Two-family house built in '64 - Renovation cost overview

Hello everyone,

I bought a two-family house built in 1964 about 2 1/4 years ago. Since the year it was built, nothing has ever been renovated on the house, so everything is exactly as it was in 1964.
Each apartment has 95 m² of living space. It has a full basement and an attic, which unfortunately is too low to be habitable.

We completely emptied the house (it was still fully furnished and equipped) and fully renovated it. We did most of the work ourselves. I thought maybe the cost breakdown might be interesting for some, so I wanted to publish it here.

But a little warning: Don’t necessarily use this for your own calculation unless you’re as crazy as I am and really can or want to put an extreme amount of time into the renovation.
We made the first apartment livable within 9 months, then we moved in and three months later had the second apartment ready to live in, and afterwards did the remaining work in the stairwell, on the facade, and in the basement.

So, here are the works done and costs:

Windows and Doors:
New windows, 3 terrace doors, and one front door. Everything professionally done. Double glazing with RAL sealing. The only DIY part was disposing of the old windows and doors.
Cost: 21,500,-

Bathrooms:
Two bathrooms, each 5.5 m². Wall between old bathroom and toilet removed. Access to the old toilet bricked up. Screed removed. New screed installed. Plaster completely removed. Small window in the old toilet removed and bricked up. Completely replastered. New sink, toilet, and bathtub installed. Walls partly tiled, floor fully tiled. Partly done DIY with help from friends and partly by the installer with my assistance. Mid-range equipment. Tiles from tile store and ceramics from the sanitary supplier. Good prices on the equipment thanks to contacts with the sanitary supplier.
(Floor tiles are not included here but in the "Floors" section)
Cost: 6,100,-

Sanitary Installation:
Complete new water and sewage pipes from the house connection onwards.
Done by the plumber with my help. I tore out all old pipes myself. Made necessary new wall breaks and chases myself. Pipes were laid by plumber. Chases filled in by myself again. No circulation line. Including water softening system from Grünbeck for 2,050,-
Cost: 8,400,-

Heating:
Old oil heating disconnected and removed. Very old wood heating dismantled and removed. All done myself. New gas heating (Hoval) with new hot water buffer tank installed and connected. Including laying the gas line from the house connection to the heating cellar and installing the flue pipe in the chimney shaft. Heating was installed by a professional; I only helped with bringing in and some connecting.
Cost: 11,200,-

Radiators:
All old cast iron radiators removed. Heating pipes drawn forward to the heating niche with copper pipes, heating niche bricked up and plastered, new radiators (13 x Buderus) placed in front. One apartment fully equipped with electronic thermostats. All done as DIY.
Cost: 3,500,-

Plastering:
Bathrooms completely replastered, kitchens completely replastered. One living room replastered, various walls in two other rooms replastered and repaired. Hundreds of cracks filled. Radiator niches plastered. Three walls removed and edges replastered. Three bricked-up doors/passages plastered.
Help from friends with my own support (mainly filler work)
If I remember correctly, the needed bricks for all masonry work were included here too.
Cost: 4,400,-

Chimney Renovation:
One chimney flue was equipped with a stainless steel pipe to which a wood stove can be connected from each apartment. All preparatory and follow-up work done by myself. The chimney pipe was installed by a professional.
Cost: 2,200,-

Electrical Work:
Complete new electrical installation from the meter. Two distribution boards with up-to-date circuit breakers newly installed. All cables pulled new. All sockets and switches replaced with new Busch-Jäger. Of course, many more sockets installed than originally present. Some cable conduits existed, many chases were broken open and new conduits installed. All done DIY supported by a trained electrician who connected the distribution boards, so basically just the material cost.
Cost: 3,700,-

Disposal:
Disposal costs for old household goods and demolition material: All waste that was possible was sorted and disposed of at the recycling center. Thus, not too much "household waste" accumulated that cost money; I believe there were only about 2 tons in total. Demolition material was transported over many weeks with a trailer to the recycling center in buckets and tubs and disposed of free of charge instead of ordering a container. (I might do that differently now because it really was absolute crappy work.)
Cost: 500€

Tools:
For all possible work... often purchased used on eBay classifieds.
Cost: 500€

Whitewashing:
All rooms in the two apartments and partly in the basement and the entire stairwell were newly whitewashed. Paint was really very cheap thanks to contacts. A high-quality mineral paint from a premium manufacturer was used. Of course, all work done completely by myself.
Cost: 400,-

Floors:
All floors were newly done:
Bathrooms and kitchens tiled, one apartment otherwise everywhere a high-quality parquet floor (tongue and groove), B-grade, but barely noticeable. Children’s room cork. Second apartment mixed: parquet, linoleum, and cork.
Baseboards everywhere and transition strips between rooms because all rooms have different screed heights.
All work done by myself, so only material costs for 190 m² of flooring
Cost: 5,500,-

Facade:
Old paint completely removed with a high-pressure cleaner, then crack repairs on the facade, then painted twice with high-quality paint, which I again got at a bargain price. Scaffolding was set up on three sides; one side has a full-length balcony, so work could be done with ladders there.
Scaffolding ordered from a professional and set up, all other work done completely DIY with the help of friends.
Cost: 1,600,-

Insulation:
105 m² of insulation wool for insulating the top floor ceiling, 180 mm thick. Ordered online. Fully installed by myself:
Cost: 740,-

Miscellaneous:
Everything else that was done and doesn’t fit into any of the previous categories:
1,200,-

There’s still a bit to do in the basement: plaster repairs and whitewashing etc. But I’ll do all that myself; it won’t be a big deal.

So, total costs come to about 72,000,-.
I had originally calculated around 90,000,- including a 10,000,- buffer. So my real estimate was 80,000,-.
Some items ended up more expensive. What was significantly cheaper was the electrical work. I had initially calculated 15,000,- back then, but since thanks to a friend I did everything myself, it really saved me a lot.

So, my conclusion:
It was an incredibly exhausting time (45 - 50 hour weeks at work and then 13-hour days on Saturdays and Sundays on the construction site for a whole year). It really took a toll, especially since we were expecting our first child at the time, which unfortunately was not exactly easy either.
I learned a ton and found it all very exciting. I’m glad I did so much myself. I now know exactly where which pipe runs, which materials are installed where, and where the weak spots and strengths of my house lie.
I would do it again pretty much the same way, except for a few small details.
Without many friends (including electricians, masons, plumbers) and many helping hands from family, something like this would never have worked in such a short time.

Maybe some of you found it interesting or can take something from it.

Again, my warning: This should not be seen as typical costs!
Two very rough estimates at the beginning were around 200,000,- renovation costs if I had everything done by companies.

If anyone has questions, just shoot.

Regards
Specki