Our Little Durham Restoration Project...
Discussion
Then I was back into the new bathroom, shower valve plumbed in:
Wrong.
In my defence, the instructions suppled don't say anywhere which inlet is hot and which is cold. And if I go on the Bristan website now and download the instructions they have been re-written to include that crucial point. I was obviously in a massive rush for some reason, probably Christmas I guess, as if I'd given it any thought at all I'd have realised that it must matter which way round the pipes go. You can guess the rest. You win some, you lose some.
Oh and one of those joints near the bottom has a leak and for *reasons* the pipes can't be tested until after a man has been and that gets forgotten and they get covered and much fun ensues. Luckily that fun is over a year in my future at this point because I'm really slow.
Anyway, pipes fit. Just:
The timber framing is 145mm, so there's not much depth to work with. The soil pipe ends up being done in 90mm.
Everything in:
Wrong.
In my defence, the instructions suppled don't say anywhere which inlet is hot and which is cold. And if I go on the Bristan website now and download the instructions they have been re-written to include that crucial point. I was obviously in a massive rush for some reason, probably Christmas I guess, as if I'd given it any thought at all I'd have realised that it must matter which way round the pipes go. You can guess the rest. You win some, you lose some.
Oh and one of those joints near the bottom has a leak and for *reasons* the pipes can't be tested until after a man has been and that gets forgotten and they get covered and much fun ensues. Luckily that fun is over a year in my future at this point because I'm really slow.
Anyway, pipes fit. Just:
The timber framing is 145mm, so there's not much depth to work with. The soil pipe ends up being done in 90mm.
Everything in:
So back onto plaster boarding, I did this straight away, so it's a mystery why I forgot the pipes really should be leak-tested first. It would have been trivial to re-point the central heating filler loop at the ends of the pipes, could even have done it with a drain-down tap to keep the cupboard dry. Idiot.
I've left one of the frames as a nook that'll have some shelves in eventually, every bit of storage counts in here as the room is only 3m x 1m and the shower tray is 1m deep!
The same trick is happening here:
The sink worktop is recessed too, with the mirror set into the frame too. The edges are lined with LED light track that was spare from the main room, so the mirror will be lit eventually.
Shaver socket gets tucked away into the framing too:
The ideal layout for the bathroom is to put the door in the middle, sink in front of you, toilet to one side, shower to the other. I think that could just about be plumbed, though not as straightforward, but the small room next door is just big enough for a double bed, so putting the bathroom door in the middle wasn't an option. The compromise has ended up being the shorter than normal toilet:
And you're sat quite close to the wall in front of you, but the sink works really well, the shower is massive and there's room to get dried and dressed between the shower and the toilet, so it's a good compromise I think.
I've left one of the frames as a nook that'll have some shelves in eventually, every bit of storage counts in here as the room is only 3m x 1m and the shower tray is 1m deep!
The same trick is happening here:
The sink worktop is recessed too, with the mirror set into the frame too. The edges are lined with LED light track that was spare from the main room, so the mirror will be lit eventually.
Shaver socket gets tucked away into the framing too:
The ideal layout for the bathroom is to put the door in the middle, sink in front of you, toilet to one side, shower to the other. I think that could just about be plumbed, though not as straightforward, but the small room next door is just big enough for a double bed, so putting the bathroom door in the middle wasn't an option. The compromise has ended up being the shorter than normal toilet:
And you're sat quite close to the wall in front of you, but the sink works really well, the shower is massive and there's room to get dried and dressed between the shower and the toilet, so it's a good compromise I think.
The landing ceiling was a bit of a mess and one of the few bits that was still lath and plaster, so next up it was over-boarded.
Timber:
Lifter:
Still remember nearly a decade ago someone on here said, "Buy a lifter and sell it when you're done." Great advice. £90 delivered, £95 + delivery a day to hire one now. Probably sell it for more than I paid for it in another 10 years time.
Boards and lights back up:
Timber:
Lifter:
Still remember nearly a decade ago someone on here said, "Buy a lifter and sell it when you're done." Great advice. £90 delivered, £95 + delivery a day to hire one now. Probably sell it for more than I paid for it in another 10 years time.
