Fix Up, Look Sharp

GeorgianaCavendish

Part of that ceiling decided to fall down, so it looks like we will be replacing it after all   
 
One of the joists is extremely water damaged, so that will need to be replaced but the others may be ok to screw boarding into. The plasterer starts next week so we can ask him what he thinks. At the moment it is just a small patch (about 1m square) that has come down and the strategy so far has been to keep the door to that room closed and check if anything else has come down! 

We're busy prepping for the plasterer - removing all the old paper, paint, skirting boards and coving from the rooms he'll be working in. I've spent a lot of time with a wallpaper stripper over the last 2 weeks which has been fun while its so hot   

There is SO much to be done and it is easy to get distracted by working in areas that don't need to be done right away. E.g. when removing the coving, it's easy to just go from room to room getting it all down instead of focusing on the next task in the rooms that we've agreed to finish first.
I've got a list for us to tackle this weekend that we'll need to stick to rigidly to make sure there are no hold ups for the plasterer starting work on Monday. Also we have about 800kgs of materials to move inside somewhere that won't be in the way of the plumber - it's all fun and games! 

The drain survey results were much better than expected. There is a small fix we need to do in the kitchen, but nothing like the extent of work that I was imagining/fearing, and it may be possible to DIY that (to be decided). So that is one thing that has turned out to be much less work than I anticipated! 

GeorgianaCavendish

June 2023 Round Up 

Savings

** Took out loan this month, so everything is a bit up in the air! **

Extra Income

Prolific Academic - £31.07
Ipsos Isay - £30.00
TopCashBack - £28.79
M&S Vouchers - £13.00
Bank Interest - £108.31


MSE Challenges 

Emergency Fund - £7250/£7500
Christmas 2023 - £550/£1000 
1p Challenge 2023 - £164.71/£667.95 
Mortgage Overpayments 2023 - £520.26/£1000
NSD 2023 - 118
Take Lunch to Work - awful! Still needs to improve


NSD
June- 19/17
Target for June - 19

GeorgianaCavendish

I realised that I didn't post the update at the beginning of the month - work has been really intense over the last few weeks and I've been coordinating a lot of things on the house as well. 

So, big financial news is that we took out a personal loan at the end of June. It is £30,000 on 6.7% over 84 months. We've paid one of the big invoices and others are imminent, but right now we have just over £23,000 in the renovation pot (left over loan money plus the savings that were already in there). 

The intention is to overpay the personal loan so that it is repaid within 4 years rather than 7 (which means that it will be gone by the time we need to remortgage) but in actuality I think we'll set the overpayment money aside and decide what is best to do with it (overpay mortgage, or overpay loan) when we are closer to the end of our fixed deal. 

I really don't like the feeling of being in debt again (I know we've got the mortgage, but that feels different), but I'm trying to set the emotions aside for now and concentrate on the figures and the practicalities of getting the work on our house completed (and within budget!) 

The plumbing work is finally finished (well, 95% finished - there is a little bit left to do at the very end, like hanging radiators). The ceiling has been repaired! The carpentry work ended up being really reasonable and not the thousands that I was dreading. The plasterer is working his way through the house, and the electrician is coming to first fix the bathroom. On our DIY list this month is sorting out the damp issue with the utility room floor, fixing the kitchen drain, levelling the kitchen floor, removing an old doorway and laying new floorboards in the bathroom (moisture resistant ones this time!). 

In August, we're getting the new oil tank (we need the concrete base poured first); the electrician will be back to do the second fix and the plumbers will come back to finish off. Our DIY projects will be painting everywhere and fitting the kitchen and bathroom (which includes tiling both rooms). The final piece of the puzzle will be sourcing flooring and getting it fitted. 

My uncle had a bit house renovation last year and he had some carpet and tiles left over which is is very generously donating to us. We're hoping that the carpet will be enough to do two bedrooms and we are also hoping to reuse the existing carpet from the living room. I'm not sure if we can reuse the dining room carpet (we removed some boxing in which the carpet was cut to fit around) and unfortunately we'll definitely need to buy new carpet for the master bedroom and the stairs and landing. We'll have to buy tiles for the bathroom, but the left-over tiles from my uncle's house will be enough to do the kitchen as that only needs to be tiled between the counter and the wall cupboards. 

