KonMari 2018 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

DawnW · 3 July 2018 at 8:58AM

Floss wrote: »

Kittie is there an accurate floor plan? Could you do as my mum used to, and get the squared paper out for furniture location - planning?

Also, you say no wooden floors for maintenance reasons...we have 1930s original boards in most of our home (2000 boards following a living room fire) and they don't take much maintenance.

Finally, is there a back door / french windows to let your gas cooker out of? If not, then get it out early & new one in before floors are refinished.

We had oak flooring put down over the original boards in our Edwardian terrace, as they were not in a good state. It was professionally installed, stuck down I think. It has been down for 8 years now, and needs no maintenance apart from general cleaning (hoovering when dusty and wiping over with a mop occasionally). It looks fine, not sure what other maintenance it should need?

lessonlearned · 3 July 2018 at 9:53AM

Kittie......

I'm going to throw a spanner in the works.

If you are practically ripping out your central heating system (which is what it sounds like) and if you are going to be redoing all the floors anyway would it be a good time to think about underfloor heating.......it will still run off the combo boiler......I'm not talking about electric underfloor heating. Yes it will cost a bit more but IF it's something you would like then now is the time to do it.

My survey on my onward purchase is being done today, keeping fingers crossed.

Basically order of work is filthy jobs first, and anything which makes the house uninhabitable, any major repairs for things like damp, woodworm, dry rot etc, For example probably the worst job of all would be sandblasting old beams (the mess is unbelievable) ripping out old insulation, tearing down ceilings, ripping up floors to repair floor joists.

Then it's first fix plumbing, first fix electrics, first fix joinery, then plastering, then 2nd fix plumbing, 2nd fix electrics, 2nd fix joinery. Then base coat painting on new plasterwork, kitchen, sanitary ware in bathroom, tiling, final fix electrics, flooring, final fix joinery.

When I worked on site, because of security, we did not fit kitchen appliances and boilers till the very last minute. So think about security whilst the house is empty. I have know plenty of renovation projects where expensive appliances and boilers have been stolen.

As a bit of serial renovator myself I would say that whilst it's great that you don't have to live on a building site whilst the renovations are being done sometimes it is actually best to live somewhere first for a few months before you start knocking the place to bits. It's good to get to know how the house functions, where the light falls etc.

Of course that all depends on whether the house is actually habitable and your tolerance of dust and mess......can be very difficult for people with asthma or chest issues.

That's what I'm going to do......my new house seems dark and gloomy At the moment. Although I do intend to make some changes......try and put in an upstairs bathroom, maybe knock out a couple of walls I'm not gong to anything straight away, other than any essential repairs. I going to get straight and just slosh gallons of white paint around to brighten it up and then live with it over the winter.

I'll get cracking on any alterations next year. For the odd few days when walls are being knocked out or when I'm likely to be without water then I'll just decamp to a hotel for a couple of nights.

Slinky · 3 July 2018 at 11:44AM

Kittie if you're worrying about getting flooring done before you move your furniture in, a good independent flooring company will move your stuff for you, fit and move it back. If push comes to shove, I know a really good business that will go anywhere in the country. They don't do tiling IIRC but they will do everything else. We had them do the flooring in our, current-rental-will-be-our-final-home, last year and they were excellent fitters. This was 100 miles from their base.

I'm sure it will be better for you to move in and live with it a while before making decisions on changes. We've had loads of different ideas about what we're going to do with ours. Like you we could get a load of work done before we move in, but we know living in it first to get a proper feel for the place is the right thing to do, even though we had 3 weeks there doing it up for our tenant (who hasn't paid this month yet.....grrrr!).

maryb · 3 July 2018 at 12:16PM

Our conservatory is an extension to the kitchen and because we were putting in so much insulation we got it through building control without having to have doors to be able to close it off.

We have underfloor heating that runs off the boiler and it is always comfortable in there. The warm air rises but only to the level we move around in so we are not heating up the ceiling.

I really recommend it BUT you need a LOT of insulation in the floor to make it work well. You are talking about digging up the floor, putting down about 10" of Celotex and then burying the pipes in the screed.

[Deleted User] · 3 July 2018 at 12:23PM

yes the flooring will be the last thing, first ripping out fitted furniture and carpets,then checking electrics and maybe adding sockets then replacing rads for modern ones and painting and decorating. I am going to live with the boiler for a year or two. I think any renovations in that lot are bare minimum. I have a project manager who has a plumber and electrician on standby and when all that is done then I will see about click flooring and will then be content to start moving things in

I read all your suggestions and am getting some great ideas. The house is not a wreck, I just dont like the old fitted furniture, carpets and the old rads, so updating now is, for me, future proofing and easiest done without furniture. I will add fitted furniture in due course

The conservatory faces west and yes I also think 3 rads is 2 too many, I intend to upgrade the roof and maybe the glass, again in time. LL doing underfloor heating is just too much, at the moment it will just be draining the system and changing radiators. Anything else is too daunting, however I would like the gas cooker disconnected, fittings made safe and the cooker removed while there are strong men around

lessonlearned · 3 July 2018 at 12:48PM

Kittie....much as I would love underfloor heating myself i won't be doing it with my new house. The boiler is only 1 year old and the floors looks fine, good quality laminate, not as nice as real wood but it's seems a waste to just rip them up. Once the furniture is in and the rugs are down I'm sure it will look good. So like you I will probably just update radiators where necessary and then radiator covers for the ones I keep. I will save myself a fortune. :rotfl:

Just back from acupuncture. My first proper treatment, he did both knees and shoulders. Feel a bit sleepy so just going to take it easy, no kondoing or packing today, just tidy up , maybe potter about in the garden.

[Deleted User] · 3 July 2018 at 1:12PM

I was worrying about getting enough done to be able to get my furniture moved in. My house is going on sale in september so I will have leeway and intend to live there, there are 2 good bathrooms and a large utility, in which I could cook. This is exciting but also very scary, I don`t want to be a bull in a china shop though so just getting down to doing scale drawings will be a very good starting point. I remember hubbie doing just that before we moved here and I had all the miniature furniture scraps labelled in an envelope

At the end of the day, I am expecting moths to be in there and want to keep them hungry, so it will have to be clik board, wood is too expensive and I don`t want anything stuck down.

PollyWollyDoodle · 3 July 2018 at 4:50PM

Kittie, the graph paper is a good idea and let's you try things out. I really don't agree, however that an old house is bound to have moths! I've lived in Victorian terraces for years and never had a moth problem in any of them, and if you're ripping out all the carpets then there's almost no chance that any moths would survive. Also, you can have a moth-free house and then the little pests suddenly arrive!

Probably not an issue for you as you live alone, but hard flooring in upstairs rooms can be noisy. I'd go for hard floor downstairs and carpet upstairs personally, I like a bit of comfort underfoot when I get up.

I agree with others that sometimes it's best to get a feel for the place before making major changes. Beware of overthinking it, you probably feel that you need to make all these decisions now but in reality a lot can be left till nearer the time.

GreyQueen · 3 July 2018 at 5:16PM

I can't find it now (it was a link thru a link thru a link on the old PC) but it was to an article on an American website pointing out that it isn't necessary to remodel a home just because you move into it. That you can just live with it as-is for a while and see what suits and what doesn't.

I appreciate that either the wallpaper goes or I do emotion, I'm a sensitve soul with an artistic bent, but one can get, imo, a bit overwrought with a list of changes which HAVE to be made before a home can be liveable. Presumably it's a liveable home atm, even if not one to your tastes?

Yes, if things are uncleanably minging or utterly in the way of your furniture, or going to brain you/ bark your shins as you go about your daily business, I can see the rationale of changing things asap, but otherwise I favour a gentler approach to life.

You're obviously a lady who knows her own mind, and I hope you won't take this post amiss, it comes from a position of caring.:o

[Deleted User] · 3 July 2018 at 6:46PM

ok Polly, you are very right, back to the carpet upstairs and stairs plan. Does anyone know if rads can be changed when a floor is in place? That would change the whole pace of things for me. I am going to tighten my belt, I had to do the proof of funds paperwork today and reality has well and truly hit home. I am going to live with the kitchen and utility boiler and bathrooms. Tbh many of the men who do these jobs are very kind and will shift furniture around if needed. I need to stop thinking `what if` it was all the online horror stories

The main thing is to feel safe and secure when I get the keys, ds from scotland is coming down on holiday on 24th august, maybe just in time to give me some mental support

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KonMari 2018 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

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