First-time house renovation

ukmaggie45

aliasojo wrote: »

Aw maggie what a shame. At least you have a record of sorts via this thread even if you dont have all the pics.

Got the pics on computer, but was keeping them on the cards so didn't have to go through all the bother of backing them up to external hard drive or internet backup stuff (too expensive for the amount of pics I have, though I do put a lot on Flickr but that's a bit different to general backup of photos that I now need to do).

aliasojo wrote: »

Andy is suspiciously quiet again, wonder if baby has made an appearance yet. (I've decided it's a girl. )

Hope Mrs Andy isn't going through a prolonged labour. Been thinking of them both, and will continue to do so until we have news.

aliasojo wrote: »

Work on this place has stopped completely. Dont know if you remember a while back OH and I had split, well we're trying to work things out and have put the house on the back boiler for now and are spending time doing stuff for us rather than the house. That means we're living with bare plasterboard and floorboards but I dont care tbh. It's less stressful than the alternative. I'll still be on this thread in a year's time even after you lot have toddled off and are relaxing in amongst the fruits of your labour.

Oh Aliaso, so good to hear you're trying to work things out. The rate we're going at the mo we'll still be struggling along with you. And we won't be toddling off even when we finish (if we ever do) as it's nice to stay in touch with friends and see how they're doing.

Hugs from Liverpool

TomsMom

aliasojo wrote: »

My gut feeling is to have more of the same. I think vinyl would be much more practical than laminate or carpet tiles, and I think it would look streamlined if it was the same thoughout.

I have Rhinofloor in the kitchen (we enter the house via the back door most of the time, especially with the dog and it's easy to clean and always looks like new).

I don't think the colour is a problem as long as it's balanced by lighter things (walls/curtains/blinds/rug/etc etc).

I was thinking along those lines too, changed my mind to carpet tiles in similar shades (mixture of two), then back to vinyl again.

Thoughts at the moment are vinyl will need sweeping as we get a lot of sand brought in (our feet, dogs feet - she has a good run on the beach every day) and I already have kitchen/bathroom/utility/downstairs WC with hard floors so plenty of sweeping and mopping already. Carpet tiles could be vacuumed so would be quicker. Another thought was that the floor would need to be levelled super smooth for vinyl (vinyl fitter showed us and tested it out for us when kitchen was done) and probably need not be so crucial for carpet tiles. DS probably wont be so much of a perfectionist with that job as DH but DH isn't feeling brilliant at the moment so not sure he would be helping DS out.

Oh decisions, decisions. I hate them.

By the way AJ - was it you who mentioned you had a Perfect Fit roller blind in your bathroom???? Is it still performing OK? I'm thinking of having one on our landing window, not a particularly big window, as I think it would look nicer than a normal roller. We don't have curtains up on the landing.

diable

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Any news from anyone? Nothing much has been happening with us recently, shower room screeded for vinyl lay tomorrow. Still chasing doors. Kitchen commission in a week, and I think carpets in about 2 weeks. These last weeks are very frustrating as nothing is happening at the house other than what we're doing in the garden.

No photos since OH left my camera outside the front door while helping me into house and it was nicked (hardly surprising!). Had several SD cards full of photos in the case too. :eek: Ordered new camera today, so hopefully by weekend should have it charged up and I'll finally be able to take photos of the red roller blind in the shower room!

GSDog, how about some photos? Are you writing a blog about your renovation? Would love to read if you are. If not why not??? :rotfl: Sez she who hasn't managed to! Mind you, it's all on this thread!

Hope you're all doing OK and romping ahead with your projects. :beer:

Once you get the camera post some photos.

aliasojo

TomsMom wrote: »

Thoughts at the moment are vinyl will need sweeping as we get a lot of sand brought in (our feet, dogs feet - she has a good run on the beach every day) and I already have kitchen/bathroom/utility/downstairs WC with hard floors so plenty of sweeping and mopping already. Carpet tiles could be vacuumed so would be quicker.

Oh decisions, decisions. I hate them.

By the way AJ - was it you who mentioned you had a Perfect Fit roller blind in your bathroom???? Is it still performing OK?

Just a thought but the very nature of sand means the small gritty particles can 'sink' down into the carpet pile, no matter how dense.

We live near to something that's laughingly called a beach (it has more rocks than sand ) and when we lifted the front hall carpet, the underlay underneath had a fine layer of dirty looking sand all over it. Clearly it had sunk through the hessian backing. This may not happen with hard backed carpet tiles but I think the sand would still sink between the fibres and may not get thoroughly removed whilst hoovering.

That said, I'm aware I tend to base decisions on what will last for a million years longer than we would ever actually need them to.

Blind is up and down at least twice a day and is still as responsive as the day it was bought. Never had an issue with it at all.

TomsMom

aliasojo wrote: »

That said, I'm aware I tend to base decisions on what will last for a million years longer than we would ever actually need them to.

Blind is up and down at least twice a day and is still as responsive as the day it was bought. Never had an issue with it at all.

Thanks AJ. Good news about the blind, will look into that.

