First-time house renovation

Shimmyhill

Hello all !

Lots going on at the moment, we have had the new back door fitted and that has made a big improvement in the kitchen !

Sparky is booked for next week and that leads me onto a question ! Can anyone suggest a good bathroom extractor fan, i am reading varying recommendations on brands and if it is worth getting one with a humidistat so any advice would be welcome !!

Was good fun chasing out all the rooms for the new cabling, i managed to kill my SDS drill - well there is something up with the switch so its off to a makita dealer at the moment !

suisidevw

Glad you like the pics guys, weathers STUNNING in Cardiff Bay today, just wish I was out walking him in the sun
!

ukmaggie45

suisidevw wrote: »

Glad you like the pics guys, weathers STUNNING in Cardiff Bay today, just wish I was out walking him in the sun
!

Lucky so and so! We had sleet that froze overnight, and it's snowed a bit and is cold and miserable! Don't suppose your lovely dog would mind that though!

OH went to the house at 8am this morning to let in the asbestos testing guy. Taken samples from kitchen floor, the brown tiles on floor through rest of ground floor, and some artex samples. We should get a verbal result this afternoon.

Now we're waiting in for Wiltshire Farm Foods to deliver (OH is going to London for a footie match a week tomorrow, so I need ready made and relatively healthy meals) and also the gas/plumber to come a fix a leak in our boiler at home.

We're all at sixes and sevens. Yesterday went to the house, but was knackered after doing just a tiny bit of gardening. But the snowdrops are out, and there's loads of crocuses coming through all over the place. :j Saw a woodpecker (heard him first!) but !!!!!! squirrel chased him off the peanuts. :mad:

Brought my list of seeds from The Real Seed Catalogue back home to review... I think we need a couple of allotments as well as the garden to have a hope of trying them! Already got about 40 seed potatoes chitting on the kitchen windowsill here. :eek: What is it about buying seeds? I always overdo... Plus there's the Aldi raspberries and currants and goosegogs to plant out when the weather is just a tad warmer.

Hope we don't have asbestos - bad enuff to have sulfate attack! Nevermind, we knew the house was built badly, but we'll get it sorted if it kills us. Actually it probably will kill me, but at least some of it will be fun (I hope!).

TomsMom

Oooh, this thread's come alive again :T, nice to hear what's going on everywhere.

Maggie - you make me laugh! Lucky you having a woodpecker, he'll be back despite the squirrel. We have four pigeons that have suddenly arrived, hanging around all the time, plus two seagulls that keep coming and landing in our little bit of garden (there loads around but just two that keep coming down). I wouldn't mind but they all take great delight in walking through the spring bulbs that are coming up in my planters. Why they can't just walk along the fence is beyond me, but no they have to walk in the planters.

You're chitting your tatties on the windowsill then? Mine are in the store room off the sun room. Cold in there with some light so should be OK. I've only got 5 Rooster seed potatoes this year. I had five varieties last year and there were way too many for us. After I harvested them I kept them in the dark, covered up, but most of them ended up with long shoots on and we couldn't eat them. My d-i-l left hers in the tub outside all winter and those are fine, so I know what to do this year!

I hope the news from the asbestos test isn't too bad.

I think you're very brave attempting to do some gardening at the moment. It's too cold for me. All the time I spent last year digging over every border, removing the soil and sifting through it twice and removing every unwanted thing I could find, some of the little bulbs were as tiny as peppercorns, before putting it back and still there are loads and loads of some type of wild garlic thing coming up, even through my established ice plants. I am so cross I could cry! The blo0dy things are everywhere again .

Lovely pictures Suiside, Alfie looks very happy, I think you have a great future together!

Shimmy - we had extractor fans with humidistats in the last house, didn't bother this time as we wanted a nicer looking fan. However, we did find them useful. Now I just leave the fans on now (there are two, quite a big bathroom, one over the bath and one near the shower) for about 20 mins after I finish then try and remember to turn them off. Can't really recommend a brand but remember there being a discussion on bathroom fans on MSE at some time and it's the extraction rate that's important. Perhaps do a search and see if you can find the thread.

