First-time house renovation

latecomer

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

So seeing as the scaffold will be there anyway we'll have the whole roof replaced while we're at it.

:eek: thats a pretty big change. Were you already budgeting for this?

ukmaggie45

suisidevw wrote: »

You often mention counselling. Is that giving or receiving?

Hi Suiside, it's receiving. It's just over 3 years since my parents died, and I've been going for bereavement counselling for around 2 years now. I'm lucky that I can go privately, and also that it's a counsellor I saw before, around the time I went down with ME/CFS, so she's aware of some of my past history already. Though I did see her on NHS back then.

Because I'm pretty much housebound I'm pretty isolated, so don't get to speak to many people. Poor OH was getting all the flak about all the stuff that went on around my parents' deaths, now my lovely counsellor gets it instead! Things weren't exactly helped by the useless solicitor that my parents named as co-executor with OH. :mad: If you're curious about that story you can read all about it on my Solicitor slow over Probate thread! We still haven't completed dealing with the estates, but have a decent solicitor working on it now.

fuzzybear01

I've spent a lot of time reading this whole thread over the last week, unfortunately I won't be able to buy a house for about 2-3 years but I'm looking forward to buying one that needs a little bit of work so that I can make it my own. Have been living in a dull armed forces quarter for years now

ukmaggie45

latecomer wrote: »

:eek: thats a pretty big change. Were you already budgeting for this?

We weren't budgeting for the whole roof, but it makes sense to get it done while the scaffold is there etc. The whole point of the extensive renovation is to try and make sure that there won't be much in the way of work needing doing over the next years. Other than in the garden of course! We hope that the house will be our final home, plus if it has to be sold for any reason (hoping we won't need to end up in nursing homes, but you never can tell _pale_ ) it will be easy to sell.

In fact we don't really have a proper budget I'm ashamed to say! Just made the first payment yesterday. Must get onto sorting out the money for the next one soon. :eek:

andrew-b

Maggie, seems to be moving quick! Does it actually need a new roof? What's actually wrong with the existing? Might be worth getting a second opinion/quote.
Well things gone a bit pear-shaped today. Having removed the thermostat off the wall, went to hang a full height drop of lining paper got it on the wall and had to peel back to reposition and an area of paint about 4 inches square came off from about a foot above the thermostat. It is an area that had obviously been filled in the past (not by me) and the paint peeled off bringing some of the filler too..i wouldn't mind betting someone put PVA on it before painting so as soon as it was soaked in paste it came off. So i've had to take the piece of lining paper down, clean it up, get the polyfilla out and now i'm waiting until i can rehang the paper.
Yesterday i managed to get about 9 pieces of paper done in all...with quite a few tricky cuts. Got a similar number of fiddly pieces to do to finish now but because of the problem i doubt i'll finish today now.

Fevvahz

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

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.

I agonised over the whole issue for so long its ridiculous, ended up with at least a double socket in each corner of the room. I think that thinking through the cabling runs and where things will go when its done is the worst part! Good luck!

aliasojo

andrew-b wrote: »

Well things gone a bit pear-shaped today. Having removed the thermostat off the wall, went to hang a full height drop of lining paper got it on the wall and had to peel back to reposition and an area of paint about 4 inches square came off from about a foot above the thermostat.

Ach stop your moaning.......I've just stripped paper off a big cupboard ready to paint it and all the flipping old taping came off with it. Swap you filling jobs?

Mrs A-B keeping well?

ukmaggie45

Chucking it down with rain this evening, so only got a few pics from the car window. But we have scaffold now, and the walls on the extension have grown a bit too. :j


We have scaffolding! by ukmaggie45, on Flickr



Extension from front by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Andy, I think probably the tiles have reached the end of their life - house was built in 1955. Advantage of getting it all done now is it'll be cheaper in the long run since the scaffold is up. Plus new battens, and instead of that felty stuff (technical term there! )under the tiles we'll get a breathable barrier that's white (so will be brighter up in the loft too) and not need the vent tiles in the roof like next door has. Next door had roof treated in the spring - pressure spray cleaned, herbicided, and then sprayed with some sort of coating. Really freaked me out at the time as we didn't know what the chemicals involved were - OH spent a lot of time on the phone to the company concerned, eventually speaking to the MD who more or less allayed my worries.

Tomorrow we hope to see kitchen people again, try and see the gas fire we want, and maybe go and look at fitted wardrobes. I feel exhausted just thinking about it! :eek:

Our builder is getting excited at the prospect of the roof happening soon - he's a joiner so it's his favourite part of the build!

andrew-b

aliasojo wrote: »

Ach stop your moaning.......I've just stripped paper off a big cupboard ready to paint it and all the flipping old taping came off with it. Swap you filling jobs?

Mrs A-B keeping well?

Eww no ta! Prefer papering any day. Only got about 3 strips of paper done in the end but a step closer to the end i guess. Just got from mid-way above the kitchen door upto the lounge (2 strips) and then either side and above the lounge door to do..oh and the recess around the front door. Not papering into the front door recess because of rounded corners which we found with the kitchen are a bugga to paper around because they aren't uniform.

Think it's going to be quite close to the end of the 40m roll..and not much paste left either. Hopefully i can finish the lining paper tomorrow then i need to gently sand all the joins and use some flexible filler to cover up the imperfections. Looks so much better now the green is almost gone with the fresh white paintwork - must take some pics when the lining paper is finished.

MrsB ok ta...just tired and feels sick alot of the time..at about 13.5 weeks now so hopefully the sickness will go. I need to start reading my "Blokes guide to pregnancy" she bought me!

kmmr

So, anyone here got any advice on how to get builders to really finish a job!! We are very close to the end of a long job, and I just can't get the builders to focus and finish it!

I know this is a DIY thread, and I probably cheated by getting someone to do it for me... but any advice on getting the final few jobs completed would be welcome.

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