So loads to keep us busy, but we're making good progress and I think we'll have enough done over the summer to move in during September ... here's hoping anyway!  

EssexHebridean

Great that you can make use of the leftover tiles and carpet - that will be a good saving won't it. Also excellent that the carpentry aspect came in at less than you were expecting as well!

I completely get your mixed feelings about the loan - but in a lot of ways this is very much the same as the mortgage isn't it - it's an investment in your home, will be adding value with all the work you're doing, and you will also end up living somewhere you love. If you were borrowing so you could have designer this and designer that then it would be an entirely different picture - but this is all necessary stuff, and carefully planned and budgeted for as well. I can sympathise though as being in a position of being about to take on a mortgage again is also making us feel a bit twitchy - it certainly focuses the mind on getting it cleared ASAP doesn't it! 

GeorgianaCavendish

Summer Round Up - July & Aug 2023

Renovation Budget Pots

Professional Jobs : £18,510 
Float Costs : £508.32

Extra Income

Prolific Academic - £64.85 (£20.99 in Jul and £43.86 in Aug)
Ipsos Isay  - £10.00
TopCashBack - £5.71
Storewards - £10.00
Shoppix - £20.00
M&S Vouchers - £11.00
Bank Interest - £3.40


MSE Challenges 

Emergency Fund - £7350/£7500
Christmas 2023 - £700/£1000 
1p Challenge 2023 - £296.46/£667.95 (I got this far but have decided to withdraw from the challenge as the money would be better put towards house refurbs)
Mortgage Overpayments 2023 - £693.68/£1000
NSD 2023 - 160



NSD
July - 19/19 
August - 23/19
Target for September - 18 

GeorgianaCavendish

So a bit of a break from my diary over summer but back for additional accountability! 

I've redone the renovation budget and put all the money needed to finish paying the professionals into one pot (this is a combination of the loan money and our savings), and then have a smaller pot for our day-to-day expenses on the renovation (buying extra bits from Toolstation etc) which started from scratch in August will hopefully build up a bit over time. 

So ... jobs that have completed : Oil tank has been installed. The old tank had around 200L left in it and that was able to be moved across to the new tank. They also said that we should be able to sell the old tank. I've done a bit of research on ebay and FB marketplace, and can see similar tanks listed for around the £500 mark - which would be great! But really anything we can get for it will be a bonus considering that we thought we'd need to pay someone to take it away. I'm not planning to list it until we have moved in but we are in no rush.

The drain work is happening this week. I'm really looking forward to that being finished so that we can crack on with fixing the utility room floor and at least have one room finished! (Well, not completely finished as we'll need to install a vinyl floor on top of everything but getting there) 

The loft insulation is in progress.  There was a mix up at the insulation company (and the guy we were dealing with has left) so we're probably going to have to start the process from nearly the beginning. That means it will be another 10-12 weeks instead of 4-6 weeks before we can get the insulation fitted, but overall it will be a bit cheaper AND we will get the loft of the single-story kitchen extension insulated, not just the main loft. 

Progress is happening on the bathroom - electrics have been first-fixed, the floor is down!, and the plastering is in progress. Next step on this is for us to order the bathroom suite (or at least the bath and shower tray) so that these can be fitted and then it can be tiled. I hope we'll get to that in the next couple of days. 

The old doorway I mentioned a while back has also been sorted. It has been blocked up properly now and when the plasterer has finished in that room it will all look great. 

I need to check my to-do list again and see what has to be done in the coming weeks to keep up the momentum (both DIY and by professionals) and make sure that we are on top of ordering things so that hold ups to the project aren't caused by us.

GeorgianaCavendish

Drain work came in under budget and ahead of schedule - I was really worried about that spiralling (one of those jobs that can uncover nasty surprises). Big relief!  

Merlin's_Beard

Under budget and ahead of schedule.... you'll have to share your secrets!

EssexHebridean

You are just doing so well on the renovation! Great news that you will be able to sell the old oil tank too - definitely a bonus! 

enthusiasticsaver

Just popped on to MFW to catch up on @EssexHebridean new diary and found you too. Sounds like you have a project on your hands so will catch up shortly.