Jammie - sorry about your electrician, but it seems you're making progress in other areas.

Latecomer - sorry about your asbestos. You've had so much hassle lately, I bet you'll be glad to see the back of your renovation.

News from this end - today we've ordered the wardrobe for the main bedroom, after months of deliberation and lengthy discussion. We've gone back to Furnitureplusonline who we had excellent service (and a great price) from before. We've gone for a freestanding triple robe which fits into the alcove with a bit of room to spare, and it matches the rest of the light oak furniture. We can just about get it up the stairs as it's got the shorter doors and the bottom part with the drawers is separate so just need some muscle to help get it up. DS and d-i-l should be able to do it between them. The delivery men last time made so many marks on the newly painted wall that it cost £100 to have it repainted. It was all boxed and it was the boxes rubbing against the walls that caused the marks. We'll know better this time - it's coming out of the boxes and being taken up carefully! We decided against having a built in for a few reasons. (1) We didn't really see any hinged doors we liked. (2) If we'd had white/ivory it might have been too much as all walls are this colour and there would have been nothing to break that wall up. (3) I really couldn't stand the mess of having anything construction-wise done in the bedroom now. (4) The built-ins would probably have worked out dearer than the freestanding as we would have needed someone to do it for us. (5) It's quicker and easier :rotfl: .

Other news - TD has had a bone marrow test plus a special test on his blood and a CT scan and got the results last week. His blood and bone marrow are 100% donor, nothing left of Paul there which is what they were aiming for. Tests show no nasties are now in his bone marrow or blood :T, no lumps or anything else showing up on the CT scan :T. He still has to go back to Bristol for a check up but from the results his consultant here says he can consider himself in remission from what they can see :T. This is almost a miracle, we knew they can't cure it but remission is good enough and gives us hope for a longer-term future than when he was diagnosed two years ago. He's waiting for result of ECG to see if all the treatment damaged his heart, and he has dead nerve endings in his feet which cause him quite a bit of discomfort when walking but there's a chance they may grow back in time. He still has to be careful of infection because his new immune system will remain immature for some time, but it's all going in the right direction :j.

Have a good weekend everyone, hope you all get done what you want to do.

ukmaggie45

TomsMom wrote: »

d he has dead nerve endings in his feet which cause him quite a bit of discomfort when walking but there's a chance they may grow back in time. He still has to be careful of infection because his new immune system will

Just a quick thought TM, wondered if TD might find sheepskin boots or slippers helpful? I wore sheepskin boots the whole of last summer, no socks or tights. Now in winter I wear them with merino wool tights (expensive! :eek: ).

I'm thinking in terms of wheelchair users often use sheepskin to protect...

Sorry, not thinking very straight as we're still waiting for gas folks and also trying to install some TV stuff. (roll eyes)

Anyway, the place I got my super sheepskin boots from is in New Zealand, but delivery cost isn't too bad considering...

I have no connection to the company other than being a happy customer.

They do both mens and women's sizes, so maybe you'd like a pair too?

I just love mine, they are so comfortable. And after a year of wearing them almost every day (did have about 2 warm days last summer :rotfl: ) they still look pretty good... They got a bit dirty recently cos of all the gardening, but they are washable too. But not going to do that till warm summer days (if we ever get any ).

They cushion yer feet well, and you can even buy extra bottom inside sole so you can wash it and still have one to use. IYSWIM.

Hugs from Liverpool, where suddenly it's sunny! :j

ukmaggie45

Just got the verbal on the asbestos testing. Kitchen OK, artex OK, living room (both back and front) and hallway all have it.

