Non-coupon related Drivel Thread 10

CouponWoman

Good morning anyone, everyone.

A wet day for us here, its rained almost every day recently. Can;t wait for summer to come.

Still no drawings off the architect, sent him an email chasing him. Every bin day we get rid of rubbish from the house wreck, as I am paying full council tax on 2 houses I will make sure the bins at both houses are emptied.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

CWxx

kerri_gt

Wow CW congratulations on the new house - sounds very exciting and certainly better long term with your knee. Will it still be affected as much by the proposed new development?

Weather here been changeable but thankfully we escaped any harm from Doris. DM had a fence panel down which OH has managed to wedge back up (Doris and her sisters could try blowing it over now and I don't think it would move!) but it should be nailed properly.

Supposed to be dry tomorrow...which is good as roofers coming to replace the gutter....darn, which I've just realised is annoying as I wanted to get a wash done and outside to at least partly dry....hmmm....wonder if I could stick it down the bottom of the garden....

Jeferey - Red hope you and your families are ok. xx

jeferey

Hi all, sorry been AWOL!

Yeah, great news on new house CW

We're all ok thanks Kerri . You made me think of Sinbad talking about the patio - ha, showing my age with first series of Brookside

Got a treadmill recently as DW wants to get fitter. I've done a few 5k's, latest was 24' 27 seconds so room for improvement. I bet you're faster than me Kerri

Had a few bike rides, did a 65 miler last week.

Got some seeds going in the propagator - chilli, coriander, lavender, etc. - might get tomatoes going this weekend - looks like it will be a wet one! Had FT a few times. He should be adopted in a few months, we'll miss him he's a smasher :A

Take care everyone

CouponWoman

Good morning kerri, red and Jeferey

We now have the plans for the new house, a few minor changes and then the architect can submit the planning application. We are really scared tbh as we have never built an extension never mind a pretty major refurb like this. As the new house is a bungalow I will have a downstairs bedroom and wetroom so can avoid stairs. It will be 5 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms, a lounge and a large kitchen/dining room, separate utility room and garage. 2 of the bedrooms and one bathroom will be upstairs and my son is having the whole space for himself as a bedroom, bathroom and the front bedroom as a den.

I think it should be a lot easier for me as I won;t need to go upstairs and we will have more room. But it needs everything doing so its going to be probably next spring before we can move in, especially at the rate we are going.

kerri and Jeferey - you two have been busy keeping fit with all that running and cycling, hopefully the weather will improve soon as its been pretty miserable on the whole here. We have had so much rain all the gardens have been flooded, still are tbh and the pond overflowed. Just can;t wait for some warmer weather.

Jeferey, I remember the Brookside bloke buried under the patio by his wife and daughter. That was a good few years ago wasn;t it. Well as the new house needs a new patio as well you could fit a good few bodies under it. lol.

It must be hard to say goodbye to your FT but at least he is getting a new home and parents who will love him.


Lets hope summer comes soon so as soon as we instruct builders they can put a new roof on the new house (its raining in a bit)

CWxx

CouponWoman

Morning kerri, red and Jeferey

not much happening with my house wreck atm. Planning is due to go in next week so just got to carry on doing odd little jobs. My ds filled 2 green bins with shrubs he cut down the other day, lots more to cut down when he gets a chance. He came home filthy as it started raining and he just carried on and got muddier and muddier.

Well its raining again today so not much can be done outdoors atm. Wonder when we will get some warm sunshine.

Take care

CWxx

jeferey

Ha ha CW! Great news on new house.
Sorry been AWOL again, been busy! Just had a 2yo FT for the weekend, crackin' lad!
Been doing a bit more on new treadmill. DW is using it to try and keep fit. I've done quite a few runs, longest so far 7.5k in 40 mins. Still cycling too!
Take care everyone

CouponWoman

Morning red, kerri and Jeferey

Well planning application on the house wreck is in and its a waiting game. Just hope no one objects to the changes as we are having a real roof on top of the garage which is being attached to the house properly. It will make the roof line higher. It needs a new roof anyway as its old and raining in a bit. got bowls in the attic catching water. Also due to no drains on the back of the house, the gutters just run into the garden its so flooded in bad rain that we have bought a water pump so that has to be left running most of the day, but its working as the water in the garden was about a foot deep. No wonder the walls on the house were damp.

My ds and dh are doing what they can while were waiting though, they chopped down overgrown shrubs and put them in a few green bins, still more to shift though.

Jeferey - hope the weather improves soon for you. No fun running/cycling in cold, wet, miserable weather. Glad you have another little FT, keeps you young and fit running around after a little un.

