Cheery's buttling diary: tea in one hand, plant pot in the other, running shoes on

starnac

Wow! Glad it's all gone well so far. Must be good to know what work is worth doing and what isn't.

Cheery_Daff

Indeed starnac. Worn out though :rotfl:

Mortgage advisor is self employed, just gets commission for referrals from the estate agent. She charges £400, non-refundable and payable on mortgage application - for that she includes all future services eg if it all falls through :eek: and we have to apply for another mortgage, she won't charge again (and will also sort out a new rate after 2 years if we have a 2 year fix etc).

She has a solicitor that she works with too - obviously don't have to use them.

This is where I start getting bored :rotfl: I KNOW you're meant to get three quotes for everything, I KNOW you're meant to go on recommendation etc etc etc, but I don't want to have to repeat everything that's happened today three times :eek:

Will some kind of Martin Lewis curse come down on my head if I go with the first people I see, if I like them enough?! Is 'good enough' good enough in this situation?! :rotfl:

Are there advantages to the estate agent knowing the broker knowing the solicitor?! Will they work better together and therefore more quickly?!

Or am I just a prime case for being fleeced?! :eek: :rotfl:

rtandon27

Oooo Cheery - so exciting to hear your progress on the housing front!

I can confirm that across the pond (at least north of the 49th parallel) no one knows what an airing cupboard is!

Picture if you will (many moons ago) OH patiently explaining to me that the boiler cupboard was actually an airing cupboard & where I was meant to keep sheets & towels to keep them warm and dry!:D:D:D

Cheery_Daff

:rotfl: RT I'd love an airing cupboard Love nice and warm sheets and towels :j :j In the new house... :j

Just whacked a first (of about 46, by the look of it :rotfl: ) coat of white emulsion over the dark blue walls on the landing :eek: Actually, it's not as bad as I thought :rotfl: Plenty still to do but it's a start and I feel like I'm on a mission now

1.5lbs lost at slimming world :j Not entirely sure how this week but I'll take it anyway :rotfl:

Right - need something to eat else I'll wake up all peckish in the middle of the night again :eek:

starnac

Well done for starting Cheery. Is the list of things to do a big one? At least you are both motivated now and I can participate in house searches (on your behalf) without the eye rolling from DH!! :rotfl:

rtandon27

Yeah to motivation!

Yeah to weight loss!

Yeah to future airing cupboards!

:j:j:j

Cheery_Daff

:rotfl: RT - quite :rotfl:

Er, yes starnac, the list is pretty big :eek: :rotfl: But we've made a start and we're going to try to keep it relatively simple! Will shove it here for reference

ENTRANCE
* re-do ceiling
* plaster and paint
* put work surface back to hold microwave, slow cooker etc

KITCHEN
* paint walls (including cladding)
* paint cupboard doors
* get rug cleaned
* get quote for re-doing windows (double glazing has blown in kitchen and living room) - even if we don't actually do it, we can tell people how much it will cost
* Consider re-doing floor but not essential - probably quite a job and likely new folks will redo the kitchen anyway.

STAIRS AND LANDING
* paint something other than really dark blue

BEDROOM
* bedroom ceiling plastered, including chimney breast by bed - already had a quote for the ceiling at £1000 and will need to add extra for the bed (but don't need scaffolding for that so should be quite quick!)
* re-paint (I can do that - I painted it last time! but it's dark blue and green so will need a few coats)
* 'dress' downstairs bit of bedroom as luxurious exotic boudoir/dressing room type space rather than 'space to put things we can't fit elsewhere' that it is at the minute
* possible new carpet - current one doesn't really fit and is in several pieces
* Get blind fitted in velux

SPARE BEDROOM
* remove all traces of workshop (in progress)
* paint floor
* finish plastering around window
* acquire single bed from freegle and possibly small desk to make it actually feel like a bedroom
* fit a door

BATHROOM
* clad the bottom, paint the top
* finish tiling behind shower
* replace door (current one doesn't actually fit and is mostly glass!)

ATTIC

* Plaster holes in wall on stairs
* Quick coat of paint - it's mostly white and quite old and grubby now

GARDEN
* just a general tidy and get seating area looking nice and private

So yes, a fairly big list :eek: :rotfl:

I've done a first coat of white on the stairs and landing this week and already it looks much brighter :j Will finish that off this weekend in several stages. Mr Cheery is dismantling the workshop, after which we'll get the window frame fixed, then painting and decorating in there should be fairly easy.

And I need to find a number for the plasterer and get them to come and do the ceiling... Slightly putting it off as it's quite a job to shift everything so they can get at it. But no putting things off any more now! :eek:

I finished work at 5.30 today, home before 6, and by 8.15 I'd eaten my tea, looked at a load of new houses on the internet with Mr Cheery, got changed and painted most of the landing and stairs :j :j I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to do stuff like that after work! :j

Quite tired now mind you :rotfl:

stressed.mum

That is a mighty long list Cheery! Only do the basics you need to 'tart' the house up, some else will come in and want to put their own identity on it xx

Cheery_Daff

Those are the basics stressed mum :eek: Just enough to not have holes in walls (with brick/insulation poking through) and not look entirely undecorated. If we'd kept up with maintenance/decoration over the last 20 years most of this wouldn't be necessary, but we didn't, so there we are :rotfl:

Paid on Monday :j Quite excited - still not sure whether I'll just get 2 weeks worth or an entire month so looking forward to a bit of budget shuffling! :j

stressed.mum

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Those are the basics stressed mum :eek: Just enough to not have holes in walls (with brick/insulation poking through) and not look entirely undecorated. If we'd kept up with maintenance/decoration over the last 20 years most of this wouldn't be necessary, but we didn't, so there we are :rotfl:

I know the feeling, we have been in our property about that long and I keep looking at it thinking, really need to decorate - I didn't like that when I moved in :rotfl::rotfl:

Paid on Monday :j Quite excited - still not sure whether I'll just get 2 weeks worth or an entire month so looking forward to a bit of budget shuffling! :j

how exciting! My pay is always like that as I am hourly paid, and work term time only so every month is different, always fun to see if I have earn enough to balance the budget :T:eek:
Xxxxx