Ooh

*sits down and opens the gin*

We’re not alone! Hurrah, mini RRR arrived 5 days ago (3 weeks early and after Christmas and New year in hospital for us).

Because mini RRR was underweight we have to wake him up to feed him every 3 hours rather than letting him tell us when he’s hungry. If we’re lucky we get 1.5 hrs unbroken sleep before after the feeding and changing , before the next round begins.

Tips, suggestions, generic platitudes?

Oh this is fun.

Mini RRR has arrived early and we have this bathroom to sort out still.

So, the Store manager of the large chain we bought the bathroom from has forwarded my complaint to the installation company they subcontract to.

This morning I got a call from the fitter who firmly told me that the floor doesn’t need replacing. He actually said “you leave your car outside and it gets wet then dries out” , almost suggesting that chipboard is as resilient to water as galvanised steel.

Idiot.

I’m now losing my patience. Anyone good on consumer advice?!

Cheers guys – I could do with someone independent taking a look although how they’d check the floorboards and ply without taking up the tiles I’m not sure?

Tymbian – we’re just north of Chesterfield

Oh Lordy.

I’ve just looked at the bit of chipboard under the bath which isn’t covered in tiles and ply wood and it doesn’t look too bad.

However I fear that you’re all right. The problem is that I can’t be without a bathroom for long at all! I suppose the problem is that I can’t really check the state of the chipboard or ply until the fitters come to sort it out (i.e. them hoping they can just retile). If I start ripping tiles and ply up I’m sure they’ll get all funny about stuff :-/

I suppose to

Cheers tymbian!
The plaster board of the kitchen ceiling is definitely knackered – I can push it with one hand so it moves a couple of inches, not to mention the cracks in it …

Do the joists need to dry out fully before a new floor can be out down? I’m just trying to figure out how I can it done with minimal disruption!

Yep, the installers originally wanted me to settle the water damage with the big company directly as they said that the towel rail valves were faulty.

It’s not a two initialled big company no, but more one that would be of interest to chandlers.

(I’m sure if things don’t get sorted the vaguely cryptic clues will stop and an out and out flaming will commence)

Project – yep not green chipboard sounds about right.

It’s a big company we’ve bought the bathroom/install from but the fitters (perhaps unsurprisingly) seem very reluctant to admit the floor needs replacing! I can’t really start removing the tiles to check the damage to the ply as they’ll be funny about refitting them :-/

Oh and I assume it’s reasonable to expect the kitchen to be redecorated once the ceilings been replaced?!

Well, I was wondering whether the water would have run between the gaps in the floorboard so they’re not actually sitting in the water. I do however think some water is trapped between the ply and tiles.

It was bad enough peeing in a bucket and washing in the kitchen sink when the wife was 36 weeks pregnant let alone our potentially doing it with a new-born sproglet in tow :-/

I guess there’s no easy way of knowing without removing the tiles to check the ply or perhaps the ruined kitchen ceiling to check the underside of the floorboards?

psling – I only know that the boards are floorboard spec (Wickes) as somewhat ironically the whole floor was replaced due to the previous one being rotten :-/

Well, the timing could be better as we’ve spent Christmas in hospital waiting for mini RRR to arrive (still waiting).

Anyway, yes the tiles that were laid 2 weeks ago are still on the ply board. As much as I suspect you’re right about the fibreboard I’m terrified of demanding they replace both floor and ply as it would involve the newly installed suite being removed and we’ll hopefully be taking a pink screaming thing home soon :-/

We can’t be without a bathroom , erk

I don’t live in a cable area but have Plusnet’s unlimited fibre-to-cabinet service.

They call it fibre but it’s basically posh DSL from the cabinet to the house via the phone line.

I get 40Mb/s download speed, 12 ish upload , unlimited and including line rental for £31 a month.

Have a look on their site and see if it’s available in your area ..

Nice to see we’re no longer subscribing to the old stereotypes then!

In my experience complete d1cks causing accidents are many and varied, regardless of make of car.

And yes, I drive a BMW

And I work in IT

And I have a bouncy bike with more travel that I have skill

And <insert additional uncomfortable appropriate stereotype>

Our surly conservatory radiator ..

Thanks Hora

Alas it is unlikely I’ll look at the 80’s fibreboard floorboards and think “they’ll varnish up a treat!” :-)

It would make sense to get the carpets done last but I guess it depends on whether carpet place can do it so close to Christmas ..

It’s a bit late for the “don’t buy a project” advice but thanks! :D

I’m based in a small ghetto/village squashed between Sheffield and Chesterfield – Unstone.

Not the best place in the world but first time buyers and all that :-/

So… Do we risk getting whole house carpeted in one go before we can decorate the rest of the rooms or risk waiting until we’ve done all the decorating but might not then be able to get carpets as it’ll be close to Christmas (mad rush on apparently). Also.. Will bathroom fitters destroy everything anyway.

Also also.. To fit new doors before carpet or no?!

Erk

Well, the stairs lead into the front room so we kind of have to do the landing/front room at the same time.

We want to get carpets fitted in those two rooms but then again the bathroom floor gets ripped up on the 9th.. Hmm

Mates eh? Meh – all too busy or far away!

Belated update:

Well, we did it!

We moved into our hovel/house 3 weeks ago tomorrow!

Unfortunately we have since discovered that every carpet needs replacing and every room decorating (it looked ok when we viewed it but it really isn’t!). More worryingly we discovered that the bathroom floor is rotten so the entire bathroom needs ripping out, floor installing and a bathroom putting back in (it needed replacing anyway but we hadn’t accounted for ££££ cost!).

