First-time house renovation

xs11ax

sorry to those requesting a blog about my house renovations but i just dont have the time or the energy after working on the house and going to work.

before starting on this renovation malarchy i didnt have a clue about building work, plumbing, electrics etc. what got me started was when i called someone round to get a quote on me bathroom. bathroom was absolutely disgusting. rotten floorboards, old bathroom suite, mouldy walls, broken shower, etc,etc etc. i had to place a piece of plywood under the toilet to stop it falling through. :eek:

anyway i called this bloke in who quoted £1000 labour and said it would take him 5 days to do it. i asked him if he was going to tile under and behind the bath, if he was going to rebuild one of the walls and a bunch of other things. his answer was no and like a true yorkshire man i thought i aint bloody paying him £200 pounds a day to do a shoddy job.

so i went and bought me own tools and armed with youtube (and my wife who turned out to have hidden joinery skills) i embarked on a journey never been embarked upon (by me anyway). one thing lead to another and before i could say yorkshire pudding i found myself breaking down walls and completely gutting out the bathroom and the smal bedroom next to it! i rewired it as well. the only original feature is the window, the outer and inner wall and the joists. everything else has been changed.

now i got one of them new fangled bathrooms with chrome thermostatic shower, towel radiator, wall to wall tiling, them nice looking glass basins and all the rest of the trimmings. i even got meself an extractor fan! and to think i used to have to leg it down the back yard in the grim northern climate and sit in the cold, manky outside loo when i was a lad. you whipper snappers never had it so good!

bathrooms done more or less and bedroom should be skimmed by tonight. some skirting boards and door frame and door and it will be ready.

just on a side note....when i tore down the old plaster and bonding on the exterior side of the wall i found big chunks of holes behind there! and when i tore down the wooden window frame sorrounding the upvc windows i discovered there were big gaps between the window frame and the wall of the house! they must have been letting the cold in summat rotten. anyway i insulated them both so should be saving on my gas and leccy bills as well soon! am i reet money saver aint i!

another side note..when i start on the big bedroom i will be removing a cast iron victorian fireplace. what do you guys think it will be worth???

cheers all.

ukmaggie45

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Oh yes, just one other bit of news - the house we withdrew our offer on has been taken off the market. I wonder if vendor has given up for now or if they've decided to try a different agent.

Well, OH came in yesterday evening with a bit of news. Remember we've been waiting and waiting for the drain survey to arrive with the surveyor's invoice, that was sent signed for delivery? OH phoned him again yesterday, and he sent the survey to the vendor not us! :mad: :eek:

Just hope that the vendor pays for it!

He can't send the CD of the CCTV survey, but will send us the written survey.

So I imagine now the vendor knows about the drains in full detail that's why they've taken the house off the market.

Maggie

aliasojo

Many congratulations to you both andy. I did think you were kinda conspicuous by your absence and wondered where you were.

Glad your day went well and hope your ankle heals up soon.

TM, not sure where TD is in his treatment but hope it's all going well for him and the pair of you are not getting too stressed over it all.

I really need to catch up still but there's pages and pages and pages of this thread I still haven't read and I've only got time to worry about doors and light fittings at the moment.

Anyway, thoughts are with you all and hope things are still going ok with your projects.

TomsMom

xs11ax wrote: »

sorry to those requesting a blog about my house renovations but i just dont have the time or the energy after working on the house and going to work.

:huh: WAAHHHHH!!!!! Head on arms on desk bawling!!!!! My only pleasure denied!!!!!!! :rotfl: . Oh alright then, just a few piccies posted here then?????????? I'm not the only nosey one, honest .

now i got one of them new fangled bathrooms with chrome thermostatic shower, towel radiator, wall to wall tiling, them nice looking glass basins and all the rest of the trimmings. i even got meself an extractor fan! and to think i used to have to leg it down the back yard in the grim northern climate and sit in the cold, manky outside loo when i was a lad. you whipper snappers never had it so good!

Ah memories. Not of Yorkshire but same scenario in Birmingham. Loo next to the coal house in the yard, there was a wooden frame, wall to wall, over the toilet and you sat on the top over the hole, toilet paper was newspaper squares ripped up by grandad and hung on a nail. Blimey it was dark and cold and very frightening in the winter. Used to have to take a torch out at night. What it was like to be a child of the 50s! I was 14 when we moved to a house with a bathroom/inside loo. I have never got over the feeling of luxury of having a bathroom and I don't even mind cleaning it, quite enjoy it when I think of the alternative.

another side note..when i start on the big bedroom i will be removing a cast iron victorian fireplace. what do you guys think it will be worth???

