First-time house renovation

jamtart6

pawpurrs - gorgeous kitchen!

ukmaggie - i can confirm a stanley knife (even blunt) cuts a carpet beautifully i know. ive tried! Did the snow stick by you? Its all gone here

TomsMom - WOW didn't know you could completely have new blood, or change blood type! Learn something new every day! im glad he is doing not too badly. its a long hard slog for you both. I think it is disgraceful that his appt has been cancelled over what is essentially money. this bloody country! glad the CT scan went well

jimbugalee

Nice to hear from you TM I am surprised re TD's new blood .... interesting!

I am having a 'can't live in this house anymore' week!! aaargh lol Feels like I'm constantly cooking, washing, ironing, tidying, cleaning and not making any progress.

How do you keep up with everything plus doing the work on the house? Driving me mad!!

Also annoying me is that not one room is actually finished yet. Bathroom looks good but still need a shower screen (we can't afford one atm), a blind, council to inspect, finish tiling round the soil stack and some sort of storage.

I think we should make it our plan to finish off the bathroom and our bedroom (needs carpet and new furniture) before doing anything else.

littlerose12345

I know what you mean Jim.. I'm starting to get fed up of it all now! I want it to be done already!

Our master bedroom is now skirted and wallpapered ready for our sliding wardrobes to be fit.. we decided to go with a local company. Still a bit pricy the quality is good and they have a good reputation so hopefully they will fit before the end of the month.

Box room also needs to be skirted and papered so hopefully shouldn't take too long as it's tiny..!!

Next we need to think about fitting the kitchen.. am i correct in saying this is the order things should be done??

paint ceiling
spot lights in ceiling
Underfloor heating
Tiling
Fit skirting
fit units
fit worktop
tile splash back
paint the walls

or would you fit the spots once you have fitted the units??

jimbugalee

I don't think it really matters when the spots are fitted. Maybe afterwards so you can see exactly where you need the light?

now you've reminded me even our temporary kitchen needs finishing grrrrrr!

Leew1231

Wow this thread is so dear to me. I did all this, started about 8 years ago. It was going to take 2 months. Took 2 years!! I still have little bits to do. I look at the blog from the original poster and I have a bunch of photos looking exactly the same as work. Good luck to you all who choose to do this....it is bloody hard work! I'm looking to sell now, and a brand spanking new house i'm hoping to get!

lisal0u

Its nearly Friday hooray!

TM - Thats really interesting that you can change blood type! I never knew that could happen. Im glad TD is doing well, how ridiculous that they are squabbling over a return journey! I would definately complain as they are slowing his recovery!

I will take piccys of the blinds when they are done, the kits havent arrived yet. Thanks for the link too.

Jammy - Thanks for the tip regarding the pegs! Im hoping to get all my crafty bits out again now Ive got less DIY to do. Im going to make bday cards and gifts if I can, that will save me a few quid. Ive ever learnt to crochet Im on a diet so finding it useful to keep my hands busy crocheting and not filling my mouth with naughty food! Lost 3lbs last week!

Feel rather virtuous trying to get rid of debt and weight ha ha

Maggie - Thanks for the tip about Aldi and bird food! Ill go get a few bags of seed if its cheap!

Sonds like youre going to be very busy with your house!

Jim - I know that feeling all too well! It does get better I promise! When I look back at what weve done Im quite proud but I do also think what on earth was I thinking!

I didnt keep up with everything! Washing got left for ages and cleaning just didnt happen until it got desperate. You can only do so much when youre working too.

We have only just finished our first room (bathroom) well still not quite as it needs a blind! Need curtains for the bays, make some blinds for the kitchen. Finish the edges around the windows, tile a splash back in the kitchen etc

I think we all must be mad for thinking house renovation was a good idea ha ha!

Littlerose - I would probably fit the skirting after the units to make sure you get a good fit. We painted before the units to so that there wasnt a risk of covering our lovely new kitchen in paint. You could also wait to fit the spots to make sure they fit in with your units?

Leew1231 - Hi :wave: Have you got any piccys of your renovation? We like a good nose! Our house renovation was only supposed to take 6 month and it actually took 18 months! Well its still not totally finished yet. It really is hard work. Ive put a lot of money, blood, sweat and tears into my house.

latecomer

@suiside : Love the tiling

builder was told he could leave yesterday 3 times but has decided to stay despite us being completely unreasonable (his words )

jimbugalee

YEY at nearly being Friday!

Being super pro-active today and made a list of the jobs which need doing (mostly just finishing!) in the house. Doesn't include big jobs which we've left to start. I think I'm going to say to OH that we're not allowed to start on anything else until all these little jobs are done. A shame some involve money so might have to wait a few months.

I'm determinted to do TWO things this weekend from the list:

Bathroom
Fit blind
Varnish door
Rub down and paint door frame
Fit toilet to wall
Paint ceiling
Fix side of bath properly
Buy & fit screen
Council to inspect
Tile soil stack
Buy storage

Bedroom
Varnish door
Buy carpet
Buy & fit vent
Buy storage
Re-fit build in cupboard

Outside
Go to dump!
Make log store
Fill up bird feeder
Clean BBQ

Kitchen
Silicone round flooring
Paint walls again
Fit seals to cupboard joins
Re-tile

Lounge
Buy & fit curtain rail

Hallway
Clear away box
Put away ladder
Clear out hall cupboard

jamtart6

jim - I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited when we finished the "cupboard makeover"...purely because it was the first thing we had finished 100% sad I know... haha! I love that cupboard! We don't live in our reno-project so can't comment on how it is to live there and try and renovate. I'd have gone spare or died of the cold in my sleep by now!! I have made a long list like yours, and just cross things off, makes me feel better.

Lisal0u - the special occasion part of MSE has LOADS of craft threads...a couple of the DIY-ers have popped over there haven't you TomsMom and ...Sam (but I can't remember her MSE name sorry!!)

littlerose - i dont think spots matter either i think they can be done anytime. not 100% sure though, but think so.


OH GOOD LORD! The roof looks AMAZING! its soooo nice paying someone else to do the work We are having it tiled tomorrow, they have been brilliant up to now, I've been so pleased with their work, their attitude and everything. They started the day after I rang them and said it would be finished in 2 weeks. That's tomorrow, and they might have to finish Mon/Tue...but it DID snow, so think that is brilliant! It feels like a proper extension now AND it's massive as we have velux in there so the roof slopes. Feels like something George Clark would do on the home show haha!!

wedding: eep! went to "pick a tiara" (read: wanted another try on of the sample dress!), so swooshed around like a princess for abotu half an hour making invites tonight. all supplies finally arrived. Got a quote for £180 for 50 invites from a proper shop, I'm making them nicer (more stuff etc. and i'm a card maker and sell them so not a shoddy job!) for the same price for 150 invites and all the order of service. Don't know how they have the gall to charge that much!!!

pawpurrs

Hi guys,
Kitchen is coming on a treat and looks AMAZING! Cant believe just how wonderfull it looks!:j