First-time house renovation

aliasojo

latecomer wrote:

Ended up using a full size drill with adjustable speed but of course as there is no torque settings we had to be careful not to go right through the board or knacker the heads on the screws.

I use these dimplers, especially for boards that are difficult to hold and screw at the same time. Brilliant little gadget imo. Stops your screw at just the right depth.



Well I have a day of more taping and filling ahead of me. Was supposed to be putting up coving but it's too heavy for me to lift long lengths by myself when it's loaded with adhesive. OH, who was supposed to be helping, knackered his foot yesterday during the Aviemore half marathon he was running in, and now he can't even stand on it. Honestly that man will do anything to get out of DIY.

I'd like a sun pipe for my top hall. There isn't a window there so unless the room doors are open, it doesn't get natural light. Will be interested to see other people's developments.

Have a good week everyone. :beer:

ukmaggie45

Hopeful_5 wrote: »

Have you decided which ones to get yet?

Hi Hope, builder got one from Velux. It's this one.

It's in place on the roof, but not into the landing yet. Must get photos up!

We're going with a kitchen firm just down the road from us, have more or less chosen a grey oak effect cupboard, though will prob use a lighter colour for the top cupboards (they do it in white and oak colour too). Been hoping to go down and chat with them again, but what with the virus and then the dentist I haven't been up to it yet. Another session at dentist on Thursday - 2 hours! :eek: So not sure if we'll make it down on Friday or not.

It'll be a while before it goes in as the old kitchen floor has to be dug out and reconcreted (along with the rest of the original ground floor), so I don't think there's any lunatic rush to get things sorted out.

Actually made it to the house yesterday, lots of work gone on in the last week. Our bedroom which has been knocked into the small bedroom next to it is looking great. At least it will when the plastering is done. But it's a lovely space.

Went into the new bedroom for the first time. The windows were all blocked off with ply for security, but the windows will be coming on Tuesday or Wednesday, can't wait to see it and get my first views out of the windows! :j OH has taken photos, but it's not quite the same as seeing in reality.

latecomer

@aliasojo - given a little more planning I might well have gone for somethign like that but I didn't expect the cordless drill to die and hence have any requirement for little gadgets

@maggie - Yeah getting a look out the windows in person is a big step forward - even though we had lots of trouble getting the windows installed upstairs, once it was done it made a huge difference.

I've just taken the plunge and ordered a shed. Was going to go for a 10x6' one but after measuring and thinking just how big a shed we actually need we've gone for an 8x6' instead. Hopefully wont be too cheap and nasty although I'm not expecting it to be amazing quality either! Got lots of wood left over from the builders for any strengthing thats required.

Also trhe guy who is going to do the drains for us has spoken to the architect and can do what he wanted to do - its what I drew on the plans but the architect obviously thought it would be better to draw something else. He's going to price up the bits tomorrow morning and check with us that we are happy with the prices before placing the order. If they have stock or can get it overnight he's going to do the work on wednesday. I've told him to come round tomorrow to make sure I've dug out enough and in the right places for the way he wants to connect it all up.

Not even bothering to discuss with existing builder - he'll get notified of the cost and get no choice in the matter.

andrew-b

Thought i'd just post a little update as it's been a week or two..

I've not finished the hall as been doing other stuff but not far off. Ceilings are painted and we've bought Crown easyclean "Cashmere Cuddle" for the walls.

I've spent the last couple of days fitting a new bedroom door. Until now i've never fitted a door myself ..just helped my Dad fit them. Originally my Dad was going to fit it the same day as the lounge door so we'd already trimmed it in height.

On Monday i spent some time practicing with my cheapy £8 B&Q planar before i let it loose on the door. I then planed the door in shed (jacked up on timber leaning against the workbench) which in hindsight was a bad move as i spent hours cleaning up EVERYTHING in the shed after. By the end there was literally a bank of sawdust at the back of my bench up against the shed windows and everything was coated in a thin layer of sawdust. I would definitely recommend anyone who considers buying a planar get one with a dust bag..or else have dust extraction facilities ( i didn't want to wreck the vacuum cleaner which is on it's last legs!).

I had to struggle backwards and forwards from shed to bedroom with the door a few times before it was a decent fit. I didn't actually take anything off the hinge side as the frame was quite straight. But the opening side of the door went in at the top and bottom to match frame ..took off about 6-7mm at the narrowest. I soon realised that the blade on the planar isn't quite parallel to the soleplate which meant having to think a bit more carefully about which direction i planed in or plane both directions...i see now why the planer was a clearance item. Still it's served it's purpose even if i never use it again.

Monday afternoon/ evening i spent clearing up the shed of sawdust...still haven't got round to buying lights for the shed so used inspection lamp to see what i was doing!

Tuesday i spent actually hanging the door. Although i also had to plane off a little bit more first which i did in the hall (more mess to clear up!). Once i'd hung it (one screw per hinge) i found I had to pad out one hinge with some cardboard as was a bit too tight there. Also had an issue with the door stop timbers that bent in both sides at the bottom too far so i had to carefully shave a bit off them with chisel.

I got a new set of wood chisels from wickes at the weekend (anniversary present - we also went back to the hotel where we got married for sunday lunch) so they were well used together with a set of screwdrivers that i got from Aldi on sunday.

When i came to drill out the door for the latch the spade bit i was using jammed and kicked back as i was drilling at one point..i thought nothing of it until i tried to get the bit out of the keyless chuck and it was well and truly jammed in place! By then i was so knackered and muscles so fatigued plus i don't think my brain was functioning! OH ended up taking the drill to her parents house to get them to remove the bit for me where her sister held the chuck with it in reverse at a high torque screwdriver setting in short bursts and removed it in seconds! By the time OH came back i'd got the latch in and handles on using old corded drill that has seen better days.

