First-time house renovation

andrew-b

GSDog, sounds a bit similar to us in some ways. My Dad is a retired building surveyor but did lots of extensions on their house while i was growing up and renovated my sister's place too. He took me out sometimes to vacant properties or new builds. I never expected we'd ever be able to afford to get out of renting and onto the property ladder as we had no hope of getting a mortgage. But my grandfather had died a year or two before but my Dad inherited everything then later decided it would be better to be redistributed to help me buy a property and give same amount to my sister. Wish my Dad had thought of it sooner though as we could have got so much more for our money before. So we ended up with a bungalow and being completely mortgage-free and with a reasonable renovation budget (though originally we were buying a more expensive place that all fell through so the renovation budget was the difference in prices!).
I'd only ever done painting and a small bit of tiling before...now i try my hand at everything. I've learnt tons in the 4 years i've been slowly doing up our place and i'm still learning all the time. Obviously it takes longer doing yourself but you'll save an absolute packet!

ukmaggie45

latecomer wrote: »

@maggie - thats fantastic progress. Do you how many guys they have on the job? Also a general question - is it normal for bricks to be used in between the top and bottom of the beams? I think at my BIL's they've just put plasterboard round it.

Hi LC, you keep asking questions I don't know the answer to!

We haven't been at the house when they've been working, or only once, and there were 2 of them there then, but that was early days when they were still drilling the foundations.

We may go round tomorrow, so might be able to answer then!

As to beams, I know nothing! I'm sure it'll all be plaster boarded in at the end? I don't quite get what they've done at your BIL's, I think that steel joists need to rest on something solid as they're there to be a support to heavy stuff. But once things are finished they're out of sight. Presumably that's why Building Control need to visit so often to inspect.

Hope you're feeling better today. Lovely and sunny here so we're off to garden soon. We didn't go yesterday as it turned a bit grey and manky by the time we were ready to go.

Plus I think OH was glad to have a lazy day after his tooth extraction. That seems to have gone OK (touch wood) so he's on the painkillers still, and rinsing with Corsodyl mouthwash. Could use salt water, but he'd got the stuff in already as he's had so many infections round the tooth he was using it more or less full time.

Hopeful_5

Thanks for being so welcoming and encouraging on here . I tried to read the thread from the begining - but you are all so prolific I will have to do it in stages. Well done for all that you have managed. I read enough to realise that I am in for a hard slog!

I went to my bungalow again yesterday and the mortar wasn't as bad as I had thought. The builder was there and he told me it was all going absolutely to plan and without problem. I'll just have to try and relax :rotfl:.

People keep telling me to take pictures so I can look back but the only camera I have is on my phone. I'll see what I can do though.

I am the same as you, GSDog, got everything to do to a 1930s bungalow which hasn't been touched since the early 70s. The only salvagable thing was the guttering but it looks like that may be coming down too as it will be a problem to connect to the new (think that's the reason).

Hope

latecomer

@gsDog - welcome

@maggie - sorry about the questions, I'm just a curious person who wants to know why things are done a certain way. Mainly so that if I do something like this again I can do a lot more myself. I'd be astounded if it was just 2 folk as I suspect it will take more than 2 people to lift those beams. Could be wrong though

I dont see that the bricks would make a lot of diffence between the top and the bottom of the beams but I dont actually know. I'm also unsure of what they did at my BIL's, I just dont remember seeing the bricks in between but then it was just about finished when I saw it.

@andy - my dad always did bits round the house, mostly electrics and general DIY. When I bought my flat, they came up and we decorated and put in a kitchen and laminate in hall and kitchen. When OH bought her flat we put in a new kitchen, bathroom and generally fixed all the carp DIY that had been done. Hence the next natural step was to buy somewhere that needed everything done - which we did this time

No been doing much today although inlaws came through later on and FIL and me tried to cut down the door to fit teh sitting room. Needed some off both sides and also a little straightening up. We were using the new circular saw which was great apart from the guide edge being rather short and slightly bent at the end which I presume is intensional but not 100% sure. Anyway we've got it to the stage of fitting the door frame and then had to break for dinner. Just in time for me as I'd had more than enough for the day - still not feeling great and I think the exertion hasn't helped. Mind you it did make me feel better for a while to get some progress

latecomer

Hopeful_5 wrote: »

I went to my bungalow again yesterday and the mortar wasn't as bad as I had thought. The builder was there and he told me it was all going absolutely to plan and without problem. I'll just have to try and relax :rotfl:.

