First-time house renovation

lisal0u

I agree with Olias about the local firms! The guy who did my windows was lovely and by far the best contractor I dealt with. I didn't like the look of one of the fire escape windows so he changed it for me free of charge. We also had to remove the trims near the ceiling when we had it boarded and he is coming back to fit new ones for the price of a cuppa!

I love the fire too! It was one of our indulgences but I think it was worth it! I've always wanted an open fronted fire but didn't want the hassle of a wood burner.

I need to write a list too so Ive got something to aim for! Might help me stayed focused!

Shimmyhill

Our windows are being done by a FENSA registered company.

We have 2 x bay windows with 3 openers in each
4 windows same size again with 3 openers in each
1 bathroom window
1 diddy little pantry window with opener

All have trickle vents yaddda yadda and total price is 3.5k - the windows are pretty big too. PVCu - would love wood but too expensive and not sure i would want the maintenance !

TomsMom

lisal0u wrote: »

TomsMom - I've got those pop up bags for my spuds too! Have you grown them in them before? I haven't so I hope it works!

No I haven't Lisa. I'm a total veggie growing virgin! But I became a mummy today, one of my potatoes has leaves poking through the soil :T so something is happening.

We have wallpaper!!!!!!!!!!!!! The feature wall in the dining area was papered today. This paper was part of the Colours range from B&Q, about £18 a roll. I asked the decorator if it was good paper, his reply was "Let's say it's sensitive". Apparently it's not a vinyl paper so wont be ultra hard wearing, wish I'd known before as I think we might have gone for a vinyl. He said not to get the chair backs anywhere near as it is going to mark easily (and there are a couple of marks already where he's smoothed it out with his manky looking metal smoothy thing. (Gosh, I'm good at descriptions aren't I :rolleyes: ) He also suggested we don't let the grandchildren near it either :rotfl: .

The flowers look quite pink now it's up but on the roll it's more of an orangey-red. Not sure if my (cough - expensive :eek: ) light will go with it now but can't do anything about that! I think it's something to do with the amount of light coming in on the opposite window wall and the fact that it's a metallic red. I'll put a picture on my blog when the pasting table has been moved and I've got my dining table in, maybe tomorrow as my daughter is coming for the weekend as OH is now out of hospital.

Utility has been painted, so has the downstairs WC. WC is Cornflower White which looked, on the paint chart, like one of those "hint of" colours but boy is it blue! I'm undecided and have told OH not to be surprised if I suggest we change it . It sort of changes colour as the light changes during the day. Floor is dark grey tiles, walls half-tiled with light grey and I've made a curtain with dark and mid grey squares in the fabric. Probably going to be too blue for the grey.

We have our son for a whole week next week so he'll hopefully finish the tiling in the utility and WC so I can take some proper photos then.

Midori I've shown my son your blog, especially the self-levelling floor photos and think I've persuaded him to have a go :T .

andrew-b

BB1984 wrote: »

So I phoned back the first guy (£575 incl. VAT) and he's going to come round with a glass sample, hopefully this weekend, so we can check it's what we want - we wanted sandblasted-type glass rather than patterned obscured glass. Then hopefully he'll be able to fit it the following weekend - can't wait! Feels like it's all go go go again at the moment!

The man from the company whom we're getting our door from forgot to bring his glass samples too but said the patterned/textured glass used is made by Pilkington . So we chose our glass via the pilkington website... the one we chose (Cotswold) was the same as OHs parents so we also saw it. Different textures/patterns have different privacy levels..from 1 to 5 with 5 the highest. When other companies showed us the pilkington samples it was quite hard to tell from the small samples presented to us.

Anyway have a look here: http://www.pilkington.com/applications/products2006/english/bybenefit/decoration/textureglass/default.htm .

There's also another premium range here: http://www.pilkington.com/applications/products2006/english/bybenefit/decoration/orielcollection/default.htm


Hoping to hear when our door is ready to fit soon as it will be 2 weeks since ordering on Monday!

