First-time house renovation

andrew-b

typeractive wrote: »

Andrew, I like the layout / arrangement of your hallway. It has a nice cosy feel about it to me.

Yes it's not particularly big but doesn't feel too claustrophobic. With all the different angles going on makes it a bit different to the usual corridor. It is a bit dark if all the doors are shut particularly in the narrower section below the loft hatch.

Woodwork will be painted white to try emphasise what light there is as much as possible. We haven't thought of colours yet for the walls. Floor is being replaced either with new carpet or hardwearing carpet tiles so we've got a pretty much blank canvas which makes a nice change!

Not sure what to do on the mirror wall (radiator below mirror) but if we have a mirror it won't be that one which was left by previous owner. I think coat hooks of some description would be handy there as we don't really have anywhere to hang coats other than the bedrooms. Although we could put a fancy hatstand in that corner the dog's bed occupies the floor space.

latecomer

We ripped out the coving in our hall way as it was badly damaged in places (especially where the new stairs were put up) and decided not to replace despite all the other rooms having it. Plasterer wasn't impressed when I told him as he wasn't planning on doing it nicely at the corners

Still no sign of little LC so all is good on that front.

We made some good progress over the weekend. Went and picked up the replacement patio doors for our neighbours shed. Got there and found that despite MIL saying the van had to be able to take a 1.8m door, it wasn't. The opening at the doors was wide enough but then it narrowed over the wheelarches as there was no way it would go in. Of course I didn't know anything about that until we got to the place. Guy insisted that they didn't come apart but as my uncle (who came to help lift them) was a joiner he just said to put them flat on the ground and found the screws in seconds. I said we would buy them regardless and the guy was happy for us to dismantle them and put them in the van.

Saturday morning the joiners turned up and put our neighbours shed back up. turns out the patio doors are about 60mm taller than the ones that came but they just modified the shed to suit. Found out the corrigated roofing isn't there so they reckon its been just ripped off and skipped. So we need to sort some more out - thankfully its not that expensive so we'll just need to get some and then the joiners will fit it.

The off to a wedding for rest of day which was a welcome break from things. Mind you OH didn't go as she's loaded with a cold so I spent half the day checking my mobile just incase something was happening....

Sunday I plumbed in the kitchen taps. Plumber hadn't done it as the fittings had been lost and given he was realyl unreliable I didn't fancy waiting for another 2 weeks to get it done. Then I remembered that my copper pipe had been taken away when they were clearing up. I'd moved it out the temp kitchen into the garden as it was getting in the wayof everyone and they just cleared it up with everything else. As it happens I had to modify they pipework the plumber had done (would have been better doing it myself in the first place!!) and with the 2 flexi pipes had just enough spare pipe to do all the connections. Then had to shut the valves slightly to reduce the pressure after both my mum and FIL soaked themselves

I then sanded and painted the remainder of the cornice in the back room which we couldn't get to previously as it was above the cooker and sink. Its finally starting to look good. Still probably another couple of bits to fill and sand again though.

Took the opportunity to get rid of lots of bricks and rubble into skip to make up for the 4 car loads of general rubbish I took from their pile to the tip.

Decided to cut the hedge after tea - FIL had brought through his hedge trimmer and while it made the cutting easy, it still took ages as its a long time since it was last done. Clearing up took even longer and then I managed to stand on a bit of wood with a nail through it. Thankfully not badly and carried on until I was finished - then got telling off from OH for not getting it cleaned at the time etc

Neither of the 2 paints we'd picked for the kitchen work with the worktops so OH is going to look for other paints today. Hopefully she'll find something as I want to paint the kitchen tonight, and hopefully get a final coat on tomorrow. Then we can start getting the flooring down which would make a huge difference.

andrew-b

Hmpph well the coving has come off in it's full lengths...but someone has fed cables behind it in two places to bypass it. One place two cables for the kitchen ring the other side of the wall and another place a couple of wires for 2-way switched light switch. So lucky i didn't shove a scraper under the coving where the wires were (as i had been doing!) as i probably wouldn't be typing this!! Area above the spare room door needs some making good but otherwise next to no damage though i've still to scrape remnants of cove adhesive off. So now i've got to hope i can carefully cut out the plaster/blockwork around the cables to sink them into the wall without damaging them - assuming the cables aren't too short!

Think removing the coving was the right thing to do as its seems to have made it look a bit bigger and make the corridor part look wider. In a bit of a mess now so need to have some late lunch and get on with clearing up. Oh and the neighbour rang on my doorbell yet again...getting a bit tired of it now as it's been everyday for the last few days!!!

