Jerry_Atrick Posted June 2 Posted June 2 2 hours ago, nomadpete said: Starting to look a lot less like a demolition site, Jerry Not of the house, but certainly of the bank account. 1 hour ago, facthunter said: It's a money vanishing disaster site. Yep.. I thought we had a healthy buffer for those unexpected things and of course, to put cherries on the top when it came to sell. Of course, as usual, we always forget one thing... In this case, the windows. All of them (about 20) need replacing.. That will eat up our buffer very quickly.. The quotes are around the £50K mark.. and we have to get permission for each type (there are 5 different types).
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 2 Posted June 2 Oh, and I forgot to mention.. Had to have an arborist out yesterday - we have a beech walnut tree (or something like it) that overhangs the neighours fence. It is starting to drop large branches on their garden. The arborist has done all the required work so far.. It will be another planning request to get it topped and treated. He said it would be easier, though less preferable to take it down... and I agree... That will be another £3K or so... At least we can sell some of what he would take down to the sawmill.
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 2 Posted June 2 1 hour ago, red750 said: I rotated the photos for you. Thanks, Pete.. They are the right way up when looking at them on File Explorer and even when attaching them, but for some reason, when they attach, they flip the wrong way..
nomadpete Posted June 2 Author Posted June 2 1 minute ago, Jerry_Atrick said: Thanks, Pete.. They are the right way up when looking at them on File Explorer and even when attaching them, but for some reason, when they attach, they flip the wrong way.. Nah, whichever way I look at it, it still looks like a demolition site. 1
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 2 Posted June 2 Yeah..definitely. Then we will sell it.. Well, that is the plan. So, what has changed? Can't recall if I already wrote this, but partner went to London for the first time in 10 years by herself (have been with the family). She is a fashion designer by training, and is vey arty. She went to the V&A Museum, which is a fashion museum because they had a Chanel exhibition on. She stayed in South Kensington in a decent hotel and had the weekend to herself. When I picked her up from the trai station, I asked how the weekend went and at first she was coy.. but then conceded that while she loved the open spaces and the lifestyle we can have in the country, she really missed London. So, it looks like, we will be selling up and then moving back to London.. We will look around where we previosuly lived, but accept a smaller house as the cherubs will shortly fly from the coup. No refurbs, though. 1
nomadpete Posted June 2 Author Posted June 2 Sad because I was looking forward to sharing a Wolfie or two but doubt I'll ever get to 'the old country'. If I was a betting man, my money was on you all falling in love with the finished reno and ending up staying there!
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 2 Posted June 2 I should have put more context around that above post. We are moving to Australia but am still keeping a property here for rental while we are gone. But should we return, it will be to SW London, not SW England. A few reasons - one is the activities; two the lack of need of a car; three, the kids will more likely live there when the leave the nest; four - the partner's artistic endeavours are probbaly better served there; and five - I am starting to tire of the London commute despite the respite it gives me for an evening per week and while I an near retirign age but not quite ready to retire - the older I get, the less I want to commute. Having said that, the other option is Cheltenham - which is technically in the SW of England, but is a lovely regency city. Apparently, there are properties there which are not too expensive but good rentals for the local college. Many people parition them to their primary residence and a rental residence and the rents are pretty good.. And it is a mini-London.. Good airport (Staverton - now Gloucestershire) very close by, except the council are running it down a bit at the moment. So, no need to drink those Wolfies, yet! 1
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 4 Posted June 4 (edited) Progress.. though little direct from me (until nextg week when assignments are over). Main bathroom has all but been gutted.. Where the middle blue vac is, is where the dunny used to be. Where the one to the right is, is where the bath used to be. Notice, also, there is no longer a mirror above the basin on the left hand sude. Yay! No longer have to look at my ugly mug when brushing my teeth (not sure I have enough hair to care about how it is "brushed". And, some of the new pipework for the bath. The black patch to the right is where the storage cupboard used to be: Down to the kitchen, and the "stress" of having the builders in (and at times, lots of them) is taking its toll.. Who drinks wine alongside polyfilla? The 100mm kiln-treated Scandinavian pine battens thsat the new ceiling will be boarded and skimmed to: It's hard to see, but beyond the steels, there is another "border" beyind it which is where the partition wall used to be. If you look hard, the ceiling is aout 20mm lower than in the foreground as they had already battened and put in another ceiling. So that will be coming down to keep everything uniform. above that part of the room is a shower room on the first floor and it leaks like a sieve. They paper lined the loower ceiling and if you look to the far right top corner, the paper lining has been peeling off as a result - and that is the battened ceiling,not the original! Below, the kitchen is delivered. As is that new bath fittings (exept the vanity unit...) And, no photos upside down!! Edited June 4 by Jerry_Atrick
old man emu Posted June 4 Posted June 4 4 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said: some of the new pipework for the bath. Ooo! Rich man's house. Copper piping! The hoy-polloy use PEX.