Andy

Spicey

Evening all,
Just thought Id add to the building regs discussion. We just had our letter from the building regs officer, giving agreement to our full plans application. We are still waiting for the permission for the extension (differant department- seem to take longer) but we put in for the building regs as full plans as we had to change drainage, knock 2 holes for windows and another for french doors, all requiring lintels. This was other than the extension. We have not used an architect, as it a small basic extension and I am a pretty good drawerer (get a scale ruler). We found the officers fairly helpful on the phone, but must say they wont come out to advise unless you pay them, thats in my area anyway, we didnt pay so phone had to do. The inspector came out monday within 2 hours of our phone call to say the new drainage needed ok-ing. Frendly chap. We are fitting the french door (wickes) and the windows (B&Q). The inspector will check them once done. But if your on a budget then this is def the way to go. Hope I been of some help.

Potatoes- I am growing mine in a fold out growing bag, they are growing really well, I have covered the tops already and they coming through again.

Hope everyone has a good weekend
Jill

jamtart6

Feeling very happy this weekend I weeded everywhere in the front, bought some pots and topiary shrubs (£40 for 2 how much?!?!?) and we painted the canopy. Can't believe the difference, the front looks amazing now. Got a little bit more to do, but not too much so very happy We now need to get stuck in to the inside!! the weather makes me want to be outside though! my little plants are growing nicely too plasterer coming next week HURRAH!!

BB1984

andrew-b wrote: »

The man from the company whom we're getting our door from forgot to bring his glass samples too but said the patterned/textured glass used is made by Pilkington . So we chose our glass via the pilkington website... the one we chose (Cotswold) was the same as OHs parents so we also saw it. Different textures/patterns have different privacy levels..from 1 to 5 with 5 the highest. When other companies showed us the pilkington samples it was quite hard to tell from the small samples presented to us.

Anyway have a look here: http://www.pilkington.com/applications/products2006/english/bybenefit/decoration/textureglass/default.htm .

There's also another premium range here: http://www.pilkington.com/applications/products2006/english/bybenefit/decoration/orielcollection/default.htm


Hoping to hear when our door is ready to fit soon as it will be 2 weeks since ordering on Monday!

Andy

The man didn't come round with his samples at the weekend but hopefully he will come round one evening this week.
The one we're having (as far as I know) is the Pilkington Optifloat - it's a satin "etched" finish rather than a patterned obscured glass. Hopefully it'll look nice!

By the way - third and final bedroom...DONE! :j Looks great. Will post a photo this evening.

BB

latecomer

Posted a minor update to the blog.

We've finished tiling the floor apart from one minor slither to be cut and put at the back of the toilet. Managed to overtighten the cistern connecting nuts and damaged the bolts. Couldn't unscrew or tighten further. Spoke to the showroom this morning and they were going to chase up the replacement units and also see about getting another fitting kit and of course phone me back in a few minutes. Its now 2 hours later and I've used a cheap kit from Screwfix to get the job done and I'm still waiting for the phone call. I just dont understand why people cant call when they say they will :mad:

On the bright side we've had the replacement oak furniture delivered this morning and with the exception of one slightly sticky drawer the rest looks perfect. The guys are just planing the drawer down slightly so it fits better. I've also managed to arrange delivery of our replacement skirting boards for tomorrow morning and added on some loft boards so we can get some of our stuff up in the loft and out the way to give me room to make a start on another room.

Midori_2

thanks spicey for the buildings regs info, did you need to get someone in to give you calculations for the lintels? We need to put an RSJ in a wall we want knock through we think the rule is 1 inch thick per foot wide of gap. Do we need a structural engineer or can we just chat to the suppliers of the RSJ?

We are on a tight budget so I have been drawing up plans myself, but I think we definitely need someone in to help with the loft calculations!

Midori

BB1984

Midori wrote: »

thanks spicey for the buildings regs info, did you need to get someone in to give you calculations for the lintels? We need to put an RSJ in a wall we want knock through we think the rule is 1 inch thick per foot wide of gap. Do we need a structural engineer or can we just chat to the suppliers of the RSJ?

We are on a tight budget so I have been drawing up plans myself, but I think we definitely need someone in to help with the loft calculations!

Midori

Interesting rule of thumb...they didn't teach us that one at uni...!
Depends on what the wall is supporting - is there a wall above, does it support a major roof truss, etc.
If you provide a bit more info I'll try to give you an idea, if you like.

BB