First-time house renovation

latecomer

@maggie - thats great progress they are making. Ours took ages to get that far - ok they had pretty horrific weather to contend with but even when it was dry they didn't put blocks up that quickly (dont think there was a real brickie amongst them).

@andyb - hopefully OH starts to feel better soon. Mrs LC didn't have any actual sickness just a lot of nausea which went away as long as she ate. She ate a lot those first few months

@kmmr - really looking good. Steps look great as does the whole extension.

Fevvahz

latecomer wrote: »

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 .

I'm kind of hoping I have to get something elsewhere, I despair at the public sector way or working, its so lethargic and wasteful. If you can't get public sector to work like private sector, with the profits reinvested, then I can see why so much public stuff has been sold off in the past.

What I'm waiting on now is to find out whether they try and screw us over on the redundancy by changing the policy on redundancy and relocation before officially telling people they're redundant. Looking forward to a new challenge though!

suisidevw

Loving the updates people, KMMR, the flat looks great!

Maggie, great to see it going along at a great pace too, did you choose this building company from recommendation or out to tender and cheapest price?

Fevv, I know how you feel. Both myself and my wife work int he public sector, her in a better paid job than me which I have no shame about and the cuts that we are facing are bonkers, approx 30%! Restructures and voluntary severance galore! Looks as though both our positions are secure but as you say the amount of wastage and lethargy is rediculous!

Doozergirl

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/

Looking great!

Love your steps kmmr, where are they from? I'm having to replace similar steps but have never seen anything that matched on my travels and was going to end up building steps from block pavers but that would look far better!

I long to paint our project white - the flat looks great - really clean and crisp, as does stolt's house! H has already started with magnolia and I can't stand it anymore as it feels bog standard. Have you used brilliant white or a different shade?

ukmaggie45

suisidevw wrote: »

Maggie, great to see it going along at a great pace too, did you choose this building company from recommendation or out to tender and cheapest price?

Builder recommended by DD and SiL. They have a Grade II Listed house, and he did their extension. Further complicated by their architect being a bit useless eg had pipe work going through steel support joists! :eek: Steve sorted it out to everyone's satisfaction (including the conservation bods) plus we've seen the work and it all looks great. SiL did warn us that he isn't the cheapest firm, but he's certainly going at a rate of knots!

ukmaggie45

fuzzybear01 wrote: »

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

Welcome to the thread Fuzzybear! I followed this thread for quite a while before we actually bought a house - this was the third place we got serious about. Our surveyor said we were the best customers he'd had for the last 10 years! :eek:

Good to begin thinking of the sort of place you want in advance, as you can research your options for renovation/extending before it's all happening. Now we're actually into the build I'm beginning to get a bit excited by it all - before I could only get excited about the garden! :rotfl:

latecomer

I loved the early building stage - the progress you see on a daily basis is fantastic. I'd do it all again without a second thought despite all our troubles if we had to move and modify another house to suit our needs.

suisidevw

Doozer, there are so many whites available that are a billion times better than magnolia as a standard IMO! We've used quite a lot of dulux's, 'Jasmine White'

stolt

Doozergirl wrote: »

Looking great!

!

I long to paint our project white - the flat looks great - really clean and crisp, as does stolt's house! H has already started with magnolia and I can't stand it anymore as it feels bog standard. Have you used brilliant white or a different shade?

thanks dozergirl, i meant to have asked you something a few weeks back, someone suggested you might be able to point me in the direction of a decent company that supplies and fits sliding doors,..

suisidevw

latecomer wrote: »

I loved the early building stage - the progress you see on a daily basis is fantastic. I'd do it all again without a second thought despite all our troubles if we had to move and modify another house to suit our needs.

I secretly want to move on in houses now to have to project manage a much larger renovation!