First-time house renovation

lisal0u

KT1985 wrote: »

'afternoon all,

BB- No blog as yet, been busy doing house stuff! However, it may well happen soon...

Rewire is all finished, it was a bit of a hassle, but I am glad it is done. However, I no longer have an excuse to not get on with it all!

Our new doors and windows are being fitted next week, which will be good. It should be a bit warmer then, so can possibly use a little less gas!

JT- I was thinking of bi-fold doors (solid) into our en-suite and downstairs loo, and then decided against them because of the amount of moving parts.

Fridge-freezer was delivered today, but it is still in it's box because I want to paint in the dining area in a week or so.

Oh well, better go back and carry on...

KT1985 - you have been busy! My re-wire is almost finished and I cant wait. It's holding everything else up at the minute. Once thats out the way the plastering can be finished then we can get the floor down and then the kitchen. Then we are nearly done!

The plumber returned today to commission the fire so we finally have heat! Its brilliant, light and heat. No excuses not to get on now!

Its so lovely too! I put a video of it in action on my blog! Cant believe I'm getting so excited about a fire ha ha

I hope everyone has a productive weekend!

Lisa x

TomsMom

The builders managed to finish the slating on the roof this week but haven't yet put the ridge tiles on. A fair bit of plastering has been done in the loft and it's looking like a proper room now. The en-suite has been plastered and they want the sanitaryware fixed ASAP so that they can start plastering the main bathroom. I've updated the blog but it's a bit brief this week.

So between ordering on the internet and an out of town shopping trip we've managed this week to:

Order shower cubicle/tray, toilet and basin for the en-suite and these will hopefully be delivered next week along with the bath and toilet for the main bathroom.

We bought a Triton shower from B & Q, on offer at £50 but I'm wondering if we're going to regret such a cheap one - I can't find it anywhere else other than B & Q or Ebay (it's a Triton Bewitch). It will get a lot of use from the builders soon so I suppose time will tell!

Tap for en-suite basin, towel ring and toilet roll holder.

Ordered tiles for the en-suite and border tiles for en-suite and bathroom (blimey, those border tiles mount up quickly!). Also ordered the 11 doors we'll need and those will be delivered next week with the tiles from Wickes.

As we need some kind of floor covering down in the en-suite ASAP we're going out tomorrow to see if we can find a nice sheet vinyl that either OH or son can lay or get the shop's fitter to lay quickly as a favour. Hopefully as it's such a small space we'll manage to get something organised.

By the way, if anyone needs anything from Wickes, they have just launched a new catalogue Wickes Direct and there is 15% of your first order if you quote CAT09 either by telephone or online order. Delivery is free over £45, next day if ordered before 6pm. (We did well with the tiles, they are on offer at the moment with 30% off - £10.95 instead of £15.65 per sq.m. and there was also the 15% discount too.)

TomsMom

lisal0u wrote: »

Its so lovely too! I put a video of it in action on my blog! Cant believe I'm getting so excited about a fire ha ha

Lovely fire Lisa, I love to see a flame. We're holding back on a fire at the moment, we can't have a gas one due to it being so difficult to create an opening in our 2' random stone walls so we're trying to find the best/most realistic flame effect on an electric fire - not an easy task!

lisal0u

TomsMom wrote: »

The builders managed to finish the slating on the roof this week but haven't yet put the ridge tiles on. A fair bit of plastering has been done in the loft and it's looking like a proper room now. The en-suite has been plastered and they want the sanitaryware fixed ASAP so that they can start plastering the main bathroom. I've updated the blog but it's a bit brief this week.

So between ordering on the internet and an out of town shopping trip we've managed this week to:

Order shower cubicle/tray, toilet and basin for the en-suite and these will hopefully be delivered next week along with the bath and toilet for the main bathroom.

We bought a Triton shower from B & Q, on offer at £50 but I'm wondering if we're going to regret such a cheap one - I can't find it anywhere else other than B & Q or Ebay (it's a Triton Bewitch). It will get a lot of use from the builders soon so I suppose time will tell!

Tap for en-suite basin, towel ring and toilet roll holder.

Ordered tiles for the en-suite and border tiles for en-suite and bathroom (blimey, those border tiles mount up quickly!). Also ordered the 11 doors we'll need and those will be delivered next week with the tiles from Wickes.

As we need some kind of floor covering down in the en-suite ASAP we're going out tomorrow to see if we can find a nice sheet vinyl that either OH or son can lay or get the shop's fitter to lay quickly as a favour. Hopefully as it's such a small space we'll manage to get something organised.

By the way, if anyone needs anything from Wickes, they have just launched a new catalogue Wickes Direct and there is 15% of your first order if you quote CAT09 either by telephone or online order. Delivery is free over £45, next day if ordered before 6pm. (We did well with the tiles, they are on offer at the moment with 30% off - £10.95 instead of £15.65 per sq.m. and there was also the 15% discount too.)

You have been busy again, you're putting me to shame! This weekend we should hopefully get the electrics finished and have the hall and kitchen ready for plastering. Got the hall ceiling to insulate and carry on with painting the rooms.

Bought a set of those rollers from Ideal World shopping channel! I hope they are as good as they made them look on tv (http://www.idealworld.tv/Paint_Runner_Twin_Pack_143633.aspx?nav=1&profileId=2176982) Anything to make painting a whole house easier must be worth a try! At least I can send them back if they turn out to be rubbish!

Ill remember the 15% discount for wickes, it should come in very handy!

Happy DIYing everyone!
x

lisal0u

TomsMom wrote: »

Lovely fire Lisa, I love to see a flame. We're holding back on a fire at the moment, we can't have a gas one due to it being so difficult to create an opening in our 2' random stone walls so we're trying to find the best/most realistic flame effect on an electric fire - not an easy task!

If you want a real flame you could always try these: http://www.gelfireplaces.com/

My friend lives in a new build flat and has no chimney and rents it so can't cut big holes in the wall and she is considering these. She has looked at electric ones but they are really expensive for the ones that look realistic. This way you can still have a real flame!

x

Shimmyhill

Sooo much to do this weekend, so little time to do it !

Having condensation issues in the front bedroom (and bathroom) - now we are having the cavities filled on the 12th so that should help, having the Rad replaced and moved into the bay so that should help and will in the not to distant future replace the rubbish aluminum justaboutdouble glazed windows.

Currently stripping the woodchip paper off the affected areas in the bedroom and it is not a pretty sight behind it is it worth painting on some of that anti-mould paint as a base coat when this is all stripped off ?

Also the bathroom is rubbish - the window is a upvc double glazed unit but is too small and has no vent, the bathroom has no vent either so what is the best course of action in there ? (not sure about an extractor at the moment as we will be totally doing the bathroom in the future) Would a un-powered vent help and if so what should i be looking for ?

I also have a question about the electrics or actually the lighting circuit. The house has been rewired and all the cabling is the grey pvc stuff, some of the sockets are wall mounted in trunking - these i will chase into the wall but a couple of them the cables go into the cavity. Cavity people say this is ok as they are not high power cables (like shower or immersion) and thousands of houses would be like this - it is only a couple of sockets so i could chase them into the wall - should i ?

Onto the lighting circuit ! the things that hang from the ceiling (technical term that one) have no earth wire in them, however the cable to the junction box above them does and it goes back to the fuse board earthed, the wall switches also have the earth cable in them - is it as simple as replacing the dropped down wire with cable that is earthed ?

(i am getting a sparky out btw - electrics have been checked and safe - these are just questions for me not something i am going to do but i am interested to know)

TomsMom

andrew-b wrote: »

Useful tip about wickes that i was unaware of ...though i prefer to go to the local store where it's generally easier to take things back! I'm always taking items back to DIY stores - but wickes is one of the better one's!

We bought the tiles for the main bathroom from Wickes online a couple of weeks ago (I had a 20% code for those ). At the time we couldn't decide if we wanted to fully tile or half tile so OH asked if we could return any unwanted tiles. He was told that it would be possible either by being picked up from your home within 28 days (charge applies) or by returning to a store within 6 months. Best of both worlds, especially for tiles as you can't get many boxes in a car! Choose in store, order online with discount and get delivered free (over £45), any spare take back to store within 6 months. :T

On the fires...think about whether you'll actually use it much!

Agree there. It's more of a focal point. We have a living flame gas fire in our present lounge which, like you, goes on a couple of times a year, so it's not worth the effort and expense of trying to cut out the hole in the wall. The jury's still out on this one so we're not rushing into anything yet.

TomsMom

lisal0u wrote: »

You have been busy again, you're putting me to shame!

But it's not us doing the work Lisa, it would take forever if it was and we're not capable of such major works. Don't feel bad, just think of how much you're saving by DIY.

I have to admit, I'm a bit fed up of going out shopping though, you can have too much of a good thing! We actually got the floor covering for the en-suite this morning and we're very pleased with it. This is the one we've chosen. Photo doesn't do it justice, it's sort of gold/bronze and goes well with the colour of the tiles. For sheet vinyl it's quite contemporary. We're still thinking about flooring for the main bathroom.

Bought a set of those rollers from Ideal World shopping channel! I hope they are as good as they made them look on tv (http://www.idealworld.tv/Paint_Runner_Twin_Pack_143633.aspx?nav=1&profileId=2176982) Anything to make painting a whole house easier must be worth a try! At least I can send them back if they turn out to be rubbish!

I've seen those demonstrated and it looks good, hope the reality is the same. OH bought this from QVC a few years ago. It doesn't have brilliant reviews but OH always uses it now, especially good for the ceiling, and he's not a gadget man. He does agree about the cleaning though, it probably wastes a fair bit of paint as well as taking time.

Hope you all have a good weekend and get lots of work done.

Spicey

TomsMom like the flooring, may look at something simular.

We were hoping to exchange on the bungalow by now but apparently it should happen in next couple of weeks. In the mean time I am getting quotes from builders. Got one from a company of builders. But now trying some smaller one man band types that have been recommended to me by my mums gardener who used to be a builder. Will mean me being more project manager, but thats fine. DD2 is going to set up the blog for me, once we start work.
It was a beautiful sunny, but cold day here in Kent.

lisal0u

Ooo the flooring looks lovely! I bet it will make the room look really warm and cosy!

Managed to get most of the remaining plaster off the walls today and cleared most of it up. Dad was busy with the electrics. More electrics and clearing up tomorrow! I was very grateful of the fire today as it was freeeeeeeezing!