First-time house renovation

stolt

andrew-b wrote: »

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!

dont need a guide... pamper to their every needs, dont tell them they look fat, or red faced or that they have now grown cankcles! oh and keep out there way at all times..... no different to any other time then...... :rotfl:perhaps that was just my missus, she had real bad sickness and spent days in bed, had to literally force her to eat in the end, and the smell of certain foods, even when i fed the cat downstairs it would make her sick because she hated the smell of cat food. saying all that we had 3 and lost another early on so it couldnt have been all that bad....

stolt

Fevvahz wrote: »

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!

welcome, yep bit of slow down from me i'm afraid as money has come to halt and the bane of my life is haunting me..... cars:eek:, insurance, tax, mots, services, all seem to happen on both cars in two months!
Electrician is booked in for end of october to fit the table light and switch everything over from one kitchen to another, i could have a big do with a ribbon!:cool: its basically been a year and a few weeks since the actual kitchen extension started to when its done (not sure if thats good going or not:), suppose it is with all the problems we had along the way - never again.

kitchen company now has replacement doors,so they are coming to fit them, door handles, kickback for the breakfast bar this friday so they should be out of our hair then.

I'll check out the blog you have, always like to see whats going on with other builds.... i'm on av forums aswell, but what with a house and 3 kids, my dream of my own cinema room is long gone!!!!

Fevvahz

stolt wrote: »

welcome, yep bit of slow down from me i'm afraid as money has come to halt and the bane of my life is haunting me..... cars:eek:, insurance, tax, mots, services, all seem to happen on both cars in two months!!

I know the feeling well - I work in the public sector and my job may no longer be there in 6 months time, so looking to become a little more frugal until I can guarantee my income.

stolt wrote: »

I'll check out the blog you have, always like to see whats going on with other builds.... i'm on av forums aswell, but what with a house and 3 kids, my dream of my own cinema room is long gone!!!!

I think I've turned into an obsessive nosey-parker, I love to see what other people have done. My aim with the AV is distribution really and a modest 5.1 setup in the lounge, I dont think I could justify what some of the people on AVForums have done - so I mix and match!

kmmr wrote: »

Anyway, for anyone who has been around a while and may remember my blog, here is a little random advertising! And a nice pic on facebook. http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs355.ash2/63487_469532173209_591998209_6630728_7863127_n.jpg

And a shameless blog link. Does great things for my stats!

http://clearlybuilt.wordpress.com/

Looks a really good from that picture Kmmr - I shall me following your blog closely!

stolt

kmmr wrote: »

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.

Anyway, for anyone who has been around a while and may remember my blog, here is a little random advertising! And a nice pic on facebook. http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs355.ash2/63487_469532173209_591998209_6630728_7863127_n.jpg

And a shameless blog link. Does great things for my stats!

http://clearlybuilt.wordpress.com/

coming along there nicely, think the last time i aw your blog you were posting about the internal wall coming out..... this thread i on fire tonight with all the updates...

stolt

Fevvahz wrote: »

I know the feeling well - I work in the public sector and my job may no longer be there in 6 months time, so looking to become a little more frugal until I can guarantee my income.

I think I've turned into an obsessive nosey-parker, I love to see what other people have done. My aim with the AV is distribution really and a modest 5.1 setup in the lounge, I dont think I could justify what some of the people on AVForums have done - so I mix and match!

fingers crossed on the job front, horrible situation to be in and dont envy anyone that is going through that. Tough times out there at the mo. had a mate that lost his job 5 months back, hes managed to find more work (starts tomorrow but its just basic cable laying work which is hard work and low money but its work) feel very lucky in comparison, but you never know when it could be you, something i worry about when i have a moment as we have no savings now and no back up plans if i lost my job and i work in a specialised field so its something i know i would really struggle to get another job in..

yep i had a 7.1 tannoy set up in my last house with amps, and variosu dvds, recorders etc etc system, it actually turned into 2 subs in the end and it was beautiful but couldnt crank the sound up when we had the kids and started selling off bits to fund numerous house projects, namely kids stuff. thats when you know your life isnt your own anymore...:)

kmmr

Thanks Fevvahz and Stolt, I need a bit of encouragement to keep going!

The builders are working, but without me keeping on top of it all everyday it feels like is all drifts, and it's hard to squeeze around a full time job!

I hope that by the end of next week we will have carpets and flooring down, which will be a real step closer to finishing. Might even be able to get stuff out of storage! We dream of a real bed (on the sofa bed for weeks now) and maybe even a TV!

stolt

kmmr wrote: »

Thanks Fevvahz and Stolt, I need a bit of encouragement to keep going!

The builders are working, but without me keeping on top of it all everyday it feels like is all drifts, and it's hard to squeeze around a full time job!

I hope that by the end of next week we will have carpets and flooring down, which will be a real step closer to finishing. Might even be able to get stuff out of storage! We dream of a real bed (on the sofa bed for weeks now) and maybe even a TV!

yes i know that feeling, we havent had a dinning table for 3 years:rotfl: in fact our youngest has only sat at the dinning table in a high chair in our old house.

kmmr

stolt wrote: »

yes i know that feeling, we havent had a dinning table for 3 years:rotfl: in fact our youngest has only sat at the dinning table in a high chair in our old house.

God don't tell me that! I still imagine I'll be ready for a Christmas party in November... fingers crossed that the flooring shows up.

latecomer

kmmr wrote: »

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!

Its not cheating at all unless you someone to do everything for you

As for getting builders to finish something I've come to the conclusion that there is only one thing that trades people respect and thats money. Without a decent amount of money held back they will lose interest and getting things finished becomes a chore. Exactly what we are going through once more - we got caught out by building control failing some large items which we need to get resolved but we dont have a lot of money left so the builder isn't interested in us any more.

We're going to try and new technique - string them along to get them to do as much work as possible and once we cant get anything more done, we will set out everything thats outstanding. And only once they have completed everything thats on the list will they get any payment.

Thankfully I believe the window is special order so he cant return it and its not cheap so hopefully that will act as an incentive to get it fitted if he's hoping to get paid.

latecomer

Fevvahz wrote: »

I know the feeling well - I work in the public sector and my job may no longer be there in 6 months time, so looking to become a little more frugal until I can guarantee my income.

I was made redundant just over a year ago out of the blue and it was s huge shock but I ended up getting another job, locally, before I was offically laid off. And its a better position than the last one too and in reality I was long overdue a change so it was all good in the end .

Obviously I hope it doesn't happy to you but its not necessarily always as bad as you see on the news.