Partial renovation of old building: electrical, bathrooms, floors... questions and progress thread

Hello everyone! We have bought a -actually- renovated single-family house with outbuildings and a nice plot of land.

Key data: Old building year of construction unknown - renovation and extension 1961 - renovation 2016-2018, construction of garages 2018 +- 160 m² living space, 540 m² plot, double garage and the Heinrich - our outbuilding. There is a partial basement with a deep vaulted cellar (room height around 160 cm) and a heating cellar, above that ground floor and upper floor and a partially converted roof.

That it is not a high-quality renovated house was clear to us from the start. All cheap plastic, dozens of different floor coverings and switch series (simply always whatever was on offer at the time), everything unfinished. But: basically everything was done, insulation, new windows, all walls drywalled and plastered, new heating and radiators, new water pipes, partly new electric wiring, partly new roof, solar thermal.

So far so good. Visually still a lot to do, it was absolutely not our taste, but that seemed manageable. The bathroom in the upper floor should be redone, a partition wall on the ground floor removed, the floors on the ground floor covered with uniform tile flooring... paint and move in. Gradually landscape the garden and maybe sometime change the flooring in the upper floor or renew the cables.

After we have now been in the new house for 2 weeks (currently still parallel to the rented apartment until the end of the month), we realise: 1. Painting and moving in will not work. 2. Man, everything takes so long! Effort severely underestimated.

Unfortunately, there is interior insulation everywhere. While stripping the wallpaper we discovered the moldy base area in the living room. So (most likely): all walls need to be stripped bare, treat/dry the mold, re-plaster. We have an expert coming to the house next week.

The electrics have to be redone. There is only one RCD for the stove, none for the bathrooms, too few circuits (there might be enough circuits but somehow none of them is connected because 80% of the sockets and lights run on one fuse). There are some Swiss sockets with 3 holes. The previous owner apparently didn’t like grounding. The main line comes over the roof, we would have that relocated as well. The data cables just come out of the wall. Sockets must have been too expensive or were not available in the bargain bin, who knows... We are undecided whether to do a complete overhaul at once or tackle it room by room. We have an electrical engineer among friends with whom we might make a plan.

All in all the house is pretty botched. Ventilation of wastewater pipes? Who needs that? 8 sockets in a row on one cable? That’s needed in a workshop! A toilet or sink in the bathroom? Totally overrated! The fans in the attic don’t work? Doesn’t matter, the moisture will surely be able to escape into the roof insulation. Oh, foam sealant? Yes, I like THAT! And rough plaster too... nasty to paint (and ugly besides).

Why am I writing this? I hope for tips, experiences, maybe also some design ideas for kitchen and bathroom and otherwise I would just like to “take along” anyone interested.

A few pictures:

Floor plan ground floor:


Floor plan upper floor:


Garden I already showed in the garden thread:


Exterior view: (the mold is in the living room), between the house and Heinrich (cropped on the right, has meanwhile also been plastered) the terrace is supposed to be built. Unfortunately, we have no access from the kitchen or living room to the terrace.


The living room from the inside... please don’t pay attention to the furniture, it’s not ours. But do feel free to notice the great laying pattern of the laminate :rolleyes:

You could quite easily install a patio door there, right? And I wish you all good nerves - we also bought such a pig in a poke. At our place, every surface was covered with something. o_O But we are not moving in until a year or later, when everything is finished.

Was the insulation made from those thin styrofoam sheets that were once glued behind the wallpaper? Then you might be lucky, and the mold won't come back.

I wouldn't find the patio door very successful in that position. It offers a clear view from the street into the living room, and the terrace itself doesn't really fit there.
Am I understanding correctly that the terrace is supposed to be built in front of the front door?

What does the other side of the house look like when you look out of the kitchen? Is there space for the terrace there? Possibly swap the living room with the kitchen and then install a patio door there.

Both the living room and the kitchen face the street, so it doesn’t help. Therefore, there is no patio door planned anywhere, you just go through the front door.

Was the insulation made of those thin styrofoam sheets that were once glued behind the wallpaper? Then you might be lucky and the mold won’t come back.

No, they are 2 or 3 cm thick panels, I think they are styrofoam composite panels with the drywall attached directly. Haven’t opened yet...

The kitchen should remain in the room including the dining table? If table, for how many people?

Where are water/sewage currently located in the kitchen? Please measure.

and all wall sections, window and door widths would be helpful