Morning room was extension so only had carpet on top of the bare concrete (with an old copy of the Liverpool Echo from 1973 that I haven't had time to read yet)

Gas/plumber here as I write, let's hope we have better news from them!

lisal0u

Hi Everyone,

Had an awful 2 weeks so havent kept up to date at all! Went away for a lovely weekend (6th-7th Feb) then when we got back out of the blue Stuart told me it was over between us!

Its all such a shock and only 2 months after weve moved in

Its all a bit of a nightmare now as what to do with the house. It wont be worth what weve spent as it was supposed to be a home. For the moment Ive moved in with my Dad and he's at the house so that we can both afford to pay the mortgage. If he had to rent anywhere he wouldnt be able to afford it.

I want to take the house on myself and Im hoping my Dad can help me with my debts so I'm able too. We went to the bank and said I could do this if I didnt have the debts so thats one little ray of hope.

Sorry to dump it all on you guys, didnt want you to think Id finished my renovation and dissapeared!

TM - Thats amazing news about TD, Im so pleased for you both x

Lisa

littlerose12345

Oh that's so sad Lisa hope you're ok x

lisal0u

Thanks! I dont think its sunk in yet. I guess Ill be ok eventually, just wish I could fast forward a few months! x

andrew-b

Hi folks,

Been having a bit of a break from posting on the forums recently. Anyway i'm still alive!

Still not finished the decorating of the bathroom though the last couple of days i've had my paintbrush out and primed and undercoated all the woodwork (windowsill, skirtings etc) so whole house stinks of paint fumes (proper high VOC oil-based paint mmm..none of this water-based junk!!) - it's a matter of weeks from being finished at my speed. Hadn't updated blog for yonks so it's been backed up to my pc and removed for safe keeping rather than completely lost in cyberspace!

One thing we have done is bought a lovely new pocket sprung (1200 pockets) kingsize bed (Old English Bed Company). Paid extra to get a higher divan base to make it easier for me to get in/out of. Had to buy all new bed linen too as was moving up from a double bed. Also got a faux leather headboard. Trouble is now it highlights that the bedroom needs redecorating! Also means i don't want to get out of bed in the mornings! Will upload a pic later.

TomsMom, glad to hear about TD - really good news! Unfortunately the "c"-word has reared it's ugly head somewhere else in our family instead as wife's Nan has pancreatic cancer that's spread to the liver. Was only discovered last week after being admitted to hospital and they've given her weeks to live...we were expecting her to have gall stones from the results of an ultrasound but they saw otherwise so it was a bit of a shock really. She's 92 so basically it's a case of palliative care on the oncology ward to make things as comfortable for her as possible.

LisaLou, sorry to hear your news .....he must need his head testing to want to break up with you! :mad: Though to be fair house renovation and debts are a strain on the strongest of relationships - seems this thread highlights there's more to house renovation than just the house itself!

Would be a shame if you lose the house but if doing so means you can escape debt-free then it could be worth considering. You can always become a 2nd time renovator!

Hoping your Dad can bail you out. As we had no hope of getting a mortgage, my Dad lent us money when we were buying our bungalow..basically we don't have to pay it back and it's like an "early inheritance". Was actually money to help us buy our first failed purchase but it turned into the budget to renovate our successful purchase! Assuming my parents live long enough beyond the date of the loan agreement (can't remember if it's 6 or 7 years) it won't become an inheritance tax problem. Not sure what happens if they don't but i'm sure someone elsewhere on the forums here can advise you! Obviously a non-repayable loan is only an option if your Dad can afford it and has enough for his own money needs! Our loan agreement was downloaded for free from the internet and we had a neighbour sign it as a witness ..no need for a solicitor.

Anyway i'm sure things will sort out somehow and i'm a believer in things always happening for a reason that you can't always see at the time yourself From experience, keep yourself busy so your mind doesn't have a chance to wander to what could have been..oh and look after yourself (eat, sleep etc!). Music and pets are good too! Does your Dad have any rooms that need decorating/renovating?!