MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Only just seen this, looks like you're doing a proper job on that!
Only advice I can offer is an endorsement of Easifill, it's a tenner for a decent sized bag and you don't need that much of it.
I'm lucky in so far as my walls are reasonably decent (even if none of the bloody corners are remotely square) Lining paper + joint cement between the rolls is working well if you find that plastering isn't for you 😀
Little update; a continual mission of smashing stuff up and removing things.
I look forward to the day I start adding things.
Piece of advice to anyone single, without a plethora of friends in various necessary trades...
Don't ******** do it!!! (honestly though, do it, it's just harder than you could imagine by yourself!)
I move in at the end of this month 😯
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Piece of advice to anyone single, without a plethora of friends in various necessary trades...Don't ******** do it!!! (honestly though, do it, it's just harder than you could imagine by yourself!)
I move in at the end of this month
Don't worry Bear, your doing a great job, your learning every day, enjoy each day as it comes, and moving forward a little bit every day. Even the experienced move forward in small steps.
Cheers Righog, the funny thing is that the more I pull apart (and therefore understand) the better I feel.
I have a great sparkie; everything else is just graft and using this place for advice! In all seriousness, I'd be screwed without STW so far.
Good man, keep it up. I did say leave the lead alone, but hadn't realised how much of a teardown you'd done already. No point in not doing it while you can get at it.
My new next door neighbours got the keys last night and the noise has started today, big old Victorian semi that half of it hasn't been touched since it was built, could be a long haul.
A little update. Hopefully, this is the worse state that the place will be in, as I move in next weekend!
These pictures were taken 3 hours ago.
Plasterers and tiling man in all of next week; all very last minute, but hopefully will transform the main bedroom, hallway, landing and bathroom, in order to make it habitable.
If anyone needs advice for electricians in the Leeds area, I have the absolutely best folk imaginable to recommend.
Carpenter (from here) also outstanding; retrofitted support for bath that original plumber failed to do, with impeccable accuracy, so can recommend one of them also.
Plumbers, not so.
New aerial & distribution kit from Ton; installation by yours truly 😉
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Please insulate those walls on the inside.
Um, eh?
Edukator is suggesting you insulate the walls intenally. Something like this:
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7135/13304138294_ef7373b34f.jp g" target="_blank">
A combination of 12mm, 20mm and 6mm Marmox board on sold stone 18" wall. Plaster skim to follow.
Hth
Marko
Oh hell no, not now! Probably a good idea, but it's got cavity insulation and is actually a really warm house oddly, when freezing back in Feb.
Thanks for explaining though 😀
Are there any advantages/disadvantages of using Marmox board over an insulated plasterboard? From my limited knowledge both would need skimming anyway.
Advantages?
Light.
Easy to work with.
Thinner sheet for the same 'R' value as insulated plasterboard.
Totally waterproof - no need for any vapour barrier.
If I was doing a large room - one where you could afford to loose some of the internal space I would have used insulated plasterboard.
Hth
Marko
It feel like Christmas morning..the plasterers arrive today!
..the plasterers arrive today!
Keep an eye on them, some plasterers (not that many possibly?) don't clear up floors etc as they go, and splats can be a pain in the arse to get rid of once they have cured.
Either ask them to clear up as they go, or do it yourself as they work, but don't leave it all till later as it will take forever.
Cheers Marko...not quite sure after all those advantages why you then say you'd still use insulated plasterboard on a bigger room though 😕
Things are starting to happen!
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Quite a remarkable transition---lot of work, no doubt, but with gratifying results----well done
Not bad, not bad at all!
Till you get the stw consultancy bill 😉
Till you get the stw consultancy bill
Shhhh!
Skim should be a "little" drier before tiling.
This is looking good, nice work! I'm so glad my house has only really needed new paint though, which I've managed to do most of in some time off work. I don't think I could face having to do all this stuff!
Great job - you're a braver man than I. Stuff like that ^^^ terrifies me. Good to start seeing the cosmetics going on 🙂
This weekend, I applied some....PAINT!
Only the one room only that is anywhere near ready for it, but blimey it's a nice feeling to paint something 😀
Just spots, mirror, fitting bath panel and [url= http://www.outasight-vb.com/over-bath-screen/ ]nifty shower screen thing [/url] to go.
Before:
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After:
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Looks good that
Nice work, you are certainly getting there. By your third or fourth room white paint will be your nemesis, you get to the point where it is oh I'm so close just one more coat then the colour and then I'm done.
That frustrating agony of being so close to be finished but not quite there.
I liked the green bath and shelving accessories! Philistine!
Tonight, I was mostly pooping myself on a 50 year old ladder and some warped/wobbly planks.
