First-time house renovation

stolt

aliasojo wrote: »

Definitely a fox. The fox lifts the whole egg gently in his mouth, so no breakage and no mess. They steal as many as they can and stash them for later nourishment. He probably buried several, just as a dog would a bone.



Nature is so cruel sometimes.

yeah it is, explains alot of things too, really couldnt figure out why there was no mess either. Had the duck pellets delivered this morning!!! Perhaps he has buried nearby, i dont think the duck will be comign back though and its probably the best thing, if a fox can get in, i would have hated for her to have had the babies and then they be stuck in the garden and not escape.

latecomer

Sorry to hear about the eggs - guess thats just part of nature but not one that we normally see.

Cant remember where we were last with the updates. the folding doors now work although the lock is still stiff. The light wells in the extension have been boarded so we can see how they look. Now that I see them, we should have got them angled to allow more light to come in - or at least the small one, the large one would have involved cutting the roof trusses so probably not a great idea (particularly given the last bunch cowboys).

They laid the foundations for the step at the back and then informed us that the folding doors are too high - approx 100mm too high. They said they could put in a step on the inside and an additional one outside but I think that wouldn't look great so they are going to lower the doors down to the correct level.

They've also started work in the hall - they removed most of the remaining panelling on friday, took off the architraves of the doors where they were working and started putting up the plasterboard.

I spent literally the whole weekend in the loft finishing off the brandering out of the rafters and then re-installation of the insulation. Had to construct some frame work for the plasterboard to fix onto in several places where the previous idiots simply hadn't bothered. Cut new insulation board to replace the missing/damaged bits and finally finished up around 7pm last night. Well and truely knackered, cooked and dusty. So went out into the hills for 2 hours on my bike to finish the job off


Porta-loo arrived today - about time too

Today they have done a little more plasterboarding and some plastering. Also managed to lock me out! They had removed the inside door and propped it up in the porch. they dont have a front door key so obviuosly didn't think about it as they left. I got home and managed to open the front door approx 3 inches before it hit something, which turned out to be the inside front door. Thankfully after a little manourving with my fingers (and peeking through the letterbox!) I managed to move the door into a position where I could tilt it backwards away from the front door and squeezed the front door past.

The have created the structure of the first outside step at the back door and done a little more dwanging out of the kitchen ceiling but I thought they would have achieved more today. There is a large payment to be made on thursday so I'm expecting some serious progress over the next 2 days.

And finally - not sure whether to be annoyed about this or just let it pass. They have put up 2 signs - one on either of the drive. One is a site warning notice and the other is a company details board. I wouldn't have any objection to this but they appear to have screwed them into the stonework, presumably having drilled first. Now I dont think it would be unreasonable to expect them to drill into the joints rather than the stone itself? I'll pop out later and take some pics once the rain is off. To be honest I'm in half a mind to go out and take them down considering they didn't bother to ask first.

stolt

hi latecomer, glad things are starting to work in your favour, havent seen the pics but as you say a step would be the last thing i would want if it could be resolved otherwise.

Wouldnt be too happ about the signs, if it was me i'd take thm off and dispose of them and say nothing else, see if they mention it, like you say though if they have drilled into the stone they should have asked, probably gave the job to the lacky who doesnt know any better. Woking in the loft with that heat, bloody brave!!! been there and thats an awful job, heat makes it 100 times worse .

latecomer

Well the loft work had to be done so that was that. Well I could have just paid them to do it but given this is the definitive MSE house renovation thread, it would be simply rude not to attempt as much as I can without getting in their way

Have spoken to OH (who is away for the week) and she told me not to say anything about the signs yet but if they have drilled into my stone they will hear about it later (once they've done most of the work but before final payment ) I did however compose an email to point out the week's work schedule which we should have had over the weekend has not been received. I stopped short of pointing out that I expect serious progress before thursday if they want paid but hopefully it should be pretty clear. Also asked them to confirm that they intend to have the external work on the roof and rendering complete within the next 2 weeks as promised.

littlerose12345

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all well! Not been around much recently - been very busy finishing the house and organising the wedding!

