DIY

[kruddler]

Just wondering if there are any DIY renovation aficionados on the forum?

I've just bought my first house and will be moving in probably around April and starting to plan a few renovations that need to be done.

Has anyone here ever installed their own timber laminate or vinyl plank flooring? If so, is it the kind of thing a reno novice can do? I have never done any reno style projects, but am conscious of my dwindling budget, so trying to prioritise what I should get a professional for and what I might be able to do myself.

Three biggest jobs are:

Painting - Interior only, but basically every room needs to be done
Carpet - To bedrooms (3) and lounge
Flooring - Kitchen, family room and hallways. Tossing up between timber laminate and vinyl planks

I definitely will have to get the carpets done professionally, so mainly it's going to be whether I do the painting myself, or do the flooring myself. So to anyone with some experience, which would be the easiest for someone with absolutely no experience in either?

Qualified chippy who works for a builder who encourages us to try our hand at everything.
Also renovating a beach house at the moment.

Painting is worth giving a try yourself. I've prepped and painted both inside and outside. Give it a crack and if you fail, you can always get a qualified painter to do it.
Some advice is to start in a room that doesn't matter and work your way up to the bigger rooms. Also spend the extra coin on getting half decent brushes and rollers, it makes a big difference.

Carpet relatively cheap, and the most physical of all the jobs. Don't bother.

Flooring You've got plenty of options and you need to narrow down which option you want to see if its worth doing.
Tongue and groove flooring can be quick if you have all the tools, but can get very tricky cutting in and around doorways and what not. You also need to decide if you want to glue down or floating both have pros and cons of both.
Alternatively you mentioned vinyl planks...they also come in 2 kinds, stickyback and dryback. One with its own glue, one where you glue it yourself. You really need to ensure you have a flat surface as they are only 2mm thick and show up imperfections underneath. Using some hardboard underneath is advisable.
Assuming you get your level right underneath, the actual putting of vinyl planks down requires little more than a knife to make the difficult cuts and little hard labour.
Worth a crack.

All in all, watch plenty of videos first for little tips.