Diary of a homemover

Pipe dreams and tiles

2011-11-13T22:16:00.000Z

Well today we completed all the loft pipework. We now have the waste pipe all bent and fitted, with brackets every meter and a strap boss fitting to the soil pipe. So all that remains is the connection at the other end to the macerator itself.

We also got lots more tiles up, but an uneven bit on the wall is giving us trouble so we may sadly lose the tiles behind the toilet. Still the rest are fine and we identified that our tile cutter is missing a bit which is why it doesn't work.

Also we worked out we plumbed the sink in with the hot on the wrong side, so will need to take it out.

A lot of progress...

2011-11-12T21:30:00.000Z

So after not getting anywhere, this Saturday we got up and sorted the wall to the bedroom which has helped with the mess. We also got the shower bracket mounted, connected the hot and cold water supplies and pressure tested.

Not to be outdone we then got on an put down the lino on the floor. After fun yanking out the staples that held the old carpet down we ran a test, following a quick trim we taped down 3 sides and started to sort out the sink, toilet, etc.

We followed this with making a start on the tiles, lots of pics below.

Some progress at last

2011-11-10T23:35:00.001Z

Well tonight I finally got going on the pipework following some advice from Simon. Loft part of hookup for hot and cold now completed. Just need to actually connect now to the supplies, but its piped right up next to them.

Waste 22mm pipe run is in place, we will look to finish that tomorrow and run the 32mm drop to the soil stack. With a quick bit of wiring we should be able to pressure test and confirm the macerator / waste system in one go :)

Showing in pic are the lever isolation valves for the new bathroom with red and blue handles. The white pipe in the background will be the 32mm waste feed into the vertical soil stack. The brass pipes with the auto vent brass valves sticking up are the feed and return to the heating system, we are not touching them.

You can just see the cold water 'new' pipe (running in from left, blue tape) end overlapping with the (also plastic, blue tape from back to foreground) cold water supply pipe to the boiler. We will need to cut this and insert a T piece to link.

The hot water output goes through an elbow right by the isolation valve and runs off to right. We will remove the elbow and replace with a T piece so the hot feed can just plug in.

The wire not tacked to anything was the previous owners badly fitted spur that used to run the new bathrooms light. Now wired properly into the ring circuit, so spur just waiting for me to be able to get to the old bathroom light to remove it.

It currently terminates in a proper junction box so as not to electrocute me as shown in this other angled shot. This also shows the start of the winter lagging on the cold supply and the gas pipe run down the length of the loft.

I am gradually tagging all the pipes with coloured electrician tape so I wont forget what they are. Blue for cold water, red for hot, green for flow and brown for return. I need to buy some yellow tape for the gas pipe, may actually spend a little more and get proper 'GAS' flagged tape as that's one you don't want to mess with.

Lots more lagging to complete once the bathroom is done and dusted, followed by boarding properly in the loft space. After I lay the new glass fibre wool we have had for over a year now, only managed to do 1/2 the roof but we have all the rolls we need to finish.

Slowly does it...

2011-11-09T08:04:00.000Z

Well the waste pipes from bath and sink are in, although there is still work to do supporting them so there is a proper drop. Feels like life grinding us down, work has slowed a lot as we just have too much else on right now.

Case of 2 steps forward, 1 step back. The rear wall is now in place behind the toilet made of marine ply. However the measured hole for the water pipe is too low, so it needs to come off again and be expanded into a slot so we can plumb in the loo. The loo itself was missing some nuts on the base, so will need to come apart and be 'fixed' and rebuilt. We still don't have the flooring down, but we do have it ready. Loft cleared to allow pipe runs but they not in place yet.

Kids are close to killing each other, so it all seems so urgent to get this finished to the point we can use it and get them split into their own rooms ASAP. Sure it will look great when I finish, assuming we can survive the DIY...

Macerator and toilet base fit

2011-11-07T20:43:00.000Z

Re-piped toilet cold water feeds and mounted. Sink now built with taps, etc.

A sticky bit

2011-11-05T22:01:00.000Z

Well we now have a frame holding up the bath, as well as some other small bits tidied up. Just painting all the walls and floor with a mix of water and PVA glue to seal them prior to tiles.