Boards and lights back up:
It's January 2021 now, deep winter, it's cold, very cold. It must be time to make holes in the house again.......
When we sorted out the windows I got a matching pair for the landing, the smaller landing window was broken and used to be a bathroom window so was obscure glazed and we knew there was going to be plastering done, so figured get the windows plastered in at the same time.
Hole:
No hole!
Proper no hole:
Yes, they sent the wrong pane of glass, yes they've sent out the right one now. No I've still not fitted it.
When we sorted out the windows I got a matching pair for the landing, the smaller landing window was broken and used to be a bathroom window so was obscure glazed and we knew there was going to be plastering done, so figured get the windows plastered in at the same time.
Hole:
No hole!
Proper no hole:
Yes, they sent the wrong pane of glass, yes they've sent out the right one now. No I've still not fitted it.
Then it was this one. It's big. 1.8m x 0.8m or something. Can I even get it out on my own? At least it can only fall one way. But once it's out, it's out and it's cold out. Fun one!
It's out, we're fully committed:
Kicked the family out as the last thing I needed was all the harrassment about the cold. It was proper freezing! Hope the window fits.....
I guess things didn't go all that well as it's dark now and the new window doesn't have glass in it yet!
It fixes forwards into the reveal, hence the wooden blocks, so I guess there was a lot of faffing about getting it to sit right.
The glazing beads are on the outside, so the options are, lift the whole thing, fully glazed or carry big bits of glass up ladders in the dark, on my own, then fall off trying to force the beads on. I opted to lift the big weight:
Gunned it with foam, then went to bed. Long day!
It's out, we're fully committed:
Kicked the family out as the last thing I needed was all the harrassment about the cold. It was proper freezing! Hope the window fits.....
I guess things didn't go all that well as it's dark now and the new window doesn't have glass in it yet!
It fixes forwards into the reveal, hence the wooden blocks, so I guess there was a lot of faffing about getting it to sit right.
The glazing beads are on the outside, so the options are, lift the whole thing, fully glazed or carry big bits of glass up ladders in the dark, on my own, then fall off trying to force the beads on. I opted to lift the big weight:
Gunned it with foam, then went to bed. Long day!
The main floor was pretty messy and dusty by now, so it got a proper scrape, hoover and then I rollered over it with a mix of warm water and PVA glue:
Then, onto the other floor, 14mm engineered oak. I guessed that when I tile the adjacent bathroom floor it'll come in about 14mm, so no thicker with this floor and it should finish nicely.
Starting to look good!
Then, onto the other floor, 14mm engineered oak. I guessed that when I tile the adjacent bathroom floor it'll come in about 14mm, so no thicker with this floor and it should finish nicely.
Starting to look good!
Got the bathroom sink in the post:
It's a Belfast sink designed for chemistry labs, so it's deep enough that water doesn't splash out and all over everything. It's wide enough to work with the space it's going in and its really shallow back to front. It's a solid 100mm shallower than anything else I could find, so it leaves plenty of room to step past to the toilet and shower and with the recessed worktop isn't compromised at all on functionality.
It's a Belfast sink designed for chemistry labs, so it's deep enough that water doesn't splash out and all over everything. It's wide enough to work with the space it's going in and its really shallow back to front. It's a solid 100mm shallower than anything else I could find, so it leaves plenty of room to step past to the toilet and shower and with the recessed worktop isn't compromised at all on functionality.
Also got some more ceiling speakers, so fitted those up too:
Again, maximising the space in what is a small room - no need to find somewhere to sit a stereo down. Wired back to an amp in the cupboard, there's now a Chromecast Audio, a Nest Mini and the amp power is controlled by Home Assistant. So if you ask Google to play music or the radio it plays it on the Chromecast, Home Assistant detects the Chromecast is playing and turns on the amplifier and the music comes out of the speakers. Neat. And practical.
Again, maximising the space in what is a small room - no need to find somewhere to sit a stereo down. Wired back to an amp in the cupboard, there's now a Chromecast Audio, a Nest Mini and the amp power is controlled by Home Assistant. So if you ask Google to play music or the radio it plays it on the Chromecast, Home Assistant detects the Chromecast is playing and turns on the amplifier and the music comes out of the speakers. Neat. And practical.
I got told to stop messing around, so back to proper jobs.
Bit of lazer:
This is onto a wall that's a pocket door, so the fixings here are crucial, nothing can protrude much past the plasterboard as there's a door there! I used these fixings I've forgotten the name of that clamp the board, then cut the screws short. They work brilliantly!
Two brackets:
One radiator:
Again, this was the only space for it, tucket out of the way and not on any wall where it'll get in the way of people or furniture as there's no room for that. You can see the start of an interesting piping route to it too.
Bit of lazer:
This is onto a wall that's a pocket door, so the fixings here are crucial, nothing can protrude much past the plasterboard as there's a door there! I used these fixings I've forgotten the name of that clamp the board, then cut the screws short. They work brilliantly!
Two brackets:
One radiator:
Again, this was the only space for it, tucket out of the way and not on any wall where it'll get in the way of people or furniture as there's no room for that. You can see the start of an interesting piping route to it too.
There's never enough storage, so onto a quick job to alleviate that pressure from the Boss.
Couple of tracks and some brackets, ordered some posh-plywood cut to size and bish, bash, bosh:
The door frame is exactly the same width as my shoulders, again maximising the space for stuff. I saved myself a job by not boarding out the inside of the cupboard, no one will ever see it as the shelves are full and the noggins make great shelves for extras.
Extras like the collection of spare toilet brushes:
WTF.
I also added some rails under the bottom shelves, now the kids school uniforms are hung up there, which is really handy!
Couple of tracks and some brackets, ordered some posh-plywood cut to size and bish, bash, bosh:
The door frame is exactly the same width as my shoulders, again maximising the space for stuff. I saved myself a job by not boarding out the inside of the cupboard, no one will ever see it as the shelves are full and the noggins make great shelves for extras.
Extras like the collection of spare toilet brushes:
WTF.
I also added some rails under the bottom shelves, now the kids school uniforms are hung up there, which is really handy!
Good to see you got around to updating your thread. It’s looking great - is this up to date now or are there more photos to come?
I haven’t updated mine for a while but have really dropped off the progress this year, I think I’ve managed stair handrails and a couple of fitted wardrobes! I’ll wait until I do something more interesting before I update.
I haven’t updated mine for a while but have really dropped off the progress this year, I think I’ve managed stair handrails and a couple of fitted wardrobes! I’ll wait until I do something more interesting before I update.
MarcoD said:
Good to see you got around to updating your thread. It’s looking great - is this up to date now or are there more photos to come?
I haven’t updated mine for a while but have really dropped off the progress this year, I think I’ve managed stair handrails and a couple of fitted wardrobes! I’ll wait until I do something more interesting before I update.
No, I'm still not much under two years behind, though I looked through the pictures while I was updating yesterday and I'm a long way through them now. So although I'm about halfway through time-wise now, I guess I've been really really really slow in the second half!I haven’t updated mine for a while but have really dropped off the progress this year, I think I’ve managed stair handrails and a couple of fitted wardrobes! I’ll wait until I do something more interesting before I update.
Part of my problem is rather than working through all the jobs I need to get finished, I look at the whole list and pick the stuff that will have the most impact, that and in the summer I'd rather be outside, so I keep getting distracted by stuff that needs doing in the garden.
Around the time of that last update the back fence posts rotted out and the whole thing blew over. I tied it back to some trees behind and tried to ignore it for as long as possible, but this summer parts of it were leaning well over a metre into the garden and I spent a whole heap of time sorting that out. Problem is it's a fence in front of a fence in front of a fence in front of a fence in front of a huge pile of rubbish that's been dumped over decades, so days and days of digging just to get it to the point I can put something back up.
And the amount of time I've spent tidying one bit of my workshop, so I can tidy another bit, so I can tidy another bit, making slow incremental progress towards being able to work out there again has been unreal! I've finally got it to the point where I can use the machinery again and the only stuff that's in the way is stuff that needs to be sold, but the amount of time wasting that's gone on there is incredible!
If you take a few years out to do a big project, you're left with loads of these sorts of jobs to find time for. I'm currently ignoring the missing fence though, and 100 other jobs to try and close this off and put an end to it.
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