I'm like you, always want things to look pristine and last forever. Unfortunately the vinyl, despite being a good quality Rhinofloor, had something dropped on it and it chipped a small piece of the top layer off showing the white layer underneath. Fortunately, as there is a lot of black, I was able to use black marker pen to cover it up and is OK. This is making me wonder how hardwearing it will be in a higher traffic area. So many thoughts going round, one day vinyl, next day carpet tiles, then back to vinyl etc. I used to be indecisive, now I just can't make up my mind :rotfl: . What I actually need is someone impartial to come to my house and TELL me what to have .

Andy Where are you? Any sign of junior yet?

aliasojo

TomsMom wrote: »

What I actually need is someone impartial to come to my house and TELL me what to have .

Woman after my own heart.

aliasojo

Actually, when you think about it, that really is a bit of a daft saying isn't it? :rotfl:

Why would you be after my heart...don't you have one? :rotfl:

andrew-b

aliasojo wrote: »

Andy is suspiciously quiet again, wonder if baby has made an appearance yet. (I've decided it's a girl. )

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Hope Mrs Andy isn't going through a prolonged labour. Been thinking of them both, and will continue to do so until we have news.

TomsMom wrote: »

Andy Where are you? Any sign of junior yet?

Nope no news yet i'm afraid!

Went to clinic on Wednesday. All ok. They don't want to wait beyond the due date which is Monday 28th March. Go back to clinic on Wednesday when we are expecting them to set a date for induction again ..so i'm guessing we will be going in the end of next week or Monday 28th. We're hoping that labour will start naturally before they have a chance to induce.

Both been having early nights and getting up late while we can. I really hadn't realised how much i'd overdone things before induction was deferred on Monday. I've spent quite alot of time out in the shed ..upgrading security with a beefier padbolt (one supplied with shed was going rusty and had distorted as the metal was so thin so was becoming difficult to open - of course the screw/bolt holes were in different places), hinge bolts and alarm (with modifications needed to door by adding door stop and a few bits of extra timber for padding out) ..had all the bits just hadn't got round to doing it. Also been tidying and cleaning it up - never use an electric planar in your shed without using dust extraction as it makes a hell of a mess!

Will probably do a bit of painting over the weekend of an internal door or two...though i'm taking it easy as want to preserve my energy.

ukmaggie45

Andy, fingers crossed things start off naturally. DD1 was late to show up (was furious as it meant we missed out on an Income Tax repayment which finished the day she was due - I still nag her about that! ) and I was booked for induction, but my parents came over and drove me round all of the bumpiest roads we could find in Liverpool, and she arrived the next day! :rotfl: Might be worth a try? NB this isn't meant as medical advice.

TM, my Mum had a weird kind of flooring in the bathroom when I was a teenager that had a rubber (or similar) backing, but a sort of felt like (?) top. It came in rolls like vinyl or carpet rather than squares. Very hard wearing. Wish I could remember what it was called. It was scrubbable if necessary, or could vacuum it too. Think it might have been made of polypropylene. I always rather hated it, as it was green and black sort of marble pattern, but warmer than vinyl to walk on and softer too. Might something like that (but with a more tasteful pattern) be suitable for your sun room?

Camera (Canon PowerShot SX30 IS) arrived just before 1pm yesterday, so got battery on charge straight away. I'm afraid I wasn't very money saving over it, as paid for next day delivery! But still worked out cheaper than going to John Lewis for it, plus didn't have the stress of a trip into town and the car parking fees (which really add to the cost of a shopping trip to L1). :eek:

I'm thinking I'll get a second battery (this one uses a single Li-Ion rechargeable), but won't be getting the Canon one as ridiculously expensive and can get a Duracell one off amazon for £16.92.

Also need a camera case, but it's hard to work out which one to go for. I'd almost chosen one, but when I read the customer feedback on amazon someone had bought it for the same camera and said it was too tight a fit. Might have to go shopping in RL rather than online! :eek: Though I've seen an Amazon Basic one that might be OK.

We have flooring! :j I love the kitchen vinyl, I think it looks really good with the units and the granite. Can't wait for next Thursday when rest of plinths will go on and kitchen be commissioned.

Kitchen


Kitchen by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Kitchen from diner


Kitchen from diner by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Yes, I know I haven't cleaned all the dust off the dark oak doors yet - not enough time because I was waiting for the camera battery to charge before going to the house.

Kitchen storage


kitchen storage by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

The utility vinyl looks good too. The silvery "splashes" shine out better when the sun shines on them.

Utility room vinyl


utility floor by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Utility room


utility by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

I'm sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the blind in the shower room yet again! Will try and remember to do that today!

Shower room


shower room off utility by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

I'd totally forgotton what the bathroom vinyl looked like, but am really pleased with it.

Bathroom


Bathroom by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Bathroom towel rail radiator


bathroom radiator by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Most of the doors and some door handles to look at were in the hall at the house when we arrived. One door's been left at the joiners so a panel to match it can be made to go beside the kitchen door. Another 2 doors will arrive next week.

Door handles


Door handles by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

I think I like the one on the top right best. The one on bottom left has a nickel grip, highlighted with shiny stainless steel, I'm not fond of the colour of the nickel. We'll have another look at them today, and hopefully finally make up our minds.

PS Builder says he intends to go in and try and get the majority of the work finished off next week.

aliasojo

Wow maggie, it's all really come together now. Looking really lovely. I'm jealous.