First-time house renovation

helping_hubby

lisal0u wrote: »

latecomer - Is it hard to cut and fit skirting board? We are going to give it a go but never tried it before!

Sorry to butt in, I think it's a fairly easy job, but I struggle to cut the corner bits, so have to get hubby to do those. We've been using no more nails, as the first one we nailed on made a hole the other side of the wall! I don't know the 'right' way though.

latecomer

It shouldn't be hard as long as the angles are 90 degrees. I've borrowed a compound mitre saw from someone at work so shuold be able to do 45 degree cuts easily. As for fixing them, we've got wooden battens running along the walls for the skirting boards to be nailed on to. I've just got a large bag of lost head nails from screwfix to attache them with. I may also use some grab adhesive if there are problems with the walls not being straight just to give a little extra protection.

Given my experience so far I suspect there wont be a straight wall in the house

helping_hubby

Anyone watch DIY SOS tonight? I really like the colour of the walls and the way she did the stencil on the white wall in the same colour.

Andy I think that's what I have trouble with - having to cut down the height of the skirting. I found doing the architrave angle cuts OK because I could lay them flat. I don't have the strength in my fingers to hold the wood still. I'm rubbish at sawing generally, but I do try.

Just had an argument with OH. I think I nag too much, but I feel like he only does things when I ask. I wish I could come home after he's been off all day and find a job done as a surprise. I nearly always do something on my day off no matter how small, on top of the usual washing, cleaning and cooking. sorry just feeling a bit crap about things.

matt_boro

just thought id pop back on with an update!

i got the wreck of a house i was after from under the noses of the property developers! :T

I think it was partly because i dealt directly with the vendor, and he seemed happier for someone to buy the place to live in rather than make money out of.

spent the last week cracking on with the boring manual labour stuff...

- emptied house of left over furniture (and a mobility scooter! i should have kept that to nip down to the shop on)
stripped all carpets and removed curtains etc
- ripped out old kitchen
- stripped wallpaper

My to do list is something like this...

- get roof repaired
- knock through small kitchen into dining room
- windows replaced
- remove old bathroom
- treat woodworm problem in hall
- central heating put in and plumbing sorted out for new bathroom/ kitchen
- rewire first fix
- plastering where needed
- fit new kitchen and bathroom
- final decoration / strip back doors, etc

How does this order of works seem to people? Anything you would do differently

Also, has anyone had woodworm problems before? I've had a couple of companies come round and they said I should have to whole house treated... is this normal? The cynic in me thinks "well they would say that"! But i guess you just have to trust them?

Cheers
Matt

PS - i took some pics before i started work. whats the best way for me to upload them? Start a blog?

Josepina

Hi all, sorry I haven't posted for ages but been hectic. We went to London last weekend for OH b'day and visited ideal home show.
Then last week we had a delay on starting the roof cause the structural calcs weren't ready. This resulted in the builders getting a bit bored and knocking bits down that they were supposed to be doing AFTER the roof was on! Anyway Tuesday we had gale force winds and torrential rain which blew the tarps off and then rain poured in all over the new fuse box!! I then had a barny at the builders and told them not to knock anything else through or down until the roof was at least started, needless to say the calcs were then sorted, roof timbers ordered and roofers are coming tomorrow (yes Bank holiday Monday!) to start my roof. Well I think a good barny is obviously a good thing occassionally
I've also worked out that we only have about 5 weeks left (this week is week 8 of 12) and need to get things ordered etc, we need shower tray and enclosure, tiles for bathroom wall and floor, and light fitting for everywhere! Feeling bit stressed as loads of trade places closed on monday and I don't have another week day off until Thurs but then I've got other things planned eeek!!! I'm sure it will come together in the end.
Well I'll try to give OH a nudge to update the blog and post more frequently, Happy Easter

Josepina

Yes Matt start a blog we love them
Good luck with the house, I know nothing about wood worm but I reckon before doing anything ask around and get advice, that way you should avoid costly mistakes.
Helping hubby I know how you feel, sometimes you want them to be a bit spontaneous rather than needing instruction but unfortunately thats blokes for you, maybe have a "to do" list and pin it up so if he's a bit bored (hehe ) he's got an idea where to start

Josepina

Oh where did you get shower tray from and did you buy as a package eg enclosure etc. I'm after 900 quadrant but price range is huge anything from £800 to £99!!
Thanks for updating blog you're doing really well keep up good work.

matt_boro

im also after either a 1200 or a 1400mm sliding shower door + tray.

the variations in prices are unbelievable!

latecomer

andy - I could have got a flexi but decided it wasn't worth it for a few days as I'd then have felt I needed the overflow connected too (its a separate pipe).

matt - congrats on the house and the list of jobs looks good. Regarding these pest control companies - I believe they are like the damp specialists. They will always find something that needs done and will of course have the prefect solution to your problem. Is the wood worm bad or just a little? Where is affected? I sprayed about half of our loft after being quoted abuot £1000. I moved all the insulation away from the affected areas and then spent a day spraying a treatment using pump and spray. Not a pleasant job but definitely it to us. I'm planning on doing the rest of it this year as a precaution.

Quick update on ours - spent 4 days working flat out and am completely shattered. Not sure it seems we've achieved a huge amount though.

Got the skirting boards down in the small bedroom and learned a lesson (or two) about taking the width of the blade into account. To be fair a lot of problems were due to the whole saw jumping when it was turned on. OH decided that she didn't want to put nails into our new skirting boards and hence we went with grab adhesive instead with lots of supports keeping the pressure on until it set. Moved some of the furniture back in but still need to put something protective on the boards. the OSMO we used on the floors is too dark IMO so I'm going to get a clear varnish and see how that looks.

Got the extractor fitted evenutally. Had to cut 2 holes in the wall as the first one went half way through and then hit the biggest wall tie I've ever seen and the only option was to move along a few inches and start again. also changed the internal pull switch to an external wall mounted one along with the hall lights and although this took ages it was worth it.

OH and MIL finally started tiling yesterday after we had to take the new floor back up to get it more level. Joists were all over the place under where the toilet it going and it would have looked terrible. Finished up last night about 9:30pm and could really do with a rest.

I've taken some pictures which I'll get up on the blog tonight. If I dont fall asleep

latecomer

helping_hubby - sorry to hear your feeling down. Maybe you should have chat with your OH and mention how you are feeling.

For holding wood you should get a workbench with a vice top and something of a similar height to place behind to balance long lengths on. Cutting just by hand is a recipe for distaster. My FIL cut about halfway through his pinky about 18 months ago while trying to just do a little cut. Took months to heal and he was very lucky not to do permanent damage.