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Renovating a Buy To Let for a landlord between tenancies
The problems
The owners of this two-year-old new build had purchased it as a Buy-To-Let, in excellent condition, and rented it out to a young family.
Following an eight-year tenancy, it smelled from poor cleanliness, and had been redecorated to a very low standard. The switches, sockets and lights were covered in paint and grime. Wallpaper had been applied that had later been torn and drawn on.
Kitchen door hinges were bent and the surface of the doors had chipped and delaminated. One of the drawers was broken. A leak under the sink had been ignored and damaged the units. Two of the appliances were no longer serviceable.
The soft-close toilet seats were dirty and broken. There was a leak in the bathroom where the taps did not seal against the bath, so when the shower was used, water dripped onto the ceiling below and the bath wobbled. The ensuite shower enclosure was dirty, leaking, and the door runners were corroded. MDF skirting had been used in both bathrooms and had swelled beyond repair from water on the floor.
The heating controller was broken and instructions had been lost so the heating hadn't worked, although being a well-insulated modern house it was also very airtight. This had created high humidity levels and condensation that had rusted the screws in the switches and sockets, the kitchen door hinges, and internal door handles, while creating some black mould. The radiators had been chipped and also begun corroding.
Some of the internal doors were badly damaged. The patio doors were dirty, didn't close properly, and the door sill had cigarette burns on it. The curtain poles and blinds were bent and damaged. The originally pale carpets were black in places, and the lawn had become bare with moss and weeds. When it rained, water was running down the outside of the house from an overflowing gutter.
Before and After
Stairs and Hallway Before
Chipped paintwork
Stained and smelly carpets
Torn and marked wallpaper
Chipped and rusty radiator
Stairs and Hallway After
Fresh paint
Fresh carpets
Wallpaper stripped
Radiator primed and sprayed
Family Bathroom Before
Bath panel cracked and cut too short - 1" thick silicone fillet to left
Bath taps were not sealed to bath, leaking when shower was used
Overflow blocked by piece of sponge pushed through the small holes
Bath was not fixed correctly, casuing excessive movement
Silicone seals were leaking
Shower seal at bottom of glass panel had turned brown
Plug chain was not connected to overflow
Family Bathroom After
New bath panel cut and fitted correctly, silicone bodge removed
Bath taps removed, cleaned, polished, and properly sealed to bath
Overflow removed, unblocked and re-sealed
Bath feet adjusted with correct weight of water in bath
Old silicone seals removed and cleaned and primed, bath filled
New silicone seals installed, and new under-glass seal installed
'V connector' fitted to re-attach plug to overflow
Sink Cupboard Before
Leaking waste had been repaired with tape
The continued leak caused shelf to break
A DIY repair had been made to the shelf
Sink Cupboard During
Replaced the waste plumbing kit
Made a new stronger shelf
Sealed cut edges with white silicone
Sink Cupboard After
Cleaned under-sink cupboard
Installed new shelf
Confirmed leak-free
Electrical Switches Before
Sockets had not been masked during prior redecoration and were dirty, with rusty screws, as this shower isolator example shows.
The paintwork around them was lipped.
Electrical Switches After
We removed all switches and sockets, sanding the paint around them flat, sourcing more attractive modern replacements.
New sockets, switches, and ceiling roses were fitted throughout.
