Prosperous & Creative Soul & MFW Year 3

beanielou

LOve the house 

jwil

Love the artwork.

KajiKita

The house made me smile 😊 

KK

badmemory

Sometimes the acceptance of a quote is not just about the price but also about your feeling about the person quoting.  I really hate being fed a line, which as a woman alone can be a problem.  Research is the answer.  I had one guy quite embarrassed because he had tried to flannel me & I proved it.  I do think they are getting better mostly about the sexist thing than they used to be.  Mind you it is only a very few years ago that someone felt the need to speak to my DS who lives with me to get his approval.  That went down like a lead balloon.  I do dislike being patronised.

Humdinger1

Yes you have good instincts @savingholmes; please listen to them.  Sounds like you've found the right roofer.  Love Humdinger xx 

savingholmes

Thanks Beanie, Blackcats, Humdinger, BM, KK and Jwil

Really appreciate the positive comments on my art. Thanks too BC I'd not heard of that artist.

The floor measuring guy came today - so the good news is I now have the measurements for each area. The bad news is that he thinks there is asbestos tile under my lounge laminate floor and therefore potentially the inner hallway too. Then on top of that he went in the back L shape - and basically was unhappy with the slight dents in some parts of my floor and described some of my floor as 'bowed' - and basically recommended that I screed first. That would also have the benefit of covering any asbestos and make it level throughout. He also criticised all the skirting (where it even exists) as none of the edges are mitred in and none have allowed sufficient room for expansion of the wood if I went for a wood floor. The utility - he felt to fix that floor (there are gaps at the back of the suspended floor) you'd have to put another layer of board on top which would raise the floor in that room higher compared with the inner hall - which for me would be a trip hazard.

I feel rather defeated. I'm going to go into a lot of detail - as part of clarifying my thinking...

If I did screed then that could add £2K to the job - which while I have that money - every part I use over and above the £10-12K budget I originally anticipated - means I'm undermining my goal of 12 months EF. Worse - I'd have to completely empty the ground floor of the house - and it would take at least a day to screed - so me and the cat would need to be elsewhere overnight. Downstairs has been extended so is much bigger than upstairs so there is also the question of whether it would all fit upstairs - but also who would move it all for me. 

My options then are:

1. Cancel my floor order and do nothing - but that would mean living with missing laminate in the front room and cardboard so that doesn't feel a good plan. Apparently the asbestos if it's there is fine as long as you don't cut into it or break it up in anyway.
2. Just do the front room and the hall in the engineered wood - but then the back L-shape wouldn't match - and neither would the utility. If I screed the back half at some point - the floors would be different levels - so I might be forced to redo the front room and hall later or have a lip on the floor.
3. Live with the light coloured laminate in the back of the house - and use coir to fill the gaps by the back door etc. But it's been laid with the insulation upside down - so that could lead to damp issues - however although it's cold there are no other obvious issues from that currently.
4. Try to take up the laminate from the inner hall and use to mend the missing areas in the front room - then continue the stair carpet into the inner hall and create a visual break between the rooms. He left me some spare carpet but I'm unsure how big it is. (It's at the back of the garage - behind all the stuff piled in there). But the front room and hall way laminate has paint spilled on it in parts by the previous owners. I also want to minimise carpet due to allergies. This solution seems over-complicated.
5. Do the front room and hall with the engineered wood and try and get a vinyl to match and cover the light covered laminate. Use a door plate at the entrance to the L shape to disguise it. This would also have the benefit of protecting the underneath floor from me doing art in the back L shape and mean I could always remove the vinyl when I come to sell if I need to. May be an opportunity to put something down to minimise the 'dents' in the floor where they are obvious to me when I walk on them -and may be able to use some sort of underlay over the top of the laminate to minimise the impact of the previous underlay being put in wrong. I'm also not convinced about the underlay he sold me - which is just thin silver back roll stuff and doesn't look as good as what they used at my previous house than I have a sample of.
6. Bite the bullet and screed the whole of the downstairs where I can - unsure if it is possible for the utility area which was originally part of the garage.
7. Get a builder out to look at the previous part garage conversion and see what they recommend to resolve the issues and bring it up to modern standards.
8. Other?

Totally confused now. Don't really want yet more quotes either and all the hassle that goes with that.

savingholmes

So to avoid settling into my own personal black rain cloud I focused on what I could control and planted up 4 new pots and added winter interest to others. Here's some of them.

TallGirl

Oh dear lots of decision to make I so feel for you. I do not confess to understand all the options but I do have a real wood floor and it does dent and scratch easier plus more prove to damage by water than say lino. I would say think of practicalities and how careful are you likely to be with it. I would never have wood in the kitchen as I drop things and it gets spilled on a lot. 

Not sure if it helps hopefully you’ll work through to the best solution. 

PS final tip I have slightly different level and have a real wood cover between the two areas and it looks good and I never trip on it. 

skint_spice

I don’t know which solution is best for you but if you try to save money now would you regret it down the line?

love the plants!

Blackcats

Lots to think about on the flooring.  

Love the planters.  The pansies in the right hand pot, second photo are such beautiful colours.  Inspiration for some art?