Atrixa's Saving Diaries

MovingForwards

I shouldn't be surprised you made a start already 😁

Do you have a few off cuts to practice doing the joins before tackling your full sized sections, just to make sure you have sussed it?

If you've not had to plug big gaps with caulk before it takes an age to dry. Build it up in layers and then smooth the visible part with your finger so it's totally flat. Mine ($cr3wf1x) never dried white, more of a creamy/brown and took several coats of paint for it to match everything else.
- Try not to have dodgy cuts / fills in your line of sight as it will bug you, regardless of expections.

Don't rush to finish as you've done so well!

You've not got a wonky house, it's a character property of age 🤗

Irenadler

+1 to what Babs says. I still have coving with visible join and it bugs me every time I look at it now. Really need to sort it and redecorate.... 

As long as the floors aren't wonky, you are ok! An elderly relative lived in a place a couple of hundred years old, the upstairs floor was so up and down, you felt like you were either drunk walking across it, or on board ship! Wonky walls = filler/sealant/caulk & adjusting to pictures that don't quite hang horizontally.....

MovingForwards

How's things going? 

savingwannabe

OMG you are all doing DIY. Well done. It is cold so stay well. 

atrixa

Hello! It's been a minute since I posted, I've been a bit busy
Decorating update: The coving is up and the filler is on. Looks fine apart from one small section which I am decidedly blaming on the walls. I didn't realise that decorators caulk isn't sandable which is a shame, but after a few layers of paint are on it won't matter too much. Three of the four walls now have lining paper on. Me and the bf did a much better job than the other rooms now we have so much practise! I'll finish that tomorrow and fill in any gaps. I did an enormous order from a popular home furnishing company and now the living room has a lovely new set of curtains (ochre) along with a new curtain pole and tie backs. £90 down to £72. It seems like it's difficult to skimp on curtains if you want a nice thermal pair. I got a cheap pair for the office too (silver). There's a set waiting for the bedroom (botanical print) once I've finished painting it. I ordered a rug online for the living room on Christmas eve with 20% off that finally turned up today. Unfortunately it bears only a limited resemblance to the photos, but it still works with the room. A lesson for me to always check the returns policy! I would return it but you have to pay for postage so it's not worth it.
Sadly, the roof has started leaking on the porch and there's a small leak above the office. The snow and heavy rain we had recently have taken it's toll. I've got someone coming round tomorrow and they'll take a look at the chimney stack too. Luckily I have enough in my savings in theory if I needed to completely replace the roof but hopefully it won't come to that. I'm very happy I didn't get around to painting the porch yet.
Other money updates- landline provider seems to be in the process of fixing now that I've complained which is good. I've cancelled a few subscriptions I wasn't getting enough use out of, will save me £13.98 per month. I've been busy with overtime this month so that will all go to savings or repairs. I've also been saving on my food bill since I've been trying to lose the weight I gained eating my body weight in mince pies and stollen in December. It's been quite nice eating some fruit for a change.

MovingForwards

That's a huge update, haven't you been busy!
You could always cut out a bit of the caulk and use p.filla at a later date, for a smoother finish.
Curtains sound great, good choice going with ochre. Your home is coming along in leaps and bounds.

A good roofer can patch them up, have you had a look from ground level to see how all of it is?

Saving on things not used much is the quickest way to trim back.

Think we've all eaten our weight in stollen 🤭

atrixa

Thanks I had a look, but the porch looks mostly ok from the top and where the leak is, the fascia is covering it, so I would need to get up with a ladder. The pointing looks a bit old and crumbly on the chimney stack, so that probably needs redoing. There's some broken slates on the main roof, goodness knows how old it is. 

MovingForwards

They do last a long time, but it would be worth saving up over the next 10 years, then you know it's fine for retirement. Pointing tends to get neglected and weather beaten. Both are probably original, but still perfectly good with a little TLC occasionally.

Skint_yet_Again

Wow Atrixa you have been busy! I have recently discovered flexible mastic which I found can be sanded & painted over. I’ve used it on my outside bay render, my bathroom (small gap in tiles not wet area) a hairline crack in a few walls & sanded and painted & a crack in my coving. 

I got the screw fix no nonsense anti crack acrylic white £2.29

Home furnishings sound lovely 😊 

doingitanyway

All the DIY talk is like logging into a site and realising the settings are for Arabic instead of English! I am in awe.
Good to see you posting here again.