First-time house renovation

lisal0u

Hi everyone!

Not had a very productive weekend either! I was hoping the electrics would get finished but things came up and my Dad had to work. Then I was on call and kept getting calls (Bloomin snow melting and causing the rivers to rise!) then my grans boiler broke so my Dad had to go fix that! It was not meant to be.

I managed to put a few back boxes on the walls and Stuart put together the extractor fan for the kitchen but thats about it. The plasterers boarded the hall and landing ceilings and will be back later in the week to finish! Just the kitchen to do if we ever get the electrics done!

TomsMom - I love the tiles! They are similar in shape to the ones we are having. We had to watch the size too as the walls are plasterboarded they can only take a certain weight!

Not sure whats happening this week as Stuart and my Dad are away for a couple of days! I might start doing a scrapbook of room decoration ideas!

Hope you are all well x

latecomer

Our local Wickes has closed down and there is now a Tesco Home depot instead. Nearest one is now glasgow/Perth which isn't great.

We meant to take the sample tile through to the inlaw's to compare it with theirs and see how it looked with spotlights but were about half way there before we realised we'd forgotten it.

I really liked one bathroom suite we looked at but of course it turned out to be the most expensive one in the showroom.... £3000+ :eek:

PurpleK8

Can I just say a big thank you to everyone who has been sharing their photos and experiences:T

I'm actually 3 years into a major renovation (we basically just had outside brickwork left by the time we stopped ripping it apart!). Most of the house isn't too bad now, probably about 80% there. we have lost all interest in finishing it but seeing all your enthusiastic posts is starting to motivate me again - saying that, I should be finishing tiling my bathroom as I type!

TomsMom

PurpleK8 wrote: »

Can I just say a big thank you to everyone who has been sharing their photos and experiences:T

Awwww shucks

:rotfl:

I'm actually 3 years into a major renovation (we basically just had outside brickwork left by the time we stopped ripping it apart!). Most of the house isn't too bad now, probably about 80% there. we have lost all interest in finishing it but seeing all your enthusiastic posts is starting to motivate me again - saying that, I should be finishing tiling my bathroom as I type

Cue TomsMom saying "Are you going to do a blog?" We need photos, doesn't matter if you've no "befores", "afters" will suffice 'cos we [STRIKE]love a nose[/STRIKE] are all interested!

Be sure to come back and let us know how you're getting on.

I see you're in N.Wales. I wonder if I'm anywhere near you, I'm in Gwynedd on the coast.

PurpleK8

Hi tomsmum,

I've plenty of before photos, a million pictures of bare brick work, bare joists, electric cables etc etc, even some photos of plasterboard going up via my own fair hands but just like the renovation I got fed up with the photo taking as well! It would be good for me to put them together, if I ever show people photos of the early days it makes me realise how far we've come

I see you're in N.Wales. I wonder if I'm anywhere near you, I'm in Gwynedd on the coast

I'm the other end, wrexham (county not town!)

lisal0u

PurpleK8 wrote: »

Can I just say a big thank you to everyone who has been sharing their photos and experiences:T

I'm actually 3 years into a major renovation (we basically just had outside brickwork left by the time we stopped ripping it apart!). Most of the house isn't too bad now, probably about 80% there. we have lost all interest in finishing it but seeing all your enthusiastic posts is starting to motivate me again - saying that, I should be finishing tiling my bathroom as I type!

Hi PurpleK8,

You should definately get some piccys posted so we can all have a look, especially if you are almost finished!

It sounds like what you've done is the same as us, pretty much demolished everything abart from the 4 external walls! We're 4 months in so far and things have slowed right down! Need to get motivated again!

I love this forum thread! Its good for keeping me motivated seeing what everyone else is up to!

TomsMom

PurpleK8 wrote: »

I'm the other end, wrexham (county not town!)

Well, I know Wrexham town very well but not the county so much. It's about one and a half hour's drive for us and if we have a day out shopping that's usually where we go. We have to go sometime this week, probably tomorrow. OH's glasses need picking up from Boots after a repair plus I'm sure we need some........ erm....... paint or something and, of course, a moochy in a couple of my favourite shops and maybe a custard tart from M & S :drool: . Oh yes, I want to go to Simon Boyd to see if they've any curtains or material for my lounge.

TomsMom

:j We got our delivery from Diamond Bathrooms today, as promised. Shower cubicle and tray, basin and WC for en-suite, bath and vanity unit/basin for main bathroom, all packaged well :T

:sad: Wickes delivery of the tiles for the en-suite also arrived but, yet again, two different batch codes so they were sent straight back without being unloaded. We now have a promise that they will be hand-picked tomorrow to ensure matching codes and we will receive them on Wednesday. Shall I hold my breath :think: ermmmmmmmmm ......... don't think so :rotfl:

What I don't understand is, someone has to pick them up off a pallett in the warehouse in the first place, so when they're filling an order for 16 boxes, does it not occur to the picker to look at the codes and ensure they're all the same at the time .

PurpleK8

Well, I know Wrexham town very well but not the county so much. It's about one and a half hour's drive for us and if we have a day out shopping that's usually where we go. We have to go sometime this week, probably tomorrow. OH's glasses need picking up from Boots after a repair plus I'm sure we need some........ erm....... paint or something and, of course, a moochy in a couple of my favourite shops and maybe a custard tart from M & S :drool: . Oh yes, I want to go to Simon Boyd to see if they've any curtains or material for my lounge

thats a long way to go for a bit of shopping! hope you find some good buys to make it worth you while. I'm in wrexham tomorrow, working though, although I will try to run to tkmaxx at some point! while you're over, If you've got a bit of extra time carry on down the by-pass to oswestry, there's a fabric shop there thats loads better than simon boyd.

You had me a bit worried about ordering tiles from wickes with your last post, I ordered some this evening! Its ok though, I've ordered little marble mosaic sheets so they don't match anyway! They're to go into a curved shower and these were the only ones small enough to go around the curve nicely. They're not quite as warm as the marble we've got around the rest of the bathroom but it shouldn't be a noticeable difference as they're behind the shower screen.

Lisa, the house doesn't look nearly finished! we've done loads but most of whats left to do is the nice, cosmetic stuff. We've run out of savings so buying things as and when now. After all the hard work I'm not going to start cutting corners with the finish so I'm afraid I'm going to have to drag it out (:( get your small violins out for me!)

TomsMom

PurpleK8 wrote: »

thats a long way to go for a bit of shopping! hope you find some good buys to make it worth you while. I'm in wrexham tomorrow, working though, although I will try to run to tkmaxx at some point! while you're over, If you've got a bit of extra time carry on down the by-pass to oswestry, there's a fabric shop there thats loads better than simon boyd.

Ooh K8, what's the fabric shop in Oswestry then please, if I can get the post code too I can put it in the satnav.

You had me a bit worried about ordering tiles from wickes with your last post, I ordered some this evening!

Our first order from Wickes was for 34 sq metres of tiles and that was hassle free and went very smoothly. Nice bloke from Nightfreight delivered it, he knows us now, rings up a minute or so before he gets here and says "to the house round the back is it?" :rotfl: