First-time house renovation

jimbugalee

A little off topic but we've been having problems sorting out our gas supply. Because the house was owned by a housing association the gas was billed under the major business team not residential. We swapped supplier but had to pay the outstanding bill of £70 so that the transfer to a new supplier didn't get rejected. We've only used 28 units of gas in the last 2 months so I was assured we'd get a refund (about £68 I worked out!).

Spoke to someone about it today and said they'd come back to me ...got a phone call just now to say would it be ok if they refunded us £100. Er yup that's fine because we've only paid £70 so made £30!! I just agreed and double checked we didn't need to pay anymore. What a result! We should've stayed with this supplier who GIVES us money to use their gas lol

suisidevw

Hi guys, been reading this thread reguarly for the past couple of months to much enjoyment! My wife and I became home owners for the first time at the end of July and are 'doing up' our house. Shall I just add our build to here and is it OK to host my photos on FLICKR and put in the post?

Thanks
Sam

TomsMom

suisidevw wrote: »

Hi guys, been reading this thread reguarly for the past couple of months to much enjoyment! My wife and I became home owners for the first time at the end of July and are 'doing up' our house. Shall I just add our build to here and is it OK to host my photos on FLICKR and put in the post?
Thanks
Sam

Welcome Sam :hello:

Oooh, yes please, we all love a little look-see . Not that we're nosey of course, ....... well maybe I am :rotfl: .

Go on then, chop chop, get them piccies up :rotfl: .

jimbugalee

I'm nosey! Welcome Sam

lisal0u

Ooo please do Sam! It's become one of my favourite hobbies watching people do up their houses!

Welcome to the gang!

X

latecomer

Another yes from me too Sam. The more the merrier, particularly at the moment as its been a bit quiet........

I've found my download cable for the camera so I'm going to post up some pics of the bathroom.

On the progress side we've finished the grouting of the walls and its all looking fantastic. However that just highlighted the problems with the grout on the bit of floor that we'd already done. So on sunday I started with a smal screwdriver and a hammer and started chipping it all out. Got about 1/3 of it done but also managed to chip a tile under the front of the toilet. Didn't think OH would notice but she did and is now undestandably against me continuing. But I hate the look of the grout as it is so I'm thinking of continuing very carefully as OH is away tomorrow night........but that could back-fire spectacularly if I do any damage.

More pondering required on that me thinks.......

Also had the first builder round today to pick up the detailed plans and spec for a quote on the work. OH was dealing with them and me thinks she sorted them out. Didn't take any nonesense and refused to provide a budget for our project (which no doubt would have been a great match for their quote provided it was a nice high figure!) and made it very clear that we can do most of the donkey work ourselves so if they want to do it, they have to give a reasonable quote. The builder made a point of saying that we wouldn't save much if we knocked down the garage ourselves so it wasn't worth thinking about, which makes me think thats its almost certainly a high profit job for them and hence they would like to do it. Will see what the quote comes in at

Another 2 coming round on wednesday along with 2 loads of logs for our stove

Anyways must upload some quick photos and get some sleep.
Keep up the good work peeps :beer:

rachbc

well I'm not a first time house restoration but can I join in too? Having done our first joint house up to just how we wanted it (third house prject for me) we decided to move up the road to a house that looked as if it had been done - that was 3 years ago and over those years we've relised that the previous makeover was very superficial and shoddy so are embarking on a 'proper job'. Though will a toddler in tow its being done slowly as we save and fit it into everyones schedules. we did our bedroom a year ago in time for our wedding and are now half way through our kitchen...dining room next, then bathroom and kids rooms

TomsMom

OOh latecomer, your bathroom is looking fab! I love the shape of the basin and the tap looks good too. Those contrast tiles were some that were on our list of possibles, they look great.

What's wrong with the grout on the floor tiles? (Can't remember if you've already told us.) In our downstairs WC we have very light grey wall tiles and very dark grey floor tiles and a mosaic border of the same colours to tie it together. The grout on the walls is white, the grout on the floor is mid-grey (son suggested this was best for the colour of the tiles). Well, the floor looked lovely when it was first done but the CH chap flushed the system and used the rad in the WC to attach the hosepipe, had a bit of an accident where some spilled out which discoloured the floor grout. Now every time I see it I notice the discolouration. Also the mid-grey grout, to me, looks mucky compared with the white on the walls. Perhaps I'm too fussy :rotfl: .

Looking at your blog and seeing your fire again reminds me that last night we put the flame effect on our electric fire and I took about a 30 second video of it which I was going to put on the blog. Well, first of all I couldn't keep the camera still, couldn't zoom, lost the plot and started to giggle. Tried again, still got the giggles, OH made a noise (er....... .... yes that sort!) which totally cracked me up and the giggles turned to guffawing. Of course, the video has sound so I can't really put it on the blog. He's back in hospital for the next two days so I'll try again whilst he's away and hopefully manage it this time.

We ordered the wallpaper yesterday, good job it's only one roll needed for the chimney breast as it's £58 per roll :eek: but it is wider than normal and goes really well with the colour of the walls and the curtains.

Must go to the local shop today and try and get the curtail track ordered. I looked online yesterday and all the ones 400cm length that I found have two pulleys for the cords. We only want one as the other one would be up the corner behind the TV and it would be quite a stretch to reach it. We'll see what they can come up with but I have a horrible feeling that this might turn out to be twice the price we were expecting to pay. Never ends does it??????

jimbugalee

latecomer - can you post blog link? I'm rubbish at saving them all!! Thanks

TomsMom

rachbc wrote: »

well I'm not a first time house restoration but can I join in too? Having done our first joint house up to just how we wanted it (third house prject for me) we decided to move up the road to a house that looked as if it had been done - that was 3 years ago and over those years we've relised that the previous makeover was very superficial and shoddy so are embarking on a 'proper job'. Though will a toddler in tow its being done slowly as we save and fit it into everyones schedules. we did our bedroom a year ago in time for our wedding and are now half way through our kitchen...dining room next, then bathroom and kids rooms

Hello Rach, yes of course you can join in but you have to stick to the rules.

1) Do a blog with LOTS of pictures

2) Do a blog with LOTS of pictures



3) If you can't do a blog you have to put LOTS of pictures on here :rotfl:

4) Do this as often as you can 'cos some of us are nosey and haven't got anything better to do (well, talking personally here as we're coming to the end of ours).

We're not first time renovators either, (we're too old for that) but our previous houses were mainly just decorating to our taste and a bit of modernising, this one has been a big job. There is a link to my blog here if you'd like to see (latest page) or this one starts at the beginning.