First-time house renovation

ukmaggie45

spirit wrote: »

I looked at those maggie, quite expensive aren't they? I had a custom cat flap built but they used a standard 3 way lockable one? Where there used to be a full length window in the front, they bricked up the bottom half and put a normal window in the top. they built my puddy flap in the bottom left hand corner. It's deeper than the cats are used to which the 2 girl cats don't seem to mind. Big Bruvver cat however is not so sure of it yet!

Yes, they are quite expensive. :eek: But DD and SiL find that local cats try and come in and steal dear Brodie's food. And there are a number of cats locally at the new house that look real fat bruisers so we want to protect any cat that deigns to live with us from food thieves!

We've had experience at home of other cats coming in too, when SillyPuss was on hormone treatment for hair loss. They didn't just steal food, they rampaged round the house while we were out, so we don't want that happening again!

The tunnel through the wall will be quite long I think - we still have to check how many of the extra bits that line the tunnel we need. Hope any cat we have staying will be able to negotiate it!

I'm hoping the thing will be more burglar proof than a standard cat flap too. When we were burgled in June they broke in through the cat flap.

I'm sure Big Bruvver cat will adapt given time - especially when he knows that his food is on the other side! :rotfl:

So you're another person owned by three cats!

andrew-b

Well i'm cutting my teeth today hanging lining paper on my own. Only done 4 pieces so far (one full height piece and other 50cm heigh pieces above doors but i'm really getting into it and getting better with each one and gradually quicker. First strip i had to rehang as the paper is just soaking up the paste like blotting paper so i'm ending up repasting the paper before i hang it. My trimming around the edge isn't perfect but getting better. It's probably going to take me 5 times longer than my Dad to finish it but i'm starting to enjoy it! Probably won't say that when i get back to it after my late lunch as the next drops of wallpaper the cuts are getting more and more complicated! Bit of a struggle getting up the ladder with the paper but i've worked out a way to adapt and hang it over the ladder while i'm climbing up it.

With the walls maggie, surely they should go up both inner and out leafs at the same time so they can fit the wall ties as they go and fitting the insulation as they go? Thought that was what they normally did?

latecomer

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

LOL babies do take up a lot of time! The house will still be there - enjoy little LC while he's little.

Dont worry i'm not going to do any DIY over spending time with baby LC, not a chance. But I am going to try and work when he's sleeping, feeding etc. I really want the door done as its in the way as much as anything else.

spirit

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

So you're another person owned by three cats!

Yup, and a DD. One word from me and they do as they like :rotfl:

the cats are all DD's. she badgered the life out of me to get one when I divorced (ex had the lurcher dog). the house seemed so quiet without a pet and since I work f/t a dog wasn't an option.

I didn't really like cats then but she nagged me. I gave in and got Big Bruvver from Cats Protection. He's just a moggy but is adorable. Then DD asked a few months later for a kitten and got the resounding no from me.

So anyway I now have 2 more :eek: vet said not to have just 1 kitten and an older one or he will beat up the kitten when he gets annoyed with it wanting to play when he doesn't. they also said to get girl kits so he could assert his authority (tried a rescue adult female but she wanted to be top cat = big fights)

Shortly after that of course DD !!!!!!s off to uni for 3 years and leaves them all with me.

love em now though

ukmaggie45

Spirit, glad to hear you are having fun with kitties. I may yet turn into the local "cat lady" when we move and make use of the 31 cat label ability of the Cat Porte. Or maybe not - too expensive for food apart from other considerations! I'm glad we're building in (literally) the capability to share our home with a feline friend when we finally move in.

Fevvahz

I'm really enjoying reading this thread, it seems to ebb and flow with older projects intermingled with the new. I'm in the middle of renovating a 1920's 3 bed semi on a shoestring budget, and this is one of the threads that keeps me motivated. I notice some of the older blogs such as 'The House of Doom' (I'm sorry - I can't remember the username on here) hasnt been updated for a while, but Stolt - you're steaming ahead! Really like what you've done there.

I've set up a blog myself, and will be updating it with what I've done over the past few months over the next few days - I home I'm ok to post the URL: http://chrisoldhouse.blogspot.com/ I'll try and stick some updates on this thread too as I update it, as my browsing tends to be between here and on AVForums regarding the house.

Keep up for good work!

suisidevw

Good luck fevvhaz. We renovated our 3 bed 1930's semi. They are solidly made, well ours is!

ukmaggie45

Welcome to the thread Fevvahz.

Here's what greeted us when we arrived yesterday evening/


First view of house on Tuesday evening by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Somewhat surprised to find that the front upstairs bay wasn't built of brick! Just wood with a sort of felting that the pebble dash was covering! No insulation either. Will be redone with plywood, insulation, and then a sort of metal mesh stuff for the rendering to go onto.


Front of house by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Here's the steel beam in place in the kitchen, ready for wall to come down at a future date.


Kitchen acros by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Another view of the kitchen steel beam.


Acros in kitchen by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Two more steels waiting in the hallway, one for utility room and can't remember what the other one's for. If we even found out!


Steels down the hall waiting for installation by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Heres a view from the front, not a lot to see on this I'm afraid.


Build from front by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

New water main in place.


Our new water main entry by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Steel lintel over kitchen door and wall seen from the outside.


Steel lintel in place over kitchen door and wall by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

View from the back garden.


view from garden by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Corner of the house.


Corner of house by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Kitchen - bit of a mess to put it mildly!


kitchen by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Met with our builder, and had various discussions with him. Roofer was in, and has been up to look at the roof. Reckons it's not in terribly good condition. So seeing as the scaffold will be there anyway we'll have the whole roof replaced while we're at it.

Trying to decide where to put power sockets and lights in the old part of the house. Need to get it done soon as when the weather takes a turn for the the worse the electrician can go in and then the plasterer... Builder is going to dig test trench in living room to see why it's so damp in there.

Not sure what to do about the asphalt, maybe we should just go for self levelling compound? Or at least in the kitchen and utility. Aaarrrggghhhh it's all decisions, decisions, decisions! :eek:

We'll prob get about an hour at the house this evening, as I have my regular counselling session at 6.30.

spirit

It's really taking shape now isn't it maggie. I recognise the blue water pipe. I bought a reel of it for use as a frame to put over the raised beds (with netting over) It is really good for that and very :money:

suisidevw

It looks like it's going up at the rate of knots. lovely stuff!

You often mention counselling. Is that giving or receiving?