First-time house renovation

Shimmyhill

The most recent project was to install a wood burner;

This is how the chimney was when we moved in



Much fin with hammers and ads drills and it was opened up and a new lintel installed;



Next step was to screed it was sand/cement mix and then plaster it with some special heat resistant plaster - awful stuff to use and finish and would never use it again!





After much shopping around for tiles/slate we decided to get some pros in to fit a granite hearth - up until this point dad and i had done everything else, good fun but time consuming - the guys that did the hearth knocked the old one to floor level and fitted the new one in hours, i guess that why they are pros and we aren't!!



Finally had a Hetas install come and line the chimney, back fill with vermiculite and install the burner - went for a Clearview Pioneer 400 after much advise on another forum (found the installer via the forum too)



Once this was all done i went mad and removed all the wall paper from living room - no more wallpaper in the house to remove now WOOOHOO but it did reveal some awful walls and even though the wood burner was finished months ago we still have 'rustic' walls..



The money shot!



The project was finished in March and we had lots of use from the stove - love it and i am looking forward to winter, the garden has been turned over to wood storage in preparation

In the process of trying to decide what to do with the walls in the living room - there used to be a window in here that was filled in, i assume they knew it was going to be wall papered as it was an awful job. We spent a day sanding and filling and it is vastly better but I'm still 50/50 on getting the room skimmed.

Any ideas on a rough price on a room thats 4.2m x 3.8m with a bay window and chimney (the breast wouldn't need to be done as we have already done it) Also on the same subject to plasters skim onto painted walls - similar dilemma in the hall but they have already been painted white!?

jozbo

Really glad to see this thread active again! I've been lurking as about to embark on my first renovation of a 3 bed split level flat currently in a sorry state...we are hoping to complete at the start of August.

Need to fix a leak from bathroom, then demolish walls, rip up carpets and trashed inbuilt furniture and kitchen, rewire, new sockets, update CH and new boiler, replaster artex throughout, build fitted storage, new kitchen and appliances, decorate.....:eek:

This thread will be a godsend! :j

latecomer

Hejo wrote: »

Major spanner in the works is rats are back.

Latecomer - sorry to hear about your burglary and job woes. If I recall you had some bad trades too. Hope its all sorted now and things improve for you.

Hope you get the vermin sorted - mice are one thing, rats are a different problem altogether!

OH will never have building work done again or at least not while its still a bit raw and we have little people around the house. I'd do it again, maybe not live in it at the time but for me the end result made it all worth while. I'll need to get some of the finished photos up to let you all see.

Job problem is currently just them asking me to work while being paid so I cant complain too much TBH although obviously I'd rather have a 3 month holiday

latecomer

Shimmyhill wrote: »

Any ideas on a rough price on a room thats 4.2m x 3.8m with a bay window and chimney

I'd say probably £3-400 given some of the quotes we've had but it can vary tremendously. Get a recommendation if you can as the difference between plasterers and people who can plaster (if you see what I mean) are huge.

stolt

not massive progress, but finally got round to finishing the utility room, couldnt make our mind up on the colour etc, but its called 'sex shop pink' . brightens up the room. still need to put oil on the doors and sort the worktop out in the utility room.

to be honest ive spent alot of time on my car in the year i've owned it and thats now where i want it. dinning room is awaiting a table which it looks as if we are going to get that made locally, ideally we want this room done for christmas.
promotion at work a few months back but to be honest its longer hours and even less time on the house and the kids. really need the soffits and woodwork painted, neighbours had it done a few weeks back and it looks so much better. really want to go upvc but another neighbour paid 7k for his to be done!!!!

heres the utility room

typeractive

Awesome Stolt. I hope to have pics of some progress for people soon too!

stolt

typeractive wrote: »

Awesome Stolt. I hope to have pics of some progress for people soon too!

nice one, i thought i was on my own here now lol

typeractive

Not quite - I pop back from time to time to check on any posts. I'm really annoyed with myself as let the blog slip. Just started having so many problems with the house etc, so much time, effort and money. I'm pretty much 'done' to the point of moving in. Still need to finish the garage, garden and paint the outside kind of jobs etc. I've still taken my photos along teh way though - so I'll have to sort through them when (if) I get a chance to show people.

It's been a very testing experience, and I have been cursed / jinxed with misfortune I think. To the point where you could not think up the scenarios (lots of catch 22's or knock on effects). So many I can't even remember them - they were becoming like a breaking headline each day! hehe. I've threatened to sell a number of times now. Still wanna value it. Spent the last 4 nights in there. Need to buy lots of stuff for the kitchen so I can get cooking and eating properly there.

latecomer

Just popping in and dragging this thread back from the dead

Not a great deal happening with us other than some boiler problems which the engineers are doing a good job of not fixing.

Put a large gate up round the side of the house to restrict access to the garden a few weeks ago. Also ran a wire for an additional keypad for the alarm to be installed at teh back door as going out the back door with LLC in the buggy was a pain as you then had to go back round the front and then go in and set the alarm. I ran the wire as the guy from the alarm company was somewhat larger than me and I didn't think he'd fit through the holes in the walls under the floor. He said it could be several hours labour depending on what they needed to do and might get expensive - so I suggested I run the cable and he connect it up and he was happy with that and is just going to charge for the keypad. I managed to run the cable behind the architrave so no redecoration required which is always a bonus

LLC was not happy about daddy being under the floor and it was only I banged on the floor on his demand that he grudgingly accepted that I was fine

Got my final project in the planning stages - my storage platform in the garage above the garage door. Unfortunately gave away a lot of the material when we were going to sell house so will need to order more - mind you it shouldn't be more than 3-4 lengths of C16 6"x2" , possibly one 8"x2" and a couple more chipboard floor boards.

My uncle who is a retired joiner is going to be visiting next week so might run my plans past him to make sure he approves. Might even take a picture once its done to post up - thats if anyone is still reading/interested/nosey

TomsMom

Good to hear from you LC, LLC must be growing up quickly now .

I think I come under the nosey category although I am still subscribed to the thread and interested in what everyone is doing.

It certainly has gone dead of late but I suppose us "oldies" are more or less finished with our renovations now so not much to report.

Nothing going on in my house, just had neighbour from hell problems (on another couple of threads) but his property is on the market with a prospective purchaser in the offing, providing the disputes the neighbour the other side and I have with the current owner don't put her off.