First-time house renovation

TomsMom

point3 wrote: »

TomsMom,

There's a 1600mm acrylic bath on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Space-Saving-Luxury-Shaped-Bath-with-Curved-Panel-White_W0QQitemZ230303311988



Edit: This bath is also sold elsewhere as the Eurocompact Mono Petite Plain, with a 25 year guarantee, at £310:

http://www.diamondbathrooms.com/acatalog/Eurocompact_Baths.html

Thanks Point3. Diamond Bathrooms is the cheapest we've found for the bath I'd got my eye on and that was where we were supposed to be heading for today but didn't have time. I wonder how come I never saw the other one (Eurocompact) when I was looking :rolleyes: I'll make sure I check it out when we go as that's a big difference in price. Thanks for that.

TomsMom

Well, if you're following my blog you'll know the builders can't do any more at the moment.

We had an e-mail from the architect to say that the planners have decided to treat the rebuilding of the old loft conversion as a refurbishment which is good news (especially as it's going to be bigger). Application for building regs has gone in now that the calculations for the steels have been done. We don't think this will make a lot of difference to the time when the builders come back though, we're not expecting them until the new year now and as the roof has to come off completely we're hoping for a not too wet winter (is that possible in Wales....... :rotfl: ).

We've had two quotes for kitchens today (B & Q and Wickes), waiting for Jewsons and Travis Perkins plus one from local shop too. Must admit it's more than we expected (so far), will see what the others come up with.

Our son is a tiler/kitchen/bathroom fitter and he has booked us in for the end of the month to start tiling the utility room. Not a freebie, we wouldn't expect it as it's his job but I keep hinting about mates rates :rotfl:

There's not a lot we can be getting on with other than the utility room. Can't paint the lounge as when the builders come back it will be their "workshop". Can't fit the kitchen as the roof has to come off the extension part to be renewed (previous owner did it with too shallow a pitch and it's in danger of letting rain in so Building Control Officer wants it re-roofed at the proper pitch). Also that part of the kitchen ceiling will be raised when the roof is done. So that rules out painting in the kitchen too.

Good to see that everyone is getting on and lots of progress is being made.

latecomer

I'm sure your son will see you right. If not then start charging him for meals when he comes to visit (or up his digs money if he's still at home)

TomsMom

latecomer wrote: »

I'm sure your son will see you right. If not then start charging him for meals when he comes to visit (or up his digs money if he's still at home)

:rotfl:

No, he left home a good few years ago :T but I do have other things to barter with.

When we leave this house there are bits and pieces he wants, e.g. filing cabinet, office desk, etc. Every time he mentions something I reply "How many tiles will you lay for that then?"

And there's the looking after the three children when they have a meeting to go for, a manic dog they're hoping we'll look after when they go on holiday, time spent on the computer researching things for him 'cos he's not that good at it ............... mmmmmmmmmm lots more if I think about it

latecomer

Sounds like you will be getting a good deal

got lots of plans for this weekend but mostly just preparation for future work. Forgot to bring in the phone number of the folk who tested the chimney so I'm hoping my OH gets home in time to phone as until we get the chimney certified we cant get the fire installed.

TomsMom

Have a good weekend Latecomer, hope you get everything done that you've planned.

Nothing going on here, hubby had his latest chemo earlier this week and pretty rough at the moment which will last over the weekend. Never mind, we've got the kitchen designs to play around with.

Hope everyone else manages to do everything they've planned for this weekend too. Looking forward to progress reports.

BB1984

Hello hello busy people! Sunday evening update.... Another frantic 3-day weekend in the bungalow, and count down to the move in date has begun!

It was vital that this weekend we finished tiling the bathroom so that the plumbers can do their thing next week. The walls were pretty much last weekend, bar two small areas which i finished yesterday and today, and I also grouted the wall tiles. My dad laid the floor tiles (ably assisted by my good self) and then I grouted them today. Discovered that grouting is much more fun than actually sticking the tiles! Makes a massive difference to the look of the bathroom - all the wonky bits melt away....!

The kitchen units are mostly installed now too, looks great - i'm really pleased. We're going to need a trolley/island type thing though I think, as we don't have much workspace, due to various constraints.

Apart from the above, we've pretty much just been tidying up and hoovering, ready for us to move some of our stuff in at the end of the coming week. It's still very "not finished" though...! ah well, all part of the fun. We'll get a christmas tree and some decorations and it'll look nice and festive at least.

How did you all get on this weekend?

bb

latecomer

@bb - I'm amazed at the rate you are getting things done.

@tomsmum - hope the OH is feeling better

I was pretty much on my own this weekend as OH had some work stuff to do which took up most of the weekend. Spent saturday tidying up the garage so we could put the garden furniture away for the winter. Its got a cover but its still getting wet, might need to invest in a decent set of covers next year. Also ran the lawn rake (electric!) over the other half of the lawn which I haven't done before and pulled a huge amount of moss out which filled our garden bin once more - just as well they have started collecting it all year round.

inside I spent most of sunday doing the preparation to the cornice and its not in as bad condition as I first thought. Got the first coat of filling paint (amazing stuff for hiding small imperfections ) on it although I did notice one where its going to need filled so that might be a job for tonight. Painted the ceiling and sanded down a couple of rough patches of plaster on the walls but cant do much more with them until the new plaster has dried completely.

Going to try and get another coat of paint on both the cornice and ceiling tonight but will need to do some patching work first.

TomsMom

[QUOTE=latecomer;16135217@tomsmum - hope the OH is feeling better

[/QUOTE]

He's feeling a bit more human today thanks latecomer.

Good to hear of your progress. What's this magic paint you have that's hiding small imperfections? We might need some as I don't think the bedrooms are going to be replastered, nor possibly the upstairs landings. We don't have any coving although I did toy with the idea of maybe putting some up but I don't think we'll bother. Our house was originally a very tiny old cottage with lots of recent extensions (1950s onwards) so all the character has been taken away. The only things that exist of the original structure are the two side walls (the stone bits on the early photos in my blog), everything else is newish.

BB - you're certainly getting a move on, how exciting that you are so near to moving in (I'm trying not to be envious).

Just need helping_hubby to update now.

Nothing to report from me, still playing with the kitchen designs and trying to get the local chap down to what we want to pay . Thinking about the possibility of putting a mist coat on the lounge ceiling and maybe the walls but will have to wait until OH is feeling a bit better. (He's just had chemo number 6 and each ones takes a bit more getting over than the last.)

Looking forward to the updates and pics on your blogs.

latecomer

"Magic paint" is Polycell Basecoat - hides all sorted of minor imperfections. The cornice in our bedroom was in a right state and although we put a lot of effort into sanding it back it still wasn't great. We thought it was worth trying and the results were really impressive. Ok so it wont hide big holes or cracks but if you are realistic then its a great product. We used it on the ceiling too and it did a good job of camoflaging a reasonable sized crack.

I'm going to get another 7L tub next time I'm in B&Q as at the moment its the same price as the 5L one :beer: