Tales from the city

It's been a busy weekend but most of it free stuff, so that's good.

The dust got a bit much for OH this weekend and a frenzied cleaning session took place, scrubbing floor boards and washing windows. It feels much better in here now and the cats are less dusty so that's good.

I had another look at the windows after scrubbing them for hours and thought maybe we should keep them and have them repaired. They're sash and case windows and very pretty although not in good condition. However, after thinking about heat and security (they're single glazed) we decided that long term, new ones would be better, financially and environmentally. We went to look at one of the window showrooms and now have our heart's set on Georgian bars at the front, to mimic the look we have now, although this will be an added expense for not much immediate return. Anyone used to watch Sarah Beeny? I can imagine her telling us how much value we will add long term by getting the Georgian bars but short term, a bit sore on the finances. We're still mulling it all over, I don't want to rush into anything, windows are the second biggest expense after buying the flat.

I got a badly needed haircut. It was great to get away from all the DIY and hang out with my almost sil. While I was away, OH tackled the front garden and worked a miracle so I helped out when I got back.

On Saturday night I'm ashamed to say we went to our local pub for a bite to eat and a cider, then fell into bed exhausted. We were back to cooking proper mse meals last night. Part of this was because we just found out our first mortgage payment, which was going to be a biggie due to interest for this month and next payable at once, is £300 less than initially quoted. So a small mse score there and it can get put in the renovation pot (minus some pub grub ).

The exhilaration of being in the flat is wearing off now and we're taking a proper hard look at what needs done. Every single wall needs sorting, they're all covered in lumps and bumps and weird diy mistakes.The skirtings are a shambled mishmash of different bits of wood. The cornicing has chunks out of it. A few plug sockets are hanging out the walls. It's hard to know where to start but...it will be beautiful in here. It will.

Happy debt busting day everyone. And if anyone has advice or thoughts about windows, I'm all ears.

Hi there LuxuryWoman :wave:

Lovely to meet you and thanks for stopping by, and for your words of wisdom regarding the windows. Much appreciated.

Fortunately for us, my little brother is a window fitter. Now you'd think I'd get him to do it, except that he lives quite far away and we're also mindful that if things go wrong, which they might, we don't want to be dealing with a family member or friend or someone who runs a small business on their own. My brother has helped us to figure out what a good deal is, how much the windows really cost and what we should reasonably be paying. All very handy.

At the moment, the area we live in is in a giant financial slump. This will change, but what we're finding as we explore all our options is that the companies are giving away things for free, like the Georgian bars which we now have added to a deal for free, and a further discount because of where I work. This is all good. :T

The company we are hoping to use are small and local, (I'm still raging about CR Smith so not them, ever) have 5000 reviews online, a rating of 4.9 approval from customers (out of 5) and an excellent reputation. The individuals we have tried to work with, such as our electrician, have let us down very badly already. It's all learning for us, and knowing the right people, but for something as important as this, in an old flat where we might struggle to keep warm in the winter, we want to deal with a company who can take the hit if we need to get back to them, who can afford to give us a ridiculous discount, which they all are doing, and who can help us with interest free finance and a team of specialists.

We realise that none of this guarantees the job will be done quickly and well, but we think it's more likely to happen that way. My mum recently used an individual who showed up with the wrong windows, not the ones she had ordered, and she ended up getting them fitted anyway because she knew he wouldn't manage to change them, being on his own. We need these windows to be perfect and to add significant value to the flat so that when we remortgage, the loan to value ratio has improved and we get a better deal. We know with a company we can insist on it getting done that way.

Our windows are enormous, we have 8 of them and they're originals, over 100 years old, all with significant rot that has been painted over many times so they now don't open. We want to maintain the look to some extent so external Georgian bars, and a new back door too. It looks like it'll be coming in just over £6k which seems like a good deal to us and my wee brother agrees. We've also researched it all online and compared with what others have paid so we feel ok about that. With our deposit and interest free finance, we can pay it off over 2 years without too much trouble. And the flat will look amazing. So that's the plan.

We're still at the stage of making the building water tight and secure. When we were gardening at the weekend we unearthed the drains that deal with rain water from the guttering, totally blocked, all needs sorting, plants growing up the side of the building that could be causing damage and need cleared away, also needs sorting. There is so much to do it's quite mind- blowing. But we're on it.

That's great you have a good electrician inod, we don't and have been let down multiple times by a guy who we will now not be using at all. The search is on for a better one, I just keep asking around.

Thanks for all your replies, it really helps me think about this and what we're doing. At the minute I feel quite confident that we're exploring all our options and choosing things for good reason.

Onwards to another debt busting, flat sorting day.

I forgot to mention that we have discovered a grant of £400 we can get towards the windows. Brilliant and very mse. Application being posted on Monday. Along with the discount and the free Georgian bars, I think we have a great deal. This will be the only new debt accrued for our new home, everything else will be saved for.

We had a very emotional day yesterday. We spoke to my almost in-laws about a repayment plan for the money we borrowed for the flat deposit. If you remember, we were not quite in a position to buy yet when this flat came up. We had been saving hard but it was not enough. Then they kindly offered us help, we didn't even ask, they just knew. It was so very generous it overwhelmed me at the time and we were so grateful. Their help made this place possible.

Anyway, we had it all worked out, £250 per month over 2 years, with overpayments as and when we were able. It felt manageable, it might just take a long time to get the flat sorted out. Then yesterday, they told us it was actually a gift, they don't want the cash back. They said it's part of OH's inheritance, given early because we need the help, because all young people now need help to get on the property ladder, because of how things are, and they want us to have it, and that they love us and want us to make sure we pay the help forward at some point to our children (if we ever manage to have any) or friends who need it, as and when we can.

We were both in tears and didn't know what to say except thank you thank you thank you a million times. And it's about so much more than the money. They really believe in us, in our relationship, and in our future together. We couldn't quite take it in but I'm still feeling very emotional about it today. We have a better chance at this than we even thought. All because of some help. It sounds nuts but I'm determined to make them proud, show them how well we can do with this place and let them know their help counts a lot. Because it does.

Happy debt busting day everyone.