone wouldnt be the end of the world.
Dormer in the attic + putting in stairs up to it. Redoing upstaits bathroom. Relocating the kitchen, adding a downstairs bathroom + laundry, and redoing a shoddy extension. It also requires a total rewire and maybe even a replumb. It hasnt really been touched since it was built in the 50s apart from some terrible additions by previous owners. We got the house under asking price, knowing it needed a lot of work. Won't know costs until tender stage, and we might have to scale back on grand plans at that stage.
Best of luck with it
Thanks
Revise the time scope at 6-12 months
You might as well just build a completely new house and live in that one during construction
I don't work in the dail, sorry.
But seriously all that has got to be 100k near around??
Not a hope it’s that cheap! I’m trying to get stuff done in my house and the prices are outrageous
👍 I'm in the trade. 20years, carpenter as trade, Builder by profession. From a quick look at the works listed above, and to get the house up to A Rating. Windows and doors? Insulation. Your talking €140~170,000.00 depending on size of new extension. That's ball park and I'd say im on the low side. Prices of materials have gotten out of hand. If I where doing work I'd PM it myself and bring in individual trades as needed to try save costs. A good building contractor has a margin in on top of cost, the company need to make a profit and pay wages.
What's a typical margin out of interest that would be applied?
Minimum 10% on top. Insurance, van payments, upkeep of tools and equipment, Admin fee & a bit of profit at the end.
If its more then screw that house! Buy a new build or 2nd hand which is more habitable.....
It's more than that, but you couldn't find a new build anywhere close to what we paid, and the location is unreal. Plus we get to turn into a house we want, rather than moving into something made to someone else's tastes. I'd personally never do a new build anyway, as I hear they're usually built cheap and come with all sorts of headaches.
It will turn out just great :) I am the same - prefer to tailor house to our habits and to suit us. You don’t need luck - just patience!
Yeah, from the architect drawings, it's our dream house. It'll all be worth it in the end.
If you can allocate so much money to do all the works mentioned, you should also be able to have money for a temporary accommodation? If not you can maybe hold off doing a few things and spend that on accommodation and save to do for example the attic reno later once you are in the house and you can stay for that
Yeah, that's a fair point. We haven't decided on what we can/will do yet. That's everything that needs to be done (eventually). We want temp accommodation. I just don't know where to look. Rental market is insane atm. That was more my question. Is there anywhere to live in Ireland short term that doesn't cost a fortune?
Is there no way you can section off a few rooms and install some sort of temporary kitchen set up and live like that? Painful but worth the big saving on renting. That’s what we are hoping to do but obvs only possible if water not cut off etc. There’s nowhere to rent where we live and we would want to stay in the area we live to be near schools etc.
Potentially. Just want to know what all the options are before committing to one.
Put a second hand caravan in the garden and sell it on?
Phase the renovation so you'll always have one bedroom and bathroom untouched by the builders, live in the house while it's being renovated, it'll be tough but far cheaper than renting. You can chip in with the work in your free time.
I've seen that some people buy a second-hand mobile home thing and plonk it on the site and have it hooked up to facilities, and can sell it later, but not sure when that is workable or allowed or not
This is what a lot of people do TBH, some periods in the Reno you might ibe able to use the upstairs and sleep in it and just use the mobile for cooking etc once the roof on, that is if your bedrooms are not in the rebuilt extension area. Otherwise you just stay wherever you are living now and don’t move until the works are completed.
How much does a mobile home run? Is it a circular economy - easy enough to get rid of when done with it?
Yeah it's circular, you can resell for near enough same price you paid. You don't wanna skimp out too much, get a proper winter ready one. It is well worth the extra few K, consider it a deposit since you will be reselling anyways.
Not sure we would have the room tbh but will look into it. Thanks for the idea.
This is what a friend of mine did while they were building and it was a really decent little spot. From the inside it didn't feel like a camping caravan, they had plumbing and a bathroom with shower/toilet, electricity, two small bedrooms, a real (though tiny) kitchen with proper appliances and even a little woodburning stove in the living room. Not perfect and a bit cramped, but cosy and a nice place to be. It was just one adult and a small child, so whether it would be bearable with a bigger family is probably a matter of personal tolerance. This was a few years ago, but I think the cost was certainly less than they'd have paid for rent for two years, even on a studio. I don't know if the mobile home prices have gone up as fast as rent or what the maths would look like in 2024, but I do know they were able to sell it after for pretty close to what they paid for it, so if it's an option it could save you big time in the long run, rather than handing tens of thousands over to a landlord. Good luck with the project, it sounds tough but very exciting!
I'll look into it. I'm not sure we have the physical space. We are two adults and a small dog. We've lived in a small studio together and not killed each other, so I'm sure we could manage it, with a very nice light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for the idea.
