First-time house renovation

Shimmyhill

BB1984 wrote: »

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

Our boiler is 4 years old but not a condensing boiler - not old enough to replace and was tested as pretty efficient for its type when it was serviced !

Over 6 months at old house (over winter) i used almost exactly the same amount of gas as i have here in just over 1.5 months - hence the Add onthe rise in gas prices and i am in for a shocker i feel !!!

jamtart6

helping_hubby - the flowery paper is nice! (even if you hadnt said you'd done it I wouldnt have slagged it as it is similar to a taste I like ) The colours however are another matter. In fact..did the previous owners of my house come and decorate yours? lol!

Re: the stumps, we are going to drill them, fill them with rubbish and put a patio over them. No Trevor Jordache under our patio, just tree stumps (if you didnt watch Brookside you wont have a clue what Im on about!) LOL

latecomer

Ah central heating bills. I know all about them. In our first 2 weeks we used approx £90 of gas and electric but we put this down to all the work that was being done while having the windows open etc

We dont have any carpets anywhere, although the floor boards are tongue and groove so most dont have gaps between them. Our biggest problem is that we have removed our skirting boards in quite a few places and we get some huge drafts from them. Hence getting the house warm can be a real challenge and nigh on impossible some nights. Our boiler is an old baxi bermuda back boiler unknown vintage.

Our average monthly bill has been around £80-100 for the colder months and less for the summer months. The house has cavity wall insulation and a reasonable amount of loft insulation too.

This is our history since moving in:

Electric                   Gas
Bill period       Number of days    Total Daily Average Total Daily Average
28/08/08 - 17/11/08  82            680         8             3766   46   
08/06/08 - 27/08/08  81            534         7             1184   15   
19/03/08 - 07/06/08  81            792         10            4106   51   
16/02/08 - 18/03/08  32            359         11            n/a    n/a   
01/02/08 - 15/02/08  15            180         12            n/a    n/a

We had a different supplier for Gas for the first couple of months hence the n/a entries.

I'm really hoping that the new skirting boards (hopefully being delivered this week) will make a big difference to the temperature in the house once we get them fitted.

jamtart6

We used 0 gas since December 23rd and £5.21 in electricty

Thank god we are not living in our project!!

latecomer

I've got to say that even though its cold and drafty we wouldn't go back to the flat for love nor money! Once we get our mutli-fuel stove fitted everything will be better or so the OH keeps telling me

jamtart6

Well my plasterer came today - HURRAH!

He said he would tidy the bathroom up before we tile (in terms of plastering rather than hoovering!)
re-skim the hall stairs and landing
re-skim the box room
re-skim the master bedroom
re-skim bedroom 2
(no ceilings)

for a grand total of £800 - which I thought was quite reasonable?

KT1985

Well, we have radiators, but no boiler. gave a load of my hard earned cash to B&Q, it is becoming less painful now I can see things taking shape.
Getting quotes for fitting our new bathroom things that are due to arrive on Monday, ordering appliances... I am a very busy, but happy person
I am planning colour schemes at the moment, and pricing things up... I can see the budget just drifting away...

jamtart6

KT1985 wrote: »

Well, we have radiators, but no boiler. gave a load of my hard earned cash to B&Q, it is becoming less painful now I can see things taking shape.
Getting quotes for fitting our new bathroom things that are due to arrive on Monday, ordering appliances... I am a very busy, but happy person
I am planning colour schemes at the moment, and pricing things up... I can see the budget just drifting away...

Yep , my budget went on plastering, bathroom, extension. Thats it..no money for new furniture or kitchen!

Made up for you - what is your bathroom like?

KT1985

It is made up of pieces from Victoria Plumb- mainly white (their cheapest basins and toilets), one of their shower cabins, a double hinged bath screen, and a steel bath-suite package. All are pulse mixer taps (inc one for the bath) and I have also bought my kitchen tap- a phaze mixer retracting hand spray.
I hope to keep within about £2000 as I am tiling the walls and floors myself, and fitting 2 out of the 3 suites

I bought plain white tiles from Homebase when I had a voucher, bought grey slate effect tiles from Focus with my homemovers card and got mosaic tiles for splashbacks at a bargain price- £16.99 for 10 30cmx30cm sheets from Homebase in their clearance section.
I know there has been a lot of bad things said about VP, but I am finding them to be efficient and helpful with everything I have asked about and bought, so am really looking forward to receiving my delivery next Monday!

BB1984

Wow KT, you seem to have doen so much already!! Do you work, or is this your full time job at the moment...?! When we first bought this place, I took every Friday off work for the first 3 months...now I'm back to only 2 days of DIY per week, I get so much less done!
I don't have much to report, other than the fact that this evening I got home a bit early, so I rubbed down and primed the top part of the kitchen window frame...pat on the back for me! :j
I forgot to check my gas meter, and it's dark outside now so I'll have to look another time. The leccy meter is inside though... *scuttles off to look at the meter*
Ok, we had a new electricity meter fitted soon after we bought the place (end September), and well before we moved in (we moved in end November). It was on zero then, and now it's on....346. Is that good?!

BB