Renovations and Repayments.

Kittenkirst · 16 April 2017 at 11:02AM

I totally second getting underfloor heating! In our haste to get the floors laid in our new build we didn't even think about it and I definitely miss the underfloor heated kitchen from my old home!

Debsnewbudget · 16 April 2017 at 8:02PM

Lovely bathrooms but I really dislike cast iron baths. they are cold and do not warm up so when you lie back in one your shoulders are freezing

AlexLK · 16 April 2017 at 9:59PM

April Targets:

OSPREYS - CHECK.
Make a decision re. bathroom / holiday / potential debt.

For those of you who've renovated bathrooms, where did you buy things from and how have things lasted?

This all seems to be a bit of a minefield. Most of the items we've looked at have a 25 year guarantee which seems good.

Total Grocery Spend: £180/ £400. NSD today.
Surplus Money: / £800.
Bed before 11.30pm: 4 / 31. This illustrates my terrible sleeping habits to me.
Meditation: 8 / 31.
De-clutter and sell / 5 items.
New Recipes: / 4.
Books (to read for pleasure): / 3.

Not having a great month. I'm really struggling at the moment. My in-laws phoned today to check if I'm OK. Embarrassing.

smallholdingsister wrote: »

Alex (I say this lovingly) you silly twit of COURSE they want to spend time with you.

How did you bring your panic attack under control? Well done for that.

I'd rather give them the option.

Breathing exercises and after my breathing returned to normal, I spent 20 minutes doing a meditation. I've had so many panic attacks, I recognise what's happening after not very long and try to focus on breathing.

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Alex, I am glad the meal was a success and everyone enjoyed it. Happy Easter.

I do like the traditional style bathroom. I had a high level toilet cistern at two previous houses and the flow is so much better (and they are less likely to be shunted and crack!). Regarding the prospect of a cast-iron free-standing bath - don't forget you may need to get the floor joists reinforced to support the weight (full of water and one or two people). We put in the same style in our first house but found the bath a little short for us, and very underused, compared to the shower. At the next house we had a 6' cast iron rectangular bath and at this house, the reinforced acrylic one. The acrylic one has been the best, in terms of heat, cost, ease of cleaning and comfort. The reinforcement we have is Carronite. You should look before you write them off. Drench have a good selection of freestanding, traditional style http://www.drench.co.uk/baths/freestanding-baths

I took out a trial membership with Which.co.uk on Friday as we had to get a second lawnmower (long story) so I just checked out their bit on bathroom renovation. There is some good practical advice and a survey of members regarding "High Street" suppliers. The top 3 were:

1. Plumb Centre 82%
2. Independent Tradesmen 81%
3. Online suppliers 80%

The bottom two are B&Q and Homebase (just over 50%).

Probably worth a £1 one-month trial membership for you to glean advice there and best-buy advice too.

Have you considered underfloor heating? I might have mentioned before that we put down electric underfloor heating at our last house - in the kitchen extension - and it was great. Warm underfoot and you only put it down where the empty floor will be so very economical for a bathroom. I understand you can get a mat now to go under your flooring so maybe one by your bath so your feet are warm there and in front of the shower and washbasin.

I love planning these sort of projects - using my trusty spreadsheets to track the items, sources, prices, delivery and installation.

Happy Easter, SL.

The current bath is cast iron. New one will be in a different location, so I will speak to Mrs. K. re. the floor.

I'm getting quite stressed about this.

I suppose I just want to get it right. My concern with going for acrylic is the longevity.

Will have a look at the PlumbCentre website.

My wife and I like the idea of underfloor heating but I think this is probably going to send us over budget as I think we'll probably spend the £8,000 on materials alone.

Labour shouldn't come to more than £500 as we'll being doing the vast majority ourselves and I know a good plumber who gets a lot of business from us. My wife is considering the idea of doing this project much cheaper but my concern is the quality of materials.

Kittenkirst wrote: »

I totally second getting underfloor heating! In our haste to get the floors laid in our new build we didn't even think about it and I definitely miss the underfloor heated kitchen from my old home!

My wife loves the idea of building her own property - do you have a build diary on here?