Not sure what it will be worth but do ask around, reclamation yards, antique shops. We had a lovely little one in the bedroom at our previous house, only one remaining in the house. I begged to keep it and make a feature but OH and the plumber guy said it was the only practical place for the radiator so out it went. We weren't so savvy then and I think it was virtually given to the only antique shop in town. DS had an old black range in his basement kitchen which I told him to make a feature of but they wanted it out. Same antique shop wanted it and gave him something ridiculous like £20, it was in poor condition so DS told shop owner to take it out himself (in case it fell apart and couldn't be put back together, got his £20 up front though!)

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Well, OH came in yesterday evening with a bit of news. Remember we've been waiting and waiting for the drain survey to arrive with the surveyor's invoice, that was sent signed for delivery? OH phoned him again yesterday, and he sent the survey to the vendor not us! :mad: :eek:

Just hope that the vendor pays for it!

He can't send the CD of the CCTV survey, but will send us the written survey.

So I imagine now the vendor knows about the drains in full detail that's why they've taken the house off the market.

Maggie

:eek: OMG Maggie, how careless is that. Being an ex-secretary (a good one who was accused of being too pedantic when department expanded and another secretary engaged who was pathetic and hopeless at the job) it makes me wonder how these mistakes happen. Surely whoever was responsible for the hard copy and covering letter should have checked who the client actually was. I would refuse to pay for it, especially considering who it went to! At least the vendor is now fully in the picture.

wallbash wrote: »

Are you the cute one with the beard .

aliasojo TM, not sure where TD is in his treatment but hope it's all going well for him and the pair of you are not getting too stressed over it all.

Today is day zero, he goes into isolation and gets his stem cell infusion (transplant) probably this morning. We're on the phone at least once a day, he is still very cheerful and positive. I shall be going on Friday all being well. We have to be careful now, if we have any symptoms of any infection we wont be allowed in as he now has no immune system. I've been in contact with grandson who has a dreadful cold, my daughter's hubby and son are both off work/school with something - she is sleeping on the sofa to lessen the risk of catching anything, she's so determined to go and see her dad at the weekend. Isolation is 3 - 6 weeks and then the same precautions as a new born baby have to be observed. It takes up to two years for the new immune system to become fully mature. Also he has to stay out of the sun or use total sun block (because of the Cyclosporin I think, anti-rejection drug, makes you more vulnerable to melanoma so OH tells me, I havlen't read everything yet), certainly for the next 12 months but then avoid the sun for the rest of his life, and guess who's just moved into a house which gets the sun on the garden/kitchen/conservatory/part of living room from about 10.30am till sundown!

wallbash

Are you the cute one with the beard

No , but he did this year get a divorce

So you stand a chance

TomsMom

wallbash wrote: »

No , but he did this year get a divorce

So you stand a chance

:rotfl:

I wouldn't do it again, no-one else would put up with me so I'll stick with what I've got, but thanks for the heads up anyway.

jimbugalee

Good news from our end in that we found someone locally to install our multi fuel stove. He's charging £280 to fit the flu and new chimney pot then we have an inspection to check everything is ok and the stove can be fitted. Who hoo We kindly got some money given to us to pay for it which we're so pleased about. Hopefully in time for Xmas

wallbash

Upstairs, photo taken after a lot of cleaning up , but then we decided to
take down the Lath/ plaster ceiling shown :eek:

This must be the worst job in an old house restoration .
not expensive but so dirty.



So to sum , so far.

Remove kitchen and outside toilet
Take up downstairs floor
Remove rear chimney breast
Remove stairs
Take down ceilings
strip plaster or lath / plaster off a number of walls
Knock thru downstairs
Little plumbing left ( outside rear tap )
Most of electric wiring condemned

Started with a house .... most of it is now in a number of skips :rotfl:

ukmaggie45

Wallbash, I see how you got your name! :rotfl:

xs11ax

quick update.

plasterer bloke is upstairs skimming the walls as i type. i was a bit apprehensive at first but he is doing a bloody good job :j
started at 9am and should be done in a couple of hours which means i can go into work today (i work evenings) as well so thats an added bonus.

platerer is on a nice earner. going to make 150 quid for about 6 hours work! cant be bad.