First-time house renovation

redlady_1

On a different note, I am after some advice. The bathroom is nearing completion but they will not be laying a floor. I will move back in with floorboards down - and not that great. How will I seal the floor to stop the water getting to the electrics? Will I need to lay some MDF or similar first to make it level before some how sealing it? And what would I used to seal it? Thanks very much

andrew-b

aliasojo wrote: »

And what exactly are you going to be working on, at your workbench andrew? Will it be getting much use?

Well my wife thinks i've moved out and taken residence already.. so i'll probably be sleeping there soon! Must remember not to roll over though so i don't fall out the window!!

Not really sure exactly what uses it will have but i'm sure it's going to be really useful! I was more blinded by the "i want to build something" than the "what do i need it for " i think!

As well as being handy for some of the projects in the house i have in mind, i've got a few ideas though of making wooden items to sell. Either way I'll be needing something to keep me out of mischief when the house (not shed that i first typed!!) is finished. I've deliberately gone for a bench with legroom underneath when sitting in front of it. Want to try avoid it becoming just another dumping ground if i can. The big shelf underneath should be a useful place to stand a keg or two of homebrew that i've been wanting to try making for years.

suisidevw

Gosh, 3 of us driving GT Tdi's! Love the MK1 MR2, a pal had one and it was epic!

Looking forward to seeing the bench Andrew!

Redlady, assume you're asking for it to be replastered?
What flooring are you going to lay in bathroom?

redlady_1

Suisidevw - Diago was just raw! I loved him to bits and he has the original leather interior too. Mine was helias blue which is the very pale metalic blue. Ernie (fastest Golf in the West! ) has just been amazing. Never let me down and I still have the zippiness of the MR2.

I have left a message on the phone of the plumber saying that I was unsure whether the plasterer had finished but if he had it was a poor job and I wasnt very happy. At over £4k for the bathroom I guess I have a right to whinge :-) I could have done a better job. The walls and ceiling looked as if lumps of plaster had just been thrown at it.

I am not sure about the flooring. I am open to suggestions to be honest. What do you suggest? Something that is practical though. My dad is coming down next weekend so I need to have everything in place for him to finish it all off.

I have thought about a workbench after a minor incident with a saw! :cool:

latecomer

suisidevw wrote: »

That's a good price for the kitchen fitting from what I gather!

The carpets are goign to be amazing, will feel like a home! Can you update your blog or host up some pics?!


Ahhh, another GTTDI user. Pretty good cars in all fairness!

Yeah I dont think its a bad price for the kitchen but there are other issues surfacing at the moment which will need to get resolved before we commit to giving him more money.

I have been trying to take lots of pics but haven't been so good at updating the blog (mainly as MIL is sleeping in the room with the PC) so I cant get on it at night. Also been so busy with everything else too.

latecomer

pawpurrs wrote: »

Dh has a job interview today,

Fingers crossed!

Cant wait until we get our front room back to normal without all the kitchen units - in fact I cant wait until we get it all done now as it seems so close. Just got to hope bump stays put for another 2-3 weeks at least

latecomer

redlady_1 wrote: »

At over £4k for the bathroom I guess I have a right to whinge :-)


I am not sure about the flooring. I am open to suggestions to be honest. What do you suggest? Something that is practical though.

If you haven't paid for the bathroom work (or all of it) then its very simple - just say that until the plastering work is done to an acceptable standard then there will be no payment. Stick to your guns - any tradesmen will know from one look that the plastering isn't acceptable if its as bad as you say. And its his problem as he subcontracted the work.

Will I need to lay some MDF or similar

Definitely not MDF - doesn't mix with water. Thin sheet of plywood to even things out is probably the best way.

As for flooring itself - We had vinyl in one of the flats and it was fine. Cheap and easily fitted.

We also put laminate (proper stuff for bathrooms though!) in the in-laws bathrooms and its been great too although obviuosly more expensive and more time consuming to fit.

tiles are great but obviously more costly and time consuming to fit. If you are having it done for you then fitting them is expensive too. Also cold in the mornings too
And you would probably need board over the floorboards with thicker ply first to minimise movement else the grout will just crack.

I think the choice is very much about what you want and how far the budget goes.

ukmaggie45

Urm I am losing track big time! I can't remember if I posted news or not, I think I tried to but browser crashed so I lost it and was too tired to re-write it all again!

We got the planning permission, with just a minor change to something in the roof. Bigger beams or something - you can tell how much I know about the technical side of planning!