So, we’ve been living out of the tiny conservatory whilst the rest of the place is decorated and fixed up by me during every second I’m not at work.

9 weeks to get the house sorted before Mrs RRR pops!

Erk. Words of advice?!

I grew up 7 miles away and went to school there from 11-18. My parents still live close by so I pop in quite often.

PM me if you’d like an alternative to the inbred yocal stereotype point of view!

I don’t think the bike is too big necessarily. I spent the best part of an hour getting sized by the bike shop. Everything feels very comfy apart from perhaps just a little too much stretch. It doesn’t look too big underneath me by any means!

I’m not sure on the dimensions off hand. It’s a 2013 Felt F95 and there’s a pic on the thread I linked to on the first post of this thread. I’ve raised the saddle a little since the pic was taken. Ta

Well, my legs aren’t actually hitting my belly, it just feels like they’re about to and I feel like I can’t much leverage climbing when seated.

I’m 6’2″ btw

Re Luganos – cheers, I might give them a try!

..oh and I do find it tricky climbing when on the hoods proper – it feels like I can’t get any power down and that my knees are hitting my chest/belly

Yep I’ve nudged the saddle forward a little already. I feel quite comfy just a bit back from the hoods. It’s only when I put my hands right on them that it feels a bit too far..

What are Schwalbe Lugano’s like? Wiggle have them £14.39 and I do require mucho cheapness!

Yep I was fitted at the shop and they said I could consider a slightly shorter stem but didn’t think it was far off really.

I’m just conscious that I really need to be comfortable for the C2C ..

*Race face stem is a tenner

The C2C route takes in some pretty rough Tarmac apparently, hence my thinking 28mm tyres ish.

The race face stem is a tender or thereabouts hence my enthusiasm for it, especially given I may still need to change it again! I think my MTB helmet is more of a roadie fashion faux pas :-)

Manhole covers – ok noted!

Thanks guys.

The vendor (hate that term) is very keen to move so hopefully things will be quick ish. I’ve instructed our solicitor to get on with the searches now, I guess that takes a couple of weeks?

I think the general plan will be move in and spend a month or so frantically decorating in time for Christmas/impending sprog!

Cheers Si! I am mildly terrified by it all!

Scothegg – how did things go in the end?!

UPDATE… Well, we managed to secure a 90% mortgage after all (typically after returning from holiday having given up on the possibility and having spent too much money!) and we’ve had an offer accepted on a little house in not too grotty an area (but not a patch on where we’re currently renting).

Survey has been done, no major problems and mortgage finalised. Mrs RRR is now 22 weeks ..

So, no chain involved so what do we think is realistic for moving in? Another two months?

Well, we’re currently renting in South West Sheffield so are less than half a mile from the Peak Park.

We’re hopefully buying in Unstone (slightly grotty area just south of Dronfield) and whilst crime rate, schools and flood risk all seem ok I’ve no idea about trails and pubs!

I know the Dark Peak(s) quite well but would like to be able to go for a spin without driving anywhere..

Morning all

Re tyres – yep they’re cheap vittorias or some such and at 23mm will be swapped for something fatter and more comfortable for the coast to coast.

Re Stem – Evans were really good actually and spent the best part of an hour with me up on the bike on a turbo, tweaking things. I’m 6’2″ and the frame is a 61cm. We did discuss shortening the stem a tad but decided it was best for me to actually ride the bike first and see how I get on (rather than buying and fitting a stem unnecessarily).

I’m off on holiday for a week but when I retum I shall be investing in Lycra, road shoes, bottles, pumps an maybe a road helmet!

Thanks for all of the info everyone!

Yep I need to get bottle cages, a micro pump , pedals, shoes, Lycra etc ..

Blimey, thanks for the info guys.

I’m not completely unfit in that I run a little, play football occasionally. I think it’s stamina I will struggle with as most of my activities are no longer than a couple of hours.

I didn’t think about having to buy a non peaked helmet ‘

A very bad picture of a very untidy room with the green monster below:

.. But I am genuinely intrigued as to where everything is carried!

Well that was my original plan tbh..

I ended up getting a Felt F95 for a very good price, in case anyone wondered.

It’s got pretty aggressive geometry but seems very comfy still. And it’s green, bright green!

Thanks guys.

The deposit issue seems to be to do with our average credit rating (if it was all sparkly we’d get a 90% mortgage).

I’ve been to two independent brokers and have had the same response :-/

The market here in Sheffield seems to be picking up and there are quite a few houses available without a chain it seems.

To buy a hovel or not to buy a hovel (not helped by the fact that we’re currently renting in one of the nicest areas, opposite open countryside blah)…

Cheers guys

The big dillema is that if we don’t buy a house now we’ll have to wait another year at least until Mrs RRR is back at work. This would mean yet another year of expensive renting and I’m sure prices would have gone up again by then too.

It’s made more stressful by the fact that every bank seems to want a 15% deposit where we had accounted for a 10% deposit. This means going from looking at an entry level ok ish house to whatever we can find for a pittance in an area that’s not too bad/on fire.

We’re going to have to move within a year anyway as this place is too small/pokey/cottagey for a toddler to be roaming around :-/

Hmm, we only have to give a months notice on our current rental so perhaps if sprog had arrived I could decorate the new place while we stay at old place … Hmmmmmmmm

Thanks, better than a poke in the eye with a stick but I could do with a 10% jobbie or similar given i want to buy a bike.

Why oh why do I have to pay what things cost?! Unfair :-(