Ensuite Shower Before
Corroded Roller Fittings
Brown Seals
Blown MDF Skirting
Ensuite Shower After
New Roller Fittings
Fresh Seals, and a thorough clean while dismantled
PVC Skirting used to replace blown MDF
Bedroom 1 Before
Badly stained carpet
Over-painted sockets
Stained walls and yellow woodwork
Chipped and stained radiator
Door furniture corroded and door not closing properly
Bedroom 1 After
New Carpet
New electrical fittings
New paint on walls and woodwork
Sprayed radiator
Door furniture replaced and door hung to close correctly
Radiators Before
Rusting, chipped, stained, overpainted, and hoarding dust
Radiators After
We dismantled each radiator, cleaned it, primed and resprayed it
Bathroom Skirting Before
MDF is unsuitable for use in bathrooms due to water absorption
Bathroom Skirting After
We installed new PVC skirting as a far more durable replacement
Dishwasher Before
Broken appliance
Seal gone, which had damaged underside of worktop and door
Dishwasher After
Replaced appliance
Fitted replacement door and sealed underside of worktop
Drawer Before
Missing handle
Internal drawer box was damaged and missing its roller
Drawer After
Replaced handle
Sourced replacement drawer unit and modified to fit
Heating Controls Before
Missing two plastic covers
Batteries flat
Un-programmed
Instruction manual missing
Uneven and missing paint
Heating Controls After
'Donor' unit sourced to replace plastic covers
New batteries fitted
Re-programmed
Instruction manual sourced
Fitting removed, paint sanded and reapplied.
Cupboard Door Before
This was made from the top half of a door had been cut down from a full-height one with an outer timber frame strengthening the cardboard honeycomb filling. By repeatedly opening against a skirting board, it had split due to there being no timber frame across the bottom of the door.
Cupboard Door During
To avoid another failure we cut-down a new door to fit in the same way. However, we then hollowed-out a 1" strip from the new bottom edge of the door. Next we stripped-back the offcut to expose the timber frame. We cut the timber frame down to fit, and glued it into the new hollow at the bottom.
Cupboard Door After
We re-fitted the original hinges and door furniture onto the door and re-hung it, planing it down to fit the existing recess and adjusting everything so that it opens and closes correctly.
Door Furniture Before
The original door furniture had corroded due to high moisture levels
Door Furniture After
We sourced identical replacements and fitted them
Lawn Before
Bald patches
Compacted mud
Dandelions
Lawn After
Seed has taken
Lawn mostly re-established
(before edging and ongoing 'feed and weed' treatments)
Our solutions
We first removed all the damaged blinds and curtain poles. Then we re-decorated the house, stripping the wallpaper, filling. holes, preparing all the surfaces, and using spray-applied eggshell on the skirting, architraves, and interior doors, with spray-applied emulsion on the walls.
Next we replaced all the switches and sockets. We re-sealed the bath and shower, fixing the leak under the taps, and fixed the other leak under the sink, making a new cupboard shelf to repair the water damage.
The kitchen doors, hinges, and drawer were replaced using soft-close hinges and like-for-like door finishes which we sourced despite the kitchen being discontinued.
The shower enclosure was refurbished with replacement seals, and door runners, and given a deep clean while dismantled. The bathroom shower and taps were also re-sealed with fresh silicone and replacement rubber seals, and the bath was properly secured with a new bath panel also fitted. Like-for-like PVC skirting was sourced to replace the MDF skirting in the bathrooms.
The sanitaryware was bleach-cleaned, sinks were unblocked, new toilet seats and sink wastes were fitted. The internal doors were replaced and a new cupboard door was re-manufactured on-site so that it would not fall apart again. New door furniture was fitted and all the doors re-hung so that they closed properly without dragging on carpets or otherwise sticking.
The patio doors were adjusted and cleaned, with new locking mechanisms and handles fitted, and a new sill. A replacement heating controller was sourced, fitted and reprogrammed so the heating now works correctly. The radiators were cleaned and re-sprayed in-situ.
A new fridge and dishwasher were sourced and fitted. And new carpets were fitted throughout the three upstairs double bedrooms, landing and stairs. The house was also given a good airing with the heating on to drive out any remaining moisture.
The lawn was treated, raked, seeded and edged, and the paving was jet washed. Finally, we found the culprit for the overflowing gutter - a tennis ball lodged in the top of the downpipe!
The cost
The total cost of the works was under £10,000, including the new appliances, all labour and materials.
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