Our build thread, renovation and extension

[Muncher]

A bit of an update for you.

Guest bedroom 2 tidied, painted and carpeted.





Guest bedroom 1 tidied, painted, carpeted and a bit of spare furniture in.



Under stairs plastered and door liner in



Electricty meter boxed in, door and panels from DIY Kitchens and small hinged unit made from scratch.

Kitchen wall unit pelmets and curved end panels fitted. We were going to have a glass splashback along the wall but having looked at it together with the island section it would have been impossible to cut the glass to fit there, so instead we used some spare cut down end panels, which also saved a bit of money







Island end panels done, a couple the bits need to be permanently fixed in place still.



Cheap as chips bars stools



Lounge just waiting the TV and soundbar. I have rejected the idea of ceiling speakers because I don't want to clutter up the look of the ceiling and also I wouldn't be able to get them to be symetrical which would bug me hugely.



Dining room done and table in.






Bad photo but the table fits well



Landing finished



Hall light hopefully saved, with the wires shortened



Ensuite looking funky, it's actually quite nice showering in the dark with a green glow!





Wall cubes working, looking into the dressing room from the master bedroom.



I could now do with a bit of advice. The plan is to fit an electric gate at the side of the house. There is already an existing brick pier on one side but I will need to construct something on the other side. I had thought about a similar brick pier but my architect thought that it would end up being too bulky and restricting access width down the side. He suggested a steel post but I am struggling to work out how best to integrate it into a new feather edge fence I will be running down there. Ideally I want it integrated before I do anything with the gate itself.

[Craikeybaby]

That is looking great!

[BigTom85]

Looking great.

I don't see any good looking alternative for the gate, other than a matching pier tbh.

[paulrockliffe]

You could maybe clad a steel post in brick slips to get a very narrow pier?

[Muncher]

I was thinking a steel post, box section I guess, and splitting a wooden fence post, hollowing it out and using it to clad the steel?

[cossy400]

Muncher, can you not use a large square wooden post?

Or possibly use 2, but bring the gates forward towards the road a little and fix the post to the brick pillar that's already in place.

My only issue with out knowing the sizes of gate/post in terms of the pillar that's already there, is will the pillar still be a lot taller than the wooden post.

I hope that makes sense.

[Muncher]

cossy400 said:

Muncher, can you not use a large square wooden post?

Or possibly use 2, but bring the gates forward towards the road a little and fix the post to the brick pillar that's already in place.

My only issue with out knowing the sizes of gate/post in terms of the pillar that's already there, is will the pillar still be a lot taller than the wooden post.

I hope that makes sense.

I could use a wooden post, would one typically be up to it to keep in alignment with reasonably heavy powdered gates?

You have also spotted the other issue here, the gate ideally wants to be high but we want to keep the fence itself low so we have the benefit of the view over the green.

[cossy400]

Muncher said:

cossy400 said:

Muncher, can you not use a large square wooden post?

Or possibly use 2, but bring the gates forward towards the road a little and fix the post to the brick pillar that's already in place.

My only issue with out knowing the sizes of gate/post in terms of the pillar that's already there, is will the pillar still be a lot taller than the wooden post.

I hope that makes sense.

I could use a wooden post, would one typically be up to it to keep in alignment with reasonably heavy powdered gates?

You have also spotted the other issue here, the gate ideally wants to be high but we want to keep the fence itself low so we have the benefit of the view over the green.

Alignment would surely be down to the brackets your planning on swingin the gates from?

Or in the grand scheme of things but not knowing your plans for the drive way, I.E tarmac/block paving (add others here.......) would a couple of castor wheels on the end of the gates help distribute the weight, thus relieve pressure on the posts/brackets?

Lovely build have followed it from the start.

[Muncher]

In terms of alignment I meant whether the post would stay vertical, it should with a whacking limp of concrete but there is a considerable weight.

The driveway is likely to be gravel.

[cossy400]

Muncher said:

In terms of alignment I meant whether the post would stay vertical, it should with a whacking limp of concrete but there is a considerable weight.

The driveway is likely to be gravel.

Dig deep lol which im assuming would be fine, fence side but then you ll not really be able to dig that deep house side.

But I suppose house side you d be able to fix to the pillar that's already there.

A gravel drive does throw the castor wheels idea out the window thou.

[69 coupe]

What about a 4" 5" or 6" steel box section to whatever length you need weld a plate on the top, for footings add a few bolts or scrap at the bottom for cement to grip.

To tie the fence panels to the box either weld a steel channel or two flats on both sides you could then either drill holes through channel to hold the panels or fit a 2x3 or similar piece of wood in the channel and attach to that, paint it black or brown or whatever, my technical drawing > ][][

[RC1]

The steel post would look naff so for me the only choice is either between a small pier or oak post (would need to be at least 9x9") both would tie in well with the featheredge.

unless the width with the pier was going to be be very restrictive then id go with the pier because id prize the symmetry over the width unless it was a deal breaker... the pier could be quite small ie just under 1.5 brick width

[Davey S2]

Where were bar stools from?

Need to replace ours shortly.

[Muncher]

Davey S2 said:

Where were bar stools from?

Need to replace ours shortly.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CZ2HVBC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The finish is good for the price, the covering is soft but I don't think it would put up with a huge amount of abuse. Then again they are so cheap it doesn't matter a great deal.

[Muncher]

What's the consensus on timber posts v concrete posts for a feather edge fence and concrete v timber gravel boards? My understanding was that the concrete is perhaps overkill now, not to mention more difficult to work with because the timber these days was so well treated.

[Megaflow]

Concrete every time. Especially if you are going to stay there for a while.

[anonymous-user]

I personally do not like the look of the concrete posts or boards. I'm a wood fan for most things though

[SunsetZed]

garyhun said:

I personally do not like the look of the concrete posts or boards. I'm a wood fan for most things though

Me neither but I found that having creosoted the concrete when I did the fences I found that it doesn't bother me any more so I'd agree with Megaflow and go with concrete for longevity.

Megaflow said:

Concrete every time. Especially if you are going to stay there for a while.

[Muncher]

I don't like the look of the concrete really and to be honest if the timber lasts 25 years as it is supposed to I doubt it will be my problem then anyway.

[Muncher]

TV and soundbar all in, looks neat and tidy! It's a Pansasonic TX-P55VT65B with a Yamaha YSP-4300 7.1 soundbar and a second hand Sonos Connect. Very pleased with it so far, just trying to figure out why Viera Link won't hook up with the soundbar at the moment but that's just a minor irritation.

The only problem with the soundbar is the fact the plug is hard wired so needs to be chopped off to discretely wall mount it and the bracket doesn't really take into account the fact you need to run cables to it to wall mount it properly, it assumes you run them from above and have all the cables visible, or if you do what I do and cut into the wall that is then visible from below. I have a fix that will sort it, but it's a bit shabby from an expensive bracket.

Big thanks to Vex and Rob for the advice on the setup!





The mayhem behind the TV