Baths n taps

2011-10-31T13:26:00.001Z

Initial prep work, shown here rough layout under the general junk we couldn't find a home for.

Trial fitting of the basin to work out pipe runs and drawing on the walls, with appropriate explanations to the 3 year old that if she tries this she will be being very naughty...

Saturday we cleared out the room and put the batons in for the bath. We also took down a section of wall to run pipework behind and into the loft. So we now have hot and cold supplies laid in to the walls for everything. Still to do is the waste pipe but that is awaiting the macerator.

Once legs were on and batons secure we put in the bath and secured, it then needed testing with the heaviest thing we could find (me)...

Last action Saturday was to rewire the power socket (still showing in top pics) so it is in the hallway now. So there are now no power sockets or light switches in the soon to be 'bathroom' space.

Sunday was building of stud wall, has to fit around the end of the bath slightly and still provide support from both directions for plasterboard.

It will be indented behind the bath to allow room for the waterfall back. So there will be a smaller wall thickness here, but still supported enough (600 max) and will allow for the power socket (shown on right) in the bedroom side of the wall.

Final layout, the double bars so close allow for the bathroom side to be done in 1 sheet starting from the door (right) side of pic. While the bedroom side will most likely start from the left hand wall.

Wallpaper Stripping

2011-10-31T13:25:00.003Z

A placholder for the article on starting the bathroom :)

Boilers and Bathrooms

2011-09-10T13:25:00.000+01:00

Well its time for the big change, we are installing via a local gas safe plumber suggested by a friend a complete new combi boiler. This will free up loads of space, allowing us to extend the bathroom quite a bit for its new role as a bedroom.

Following this we will be installing our new bathroom in the small 'cupboard' bedroom.

<-- Through the magic of the internet here is the finished boiler to show what we planned to install before we installed it.

Or more accurately as I didn't take before pics, here is a pic I took tonight in November as this post didn't have one :)

Garden Update

2011-08-27T22:26:00.000+01:00

Well quite a lot has happened in the garden, including a rather sudden big project to build a summer house. In the pic you can see our new picnic table (left), Bekah's swings (birthday present, right) and in the back of the garden the new summer house.

The summer house deserves its own entry in the blog, once I dig up the build photos I can add it in. It was £300 from B&Q and just fitted behind the tree. Its standing on the old shed location, but the base was a write off so a good few weekends went into making a new patio base before we could start.

Building and waterproofing took considerable time, as we had to get lots of layers both of preservative and then stain onto it. With 48 hour drying times and constant intermittent rain this was 'not' fun.

Still its now done and has the leather sofa I rescued from work which we found fitted perfectly. It has made a great home office through the later parts of summer, to this end it has its own mains power and the wireless just reaches.

Security was a challenge as we didn't like the locks that came with it, we have now settled for a decent padlock and local alarm system which also keeps our kids out :o)

Not showing in the pic, but just off what would be the bottom is the 'old' shed. Its roof was dead but we found the main structure in decent shape if needing a re-coat of paint. So we made a new roof which is now on, painted it and found it fitted in beside the play house. At the moment its acting as a store of baby clothes, but we hope next summer to convert it into a 'den' for the older kids.

Where are we??

2011-07-09T22:34:00.000+01:00

Well here were our plans a year ago, and what we did so far off that list:

1. Shed in front garden, hopefully ship lap and coloured as per porch conversion for storage / play area.
Well we ended up with a small plastic shed, just for tools.

2. 2nd Bike rack mounting on wall.

This one never happened, maybe one day.

3. Better front garden lighting (off shed which can easily have power as will back onto edge of house)

Ditto with bike rack, need to sort something before winter sets in.

4. Wooden floor though hall to lounge (Carpet now binned so on stone floor)

Planning carpet tiles now, no progress.

5. Wallpaper in lounge and updated low energy lights as per upstairs hall

All now this we have done, well paint anyway. Lounge now all painted up with feature wall and nice finish.

Big projects still on cards remain new kitchen, move of bathroom.
Well the kitchen is falling apart, but the bathroom is looking far more likely now

Battle of the fences

2011-02-26T22:41:00.000Z

Well the little darlings have played football against the old fence once too often, and it has fallen apart. Time for something new from B&Q. Wont talk about how hard concrete is to take apart with a cold chisel and your bare hands, but we finally got the old fence posts out and installed new ones.

