First-time house renovation

latecomer

Its amazing what you spend especially when you get people in. One of our friends was paying £600 a week for plasterer (FIL used to be in the building trade) and they thought that was expensive! I'm seriously considering asking whether he would be willing to come and do ours when we do the extension and I'd put him up in a B&B for a week.

andrew-b

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

To bring things a bit back more on topic, did anyone else here see the Grauniad's money pages last Saturday? There was a whole lot of moneysaving stuff on being green and so on. Photovoltaic panels on roof and lots of other handy eco stuff (not had time to read it all yet). Of course some of it costs an arm and a leg, but there's quite a lot of freebies out there too.

Anyone considering trying any of it?

Well i'm conscious of being more green - mainly as we upgrade items though.

The loft insulation needs topping up - though the British Gas DIY offer doesn't apply to me unfortunately. I also want alternative bulbs to the 4 50w GU10s in our kitchen - but the LED equivalents are only equivalent to upto 35W GU10s so i feel are not really upto the job just yet. Though with the returns policy of the homewatt website i'm tempted to see how we get on.

In the lounge we replaced all the lighting with low energy light fittings - i waited about a year for suitable fittings to be available/affordable! The light fittings needed to be changed anyway and i don't think it would have been that worthwhile otherwise. In the bathroom the new main ceiling light is again a low energy light fitting...but the vanity light is 2 x 40W G9 halogen bulbs.

In the bedrooms we have energy saving light bulbs fitted to standard pendants. In the hall i intend to change the wall light for a ceiling pendant and fit energy saving bulb.

Outside lighting - 60W standard bulb in front security light so i'd like to change that. Then we have a whopping 150W floodlight at the back - i'd like to swap it for a low energy equivalent but at the moment it seems too pricey with a limited choice of low energy fittings. The floodlight is rusted now so i'm thinking of swapping it for a newer one once the soffits are installed.

With water saving, dual flush toilet is now in place and i've fitted aerator to the cold mains basin tap. The shower ..well it's not going to be pumped and is gravity-fed so the water usage won't be too high.

Outside we have a compost heap - a bargain at the time for £5 via recylcenow...i wish i'd bought 2 bins as now the price around £20 plus £5 postage! My first year's compost was so good that my Mum thought i was messing with her and given her shop-bought compost when i got her to dig it into the garden!

We've got cavity wall insulation too and a new (well 2 years old now) condensing boiler. I'd say those have been the best things we've done to save money and be green.

When we need new appliances i try and go for the most energy efficient one's. The one appliance that we are guilty of using far too much is the tumble drier - i'm always on at OH for using it too much!

So other than changings a few bulbs and topping up the loft insulation i think our house is as eco-friendly as we can afford it to be at the moment. Ideally i'd replace all the windows and the back and side doors but our budget won't extend to that. Solar panels on the roof would interest me if it wasn't for the huge startup-cost - but it's only ever going to supplement heating in this country unlike sunnier climates.

Andy

andrew-b

Incidentally the May newsletter from the Energy Saving Trust has similar tips:
See http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Resources/Features/Features-archive/Not-moving-Try-improving ... plus you can win a compost bin : http://estconsumer.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/estconsumer.cfg/php/enduser/doc_serve.php?2=wrap_compost_bin_09 (not sure if it's on the competitions forum i've not looked).

Andy

jamtart6

£600 for a week for a plasterer is amazing. ours is £200 per room with the bathroom free! a rough guide, so that the hall stairs and landing are same price as the box room etc. its mates rates and i thought that was decent!

andrew-b

Couple of updates on my blog ..enjoy!

As for the soffits, fascias and guttering they aren't starting until Friday now as behind on the previous job but from looking at the weather forecast i'm doubtful they'll be doing anything before Monday!

Andy

TomsMom

Andy - only one large yoghurt pot for a whole day :eek: blimey!

I think you deserve a medal in recognition of your stirling efforts to overcome your bog problems.

And the new door is lovely!

jamtart6

you have the same door as us! except we have frosted glass!

We have:
2nd bedroom & master bedroom plastered (minus ceilling) and bathroom ceiling done.

I'm not sure about the artex I can't decide if i like it on the ceilling or not. The plasterer hates me because i said " i think we should do the ceilings" AFTER he had done the walls ..oops! but now i dont know what to do!

jamtart6

andrew-b wrote: »

Couple of updates on my blog ..enjoy!

As for the soffits, fascias and guttering they aren't starting until Friday now as behind on the previous job but from looking at the weather forecast i'm doubtful they'll be doing anything before Monday!

Andy

what price are your gutters etc. is it a big house? hope you dont mind me asking! We got a qupte for £1900 then £1100 on a small 3 bed semi :eek:

andrew-b

34 metres of roofline for £1750 - soffits, fascias, eaves protectors (replaces the felt that hangs over the gutters), ogee-shape guttering. The ventilation is at the top of the fascias rather than the soffits with "birdcomb" fitted. You can see why we need them replaced from the front door pictures! It's a 2-bed bungalow though probably bigger roof area than a 3-bed semi house...but then again we don't need scaffolding so probably about cancels out. I did knock them down from £1995 though so i'd say it's worth negotiating ...i used a lower quote of £1500 to get down the price and meet half way. I went for the higher quote mainly because i've seen their work at the bungalow behind ours and i was particularly impressed by them. I'm never too keen on going with the cheapest!

Oh and there is frosted glass in the front door on the inner side of the door - can't see from the inside photo as the glazing was overexposed on the glazed part.

Andy

TomsMom

:j :j :j

I'm so excited! I've got a hob :j and it works and it's lovely and I've just cooked myself a lovely fluffy, fat cheese omelette with grilled tomatoes. YUM. Oh boy, I'm so sad :rotfl: . It would have been a more exciting meal to christen my new hob but OH is still in hospital, back tomorrow if he's a good boy and I've promised him spag bol. Chicken and veggies calling for the weekend!

While he was here Gas Safe bloke (can't call them Corgi blokes any more can we, doesn't sound the same) did a couple of jobs with some piping and valves on a couple of radiators, put some inhibitor in etc. Things are moving on :T .