Take care guys. Spring is with us now.

CWxx

CouponWoman

Morning all

Its been lovely weather the last few days. My ds has been busy chopping and pulling down shrubbery at the house wreck. Lots to do there, and shifting rubbish out of the loft, loads of tip runs done and more to do. Its difficult as we need to keep this house going too so busy busy time.

Hope everyone is well.

CWxx

CouponWoman

Hi guys.

Things are really difficult atm. We put planning permission in and have been told one neighbour has complained, the others have told us all fine with the build. The neighbour is next door and we would need access to her land to rebuild the garage/utility so would need party wall agreement.

Its an old woman in her 90;s who we have never seen and one way,ages ago, a man came and spoke to my son and said he is a relative and not to bother her as he deals with everything. We assumed he was her son but he didn;t introduce himself, he doesn;t live there and has not been seen since. Anyway the council man came out and said that there has been comments about our application so went and collected them yesterday. Turns out this man is her nephew not son and he lives in Shropshire. He has typed letters for both of them to sign. They moan that we didn;t go round and speak to the old lady, that a apex roof will cause more rainwater (currently flat roof) to go down the drains. That they want baffle fencing around the property, that they want compensation for having to put up with builders next door as it will disturb her life, that absolutely no one will be allowed any form of access to her garden/path etc. The list goes on.

I cannot go round and see her as I have a chest infection and my ds and dh couldn;t risk it as they will get annoyed. My ds heard her talking to her gardener the other day so she is not bed bound or anything.

The annoying thing is the garage/utility needs rebuilding as the woman neighbour has been growing ivy all over the garage on her side and it has undermined the brick/cement/roof. Ivy has grown right through into the garage. Its really damp so my ds went on the roof and all the gutters are blocked with moss and ivy. She has attached a new gate to my garage and a new fence after the garage which is entirely on my land and fastened to my garage. The letter makes it clear the fence is hers yet is all in my garden. When my ds went back to the house wreck her gardener had been in my garden/drive to trim her hedges back as well without my permission. I am basically fuming and now have to wait to see what the council say re planning.

Either way I can tell from the tone of the letters that they will not give us access so I cannot rebuild the garage/utility which is desperate so I would need to go the party wall act route which would be costly and long and drawn out. If you read the letter you would be suprised at their attitude. I would need to pay for 2 surveyors and a party wall solicitor.

Things are not going well guys and I so wish I had not bought the house. Stupid cow has ruined the garage and stated no access whatsoever and yet she has had builders on my land putting up new fencing and gardeners trimming her hedges. I am really upset tbh made worse due to my chest infection though as I am having trouble sleeping with it.

Well, sorry to have a rant, you probably don;t want to hear it so I best shut up.

Hope everyone is well and has a lovely Easter.
take care

CWxx

kerri_gt

Was just popping in to wish everyone a happy Easter...but I've just read your post cw so sorry I wasn't on sooner to read it, how awfully stressful for you. And a chest infection to boot is not helping I'm sure.

I'm clueless as far as planning permission goes but can you add replies to the comments such as about the fact the structure of the garage is undermined due to the ivy etc or is that what you need a surveyor for? I imagine adding the apex roof and thus better drainage (I'm assuming) would be a good thing as the water will be channeled to the drains properly , and i can't believe they have objected about 'more rainwater coming off the roof' ...even flat roofs aren't actually flat to allow for water to run off so it would be the same amount whatever...silly tool.

Could you perhaps write a letter to the lady to say you haven't been round due to illness which you didn't want to risk passing on, and when you're better perhaps you could discuss things further with her? You could perhaps go the compromise root that she can leave the gate etc she's erected on your property if she would agree to the party wall access with the renovations being done?

It basically sounds like the nephew is making the objections because he doesn't want the fuss and she might actually be far more amenable.

Been busy here as usual, our garden is still in the planning stages, we've has to change the materials we want for the patio as our original choice was both expensive for the materials (which we'd have prob gone with if it was just the) but also needed specialist laying which added significantly to the labour. We've now found sandstone we like...but that needs sealing because it's sawn...more labour and now OH wants lights added on a feature too :eek: still I think we're getting there, have two people to give final quotes so we'll see. Just wanting it done now.

We did order some patio furniture which won't arrive til after the bank holiday but at least we'll have it. I was going to wait until the garden work was done but a) I'm fed up of having two white plastic chairs to our name out there b) we might use it down on the patio area VS the deck so it will be good to have it to hand when working out sizes / spacing of beds / features.

Hope everyone is enjoying some dry weather at least. And Easter choc. Xx