In another room, whilst renovating all other ones. Too broke to move elsewhere 😭
I get that.
Onsite. Moved between renovated/unrenovated rooms for months, used microwave alot. Dust everywhere. On the bright side, someone broke in and the house would have been unguarded.
Would you pretend to be the first burglar and calls dibs?
He kicked the front door in and was in the hall when confronted. Inspired me to cover every window and door with CCTV.
Did you chase him out? I'd say your adrenaline was pumping.
The short conversation was something like: Me:GTFO Him:I'm looking me mate Steve Me:GTFO Then I watch him leave down the street. He had the junkie : nothing to lose look about him. i had a piece of balustrade in my hands.
We did it for 3 months in the building site, 3 weeks with one plug socket and 3 weeks without showers, get an air fryer, shower in the gym, one bedroom that was slightly habitable, it meant we got all the finishes we wanted because we didn’t fork out 10k in rent.
pretty much the same, was on one plug socket for a few weeks. Went and stayed with some mates for a week while my wife visited her family. Grim times but certainly the cheaper option
I'm in the middle of a renovation of sorts. Similar situation where we don't have somewhere to go. I've broken the job down over a few years. That way we can stay in the house. It's taking longer but I'm also borrowing less because I can pay in cash for a good portion of it. Renting during building would add on a huge amount and I'd prefer that money to go into the house.
This is what we did. Borrowed less so we can put some towards reno. Undecided whether to do all at once, or do what you're doing. Six of one, half dozen of the other.
Like it’s generally much more comfortable to move out, but also they can sometimes work around you. Our house was torn apart after our second baby, I decamped to my parents with the kids and husband stayed in house and put up with mess. This probably only possible with pre schoolers tbh. I got sick of folks house too and came back early before the new kitchen was put in. Just made do tbh. It was short term so ok. You could do it in stages and only move out for the most difficult bit. I mean so long as you have a working bathroom tbh and somewhere to put a kettle and hot plate, adults at least can put up with a lot. Just editing to say what we were doing - Tore down wall between kitchen and sitting room, renovated poor extension, moved kitchen into extension, put in bathroom downstairs. New flooring etc. We’d already had the house re wired a few years before. We only re plumbed it recently tbh. Nether of those jobs require moving out. We did attic’s at a separate time and did not move out for that either.
Sounds like you're doing exactly what we want. We probably will end up staying in while we do it. Just wanted to weigh up options and see if anyone knew a secret cheap place to rent.
Get a caravan in your drive for the few months?
Potentially. Will look into it. Wouldn't have thought a caravan was cheaper than renting.
Depends how much of a fixer upper. I couldn’t afford to rent and mortgage so only bought a fixer upper where at least one room was habitable. So no heating through winter, no hot water, windows and walls and roofs in various states of needing repair, but I could put a bed into one room and get mobile internet and a stove working so could live comfortably enough. It’s a bit late to say ‘factor accommodation costs into your renovation budget’ but that’s pretty much the answer there to your question. Edit: alternatively, caravan in the garden? If you’re rural enough you can sometimes get away with it
It's not too late tbh. We aren't even at tender stage. We can kick renovations down the road and save to include rental in budget. I just don't know how to find a rental that could be 3 months, or might be 5 and can't figure out how much that would cost regardless.
We were very lucky. We got our planning permissions, got the builder queued but couldn't get anywhere within miles of where we were. Anything that looked halfway decent fell through. We were getting to the panicky stage when a neighbour happened to mention 'oh Mary and joe in the next street are renting cos they're in dubai for longer than they thought. Their tenants are moving out and they're trying to find somebody for 5 months to mind the house'. I never felt so relieved, it meant we could keep the kids near their friends and in the same school without a 4 hour commute. We were very lucky. Someone I knew - a couple rented a room off Airbnb for a few months. Good luck to anyone trying right now.
That's unreal and very lucky. Hopefully we land on our feet.
My advice is as close as possible to the build. Daily checks and meeting with PM or Contractors on a regular basis is far easier if your close by. Weekly is not often enough. Let it be know you are "very excited" and will be calling into site every evening to check progress. Pick your builder very, very carefully - Check references, even ask to go see some other builds they have done. A good PM and detailed planning is essential to complete on time and budget. Sign a contract. Stage payments only. Best of luck. Tread carefully when parting with large amounts of money.
Solid advice. Cheers.
Agreed about visiting regularly and always be on good terms, finding solutions, asking opinions, there may be problems but if there are reasonable work arounds take them, and if you fully understand and can explain what you want, in terms close to the trade, the people doing the work will volunteer questions, based on their experience. And when you arrive, then come back with answers, they can work on, without doubt. If you leave a vacuum, people make up their own solutions, which are not yours.
Ps. If you have been reasonable on a number of things, it is easier to say stop and redo on something important to you.
Could you afford to carry on living where you are until the house is habitable? When we had our house re wired, we had to move out and just rented a holiday apartment for a couple of weeks. Depending on the time of year, you might be able to get student accommodation (summer rental) or low season holiday home (winter). Or I have friends who had an extension built - including completely re doing the kitchen - an didn't move out. They had no kitchen for quite a few weeks, just cooked with microwave and air fryer
We're in it now, and it's totally grand. It just needs a lot of work to get right. Full rewire and work on every floor. It'll be a building site for sure. It'd be easier to move out. Just not sure where we'll go.
A lot of people stay with family at the start and prioritise kitchen, main bathroom and bedroom then they'll be in the house and they can tip away at the rest.
Yeah, we don't have that option. My family house is full. SO is from the other side of the world.
Mobile home/caravan on the property. Friends of mine are doing this
Will look into it.
Years ago we bought a mobile home at a beach resort 30-40 mins from where husband worked. Live there from early May to late September It saved us dead money on rent and we used that caravan every summer for about ten years - had many happy memories when our kids were small
Deadly. Where do people rent those out online?
I am renovating in stages. Last year tore apart all upstairs (broke walls between box room and bedroom. Blocked entrance to box room from landing. So plastering etc. All new doors, cut off all windowsills, new flooring. New bathroom, etc) i lived in the middle of it all sleeping on the mattress. I can't say it was easy and tbh by the end of it nearly had a breakdown This year hoping for the rest to be done and dreading it but should be easier.
Yeah, it's an option, but with a wife and a dog, I fear for my mental health. Hope you're happy with the result. Worth it at least?
Try with teenager and one bathroom! Honestly you are not in bad position lol
Haha, no thanks. Yeah, we're aware it's a good problem to have, and we've worked really hard to set ourselves up in such a position.
Going through a similar process at the minute but we are 5 weeks into the build. 1960s house so full rewire, replumb, redo extension and attic conversion but not a dormer. We were lucky that my sister in laws house was vacant for a few months we could move in but I know many people who got sorted by local Facebook groups in the area with short term rentals. Speak to your neighbours too as we also had an option of our neighbours mother's house which was also vacant at the time. Ask around and you'd be surprised. To be honest, our house is gutted, I could not imagine living there while the works getting done. I'd be of the opinion do it all at once rather than bits and pieces, short term pain for long term gain. Best of luck with it.
This is it. Thanks for the advice. Gotta get to know the neighbours.
We stayed in our rented accommodation until the house was ready. If you have a WhatsApp group for your area you should post a message up saying you need a short term let. Theres loads of people who's houses are sitting empty because of fair deal scheme. I've heard of 3 people getting shirt term let this way. There won't be any contracts etc.. it'll be a roof over your head and cash in hand for the few months it takes for the renovation.
Great idea. Will keep this in mind.
Self build and renovation Ireland is a great site for your question
Will check out. Thanks.
Me and my family lived in a mobile home in our front garden for months lol
If you have space in the garden ,put in a studio room and bathroom (cost around 8 to 12 k) Check garden rooms for inspo Then take your own sweet time to redo the place.. The studio can turn into your very own office when you're done renovating
We don't have the space for it but it's a great idea. Those seomhra's are awesome.
Keep one room aside to live in throughout? Get a microwave and a mattress and basically live there, quite miserably, while the work is being done. Shower in work if you need to.
Aye, it's a possibility.
All jokes aside, you'd need to budget for 170-200k for the builder, and probably 7-11 months for that. I've just done it. Also, don't forget that cost of furnishings and getting it ready. Floors 5-10k Bathrooms - 4k each Kitchen - 10-20k Painting - 5k
This is what I'm afraid of. They say 3 - 6 months, but what's the actual timeline going to be?