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Bear the ladder and board arrangement looks like A clip from the first few minutes of casualty. If you need to do owt else I have one of those indoor stepladder platform combos you can borrow . it can give a flat levelish platform on steps . we live in Leeds hence the loan offer.
I actually had my phone in my pocket, just in case something went wrong 😯
That's very kind of you thank you; wish I'd asked beforehand now! Hopefully that and the second coat will dry to give a decent edge; if it doesn't though I'll be in touch thanks, as no way am I doing that again.
Amazing the difference 45 litres of paint makes.
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Great job! I renovated my last house top-bottom (5 bed Victorian detached - bloody high ceilings!!).
Very impressed so far. The hardest bit is to keep motivated until the very end. The last bits make the biggest difference.
Keep going bear. When's the carpets being fitted, I found that always gave me a serious push deadline wise 😆
Carpet?! Next job is to tackle second bedroom & that toilet you can see, all of which will be a plaster & ceilings down job, again 😥
Thought I'd bump this thread to see how bear was getting on...
Now that you've done a lot, what advice would you give yourself at the start if you could have?
Inspiring stuff, I get the keys to my moneypit/hovel on thursday, so have read this with great interest....
Oh, hello & congrats 🙂
I've downed tools for a few months and actually enjoying summer; got a
bit sick of it and I can recommend a break!
What would I do differently?
I wish I was more 'tradesman-wise' at the start, but nothing I could have done to prepare myself really for that.
Other than that, nothing really as all the help here and challenges have been all part of it and experience will help for the next 'push'.
I can recommended taking a break for definite, having more money than I had, taking time to actually live in it and understand what you want where (permanent fixtures etc) and not fretting when the place looks like a deralict shambles, 'cos a plasterer transforms a room!
(Saying that, I've been doing this/living by myself. Pressures may be different if you've got a partner, or may be easier!?)
, taking time to actually live in it and understand what you want where
I get the point of this, though I intend to get a load of messy stuff done before moving in. Are there particular examples where you had planned one thing, lived a bit then changed the plan?
I have a partner, but I think she'll make it easier, as she's as keen to get stuck into doing stuff as I am. 🙂
A break sounds like a good plan, will probably take a week or two at xmas to visit relatives etc. so that'll be a chance to get away from the carnage!
Are there particular examples where you had planned one thing, lived a bit then changed the plan?
Pretty much everything so far 🙂
haha, ok I get it, what's that quote about no plan surviving contact with the enemy? 😉
I'll provide a better update soon, but today the last ceiling came down.
I am so happy I don't have to do this again. Horrible job!
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However, got to clean up tomorrow.
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Forgot to mention that if you're doing similar ceiling/plaster removal, invest in one of these. A quick prime & spray every few minutes and minimal dust will be created.
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Today I cleaned up.
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In other news, I have some doors now and some lighting.
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A bit camp.
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Mega-camp death star
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A bit less camp
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http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag157/Ripley2011/IMG_20141003_185832643_zps0ba1017f.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
Progress may be slow, but it is being done with wages alone!
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What you have there is essentially the lighting fixture equivalent of....
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Today, 11 months on, I bought my first piece of furniture!
I appreciate this may not seem significant, but it is to me 🙂
Tomorrow I order my first bit of carpet/fitting as well and next week, I discuss finer details of windows and doors, with a view to sign on dotted line...it's just all all go-go-go*
*money, that is.
Today I am shitting rainbows; the bedroom is finished!*
*New furniture is needed obviously and pole & curtains are on order (thanks Bunnyhop for some advice last year) but I am so, so, so, so pleased to have a room that is carpeted - oh the luxury 🙂
My house (ok, the bank's house) at last, looks vaguely habitable, in one room.
Thank you all for the advice from here in various threads, it's really appreciated. (this is also a caveat there are more to come!)
Also, for some advice, any suggestions what to do with the fireplace ? Just paint black is my thought (I have the grate somewhere), or is there a better option?
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*clicks Like*
I'm actually not minding the fire surround white. I think because the rest of the room is quite crisp and pale the fireplace would shout too much if it was a contrasting colour, especially as its in a corner rather than the focal point in the room. That would maybe change if you add or change furniture or whatever over time, but with the room as it is I think the white is fine.
Did you not have time to fit the mirror on the ceiling?
Thanks 🙂 It's a big deal this for me as you know and only folk that have been on a similar journey will appreciate the small victory this is!
I should have been clearer, I mean the innards of the fire - what to do with it?
Just looks a bit 'argh' as is. Surround stays as is.
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Spots in a bedroom? Noooo.
You need black silk sheets to go with flashy's suggested ceiling mirror and those spots.
ahh I see. maybe Grate Polish on the metal - more of a pencil-lead black than a black-paint black.
Seriously? You think spotlights suggest I'm a deviant?!
