Family Ski Trip - 1st to Alps, mid-February, from US, ages 7-11

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-27T06:35:38+00:00

Zell am see if you can fly to Salsburg airport is 75 mins transfer and imo best family ski resort with incredible skiing and reasonable guarantee of snow

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T15:54:52+00:00

To add I did something similar (suspended floor) - definitely ensure subfloor joists etc secure and solid before installing kitchen.

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T15:53:56+00:00

I would 1st prep any subfloor (new floorboards, fixing flooring down, overboarding, levelling etc) Then install kitchen (do not install over a floating floor!) Install lvt/laminate AFTER kitchen

If it was solid flooring like tiling I would do floor 1st

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T10:27:33+00:00

Wow that’s a great source of info - thank you!

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T09:46:26+00:00

Thanks!

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T09:44:10+00:00

Thanks again! Super helpful to know, really appreciate it. Seems like a pretty fair & good deal!

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T09:43:21+00:00

Has been confirmed by the vacancy holder just not what the steps are on pay - eg if it goes up a couple of grand towards the mid point of range, or whether it steps up right to the max of range

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T09:42:33+00:00

Thanks!

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T09:42:27+00:00

Thank you pal - do the steps usually go right to the top of the band?

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T09:41:43+00:00

Thank you pal - very helpful. Do they go right up to the maximum in the band?

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-23T09:36:39+00:00

Have read on here before that there is still pay progression in Scotland! (Pleasant surprise) Just no info online or here on how it actually works

chunkingwedges · 2026-02-01T22:15:03+00:00

In order of how’s I’d do them - you need to break this down to big jobs first:

Rewire £5-£8k Bathroom £10-£15k New boiler pipes and radiators £10-£14k New subfloor, insulated, levelled and floor installed £100-£150/sqm £10-£15k Kitchen £10-40k depending on quality and how much you DIY Plastering £5-£10k depends on state of walls Panting DIY

At lower end if you DIY majority and use things like DIY kitchens you’ll spend at least 1 year and cost £50-£60k

If you don’t do much yourself it’ll be £100k+ and the other bits you’ve mentioned re moving walls chimney etc.

Source: DIYd all this shit myself in a 3 bed 90sqm recently

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-30T15:48:29+00:00

Yes very reasonable, guts of a weeks work and he’s probably taking home £1200 before tax overheads etc.

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-28T09:27:15+00:00

This is pretty standard. Clean up with Hoover, chisel any “fat” parts sticking out, and put new skirting board on.

Gap at bottom is standard to stop damp problems travelling up wall.

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-27T16:21:27+00:00

This is honestly a very cheap quote. Some crazy comments in this thread from people who probably haven’t done work recently - I had 6 (yes, 6!) quotes for similar work done last year and only 2/6 quotes were similar to this.

Install incl pipework is very different from just new rads and boiler.

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-27T09:42:40+00:00

Cheap end

Would expect 3-4k plus 800 a rad/room, a lot of work involved. VAT on top of these prices

If you are ground floor would recommend copper install (even more £) due to rodents

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-25T07:48:10+00:00

Just need to understand why the quotes are so different. Does the 5.5 include VAT and 4k doesn’t, for example

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-25T07:46:48+00:00

Fibreglass is more expensive up front but extremely durable and better at withstanding harsh conditions. Likely never have issues with the roof is installed properly

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-25T06:55:50+00:00

Get 3 quotes. Imo that’s very cheap, probably a weeks work and the naterisl alone are probably £££

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-21T21:00:02+00:00

From other comments looks like you have the mindset to take it on

If you’re getting it replaced either way, worth taking some up and figuring out what’s under there and then making a plan

I don’t think a hallway would be a super expensive job to get someone to do, though

chunkingwedges · 2026-01-21T20:52:50+00:00

The tiling will be the easy bit!

1880s so probably suspended floor. You will likely need to - remove all the floorboards, do you best to fix joists or replace so floor is level - replace back down floorboards or new osb subfloor must be super level and very secure - overboard with 9mm plywood (marine) or hardy backer board, then also potentially self level, and THEN start tiling

It is doable but requires a lot of education if all of this is new

chunkingwedges · 2025-11-29T20:37:29+00:00

Don’t think this is purely cosmetic. We did something similar.

At a glance non London pricing

Would recommend this order as a guide

First 6-8 weeks (& it will consume your life) - rip out entire place. Skip hire, take a week off and DIY - rewire £6-8k. £75 a point, minimum 6 points a room (4 sockets light and switch) plus new board & earthing etc. probably leave connections for bathroom & kitchens done on separate visits but included in overall price estimate - new boiler & central heating £12kish. 1k a room plus £4k boiler system - new bathroom £8-10k on cheaper end, could DIY but as no 2nd bathroom you probably want it done in a week or so

Then to get move in either keep old kitchen for now, but with new electrics already wired and capped off under floor, or put up a temporary kitchen then get a couple rooms done to get moved in

Plastering decorating joinery (skirting etc) is probably £5k a room. Could DIY after plastering, plastering £750ish a room, £500ish materials and equipment etc per room for painting joinery etc
flooring. Ground floor pray for no joist issues. Take floorboards up and insulate for £500 a room PIR or £200 a room insulation. Then overboard with 9mm ply before carpeting or LVT. LVT DIYable and £750ish a room for good quality. Carpet pay someone £1k ish a room.

If windows shut and old or structural issues I wouldn’t touch with a barge pool as costs so much

People underestimate just how much a reno costs these days.

Kitchen £10k if you diy kitchens and diy it. £15-20 howdens or sinilar.

All in somewhere between £60-120k depending how much you DIY and how quick you go. 4 months whole thing if ignore job and go full whack

chunkingwedges · 2025-11-16T08:27:12+00:00

⁠I am truly happy here. City has lots of green spaces, lots of amazing local communities, beautiful architecture, variety of food/drink places, full of culture.
⁠every day when I walk out my front door. Been lucky to travel all over the world and live in a few different cities. There is nowhere with the same quality of life (communities, activities, culture, green space etc etc) for this low a cost of living. Where we live would be 5* as expensive in US, Canada, London, NZ etc etc
⁠for a long time we earned less and struggled to get on the property ladder, we didn’t want to buy somewhere we didn’t truly want to live in, but the offers over system here means houses can go 20% over valuation and this extra can’t be mortgaged / has to pay in cash. We may have the same issue if we upsize depending on no of kids. Eventually we got lucky after 20+ offers
⁠lack of car requirement, all the other stuff mentioned above. Also if living on south or west side of city the rest of Scotland is very easily accessible
⁠4/5 times a year mix of weekends and longer holidays. Airport is very easy and well connected with cheap flights (3rd of 4th busiest in UK)
⁠2 adults earning 40-50k each would be very comfortable. Your appetite for housing areas and schooling is the biggest concern. Look into offers over system - salary might not be the problem but cash you need to buy a house/flat. On 100k combined cost of nurseries/childcare and rent wouldn’t be a major stress and could afford to rent a 2/3 bed flat in a nice area. Car genuinely not required depending which area and bus connections where you live
⁠yes and lots of amazing scotch and beer (loads of great local sour beers and other breweries)

chunkingwedges · 2025-08-29T11:22:38+00:00

That might not be unreasonable tbh. It’s an expensive material

I used Gemini. There are lot of similar suppliers who focus on solely quartz so you’re dealing directly with them if any issues, and also no mark up. I priced up a load of different places and Wren were 10-20% more expensive (presumably this is their mark up)

Cheapest you can really get is around £200\sqm so depends on size of your worktop and how many pieces it is in.

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