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 5 Posted June 5 Yeah - I am not sure why, but all plumbers here insist on copper. The plastic stuff is eaier to work with, as far as I am aware doesn't degrade into the water, and lasts longer. I used it when renovating the house prior to to the last one - snap fit connectors, etc. Had some copper to the taps and that wa about it - so it was easy to fit chrome covers over the top. 1
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 5 Posted June 5 The lower batened ceiling was pulled down. The original ceiling had damp damage predominantly from a leaking shower/wet room above the holes on the right and on the left, from water ingestion from a (now) fixed chimney. Note, why fix the leak when you can hide its effects. The lathe has to be repaired as do a couple of joists. Always a problem when opening up an old build. Those battens ar the old ones and are coming down as well, as they are only 50mm deep. The bathroom works are progressing. Could only get these shots as the fellas are still in there and camera shy (as I would be, too): 1
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 5 Posted June 5 Have pulled my belt sander out to strip a patch of the kitchen floors. Have three sample of tint oil (£12 per 125ml, si it better be good - Omso is th brand).. If we like one of them, it will be strip the floors, replace too poor bits, oil, and then cover with a matt lacquer/oil over the top... The builder is talking about getting a floor sander, but the belt sander was an investment, not a cheap purchase, and I reckon I could have it done over a weekend, even with the bitumen paind on it, as pine is really easy to sand compared to the elm I had to do.
old man emu Posted June 5 Posted June 5 I've seen that Omso brand of stains used in the furniture restoration videos I watch. Those people don't have any complaints. The floor sander might give you a more even finish than the belt sander. Since the belt sander has a smaller footprint, there is a chance of cutting in to deep, or leaving lines. I think that when sanding a large flat surface, using a circular motion produces the best result. I do suggest that you price the hire of a floor sander. I reckon it would be a time saer at least. 1
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 5 Posted June 5 Below is the floor sander hire alone - other firms do edger and floor sander packages.. A weekend is all we would need. So cost is not the issue I used the belt sander for the living room and all of the meeting house ground floor, which is the 2 br barn conversion we air bnb out. It did a really good job on the pine, but yeah, it did groove it a little, but sanded them out easily. In between posting and now, spoke to the builder and suggested give it a go over a weekend (not this one, have a stag do to go to in Exeter.. all very civil - axe throwing apparently). If it works, great; if not, we'll get the floor sander in (and just have thinner floors than we thought 🙂 )
old man emu Posted June 5 Posted June 5 11 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said: It did a really good job on the pine, but yeah, it did groove it a little, but sanded them out easily. But time is money. The floor sander will save time. As well, I bet it comes with a dust bag to catch the dust. Also, think of you knees and back. You stand up to use a floor sander. 1
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 6 Posted June 6 I have these knee pads, but, yeah, I did forget about the back pain that came with the living room floor sanding... OK, floor sander it is.
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 17 Posted June 17 OK.. back to it... Here are some of the thiings that have moved. This is what is left of the old piano - couldn't have given it away, so it is now in the skip in pieces, except for what I am guessing is the back, which is a solid steel frame and bleedin heavy. Will be taking that to the tip/recycling centre separately. Here, the plaster/gyprock board went on for the ceiling: And then came off as there was a problem with the wiring for the lights: Bathroom floor has now been tiled and grout sealant applied; Bath is going in; and hopefully a new dunny soon... Some rads have been hung but not connected yet: (A few more are up, too.. but just wanted to get some in to show the style. Some are three column as well. ) Finally, the floor being cut up to where some tiles will be put as well as to redirect pipework for the two kitchen islands: Hopefully the sparky comes this eve to finish the wiring so the ceiling can go back up and get skiimmed, after which, we will be painint and doinf the floor in the kitchen next. 1
Jerry_Atrick Posted June 17 Posted June 17 A border has been cut out where the builder is. I will get a photo tomorrow as he has put plywood over the top so we only trip over rather than fall through it to the ceiling below. However, more progress on the bathroom, with the marble tiles (well, platic marble effect wall panelling) going up: Apparently, the vanity unit arrives tomorrow, so hopefully, by the end of the week, the bathroom will be useable in time for them to start working on the shower room. 2
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