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Anyhow, got any better suggestions for lighting in the second bedroom you two? 8)
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..and thank you G, I shall google this grate polish you speak of.
Some of this in the front garden, I assume?
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Thats a mark II Jedi remote training orb thingy isn't it?
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Lol @ CFH
CFH. I remember my parents giving away a pampass grass when we lived in Torquay. A couple came around, dug it up and gave me some sweets. In hindsight, I got away lightly.
..and yes, it is basically an LED deathstar/glitter ball. When a friend who works for a lighting company offers you anything at retail minus 70%, you can go a bit crazy. (You wouldn't believe what that sells at!)
I do like it though 😀
Looks fantastic, what a great amount of effort you have put into that. As it is, I like the spotlights.
Like that Death Star glitter ball. Wouldn't have it in my house like, but fits with the rest of your lighting being modern.
Nice fireplace, just needs bit of polish and then maybe try salvage places for some more ornate grate to make it look nicer.
Living room tackled, I'm bloody knackered.
Any opinions as to whether to leave brickwork exposed on just on the front of fireplace, or leaving on the front and either side as well?
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Not sure if anyone cares about updates anymore, but just in case 🙂
Back garden has been turned into a blank canvas this week, with hired help of a couple of northerners (ok, they did most the work). Genuine good-guys and complete work-animals.
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....and the front garden is currently shitting itself 😀
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Not sure if anyone cares about updates anymore
i do*
nice work, fella
*not 😉
Keep the updates coming!
Do we want updates? It seems 50% of TV programming is based on the premises the entire nation enjoys watching other peoples build / renovation projects . We all want to see how this works out then when finished we can move on to giving you dating advise.
Looking good. I've done the same
I've a diary on another site if it's ok to link it?
Back garden has been turned into a blank canvas this week, with hired help of a couple of northerners
You are Alan Partridge and I claim my £5.
its still not quite finished
Finished the back garden today.
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Hmm. Needs a new build bike somewhere for us to comment on in reverse-STW tradition.
As there is no bike. And this is stw
Your turf lines do not line up with the edge of your shed
Finished? Half the lawn done, plants still in pots two types of gravel and path coveted in shit?
I'll give you "finished" my lad.
It's true, I got over-excited at definition of 'finished'. How about "looks like a garden eventually, rather than a building site"?
Plus, my bikes are [b]ancient.[/b].
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EDIT:
Your turf lines do not line up with the edge of your shed
Outside you, NOW.
Nice work, looks really great. How's the house coming along?
Haha sorry couldn't resist
How's the house coming along?
Expensively.
Whole house repointed, new lintels, aluminium guttering front and rear, new rain pipes, repointed gables, restored soffits, repointed chimney, pepperpots fitted, foil wrapped windows, new flat roof at rear, French doors etc and today, a new window being cut out. Building control tomorrow.
I've not even begun on the inside!
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It's a good job I'm single because I can't afford a missus, or a date, or beans on toast.
I've not even begun on the inside!
The shed looks habitable though. I'd just move in there. 🙂
That's it I think now for this thread, time to shoot it in the head.
Final update is that today the outside of the house, was finished. If you look carefully, it did a wee in excitement. Some excess mortar to scrub off, but job jobbed.
All your advice, encouragement, piss-taking and patience on my many, often stupid questions on other threads is genuinely appreciated. The latter will continue though - that confidence to actually [i]tackle[/i] something unknown, is an odd one, but I'm overcoming it.
Thanks, and good luck to any others going through it.
House out.
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Well Done That Man. Looks good 🙂
The "rockery" looks nice. 😉
This summer on the back of my real job I intend to gut my house top to bottom whilst living in it. A job that should've been done 14 years ago. I may start a thread on domestics/pain/children with asthma.
Well done bear.
Nice job bear, you appear to still be in the first flush of enthusiasm, i've spent the last 30 years doing up various properties and i'm now halfway through an epic loft conversion, to be honest iv'e had enough, the next house is gonna be mint and my wife has been instructed to shoot me if i look at anything without a roof.
congratulations good sir and well done 😀
i have not a clue about anything diy or building/painting e.t.c so fair play to you for taking it on yourself 🙂
i have to admit that i haven't read the whole thread but i will do so,oh yes i will do.
you appear to still be in the first flush of enthusiasm
No. I. Am. Not.
That left me long ago; every little thing that's completed is a victory though.
I have been so close to tears at times, and that's not a joke. It's [i] really [/i]hard by yourself with no partner or friends that can help, if you're a soft-handed office bitch.
I'm not really sure I'd recommend it TBH!
You lot have helped though, and that's something.
I've always enjoyed this thread so please keep it going as you carry on with the inside. From what I can see, it looks like you are doing a really good and thorough job!