People keep telling me to take pictures so I can look back but the only camera I have is on my phone. I'll see what I can do though.

Its well worth getting a camera to take some pics - get a cheap older one off ebay or something.

Regarding the builders - they are not likely to say "arrghh its all going wrong - panic now!" :rotfl::rotfl:

arroli

GSDog

It's a 2 bed detached bungalow built in the late 30's which hasn't been touched for over 30 years. It's going to need completely new windows, doors, central heating, electrics and plumbing, etc. Thankfully the roof is OK and we don't plan to do any major structural work.

We are 2 weeks into our very siimilar project..so far only really managed to clear out the rubbish left behind, but this morning, building contractor starts on site, scaffolding going up first, our 2 bedroom single storey cottage needs a new roof before anything else..
Starting at the top and working our way down!

GSDog look forward with interest to your postings and pics..
we have started a blog to document changes we make, and all the hard work (and no doubt heartache) along the way

We are novices at this renovation, first timers...with only basic diy skills, so having to reply on tradespeople to do major work:(

Carrie_Bloomy

I remmember what was when we bought our apartment four years ago. All rooms needed painting,new floors, new windows. We started renovation room by room . First we replace the windows, painted walls and last installed laminate floor. Renovation of every room took us 2-3 months . We hired after builders cleaning company to manage all the dust and paint stains (in the beggining we were terrible painters ). But in the end we got almost perfect home

GSDog

arroli wrote: »

GSDog


We are 2 weeks into our very siimilar project..so far only really managed to clear out the rubbish left behind, but this morning, building contractor starts on site, scaffolding going up first, our 2 bedroom single storey cottage needs a new roof before anything else..
Starting at the top and working our way down!

GSDog look forward with interest to your postings and pics..
we have started a blog to document changes we make, and all the hard work (and no doubt heartache) along the way

We are novices at this renovation, first timers...with only basic diy skills, so having to reply on tradespeople to do major work:(

It's good to see so many others on here embarking on similar projects.

We've still got to empty the bungalow before any sort of work can start. As soon as it's empty I will post pictures on here to give you an idea of what we'll be doing.

I visited the bungalow again earlier today and I think I've changed my plans already. Currently the kitchen, conservatory, dining room and bedroom 1 are all at the back of the property, overlooking the rear garden. The dining room and bedroom 1 have a wall dividing them; my plan is to knock the wall through and make bedroom 1 into the new lounge, making it one big open plan dining room/lounge area.
It will mean that all of the "living" area of the property (kitchen, conservatory, dining room, lounge) will be located at the rear of the property overlooking the garden and fields, it will also open the place up and let more light in.
It all makes so much more sense, I just wish that I'd thought of it sooner.

One of my first steps will be to get a decent architect in to give us some ideas where the stairs will go when we eventually decide to convert the loft into a 3rd bedroom later on. I don't want to put a new shower in the bathroom only to decide that's where the stairs will go in 8 months time!
If we had the time and money we would do the loft conversion now, but unfortunately we don't.

I will definitely start a blog when the work starts.
We also only have basic DIY skills but that's where my dad will hopefully be helping out with his experience.

ukmaggie45

OH went up to the house yesterday evening. I was still totally shattered after gardening on Sunday afternoon. Not that I did very much - harvested one bag of potatoes, and emptied one that turned out to have no spuds in it. :mad: And began to prune the quince bush. We also began to mark out some of the power and light placing.

House doesn't look that much different from the front.


Front of house by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

The tiles are now off the back roof.


Tiles stripped from back roof by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Looks like they've made a start on the first floor walls, and there's lots of blocks up there ready to go.


From the garden by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

The render is coming off the back of the house.


Scaffold at back of house by ukmaggie45, on Flickr


Render coming off back of house by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Looking up through the extension "ceiling" at some of the blocks ready to add to the walls.


Blocks on extension "ceiling" by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

And here's a view along the front of the house.


Scaffold along front of house by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Off to arrange the money this afternoon - wish me luck! :eek:

latecomer

Glad to see some new blood coming into the thread

No real progress on our front but we should be having the kitchen window fitted tomorrow morning. We will see what happens.

Maggie - i would say they are making great progress - we could definitely do with some of that!