I can highly recommend postcrete to put them in, quite pleased with the finished result which we just need to finalise painting now. Wasn't cheap, but it needed doing and we have redone the bench as well. Still need to tidy up the front stones as we don't have a gravel board in place.

For sale is not us, its the neighbours :o)

Hallway Week

2010-08-02T23:16:00.003+01:00

Well 2 years since the last post, in the gap we have completed the front porch conversion and this week are working to complete the hallway we started ages ago. The hall cupboard now finally has the door frame edged to the wall and will get painted this week with the rest of the hall.

Walls in the hall that were stripped are now ready for wallpaper, and we are going to use the wallpaper that goes over woodchip, although there isnt any now in the hall this will mean a seamless run up the stairwell in future if we decide to without stripping the woodchip off there.

Other items of note are white stone chip in the front garden, with a decked area for the bikes. To be extended in the next few weeks to support the latest family addition who will have a need for bike storage as well.

New low energy lights are now fitted to both kids rooms, and upper hall with a ceiling fan light in our room. We also have gigabit networking in place around the house and a TV installed in the fake fireplace in the lounge.

Last but not least, we have had the final 2 windows upgraded to full double glazing. So we now are able to fully lock the house up.

Apart from the hall, upcoming plans are:

1. Shed in front garden, hopefully ship lap and coloured as per porch conversion for storage / play area.

2. 2nd Bike rack mounting on wall.

3. Better front garden lighting (off shed which can easily have power as will back onto edge of house)

4. Wooden floor though hall to lounge (Carpet now binned so on stone floor)

5. Wallpaper in lounge and updated low energy lights as per upstairs hall

Big projects still on cards remain new kitchen, move of bathroom.

Not forgotton...

2008-04-04T19:04:00.002+01:00

Well work carries on, now with new urgency as we have a new addition to the family in around 10 weeks. We have had the bathroom surveyed, waiting on a quote. The hall floor has been filled, ready for new carpet or tiles, but we are holding off. Hall walls are being stripped, very slowly as its that awful woodchip paper. Oh and we are working with a heat gun to get the very badly done gloss work stripped.

New Cupboard

2007-07-21T12:21:00.000+01:00

Well the under stairs already has a large cupboard, we hope one day to make a second toilet. However the bottom of the stairs has a wasted space that is always full of junk and looks bad. We decided to build in a cupboard which is 90% complete. Photo blog below.

On the rest of the house we still need to sort the windows as Everest only come out during the week and we are both at work. We also have the hall flooring up, something I want to sort but need to do the walls first. We also found a cable (mains power) coming out one wall and into the other. No idea what its for...

Another thing to sort.

Not forgotton....

2007-04-16T09:40:00.000+01:00

Ok long time no Blog. The house continues and now has a nice new front garden look from this weekend, we also have a playhouse and repaired more deadly wiring this time found in the loft.

Inside the playhouse, this is from a couple of years later but gives an impression...

Light at the end of the window...

2006-10-19T14:10:00.000+01:00

Ok the windows will be sorted, more details when I get home but they are going to change the hinges in the bathroom.

Windows... The Saga Begins

2006-10-19T09:31:00.000+01:00

Well just had Everest on the phone. They don't want to change the hinges while the scaffolding is up. They want their surveyor to come out and inspect the work; not sure why since this is a fairly simple issue. In fact you can see the window in the pic below is not hinged from the edge.

Ahh well, will wait for a call and see how fast I get this sorted out. My main concern remains that this will come down to a mistake on a piece of paper that I signed somewhere and despite this being cut and dry against the whole point of the install they will refuse to resolve. However maybe I am just worrying too much as they have not had much of a chance to sort it yet, and they did call back when they said they would.

Still will wait and see. Regardless of this battle I love the new windows effect, makes the whole house feel lighter and more airy.

Windows!! ... but there is a catch...

2006-10-18T18:33:00.000+01:00

Ok the new windows are in! They make the house look so much better and I can really see the difference. Already the bathroom looks like a place to go in, not the cold dark cupboard it looked like before.

