First-time house renovation

helping_hubby

We're usually in Cyprus this time of year for our annual holiday (always taken in winter for the last 14 years as we had a restaurant and could only get away in winter) but haven't been able to go because of OH illness. I'm missing it and all the friends we normally see there but looking forward to booking something else later on, maybe when the house is finished. When are you going?

June, 5 months and counting. We aim to get everything (including outside) but the carpets done by then.

Now who can beat me for moving in to a vile coloured home?? I may completely offend someone here so maybe I won't say what colours.... hmm..I know I'll post a pic of them all together and then you can see what I mean. Our bedroom was painted blood red. When I've mentioned its horrible colour to any friends they say "ooh my room is red" but when they see it...they all go "yikes"

OK the colours are bad at yours, but I think mine might just beat yours:
http://thehouserenovationinsurrey.blogspot.com/2009/01/ooops-its-been-while-since-ive-updated.html


Second picture down (the pink and purple weirdness)! Don't offend the flowery wallpaper as we did that!!

Also, the bedroom doors were wallpapered on the inside to match the walls. Hmmm nice. (no offence to anyone who wallpapers their doors!)

Jamtart - what are you going to do with your stumps?
We had HUGE conifers in our front garden (6 in total), piccy here (2nd set of photos down): http://thehouserenovationinsurrey.blogspot.com/2008/10/this-is-my-first-ever-blog.html
We're left with the stumps, we were quoted £180 for them to be grinded. So for now we've left them.

We paid £740 for a complete (ceiling and walls) re skim and some screeding of a patch of floor, for a room 22 foot x 12 foot. Not sure if that helps. I think we over paid, but sadly we got desperate as we struggled to find a plasterer to do the work.

Sorry guys, can't help with your other questions.

BB am so jealous of your carpet. I want carpet *stamps feet*

TomsMom

KT1985 wrote: »

Question- has anyone tiled over existing tiles? Our current ones are impossible to get off, just wanted to know if anyone had managed a good finish.

Anyone following my blog will know that my son is a tiler. He doesn't recommend tiling over tile and wont normally do it. If a customer insists he explains why he doesn't like doing it and that if it fails (i.e. tiles don't stick, sound hollow when tapped, could fall off walls, could become loose on floors) then the onus is on the customer.

KT - have you gone round tapping these original tiles - if they sound hollow they have already "blown" and are no longer stuck down properly and it's asking for trouble tiling over them.

Son started a job last week where the customer has bought floor tiles for his kitchen. The floor was concreted (just a thin layer) and some of it was cracked and loose. Customer asked for all the concrete to be removed first (obviously the right thing to do). Quarry tiles were discovered underneath which the customer now wants acid washed and kept. Trouble is a lot of the concrete was set solid and the devil itself to get off - son and d-i-l spent the week with hammer and bolster hacking away carefully so as not to damage the quarry tiles.

So, it's up to you really, some tilers will tile over tile and some wont. Personally I would do all I could to get the old ones off.

lisal0u

TomsMom wrote: »

Our plastering has been included in the builder's total but LisaLou has had her house replastered. She's started another thread - I'll go and find it and come back with a link. She'll probably be able to give you an idea.

OK - here it is. She's also doing a blog if you want a looky-looky!

Hiya,

I'm having my 3 bed semi boarded then plastered throughout at a cost of £2400 for labour. I bought the materials myself and they cost £800. We pulled down all the ceilings and knocked off any loose plaster to keep the costs down as much as possible. The plasterer gave me a list of what he would need then I went off and played all the building merchants off against each other. They were all desperate for the order so I think I got quite a good deal in the end.

I got about 3 quotes and they were all pretty similar, the guys I chose were really keen, bit too keen really I can't keep up!

If you are only skimming then it will be a bit cheaper than my quote.

Hope that helps
Lisa

KT1985

latecomer wrote: »

I've never tried, we've always got the old ones off. Hammer and bolster (and eye protection and gloves!) should get them off. Are they floor or wall tiles?

Wall. We have tried with hammer and bolster- they seem almost cemented down, they are chipping off in microscopic fragments...

lisal0u

KT1985 wrote: »

Wall. We have tried with hammer and bolster- they seem almost cemented down, they are chipping off in microscopic fragments...

Hiya,

Our bathroom tiles were exactly the same. I borrowed my Dads hammer drill and that soon got them off. It was a bit trickier when we got to the bath as it had been bricked in then the tiles cemented on top :eek: What were they thinking! It was a cast iron bath too so I'm amazed the floor didn't give way!

Lisa

BB1984

Pictures on my blog!

Link here in case you haven't bookmarked it by now...
(I've also added some pages devoted to before-and-after photos, plus added some extra navigation menus etc on the front page, to make finding stuff easier - let me know what you think. I'm still not 100% au fait with this blogging malarkey!)

BB

jamtart6

Chheers for the prices on the plastering!! I wish I could make do with a few lumps and bumps but sadly not! the ceilings dont need doing as they are artexed which is fine. Looks like we can repair the bathroom ourselves.

Mums brother in law's brother is a plasterer so might do mates rates?! (wishful thinking!)

Gonna catch up on the blogs later!

Shimmyhill

BB1984 wrote: »

Pictures on my blog!

Link here in case you haven't bookmarked it by now...
(I've also added some pages devoted to before-and-after photos, plus added some extra navigation menus etc on the front page, to make finding stuff easier - let me know what you think. I'm still not 100% au fait with this blogging malarkey!)

BB

Carpets are looking good

As a fellow bungalow owner with what looks like bay windows how are you finding heating the place ??

Ours is cold all the time, heating it takes forever and still doesnt warm it as much as our old place - the gas bill here is going to be shocking (have used 452m3 since Dec 12th )

BB1984

Thanks!

Hmmmm...not sure about heating. I've only ever (as a responsible(?!) adult lived in small flats before moving into our bungalow, so I don't have much to compare it to. I might have to check our gas meter tomorrow...I am nervous about our bill, which must be due soon. I find that the house is quite draughty, but I think that's been due to the fact that we haven't had carpets. Also I don't feel the cold too badly - I just keep the heating thermostat set to 12deg during the day (when I'm out) and 14-16deg in the evening - the heating just turns itself on if the temp drops below that. I don't think it takes too long to heat up either....so all in all I'd say I'm reasonably happy with that side of things (although the proof will be in the bill-shaped pudding!). Do you have a new boiler, Shimmy? Our whole CH system is brand new, so should be pretty efficient.

BB

TomsMom

BB1984 wrote: »

Pictures on my blog!

BB

Oooh, lovely Beth. I love your bedroom, it's nice to see you've bucked the present trend of cream carpets everywhere and gone for such a rich colour in your bedroom, and I like the colour in the second bedroom too.

The before and after pictures are interesting too. You and David should be very proud of what you've achieved.