Our build thread, renovation and extension
Discussion
The dining room will probably only be used a handful of times a year and it is not far to carry food. The lounge then gets more light an I can chat to the missus as she cooks my dinner while I watch the football 
We have decided to make the downstairs WC a bit smaller so it cuts into that space less.
We have decided to make the downstairs WC a bit smaller so it cuts into that space less.
My girlfriend wants a slimmer island, I'll tell her she has some support 
The walk in wardrobe has a door to the landing because it's being built as a bedroom. If it needs to be used as a bedroom, or the house sold it can be sold as a 5 bedroom because the wardrobes could be moved out into the master bedroom. It only means locking the door between the two or boarding the doorway back up.
In a few areas we are trying to design in as much flexibility as possible.
We're going to proceed on the basis that it is open plan, but the kitchen and lounge could be separated like this (the bifolding doors need to be altered slightly on that plan).
The walk in wardrobe has a door to the landing because it's being built as a bedroom. If it needs to be used as a bedroom, or the house sold it can be sold as a 5 bedroom because the wardrobes could be moved out into the master bedroom. It only means locking the door between the two or boarding the doorway back up.
In a few areas we are trying to design in as much flexibility as possible.
We're going to proceed on the basis that it is open plan, but the kitchen and lounge could be separated like this (the bifolding doors need to be altered slightly on that plan).
cjs said:
The GF is looking so much better with the kitchen in the back. Do you really want an island in the middle of the kitchen? Won't a nice table and chairs be more usable and more comfortable?
Upstairs. The two smaller rooms on the right. If you don't currently need all the bedrooms then why not make these one big room, with the option to put up a stud wall in the future. Design the electrics and heating to suit. My suit you current needs better.
I like the idea of the island, you can cook and watch the TV and people can sit around you. Both the kitchens I've had at my parents houses have had islands and they work really well. There is a big amount of space in there to fill plus I can have storage underneath it which cuts down on the acres of wall units.Upstairs. The two smaller rooms on the right. If you don't currently need all the bedrooms then why not make these one big room, with the option to put up a stud wall in the future. Design the electrics and heating to suit. My suit you current needs better.
That's a point, but I don't think we would gain anything from that as we won't be using all that space anyway. The bedroom room closest to the back, without an ensuite I want to use as an office. For resale as well we have been told it is much better to have the 5 rather 4 albeit larger ones. At the moment we could have 2 sproglets, decent bedrooms for them and still retain the office and walk in wardrobe. If one of them really wanted a bigger room them we could knock through relatively easy but I think that is so far down the line as to be irrelevant.
Edited by Muncher on Thursday 23 February 14:01
Good point thanks tonker, hadn't thought of curtains!
We have since come up with what I think is a much better design. The big problem was the area behind the stairs was protruding into the lounge making part of it far too narrow and preventing the proper positioning of sofas. So, the WC is moved into the utility and the aim is to lose as much as possible of the walls behind the stairs and provide an entrance to the lounge directly from the hall. This may mean a whole new staircase to help minimise its impact on the lounge. The wall down one side of the stairs will also come out to allow it to be opened up with a banister and spindles on one side, rather than a wall either side as it is at present.
The lounge and kitchen are divided by bifolding doors/partitions which I am yet to decide on, so the entire space can be opened up at times. This is also useful as it provides a change between wood and tile flooring at that point.
We have since come up with what I think is a much better design. The big problem was the area behind the stairs was protruding into the lounge making part of it far too narrow and preventing the proper positioning of sofas. So, the WC is moved into the utility and the aim is to lose as much as possible of the walls behind the stairs and provide an entrance to the lounge directly from the hall. This may mean a whole new staircase to help minimise its impact on the lounge. The wall down one side of the stairs will also come out to allow it to be opened up with a banister and spindles on one side, rather than a wall either side as it is at present.
The lounge and kitchen are divided by bifolding doors/partitions which I am yet to decide on, so the entire space can be opened up at times. This is also useful as it provides a change between wood and tile flooring at that point.
In that case is it more effective to build the magenta one as load bearing and then just have a 4m set of bifolds set into the middle so it never opens up completely but 2/3 of it does? I know bifolds are pretty heavy and require significant support anyway.
There's no garage as yet, that is going in under a separate application once construction has started for planning reasons. It will also allow us to size it better once we get a feel for the remaining garage. I'm a big fan of chest freezers, do they actually do any reasonable ones that could have hinged worktop on them so look integrated?
There's no garage as yet, that is going in under a separate application once construction has started for planning reasons. It will also allow us to size it better once we get a feel for the remaining garage. I'm a big fan of chest freezers, do they actually do any reasonable ones that could have hinged worktop on them so look integrated?
Been back there today, completely filled the second 8 yard skip. The next one hopefully the last until proper building work starts.
Not many photos from this weekend as it's just the unglamours task of removing all the plaster from every wall of the house, the largest bedroom, bathroom, airing cupboard and part of the landing are now down and in the skip. It comes off reasonably easily with the SDS drill on chisel mode, how on earth you'd do that job without one of them I do not know!
Main bedroom now completely done, cleared and all the tools moved to there.
Yet another bonfire, there is always more wood to burn. We have cleared a phenominal amount of wood from in the house and plant matter this way, probably no exageration to say 6+ skips worth. The bowls club next door keep giving us more wood each week so we are burning all their waste wood too!
Have had to move my recently written off workhorse into the front garden now.
Extension marked out in white posts. Feels quite small when you walk around it but no doubt will feel bigger when up.
Not many photos from this weekend as it's just the unglamours task of removing all the plaster from every wall of the house, the largest bedroom, bathroom, airing cupboard and part of the landing are now down and in the skip. It comes off reasonably easily with the SDS drill on chisel mode, how on earth you'd do that job without one of them I do not know!
Main bedroom now completely done, cleared and all the tools moved to there.
Yet another bonfire, there is always more wood to burn. We have cleared a phenominal amount of wood from in the house and plant matter this way, probably no exageration to say 6+ skips worth. The bowls club next door keep giving us more wood each week so we are burning all their waste wood too!
Have had to move my recently written off workhorse into the front garden now.
Extension marked out in white posts. Feels quite small when you walk around it but no doubt will feel bigger when up.
A question that hopefully someone here can assist with... I want/need to clean up the external brick, it has become discoloured from the elements. The pointing is rock solid in all bar a couple of places where there is cracking. So I assume pressure washing or possibly sand blasting is the way to go. I want to get this out of the way while not much else is going on, and importantly before we possibly get a hosepipe ban. Now I would start at the back, which is becoming an internal wall, but is there anything else I need to be aware of to avoid damaging the bricks?
Yep, it seems it is almost always done with steam and maybe a mild acid solution.
I can hire a Karcher steam cleaner for £140 for the a day, combined with a ladder I think that should do it. I suspect one of those companies would charge a good few grand for doing the same thing I suspect.
I can hire a Karcher steam cleaner for £140 for the a day, combined with a ladder I think that should do it. I suspect one of those companies would charge a good few grand for doing the same thing I suspect.
Scratch that the one he found sounds too small.
Something like this is needed.
http://www.hss.com/index.php?g=59311&t=zoom
Something like this is needed.
http://www.hss.com/index.php?g=59311&t=zoom
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