TomsMom

Nothing's ever straightforward is it Andy! Sounds as though it's all under control though.

What type of doorbell do you have? If it's battery or a wireless one maybe you could ignore it and say it's nor working, or put the radio on and say you didn't hear him. It must be quite annoying to have him coming round every day like that.

You could always put him to work - "While you're here, maybe you could just do ........ ......... for me" .

suisidevw

What's the neighbour saying Andy? Loving everyones progress as usual!

spirit

andrew-b wrote: »

Oh and the neighbour rang on my doorbell yet again...getting a bit tired of it now as it's been everyday for the last few days!!!

what's the guy on about now then?

latecomer

Just had a phone call about the 2 radiators that I had delivered - asking when they could collect the extra one. No point telling porkies about it, I did point it out to the delivery driver at the time. Left them to call OH to sort out collection. I suspect they'll be told exactly when to pick it up and if they dont turn up at the arranged time it will be tough

Would have been nice to keep - maybe they'll miss their pick up slot

andrew-b

You really don't want to know what the neighbour is on about now but it involves him being a nosey busy body again with another neighbour! I suspect his going to attempt to ring my doorbell again in the morning as a different neighbour had a domestic in the street which quite frankly is none of his business but didn't stop him going out! It's like a soap opera in my street at the moment (though some of the content would be banned from tv!). Usually it's a really quiet road and nothing much ever goes on.

The doorbell is a wireless plug-in sort and i'm seriously considering removing the button permanently. The bell strangely may be broken tomorrow. There's still the door knocker but it's easier to ignore!

Latecomer, and i need a new rad for our bedroom..if they don't collect....!

Having got the coving off and finding the cables hanging out i've carefully sunk them into the wall and sleeved them in oval conduit that i had going spare. Also went round with my sharp paint scraper (replaceable blade sort from screwfix) and have removed all the remnants of cove adhesive from wall and ceiling, removed the ridge of paint where the walls met the coving, scraped a few other bits of wall that need attention, removed and refitted backing box for light switch that was badly fitted and sticking out with the backing box proud of the wall, then spent a long long time clearing up with late dinner in the middle. Which is why i'm so late up as i need a bit of time to unwind. I'm thinking now i might be able to get away with lining paper on the ceiling after filling the imperfections.

Took some pictures to show what it looks like after the coving is down...definitely seems bigger:

















Well off to bed...lots of filling to do when i get up again!

redlady_1

Morning all. Everyone seems to have been very busy, which is making me feel very lazy! However, over at Chez Red I have now collected the shower screen but it weighs a ton so hopefully will finish putting up the shower and con someone with roast beef to help with the shower screen. I had someone over last night who works with reclaimed wood and he is going to give me a quote for a new front door. That said, they were totally gobsmacked with the cellar (the biggest job of all!) Why I dont know as I actually find it spooky down there

I have a question though. The brickwork in the bathroom seems to be cracking. I havent sealed it yet but I wondered whether it could be the change in temperatures. That said I dont know if the cracks are recent or not, I just spotted them whilst having a lovely relaxing bath

Once the door and the bathroom are finished then it will be mainly cosmetic stuff. The vinyl has taken root in the living room for the kitchen and if there is any left over then it will be going in the bathroom.

Oh and the police caught the "rogue" who tried to break into dad's motorhome when he was down. It seems he had previous form! But they cannot prosecute him. Sometimes you really have to love this country. :mad:

latecomer

andrew-b wrote: »

Latecomer, and i need a new rad for our bedroom..if they don't collect....!

Sorry Andy - If they dont collect then its already ear-marked for the back room

Our workmen are just about finished. The brickies apprentice was there yesterday clearing the drive (well a small amount of it) and reducing the ground level on the oudside of the garage to reduce the damp problems that have been caused by the cutting of the dpm. Hasn't got all of it but then its rather inaccessible now that they shed had been reconstructed. Think I'm going to buy a garden hoe and give that a shot.

Last night I emptied most stuff from the back room so it can be filled and painted. MIL is having a go at that today. Also put some bonding plaster into the big holes that were caused by the stair bolts and the water and gas pipes being put through for the temp kitchen. Also stripped off the handles, hinges and locks from the doors we are no longer using (and will be skipping or burning in the near future).

We dicided on a colour for the kitchen - OH is getting some today (MIL will be lifting!) so I can try and get one coat on tonight.

Have heard that the boiler will be commissioned by a gas safe plumber, hopefully later this week.

We really are getting into the final stages of the project at least from a contractor point of view. mostly plastering and decorating thats left inside and building the wall and path on the outside. I'm currently trying not to think too much about those as I suspect its going to be a huge job.