AlexLK · 16 April 2017 at 10:00PM

Debsnewbudget wrote: »

Lovely bathrooms but I really dislike cast iron baths. they are cold and do not warm up so when you lie back in one your shoulders are freezing

We have a cast iron bath. Are baths made of other materials any different?

AlexLK · 16 April 2017 at 11:56PM

Watched the second episode of Rich House, Poor House. "Rich" family were awfully boorish and rough. "Poor" mother seemed to lack an education and I was shaking my head every time she said "brought" rather than "bought" but her heart seemed in the right place.

"Rich" family, especially the 26 year old daughter still living at home also seemed to lack an education and was unable to enunciate her words properly annoyed me. Not really sure what the "poor" family could have taken from that experience other than more money = more toys.

I find it quite interesting they've so far chosen self-made "rich" families with nobody working or one working part-time and "poor" families with at least somebody working. Despite going to a rural county in the second episode, they have chosen people that live in large towns / suburbs rather than people living in rural communities.

This time around the "poor" family had £140 to spend per week after utilities / housing costs. With four children I think that's incredibly hard but with just one as the "rich" family had, I don't see why that is such a hardship. I could easily feed my family for £50, spend £40 in fuel (£20 in the LR, £20 in the MG) to last for the week (being careful about fuel usage) which would leave £50 for other things. I can quite honestly say I don't spend £50 on other things in a week now. Walking the dogs is a free activity as is washing them in this household ("rich" family had their own personal dog washer). Something I realised from this: MSE has taught me a lot about budgeting and my life is A LOT better for it.

Suffolk_lass · 17 April 2017 at 9:30AM

I think you may have been spammed by a bot Alex - there are a fair number of these on the forums at the moment - off-subject, single sentences, picking up on the title but not the discussion. I have reported it, so the Board's guides can check.

AlexLK · 17 April 2017 at 5:59PM

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

I think you may have been spammed by a bot Alex - there are a fair number of these on the s at the moment - off-subject, single sentences, picking up on the title but not the . I have reported it, so the Board's guides can check.

Thanks, SL.

I presume I don't need to do anything?

Watty1 · 17 April 2017 at 10:52PM

Just catching up. I saw that copper bath in York recently - it looked even better in real life. It is stunning....maybe you could just have the bath for now?

AlexLK · 17 April 2017 at 11:52PM

April Targets:

OSPREYS - CHECK.
Make a decision re. bathroom / holiday / potential debt.
Total Grocery Spend: £220/ £400.
Surplus Money: / £800. Not going to happen this month after I forgot to budget for the council tax and our weekend away.

Bed before 11.30pm: 4 / 31. This illustrates my terrible sleeping habits to me. :rotfl:
Meditation: 9 / 31.
De-clutter and sell / 5 items.
New Recipes: / 4.
Books (to read for pleasure): / 3.

We've not been anywhere apart from dog walking today. I've been rather ill but quite productive in my own way. Spent the day organising my life using the concepts of the "self journal" (see online). The journal itself is c.£35 and would need to be replaced every 13 weeks but you can download a PDF for free, so I've made my own. Chance to use a fair number of my pens.

:rotfl: :j My version will cost me a £3.99 notebook from the local stationery shop every once in a while. Calling that an MSE win. :money:

Also spent some time fine tuning my finances spreadsheet too. Yes, it appears I've become an MSE geek.

Watty1 wrote: »

Just catching up. I saw that copper bath in York recently - it looked even better in real life. It is stunning....maybe you could just have the bath for now?

Don't tempt me, Watty. I absolutely love it ... enough to put it on the 0% card. :eek:

Suffolk_lass · 18 April 2017 at 7:18PM

Alex, the guides agreed with me re spam bot as both posts have gone.

I love the idea of you turning in to an MSE Spreadsheet geek! Have you told ed? he would be proud of you I think!

Nono! don't go and put it on the card! Maybe omit the bath from your new bathroom until you have saved a bit more, if you are that passionate about it. It will spur you to save more...

I hope you are feeling better.

Take care of yourself.

Renovations and Repayments.

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