Hello everyone,
I was at the house yesterday with a craftsman to roughly discuss what should be done. We already have our general ideas, but it would be good to hear your opinions or tips again. First about the craftsman and the company. He is a so-called all-rounder, a renovation company, but makes a good impression and was recommended to me by the realtor. He does floors and walls himself, for the bathroom he gets help from a plumbing colleague. For the floors he also works with a regional flooring company that has a very good reputation. So far, so good.
1. At the beginning, he recommended vinyl for the bedrooms/children’s rooms (he himself seems very convinced of vinyl, would also lay it in the bathroom). But we are now planning parquet on the ground floor (living room with dining area), in the bedrooms/children’s rooms and in the attic studio. I don’t know much about floors, but somehow I tend to go for it because it is a natural product. I am aware that parquet may be more sensitive than vinyl, for example, but I don’t tend to be bothered much by “scratched” floors. What is important to me is durability, warmth and the look. We don’t have underfloor heating. Currently there are carpets on the upper and attic floors; he would still remove those, and tiles on the ground floor. I will probably remove those myself. The question is whether the screed needs to be repaired. Here in this thread already suspected that the screed has a crack. This was also confirmed by the craftsman. That means it might have to be repaired with epoxy resin. Since the floor is somewhat uneven, it would be leveled. If the tiles are difficult to remove, he suggested just removing them in the area of the damaged screed to level it and then to lay the floor structure above. In the attic or studio, there is apparently a wooden subfloor, presumably no screed. Is this reasonable?
In the basement there is a living room with tiles... here we actually plan vinyl. But here too the tiles might have to be removed because there are cracks as well.
2. He would paint all the walls or remove wallpaper in the living room (wallpaper with textured surface, already painted over several times) and plaster instead (1mm abrasion suggested), which would be okay for me.
3. He said if you do floors and walls anyway, you should do the doors at the same time, I can understand that after he showed me how yellow they are, either yellowed or the tenant smoked. The door seals are completely yellow (he estimates the cost per door all-inclusive at 500 euros). There are a total of 14 doors, so it adds up, but it could possibly be counted as a modernization (with regard to the bank).
4. There is water damage in the bathroom (I had also described this once). At the shower either the drain is leaking or the grout; the cheapest solution would be to cover the tiles in the shower area (with new tiles) or if it is the drain to patch it or to completely redo the shower (which would also be okay for us). The bathroom itself would otherwise be okay, maybe at the same time cover the floor tiles.
5. He recommended going to a kitchen specialist (to his colleague ;). But I tend very much to my already existing Ikea Metod kitchen. We bought that in the last apartment and expanded it in the current one. With small extensions we should manage here. Since we saved on electrical appliances back then, we would possibly buy a new stove and oven. The only problem (my experience with Ikea kitchens): Nobody wants to install them. The last two times we had total failures with the installers (both from the internet), the last time I installed most of it together with my landlord. But now all the cabinets are already assembled. The two or three additional elements I can still do myself. The main problem is alignment, countertop and connections. But this version would definitely be cheaper than a completely new kitchen.
6. Optional: A basement room (approx. 15 sqm), completely bare with concrete floor but heating preparation, I plan to convert into a music room. That means installing a heater (cost estimated 1000 euros), pipes are already present. I would probably do the floor myself with insulation/possibly cork, but quite simple. But since this is just an idea for now, this project will be put on the back burner for the time being.
7. Since we don’t have a garage, but only two parking spaces in front of the house, which are also slightly sloping, I still have strong concerns regarding the bicycles. My current idea would be a bicycle garage/shed for max. 2 bikes (one e-bike), and a bike rack for the children’s bikes. I had already asked once, but presumably you don’t need a building permit for something like this? Unfortunately, I don’t have another idea. The garden is unfortunately not an option, as it is not accessible.
Best regards,
Hubi