I still need to fit the latch stay to the frame though at the moment it's latching into the old stay by luck rather than thought! Need a day or two to recover i think though!

latecomer

Sounds similar to my recent door modifying and hanging escapades! That said I still haven't done anything about a latch for the door - will probably go with a ball catch for simplicity and use the original handles.

The guy doign the drains came round to the house yesterday and said he needed more digging done including removing an area which was under the old concrete ramp for the old garage. So I went home via Screwfix and picked up a 9" grinder, diamond cutting disc and a sledge hammer. As it turns out it wasn't reinforced so only needed to use the sledge hammer once I'd undermined it. then had to remove a load more soil to generally lower the level by a couple of inches and dig a 6" hole where the chamber is going. finally finished up and got my tea around 10pm and was well and truely knackered. Didn't even notice the cold.

Also found a new leak - not sure whether I caused it directly by hitting the drain or indirectly by causing it to move as I took away soil from underneath. thankfully its at a join on a bit of pipe that had to be cut and replaced so worst case is the new pipe just has to join slightly further back.

there was a problem with the materials this morning as the person who delivered it couldn't fit the pipe in his car (car for deliveries???) so it had to be picked up but the guy is there working on it as I type. so I'm hoping he will get it mostly done by the end of the day. Might even get a reduction in cost if we are lucky......

Must take some pictures if I can get back in daylight.

aliasojo

I have a 4 bedroom house with a living room, small (very small) study, kitchen, 2 loos and a d.room. I have put coving up in each of these rooms (and even in cupboards if I had leftovers). So the point is, I've done it very successfully many times before. I'm putting coving up in my hall today. Can I do it? Nope. My corners are well off, my measuring is way out. I'm making a total mess and I have no idea why. It's not like I can't do it! Except I can't, today.

I'm supposed to have it all done and everything painted before Saturday. Make me laugh! It's be 3 weeks on Sat before I get done at this rate! :mad:

Btw Andy....this bit just does not read right.......;)

'I got a new set of wood chisels from wickes at the weekend (anniversary present - we also went back to the hotel where we got married for sunday lunch) so they were well used together with a set of screwdrivers that i got from Aldi on sunday'.

latecomer

i'm sure you'll figure it out. We took ages to do the coving in the little bedroom but I would hope we would be faster now. In fact we might well be doing it in the the dining room but I'm not telling the plasterer that so he makes a nice job of the corners

TomsMom

andrew-b wrote: »

I've not finished the hall as been doing other stuff but not far off. Ceilings are painted and we've bought Crown easyclean "Cashmere Cuddle" for the walls.

Tell me about this paint Andy. Is it matt, silk, in between? I take it Easyclean means it's wipeable?

You may remember we had matt paint everywhere and although I love the look it's so disappointing that it marks/scuffs so easily and if you try and wipe off any little mark it leaves a noticeable patch. Patch painting is no good as once the colour has been on a while any new patches show up lighter.

We're not thinking of redecorating, heaven forbid :eek:, not yet awhile, just thinking of what might be good next time. Mind you, some areas are looking like it wont be long before it's needed. I remember some people having problems with Crown paints but this specific one wasn't mentioned, maybe it's new???

andrew-b

It's matt ..or that's what it claims http://www.crownpaints.co.uk/help-and-advice/product/crown-easyclean-emulsion.htm .Crown's equivalent to Dulux Endurance ...tough and washable. We got testers for some dulux endurance colours as well as crown easyclean and chose on colour. Colour here. Dont think it's that new but you can use it on wood and metal including rads so i'm going to paint the radiator and radiator pipes with it and see what happens! If it all peels off i won't be happy but will be nicer if the rad blends in with the wall rather than being brilliant white (for a few weeks until it inevitably yellows!).

Wanted something a bit more hardwearing with bubba on the way, the beast, and my grubby fingers! I guess the weak point is that it's going onto lining paper rather than straight onto plaster so might not be quite as scrubbable?

Are the corners actually square Aliasojo...bet they aren't and will result in your corners going out! Sounds like you may have some filling to do. I spent days making good old coving in our spare room with polyfilla but i'm sure your corners wont be that bad. It's amazing what you can shape out of polyfilla if you sand and refill enough times!! Why i ripped our hall coving down and will be doing the same in the bedroom was i didnt fancy the effort making good again! In the kitchen the plasterers replaced the coving but even so i still had some making good with polyfilla around the edges and corners.

TomsMom

andrew-b wrote: »

It's matt ..or that's what it claims http://www.crownpaints.co.uk/help-and-advice/product/crown-easyclean-emulsion.htm .Crown's equivalent to Dulux Endurance ...tough and washable. We got testers for some dulux endurance colours as well as crown easyclean and chose on colour. Colour here. Dont think it's that new but you can use it on wood and metal including rads so i'm going to paint the radiator and radiator pipes with it and see what happens! If it all peels off i won't be happy but will be nicer if the rad blends in with the wall rather than being brilliant white (for a few weeks until it inevitably yellows!).

Wanted something a bit more hardwearing with bubba on the way, the beast, and my grubby fingers! I guess the weak point is that it's going onto lining paper rather than straight onto plaster so might not be quite as scrubbable?

Thanks for links Andy. I like the colour. You'll have to let us know if it lives up to their description, I'd be very interested to know if it does leave a shiny patch if wiped. Our decorator used an expensive American paint for the kitchen which he assured us was every bit as good, if not better, than Dulux Endurance and - yep, it does go shiny if you wipe it!