SD's new house, the practical stuff

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SD's new house, the practical stuff
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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Tue May 08, 18 5:54 pm Post subject:

fancy concrete is too expensive so more half ballast half sharp sand to fill 75 mm or so and then topped with lots of sharp sand and float work lying on a ladder

the surface profile is a tad challenging as the 1970's extension floor slab is about 30 mm higher than the lower part of the hallway tiles which are charming but have a rather concave and now stabilised shape

i need to decide on the best way to connect the fixed points and shapes, mostly flat and level is good for a kitchen

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 18 5:56 pm Post subject:

doing not posting but lots of stuff is done

waterproof hopefully.
leccy done
concrete ( apart from one hearth ) done
new mains water feed ready to connect to mains
plastering done
bathroom in ( apart from shower surround and a cupboard door)
one floor to finish and one to do.
mist coat done
doors all sealed
kitchen in progress
well into 2/3rd fix

we have another 10m2 of mud n rubble and stuff in the yard

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 18 7:15 pm Post subject:

re kitchens, the super cheap carcasses from ikea seem better than most super cheap carcasses but the wood doors, panels,work surfaces etc are very good value.
the fittings are better than i expected, the draw slides work first time even when fitted by a first timer, let you know about hinges in a while.

packing the leg for the breakfast bar in the bed base kit was a rather unusual ploy to upsell another leg

so far the approved supplier list also includes: there is a foam theme.
screwfix -electrical stuff their main cheapo brand is actually very ok . long fisher frame fixings, odds n ends, toupret for the discerning decorator . a few years ago the gun foam was ok but i didnt like the hand held one i tried .
a handy "iron mongers"

travis perkins , timber, doors, heavyside, screws, drill bits , own brand non gun fixer foam ( dont get the gun foam, it got rather messy very suddenly ), mastic gun stickystuff of every description etc etc helibar/structural brackets etc .
TP is my builders merchant of choice, to develop a relationship a cash account will get you 10% off and decent deliveries

nice folk, good stock, used em for decades including full time.

jewson is ok as well if you talk to em in builder, the local one was a bit uppity with householders sent on a mission to buy a pipe, i got it the next day on the phone for £25 and made em deliver it "now", they had been asked for £82.50 . dont use the own brand fixer foam

eventually i will do a full report with photos but for the mo a few words will have to do. i could do 1000wds just on fixer foam

nah --TP own brand-- edited to 3

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 18 7:11 pm Post subject:

the muckaway men commeth on monday

there is quite a lot again maybe 15 cu m or 10 t depending how one measures it .

2nd fix almost complete ,3rd fix well under way.

loads of snagging and ongoing stuff for a while but they might get to move in next weekend

we decided to sand and seal the wood floors , easy to live with, value for money ( if you get several weeks of master polisher for free

) and downstairs it fits in with my cunning plan to use the natural pressure differences between the chimney tops and the snorkel air vents to ventilate the underfloor void which was a little damp a while back:wink:

man cleaning the hall floor might require a different mask to the madness of catalysed floor resins but so what. i will drop the hcl to dog stomach acid levels and wear wellies with the windows open instead

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 18 8:21 am Post subject:
Go careful with the floor work Dpack. Always as well to wear protection just in case.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 18 8:17 pm Post subject:

2nd top coat to the wood floors looks good

I'm not poisoned and it wasn't on fire when i left

there are a lot of jobs where common sense and some instructions are ok and it might even be a decent job to pro standards.

imho this isnt one of them.

it isnt just the health and safety issues there is also the machine handling skills, knowledge of timber, surface coating and a multitude of site related skills and sops

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 18 10:06 am Post subject:
Glad you're still living DPack but we're all still waiting on pictures

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Jun 19, 19 8:40 pm Post subject:
we might be in the sunday times paper this weekend i thought i was a media tart but nowt to do with me this time, i deliberately kept out of it and await publication with a grin hope they mentioned that the slugs in the sitting room took a bit of suppressing by mending the drains and that the sarcostain was well disturbing:lol: good bits , bad bits , they have a nice house

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Thu Jun 20, 19 7:00 am Post subject:
Congratulation. I don't see it, but if you are able to post a link would love to see what you have been working on. The main thing is that they have a nice house.

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Thu Jun 20, 19 9:37 am Post subject:
Well done DPack We might get some photos at last

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jun 20, 19 11:58 am Post subject:
i will link or confirm when i know.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jun 20, 19 12:50 pm Post subject:
ps i had had enough once i crushed a disc in my back finishing the shower so they have been doing the odds n ends n stuff for a while. it is not decorated yet, just a white builders finish, but it is rather nice.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Jun 30, 19 3:33 pm Post subject:
we got in the sunday times today nothing in quotes is sd's words and they were economical with the truth on the money stuff but they did use a nice selfie of em in overalls dont waste £2.75 i will sort some decent snaps and a how to guide.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Jun 30, 19 4:30 pm Post subject:

i recon the money numbers mentioned are a bit confusing , the reality was a little more complex and required a serious interest free cash loan for a year and a decent gift in knowledge, goodwill, labour and materials.
that probably would add about £25k to the costs mentioned in the paper for anyone paying for that stuff.

fair enough the company came up with refurbishment based finance to about half the knackered condition auction value of the house at a cost but there is a lot more to such an operation than a few quid

if my initial assessment had been badly wrong it could have been really bad

the inexperienced reading it might get badly caught out, i knew roughly what we needed to do in ten mins not everyone would have that resource.

anyone considering this route into owning a house should start by recruiting trusted experts in broken houses before they look at an estate agents website or try poking about in the bushes looking for a proper wreck.
and they will need some domestic time /skills to keep the costs down to a sensible level

they do have a nice house though

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 19 12:37 pm Post subject:
Really looking forward to seeing it DPack. Surely, a news paper reporting wrong facts? Piers Morgan will be turning in his grave.

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