So whats the catch? Well my wife did not notice and signed everything off. However as soon as I opened the toilet window I wondered where the nice moving hinges were. It should open and move across the window frame, then you can clean down the outside. Nope it opens on the far left... Sort of like an escape window... Rushing to the bathroom (soon to be a bedroom) my fears are confirmed as the window slides quietly across the gap making escape that much harder... Grr...

Still after a phonecall to the Everest sales line and the lovely Janet apparently I will not have a problem. They will get someone over to check the hinges and it should be no issue to change. Will keep you updated on that one.

Still over to the photos:

<-- Before -- After -->

Pink Rules - The K Room

2006-10-17T18:06:00.000+01:00

Well while waiting for the windows to be fitted my wife took leave of her senses. The result is a smarten up of K's room as can be seen above. Gone is the drab all one colour beige creme, 2 quick coats and you have a new room. The paints were Dulux colour mix (exact colours to follow) with 2 shades of pink and a border from Focus.

The change is quite amazing, shows that for £20 you can make a difference to a room.

Downtime

2006-10-02T19:47:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the blank on recent posts. I lost my password somehow. Anyway the house is moving on, the windows are ready to fit, and we have finished the bedroom... Pics to follow.

New Rabbit Hutch

2006-08-07T16:04:00.000+01:00

We spent the weekend adding a new rabbit hutch for Ben and Skippy. 6ft by 2ft, pic below:

Windows - Round 3

2006-07-31T22:59:00.000+01:00

Well Everest have just been around, and my windows are ordered (again, see previous posts). We are not doing all the windows as I cant afford it (£4500 for 6 windows and brickwork). Instead I have got 4 windows, the 2 main front windows on the bathroom and toilet with the brickwork to enlarge them. The kitchen to complete the front of the house, and the lounge as the only other ground floor (and thus vunerable) window.

This clocks in at £126 a month for 24 months which is ok. We will follow up with the 2 bedroom windows when finances are better, or in 24 months.

Toilet Floor

2006-07-31T13:11:00.000+01:00

Well the time came at the weekend and we pulled up the rather badly fitted toilet floor. Results can be seen in the pics, a sticky black mess has been left. Advice from the B&Q tiler was to apply 2 coats of thinned PVA glue and leave to set. He said you never get this stuff up, and it gets everywhere...

Well that latter is totally true and only white spirit got it off my hands. Horrible stuff, currently covered with a dust sheet we will be trying the PVA trick over the next few days.

The boxing seen on the left contains some spare bits of pipe and all the other stuff left over after the previous owner installed the extra sink. I need to decide on something to cover it with, however I am trying to avoid replacing it since he fitted the radiator after dropping the top plate on.

Bedroom colours

2006-07-30T18:04:00.000+01:00

Well we have found a wall paper we like for the lower panel on the wall, and a colour. It uses the Dulux colour mixing system, looks quite good with the curtains I think although it is not that well mixed in the tester can.

In the pic you can see the wallpaper stuck over the original test panels we painted on the wall. One square on the paper has been hand painted with the lighter orange shade to see how this looks. We may do this after putting up the base darker orange colour. The squares effect on the paper is designed to match in with the squares on the bed frame and cupboard handles.

Room divider doors up, and painted (nearly)

2006-07-23T13:03:00.000+01:00

Well the 24 inch doors from B&Q are up, and painted. We had some fun with them as some of the holes were not drilled out top and bottom on the second door. Had to put them in myself with the drill. Also the intructions were next to useless. Trial and error, and turning round the top fitting so I could get the door closer to the wall made it fit.

Still looks good now, although the added door locks do not work, I will need to remove them and replace them with a handle. They will go on the top of the doors once I have made a space for the lock to go into the frame.

Photos of the plumbing

2006-07-19T21:16:00.000+01:00

A couple of photo's of the plumbing work in progress. The white overflow pipe (top left) is no longer required since this design of toilet overflows down the pan. I will be blocking it off. The water supply pipe (copper) used to go along the wall and up into the old cistern. I loosened off the compression joint put in with the spur (just visible going down) and rotated the end so it pointed out along the floor. Then I cut off the tap connector and added the new service valve (silver) so I can turn off the water at the toilet. Finally adding in the bendable copper pipe to connect the toilet itself.

The waste pipe used to be solid, and was not fitted properly which explains why the previous owner spent so much on cleaning products! Sadly (for her) the fault was hidden behind a false wooden wall which I removed to redo the plumbing. The new flexable connector works well and the smells have gone.

Whats left to do is install the wooden frame behind the toilet and a false wall, redo the floor in cork tiles, and screw the toilet down.

Water water everywhere...

2006-07-16T23:52:00.000+01:00

Well it wasnt as bad as the title suggests, few panics but basically plumbing is not as bad as I thought. Purchases:

New waste pipe flexible connector (B&Q)
Small Service Valve - Compression joint (B&Q)
Wire Wool (B&Q)
Mini Pipe Cutter (B&Q)
'Flexible' copper pipe (B&Q)
Toilet to Go (B&Q)

and that should have been it, until I realised I needed a 'tap' connector end on my pipe to screw to the water inlet. Also found that the float thing is just not working so add in:

New bottom inlet float valve (Focus)
2 tap connector 'Flexible' copper pipes (Wickes)

Wickes coming to the rescue, and the 2 pipes cost the same as 1 from B&Q? Although other bits were much cheaper from B&Q so pays to shop around a bit.

All plumbed in and working, not fixed to the floor yet as Sue wants to move the toilet forwards to allow for a cupboard and shelves behind. There is room so it not a problem. Now we need a new floor covering and to build the framework behind for the cupboard.

I think I will use the toilet for now, and then replace with a built in one once the downstairs loo comes online. Then I can use this toilet for the downstairs. Pics will be added later to show the work in progress.

Other good (hopefully, not tried test fitting yet) news is that we got the 24inch doors! Even managed to find bi fold ones. Tried the larger B&Q store and they had a number of them, £45 each but worth it to sort that connecting wall in professional way. Will be test fitting once the bathroom sorted.

Toilet Troubles

2006-07-15T19:43:00.000+01:00

Well we have failed to find any doors, and in desperation we have purchased a toilet to go from B&Q. No instructions in the box, just a sheet regarding the flush unit. I have managed to isolate the water from the loft at the water tank. Although I should replace the valves as one is frozen, but the cold water one does turn.

Ripped out the old toilet, it was not even bolted down properly. Test fitted the new one and found it is far narrower, so the cold water supply pipe will not connect properly. After some shoving I managed to get it in place but now filling really slow. I estimate it will take over an hour to fill the cistern. Looks like a high pressure fitting for our low pressure house, or it's just broken... grr...

Toilet working with bucket filling the cistern to flush.

Weekend Plans, or not...

2006-07-14T21:27:00.000+01:00

Well we are all raring to go with plans to close off the space between Luke's room and ours in a more solid fashon with some 24inch doors from Wickes. £14.99 each. Sadly after going over the only 1 they have in stock is smashed to bits, and they have discontinued the range!!!

Ever get the feeling it is not your day. Also measured all the other doors in the house and they are mostly 28.5 inch wide, or 32.5 inch wide. Since doors from the DIY stores come in 27 and 30 inch wide as standard this will make installation fun.

Little steps...

2006-07-10T09:47:00.000+01:00

Well we have returned the incorrect toilet parts to B&Q for a credit note, I have decided to go for a 'Toilet to go' and replace the entire toilet. Speaking of the toilet we now have a nice pine toilet roll holder and towel ring. Cheap but much nicer than the battered crome existing fittings. Good test of the new drill as well, getting through the tiles.

Odd thing the paint is coming off the tiles since the previous owner only used emulsion. The tiles appear to be white, and he / she painted them white?? Very badly I might add. So I need to find some way to get the paint off while leaving the tiles.

Also spent another £80 on painting stuff, we now have the paint for the bedroom and will be making a start soon, possibly even tonight!

High Temps...

2006-07-03T13:40:00.000+01:00

Well as the temperatures soar my interest in DIY waines. Latest news on the house front is that Kingswood (Perfect Panes) pulled out of our contract. Reason given that the installation requires scaffolding so they can't afford it on the quoted price. No bad feelings there, and my deposit was returned.

As for the house we have a bottom inlet toilet cistern, so I brought the wrong fitting at the weekend... also I have found the B&Q water tank is the one we have. So we now own a proper lid, not a cardboard one!

2006-06-27T22:37:00.000+01:00

Windows windows everywhere...
Well windows survey was done today. The surveyer noted that our new windows were very large at the front, and suggested smaller ones which Sue went with. Now I am worried that the double opening design wont work, we will get all frames and no glass.

Called the company (Kingswood, subsidury of Perfect Panes) and got told the surveyer would ring back. No call so I left them a voicemail later this evening and will call them in the morning.

Painting choices
On the painting front, looking at Dulux paints. Especially their new Light and Space Rich Matt. We have got a tester and done a sample area in the bedroom. Just considering a contrasting color behind the bed to match the curtains. Pic below is from the 'Paint a room' thing on the Dulux site and shows our idea roughly:

Update on the Stuff left to do list

2006-06-25T23:49:00.000+01:00

Short Term
Move the heating controller to somewhere I can reach it - Found a workaround
Replace the cold water tank in the loft with one with a cover, bug traps, etc - Found proper lid
Complete install of Bark covering for front garden - Done (See pic for visitor it attracted)

Medium Term
Burglar Alarm - Um er one day...
Build rabbit hutch - In planning

Long Term
Replace windows - Order Monday evening, 6:30pm

2006-06-24T21:22:00.000+01:00

Well I now know what happened in the kitchen with the vanishing cupboard. Obviously anyone reading this has no idea what I mean so a brief explanation. In the sister house to this one we found a small cupboard just inside the door to the kitchen. About 2 foot deep, and 4 foot long they used it for the ironing board. In this house, nothing... We have what looks like a perfect spot for the fridge freezer, just under what appears to be the roof.

Now probing with the drill (wonderful present) I have worked it out. The original cupboard has been demolished. Then a wooden frame has been built off the roof rafters with 90 degree angle brackets and 2 by 2 inch rough wood. Finally the whole lot was closed in with plaster board, the nail heads hidden, and painted over.

Lucky for me I missed the main sewer line which runs behind one of the panels by inches, I assume it was in the cupboard previously and he boxed it in. (Plastic does not set off the metal / power sensor). So new plan is to remove the upper part of the wall he built so my taller fridge freezer will also fit. Then repair the panel I drilled into, maybe installing some form of access pannel in so we can get back in in future in case of issues with the drain pipe.

Back to the bathroom planning, from what I read I need to get in touch with local planning officer first. So got to get my plans down on paper so I can explain what I thinking.

Oh yes on final note, Perfect Panes will be over Monday to finalise a quote for the windows. £3300 (Down on the £8000 initial quote) 6 windows including knocking out some bricks. Will let you know how it turns out, still at least we now dealing with a salesman who wants to sell to us, unlike the first one they sent out.

The main advantage to this is making the slits that are my bathroom into proper windows. Finally be able to take a bath without needing the lights on.

Online Bathroom Planner

2006-06-20T08:27:00.000+01:00

Found an online bathroom planner last night and had a play. Worked out that the smaller shower bath fits best (and saves water). Sadly we cant squish in the bath and seperate shower.

First draft scale plan below:

Need to look at building in a few mini cupboards around the end of the bath and along the walls to the left of the sink.

Recap work done and whats coming up...

2006-06-19T10:04:00.000+01:00

So here is the list of professional work done so far:

Rewire kitchen cooker (4 Hours) - Knapp Electrical £230
This included finding the cooker power switch the previous owner had tiled over, and removing the dangerous wired sockets.

Emergency Plumber (2 Hours) – Someone else from Yellow pages £220
Replace a frozen ball cock in the loft, and 90 degree elbow joint (cracked) and a small air block in hot tap. How this took 2 hours I do not know, or how a £4.99 part and £1.99 part were charged as £40… Buyer beware.

Replace consumer unit (3 Hours) - Knapp Electrical £260
Old one failed to trip out, then started tripping all the time. Mr Knapp also provided a full wiring test certificate and found the issues with the kitchen.

Emergency Plumber (1 Hour) - Someone from Yellow Pages £90
Called for Boiler but it was fixed by Mr Knapp already so replaced frozen stop cock under sink. Not really good value for money but better than the next plumber I hired.

Emergency wiring issues (2 Hours) – Knapp Electrical £120
Located the reverse wired gas boiler and sorted the heating system and air in pipe work. Restored house power. Lost freezer full of food.

Overall Mr Knapp is a great, honest, and good workman who is value for money and does a real professional job. Every plumber I have hired is looking to scam me for cash, and does a half hearted job leaving plumbing unsafe.

Stuff left to do:

Short Term
Move the heating controller to somewhere I can reach it
Protect the supplementary earth cable 0n outside of house
Replace the cold water tank in the loft with one with a cover, bug traps, etc
Replace the removed tiles in the kitchen where we located the cooker switch
Replace lounge light switch
Paving slabs under bins
Complete install of Bark covering for front garden

Medium Term
Outside path lighting
Burglar Alarm
Wall between bedrooms
Fan light in my bedroom
Fix sticking doors
Build rabbit hutch

Long Term
Move garden gate
New shed
Move water heater tank
Move bathroom
Replace windows
Knock down wall in old bathroom
Replace carpets
Rebuild toilet

Well that should keep me busy for a while…

More on the weekend

2006-06-19T10:00:00.000+01:00

Quick update on the weekend and other stuff I added. We also purchased a water butt. I suggest before you buy one you double check by looking inside for leaks as mine has a small hole where it has been squished at some point. Will have to return it, but the concept is great for sorting out the water in the back garden.

On the advice front I would also suggest any new home owner / renter get a Focus home buyers card. 10% off everything you buy for 6 months. Comes in very handy.

Lights, Action...

2006-06-18T21:22:00.000+01:00

We finally have wall lights in the lounge. All hail focus who sold a nice set which allowed room to pop the wiring in behind. I think I am finally making sense of this guys wiring, bar one of the bedroom sockets going off with the lounge lights...

Still the floor is now clearer, although the loft is full to the brim where it is boarded and the pipes make loads of noise. Lots more work to do starting with a replacement water tank in the loft, one with a cover and all the bug traps. Then we need to get started on the burgler alarm install. One step nearer with Sue buying me a 24 volt drill (hammer action, 2 batts, McKeller). Very snazzy and kicks like a mule. Now I got the tool to get that bell box wire sorted, even through the wall.

Electrical Saviour...

2006-06-14T16:52:00.000+01:00

Well Knapp Electrical have saved me again, a whole afternoon and he is only charged me for the time (4 hours) All bits he needed he thrown free. He even has a good hourly rate, far cheaper than the plumber who was no where near as good. Apparently the cooker power switch was hidden behind one of the dodgy power sockets. So although I am now missing a few tiles I have a power switch, I even have an additional socket, and my dishwasher is now hard wired in. Yipee I can cook again :)

Mislabled Fuseboard

2006-06-06T10:45:00.000+01:00

After yesterdays panic about the lighting fuses it turns out to be OK. The new consumer board I put in was marked as Domestic Lighting and Upstairs Lighting. The lounge is on the upstairs circuit so at least it is a lighting ring main. Quick re-label and we in business. Tonights fun task is to start planning the install of the wired burgler alarm (micromark) and clearing the kitchen up a bit; which is still without power due to some entertaining wiring by the previous owner.

More power woes

2006-06-05T08:29:00.000+01:00

I have not even started writing up the rest of the fun we have had over the last month when this morning we turn on the lights in the kitchen... pop... there goes the circuit breaker. Ok so that’s good, the circuit breakers work. All caused by one of the bulbs burning out. Not too bad until you realise that the lounge lights all stayed on, which means they are not on the lighting ring main. Glad I had all the power off when I wired up the new light. I really would love to meet the previous owner and discuss basic safety! Another repair to add to the list...

The Start of a Blog

2006-06-04T22:46:00.000+01:00

Well here is the start of our blog, a nice shiny clean blog, so totally unlike our house. Over the following weeks I will add in the joys of this new house. So far we have had £800 on emergency electrical work, and £300 on plumbing. So stick with me over the next few weeks and years as we turn this minor deathtap into a family home...

Meet the family who share this with me, Sue, K and Luke...