Builder has done us a set of costs, :eek: it's rather more than I hoped, and that's without the bathroom and kitchen units and stuff in the utility room. Mind you, it's a lot to replace all the concrete floors throughout, and we are having 2 bifold doors too - in the living room and the kitchen. It will be nice to feel we are almost living in the garden! :j

On the floor front, it's a while since the asbestos containing tiles were moved from the living room and hallway. Noticed the other day that salts are now coming up from the floor by the back window in the living room. Just in the areas where all of the black (bitumen?) has got scraped off (some areas still have most of it left), so I take that as proof that we do have concrete sickness, so am very glad we decided to go with getting the floor changed.

Last Friday we had a visit from a Howdens kitchen designer. I have to say I wasn't impressed, he hardly spoke to me at all - mainly to OH. Guess that's where he thinks the money is coming from. If we use them for the cabinets I won't be using their flooring, worktops, appliances, taps, sinks etc. We'll get the plans sometime next month I think, so will have a better idea then as to how good he is.

We're going to try and get a mooch around some kitchen places over the next few weeks, as the Howdens stuff doesn't really grab either of us. I know a kitchen is mainly practicality, but we'd both like to fall for something IYSWIM!

Trying to shoehorn a shower into the bathroom design, but the window's in the wrong position. :mad: So guess it will have to be an over the bath one again rather than a seperate shower. At least we'll have a shower downstairs, hopefully with a low access tray, need to look into all that too.

Work begins end of Aug/beginning Sep, but mostly will be on demolishing current extension and garage and the extension build (weather permitting) to begin with from what I can make out. If weather is carp they will do some of the indoor stuff (gas, electrics, plastering etc etc etc). Builder reckons 10-12 weeks work. And then the fun will really begin! :eek:

Horrid scared by the finances, but have a nice lady IFA who is very soothing, so hopefully it will all be OK.

Redlady, when we had the bathroom done in our current house we had marine ply laid, and then vinyl on top of that. Not sure how thick it is, but if it does get damp it shouldn't matter too much. Chipboard tends to disintegrate if it gets damp.

Latecomer, how's the bump now? I do hope that things continue to remain calm on that front. Meant to ask before, but life just keeps happening here!

Latest (which is why we're not away at the caravan) is MiL broke her collarbone last Friday. Yesterday we went over and cooked lunch for her, and today OH went over to take her to the fracture clinic. At least it means I get my usual counselling session this evening!

Yay, it rained yesterday! :j :j :j It's supposed to be raining hard today, but hasn't so far. Been busy potting up tomatoes, still have another 9 to do! And purple basil, and flying saucer squash (got some blackfly I'm afraid) and more violet beans to sow too.

We're currently waiting for the council to come and visit the house to see if they will let us off the council tax as house uninhabitable. Dreading it. Wish us luck!

redlady_1

Quick update...it seems the plasterer has not finished. I also spoke to the plumber (who I really cannot rave about enough to be honest, which is odd in itself!) who said the floorboards are too springy so not to have tiles unless laid on ply first. He also suggested getting in the professionals. Now, my dad has renovated 3 properties so I have plenty of confidence. I will have a chat with him over the next few days. I think vinyl is the way ahead.

Dad is also going to hang the doors which I will get from Wickes and I have picked up the Suffolk latches from ebay for a few pounds. So thats another problem done.

Wow, Maggie, that is some mjor work you are having done! It would scare me to death! :eek:

How did the job interview go Paws?

latecomer

@maggie - great news on getting the planning permission.

We looked at trying to fit a standalone shower into our bathroom but it just didn't work unless we wanted it seriously cramped so we gave in to common sense and stuck with over bath one.

No change with OH - still getting the tightening although it has seemed to ease off a little in the last day or so although I'm not convinced its going away.....more just taking a break!

I had a chat with the roofer this morning who gave me an entirely different view on what he's going to do compared with the builder who said he's going to do everything. Time for another builder call tonight I think.

On the up side, the plasterer has apparently been working like a man possessed as he's off on holiday from tomorrow. He's also fixing a couple of bits that he;d done that weren't quite right and some others that he didn't have to touch either.
Joiners also working hard on finishing stuff up so its only really the roofer, spark and plumber that are holding things up. And the guys helped unload all the underlay to save my folks and in-laws carrying it in so OH is going to get them a little liquid treat to say thanks.

And Scottish Water finally managed to connect up our new water main without leaks (yesterday they actually swapped back to the old lead pipe without telling us ) and have filled the hole in so hopefully thats them finished.