First-time house renovation

ukmaggie45

latecomer wrote: »

thats if anyone is still reading/interested/nosey

Hi there LC, and little LC! Glad to hear things are going relatively well - hope the boiler gets sorted out soon.

We've still got lots of little bits to do here in new home, but currently most energy is going on trying to clear, de-clutter and clean old home ready to get agents in come spring... Just hoping we can get it sorted by Feb/March. DD1 is going to sort her stuff when she's up at Christmas, and hopefully we'll white van some furniture down to London for her soon after. She's expecting mid March-ish, so it would be good to get stuff to her well before then so she still has some energy to sort it out!

Really miss the gang on this thread, so hope a few more come back and let us know how they're doing!

Hugs to all of you from Liverpool! :j :beer:

ukmaggie45

TomsMom wrote: »

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

Hi there TM, glad to hear your horrid neighbour is selling up! :j I PMd you ages ago, did you get it? Just this and that of what is now old news, can't remember what now!

I worried about you when there were the high tides with the storm surge, was that October or earlier? Hope you weren't flooded out anyway. We've shut up caravan for winter now, though might be tempted to pay to get gas put on and then system drained again and go down for New Year if we don't have snow and ice by then. We'll see!

latecomer

Hi TM and Maggie

@TM hope you get rid of neighbour - hopefully if the buyer realises or is told there has been some problems with both neighbours they will figure out the common factor

@maggie - amazing how life gets in the way of things isn't it. Since LLC came along getting anything done is a challenge and a half.

LLC is now 2 and a bit - all attitude and testing the boundaries. MIL hasn't been well so we've decided to put him into nursery which isn't going down well at all with LLC or MIL. He's also not been that well for the last couple of weeks with a variety of things including a bad chest infection/pneumonia but seems to be almost back to normal now.

LC

TomsMom

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Hi there TM, glad to hear your horrid neighbour is selling up! :j I PMd you ages ago, did you get it? Just this and that of what is now old news, can't remember what now!

I worried about you when there were the high tides with the storm surge, was that October or earlier? Hope you weren't flooded out anyway. We've shut up caravan for winter now, though might be tempted to pay to get gas put on and then system drained again and go down for New Year if we don't have snow and ice by then. We'll see!

Oh Maggie, I'm so sorry . Just checked and remember looking at your photos in your Flickr album. So much was going on as it was not that long after Mr R. Sole kicked off and, of course, it just went on from there. Glad to say he's not around much now, he must have finished his renovations and decided against keeping it as a holiday let. Considering what an awful bully he is I don't think two older widows getting solicitors involved has made him decide to sell it, would love to find out why he changed from his original plans but will be satisfied just to see the back of him. Mind you, he's made himself very unpopular with a lot of people round here, couldn't possibly repeat what swear words he's used in the local DIY shop, and not just the F one either :eek:. New purchasers seem nice so if the disputes can be settled it may complete, we're keeping fingers and toes crossed that something can be sorted. The other neighbour has a much bigger problem than me.

No problems with flooding a few weeks ago although it was rough. The beach is a mess, so many stones seem to have appeared during that rough weather and, of course, the beach doesn't get cleaned up other than a litter picker in holiday season.

Hope you and John are OK - and a new grandchild on the way, how exciting!

TomsMom

latecomer wrote: »

Hi TM and Maggie

@TM hope you get rid of neighbour - hopefully if the buyer realises or is told there has been some problems with both neighbours they will figure out the common factor

LC

The buyers know of the disputes, they came round to introduce themselves, they're nice people and have probably realised what the common factor is. Unfortunately it's looking like neighbour is refusing to do the right thing and it may fall onto the purchasers to put things right. Depends whether they're willing to. My solicitor gave me the option of keeping quiet and getting nasty neighbour out of our lives ASAP or disclosing dispute and risk it delaying/halting the sale. I was going to keep quiet but the weekend he called me a retard :eek: helped me make my mind up!

I hope LLC feels better soon. Can't believe he's turned two already!

kmmr

Hi all,

Good to see this thread pop up again! I was actually going through my old blog just yesterday. We are in the process of buying another 'project' and I was trying to remind myself how painful it all was. Now that it's been a few years I start getting jealous of other peoples renovation projects!

stolt wrote: »

n
heres the utility room

Stolt, that is the poshest utility room I have ever seen! Looks fab!

typeractive wrote: »

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.

You see - I have forgotten all that stress and heartache, and for some reason want to do it again. It's a drug!

(As a reminder for anyone - he's my old blog. http://clearlybuilt.wordpress.com/
)

spirit

Hello all,

My, how time flies, the terrible two's eh LC. Just wait til he turns into a teenager - which will happen all too soon!

Tomsmum, haven't read your neighbour thread, will do that later. UKmaggie, glad you are ok too.

I'm paining my kitchen units at the moment. they are a decent wood, but too dark. (i inherited them in this house) they are too good to chuck and not very old, but what a fag painting them is. I can't get the handles off. they look like keys in a lock, well the key bit unscrews but the rest of it is nailed on. I've had to paint over the flippin lot and then will have to scrape off the paint.

I had been toying with moving again - :eek: I've not really settled here. the house is fine and the garden is massive, but it's not Winchester and that's where my friends are and what feels like home. Financially its been a good move since i've dropped my mortgage right down and have made £23k (on paper) since i bought it last June.

The area here is cheaper than Winchester and even though i'd be looking to downsize and not have a mortgage at all, you can get diddly-squat on my budget! I have to house my 13 hens so don't really want an apartment.

Ho hum, will stick with this for now and see what happens in the Spring.

ukmaggie45

kmmr wrote: »

We are in the process of buying another 'project' and I was trying to remind myself how painful it all was. Now that it's been a few years I start getting jealous of other peoples renovation projects!

Oh you must keep us up to date! But I really don't know how you can face going through all of that kind of stuff again - guess it's different in every new place. How can you bear to lose that lovely glass ceiling thing? Mind you, looking at the photo with you in it I see that you are several decades younger than me so you have time on your side! :j :beer:

Hope you don't have too much trouble with your next project. I'm sure all you have learnt from your last one will stand you in good stead! Good luck!

ukmaggie45

spirit wrote: »

.

I'm paining my kitchen units at the moment.

Nice Freudian slip Spirit! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :T

Guess it's best to be close to friends for a forever home... Or are you not quite into that yet? I've never been to Winchester, but it conjures up that song from the 60s, Winchester Cathedral for me!

Do let us all know how things go for you, how about some pics of the current kitchen units before and after? I envy you your hens, though have decided that it's something we're not really capable of doing with our other responsibilities and also our holiday stuff off in Abersoch. We're not supposed to have them in our garden anyway, though since we paid for the leasehold stuff (can't remember the words just now) I'm not sure that could be enforced... And there's an Allotment Act from wartime that might be useful too... Sorry, just flying away on a dream of having chickens here!

All the best from Liverpool!

kmmr

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Oh you must keep us up to date! But I really don't know how you can face going through all of that kind of stuff again - guess it's different in every new place. How can you bear to lose that lovely glass ceiling thing? Mind you, looking at the photo with you in it I see that you are several decades younger than me so you have time on your side! :j :beer:

Hope you don't have too much trouble with your next project. I'm sure all you have learnt from your last one will stand you in good stead! Good luck!

I am hoping the experience will help. We really went in blind to a really major project last time - I have to think we will do a slightly better/less stressful job of it this time. And we are keeping our current place - the new one will be a renovate to sell or rent jobbie. So slightly less emotion, and a smaller job overall to fingers crossed it goes well.