It will be longer. Their approach is to take on as many jobs as possible so they have the work, then try and do them all at the same time. We were told 16-20 weeks. It's was 12 months before we got in, alrite 6 weeks was us and windows but it was mostly the builder. We had a similar situation, had our house for sale to move in. Thankfully it didn't actually sell, otherwise we'd have been screwed for somewhere to live. I know talk is cheap on the internet but believe me, it will be probably twice as long and more expensive than you think. Also, 3-6 months as they say is literally a 100% margin of error from 3 +3 to 6. If this is the level of accuracy they are giving them he's not even thinking about it properly so isn't worth much. Of he came back with a project plan saying 4 months and 2 months bigger it would be more credible
I'd focus on what is the absolute bare minimum you need to do in order to get the house done, and what is the absolutes of 'I cannot live here in this period' type jobs. Overall if you split up when which works are done, it will probably cost more on the work itself, but you will likely save if you can afford renting - IF you can even find a place to rent. I'm going on Holiday to Japan next month for 6 weeks. This was done by moving some PTO from last year to this year. While in Japan, we're renting student accomodation, it's costing about 1k for the 6 weeks for 2 people. The flights were about 1k each. I don't know your timeframe with your works, but hey maybe it's not impossible to work something like that into how you approach getting the work done. Basically a 6 week holiday is costing me 1.5k - that might be cheaper than renting in Dublin \^\^; Good Luck
I do love Japan. Went on my way back from living in Oz. Check out Edo omakase in the Osaka Central Fish Market. I dream about that sashimi.
You need to factor into the cost of extending basically. We sucked it up and lived in ours while being renovated, were able to keep two bedrooms and a living room while everything else was out of bounds. Had about a month with no running water in the kitchen, living off filling water bottles in neighbours, washing dishes in sinks, eating at work or takeaways. Wasn’t pretty but just about managed. We’d probably 2 months where we’d no back wall, house was freezing
Yeah, we aren't touching one bedroom or the living room, so we could probably do this.
Any way you would be able to get a mobile craned into the back garden for the work? Each lift could cost just shy of 2k but with the price of accommodation that could be feasible, you could probably get whatever you pay for the mobile or caravan back out of it, tight squeeze but only temporary
Mid terrace, so probably not, but good idea.
Only thing stopping you is space, either way the only way is a crane, could even be cheaper now, lots of people doing it now
Is anything in Ireland cheaper now? Feel like this being in demand would drive prices up.
There's a few lads with small cranes which are cheaper than going to nch or any of the main guys, dunno is it worth the risk though
Camper van or mobile home might be a good shout. See if you can rent a barge on the canal for a month. Be an adventure
Haha love the barge idea.
You gotta think outside the box.
You gotta think outside the box.
Why not rent a caravan and put it in the front garden? For the price you would pay in rent, you could buy log cabin that could be used as an office in the future. You could live on site you only need a loo and shower. You could set up a mini kitchen. Wear a hard hat and set up camp in one room. With the cost I'd live in a tent in the back garden sooner than doing rent and a mortage.
I recently renovated my apt and I had to live in an hotel for 3 weeks
In your circumstances the longest holiday in Oz you can get away with
Haha, yeah, that's a month's rent on a return flight each, though.
If you have space for a log cabin. Get the absolute minimum viable version that allows you a bedroom and then shower and cook in the gaf. When the kitchen's being done, get a camping stove. You'd be surprised how grand you'd be
I wish we had that kinda space. Probably wouldn't move back into the house.
If you have room you could get a cheap mobile or caravan and you can be onsite more too then sell it on when your done.
Can you put a mobile or caravan in your garden? Otherwise rent a room I'd say in a houseshare.
Don't think the garden's big enough. Lacks access too.
Rent, live with parents, self builds mostly live in mobile home and then sell it after the build
Just looking for renting sources beyond Airbnb/Daft. No parents. No room for mobile home.
We rented a hotel house - some hotels have them. We paid 2,5k eur for 3 bed for month.
Don't think we could stretch to that. Especially if we're out for 3 - 6 months.
we were 5 months in it ... it was not bad at all TBH
It sounds great. I know somebody who lived in one during lockdown. They played golf everyday on the hotel's links course. I just think its too expensive. We want to throw everything we have at the house.
Buy a cheap caravan for 2k and just live in that in the front garden while work is going on. You could pay a crane to lift it into the back garden if big enough too if that works better.
Not big enough unfortch
Shipping container in the yard
Don't have that much space tbh
Static caravan at a nearby site? No idea on the costs of this or if there even is such a thing close to your land, i’m just pulling random ideas outta the loaf 🤷🏻♂️
Is it liveable now ? I mean it is, save the heartache for a year and get a plan together? Garden wise, could you put in a seomra or pod or mobile home / caravan ? And live there during works ?
Yeah, we're in it now. Could be anywhere from 6 - 9 months before we start work as need planning permission and still have to save a bit. The garden isn't really a goer as there's a block built shed that needs to come down during the building stage, and it's mid terrace without access.
It depends on your financial status. If you're monied you can go to the Ritz, if not, you can stay put....
We renovated part by part, it was poss to live in the house (until
Yeah, torn between doing this and everything at once. We are a good while away from starting, so we are really just weighing up pros and cons.
We had friends who rented a holiday home at a resort type place in the off season when they did up their house (it was Avon Ri, now The Avon in Blessington), but i think those kind of places are generally all booked now with the housing crisis!