Very excited though as kitchen gets delivered tomorrow!!!!! Can't wait for the final room to be complete!!

Everything is pretty much ready to go in, just need to find some door handles for the kitchen units - any ideas where to find some nice reasonable ones?

latecomer

Down on page 9 - you must be slacking (or too busy to post!)

Hope everyone is making progress with their various projects.

I spent this weekend with a bursh and Nitromors stripping back all the woodwork thats been removed from the hall - which is the door architraves. I alsot removed the last few as the joiners had managed to split some and alhough I suspected it was inevitable, I'd rather I did it than them. And of course a couple I took off have split, they were possibly already split but I suspect probably not . In-laws were through on sunday and we all got stuck in and managed to get them all done. Of course there is a lot more stripping to be done but thats everything for now. Need to do some skirting boards although I've not seen them so they must have put them somewhere else.

Builders have been making progress although not as much as expected. they have taken down some of the hall ceiling to expose a joist which I suspected wasn't done right. Turns out we were right and they added some bolts to stiffen it up. Unfortunately the next one over isn't great either and although its structurally ok, the plastering said it would flex too much for just boarding and skimming the hall ceiling. So they have created a false ceiling just below and will hopefuly get that boarded this week after the electrician has put in the wiring for an extra 2 lights.

The new joists for the kitchen floor are down and its almost ready for the chipboard to go down. A couple of thenm joists need packing in the middle to prevent any flexing and the plumbing and electrician need in to get their first fix done. The scaffolding was erected yesterday so they should have been on the external work (along with roofer) but it was pouring down this morning so probably not. Mind you its not like there is a shortage of stuff to be done!

I've been taking pictures so will try and get some on the blog tonight

Shimmyhill

Hello again, had some good progress of late

Youngest daughter has moved into her own room, we had the hot water cylinder removed and new combi fitted etc. We almost have 4 room done now I have even insulated the loft, crazy times !!!!!

In each room we need the ceilings sorted - whats the average price to pay for ceilings to be flattened and coved (will do coving myself if it adds too much) ??

latecomer

Sounds like you are making good progress. By flattened I presume you mean skimmed? Cant help with the going rate (you might want to give an indication of the size of the rooms) but if you can get more than one done at a time it will probably help keep the total down.

Coving is pretty simple to put up, we did it in our spare bedroom and although it takes time its not difficult.


I've got home tonight to find the key I gave them this morning (the guy with the keys was running late) hadn't been left behind so I cant get into the extension. Doesn't appear to have been a huge amount of progress other than some activity around the garage door lintel - its now detached and supported on blocks - I had presumed it would stay in place while the others were installed under it but I guess thats probably not possible.

Electrician has been in - the wiring for the new hall lights has appeared but presumably not connected to anything. Dont know if there has been any activity from him in the extension.

Minor progress upstairs - vapour barrier has been put up in front bedroom and some (not a lot) of the plasterboard is up.

Got a walk around with the head guy tomorrow so will see what he says about the progress in general. I think I'm going to be looking for a significant reduction in payment based on the status of things today unless there is a huge amount of progress over the next 3 days. Makes it difficult arranging payments on thursday mornings for work thats scheduled to run until the friday. Will see what he says.

stolt

hello everyone i popped on here a few days ago and noticed nobody hadnt posted on here for a while. Not really done much on the house front, still been busy i the garden, pretty much done now, i got myself a big buddha head statue for a part in the garden that i kept free for something like this. Spent loads of plants etc, there like a drug, definatley should have grown some myself as this quick fix costs bundles. People arent too kean on it, i like it, put my back out carrying it into the back garden while the kids were running around my feet!

Hope everyone is getting on with their projects, i suppose this time of year is quieter in some respects due to holidays etc. I've heard the weathers going to be good towards the end of the week (probably just when the kids have to go back to school)

latecomer

Got to say that illuminated pic of the Bhudda is somewhat scary

Garden looks fantastic. Cant wait to get some progress made on ours but I dont think it will ever look like yours - i dont have the interest or the patience. And once bump arrives life will officially end:rotfl: