Detached Victorian renovation, London.
Discussion
Well, we move in today, living in one room and with one bathroom and no kitchen. And all our stuff goes into storage for the duration except furniture (which isn't exactly burglar material!) - at least none of our own stuff was in the house, and the builders are annoyed but taking it well (and talking to their insurer). Police over today - turns out house was broken into. Those french doors that I thought were not fit for purpose? Point proven!
Boarding everything up today.
Boarding everything up today.
Johnniem said:
I can attest (professionally) to the fact that new house build (of good quality and that would fulfill the expectations of a reasonably minded lawyer, such as yourself, sitting in a Clapham omnibus - as you may well be sometime soon) is becoming incredibly expensive. I attended a seminar on reinstatement value for fire insurance purposes (I know, I know!!!) recently and central London costs have been recorded at around £25k per sq metre. Granted, this was for a multi-millionaire who cared not about cost and the finishes to walls and floors included leather and marble but the main point was that the finishes and general kit (fitted bathrooms, kitchens, data and telephony cabling, sound systems etc etc) make up a massive cost over and above the general bricks and mortar. Creating a energy neutral passive house could surprise you, cost-wise, Flash. I was flabbergasted as I have much the same desire.
I think that they may have been exaggerating, or at least thinking that everyone in London is a bling-obsessed oligarch!My last renovation, done to a very decent standard (custom electrics, new windows, Cat 6 everywhere, natural stone, wood and proper insulation etc) was £857 per square metre.
My friend just built a Grade A energy rated house in the home counties for £1m, given the size, just over £3000 per square metre...and very very nicely fitted out with full tech, stone floors etc etc.
These exclude land costs, but still...it is possible to do for more reasonable cash! Just not in prime central London, where land is so expensive.
hyphen said:
Whenever I am in Wimbledon village, I always take in the look of the window of this shop 
https://www.castrads.com
I looked at those and simply could not justify the costs over the Revive units (triple, near as dammit, I think)https://www.castrads.comLovely though - a friend of mine had them fitted throughout his house, which is a huge Victorian pile on the Kingston side of Richmond Park.
His budget was a bit more generous than mine - the house alone cost double what we paid for ours, and it was a basket case!
Alarm people are here now!
Moving in means sleeping there so it is occupied at night whilst builders are away. They are taking all their tools away at night now anyway, and locks are going on all internal doors too. Gone a bit overboard with security...
I'll be showering in the office, and we'll be eating with our friends round the corner - they rent my flat which is in a more civilised state...
Moving in means sleeping there so it is occupied at night whilst builders are away. They are taking all their tools away at night now anyway, and locks are going on all internal doors too. Gone a bit overboard with security...
I'll be showering in the office, and we'll be eating with our friends round the corner - they rent my flat which is in a more civilised state...
Www.solidwoodkitchencabinets.co.uk
You have to design the kitchen yourself, and then order the cabinets, like you do with DIYKitchens, the PH favourite. About 50-100% more expensive, but the quality is in a different league. The solid oak cabinets are really lovely.
They are painting the doors a very dark green, and we are using brass cup handles and knobs for a pretty traditional look.
Oak worktops as they are cheap and I don't mind the maintenance - but at some point the island one (where the sink is) will be replaced with stone.
You have to design the kitchen yourself, and then order the cabinets, like you do with DIYKitchens, the PH favourite. About 50-100% more expensive, but the quality is in a different league. The solid oak cabinets are really lovely.
They are painting the doors a very dark green, and we are using brass cup handles and knobs for a pretty traditional look.
Oak worktops as they are cheap and I don't mind the maintenance - but at some point the island one (where the sink is) will be replaced with stone.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 6th October 10:38
So some more progress. Tiles going down in cooking area of kitchen. Dining area will retain the wood floorboards, sanded and oiled.
What will be the study, in ground floor of the lift shaft:
And what will be the master en-suite, above the study in the new first floor of the lift shaft. The bluetarpaulin is covering what will be a wall of glass overlooking the garden. No-one else in range and lots of tall trees at the end of the garden, so nakedness is all good.
What will be the study, in ground floor of the lift shaft:
And what will be the master en-suite, above the study in the new first floor of the lift shaft. The bluetarpaulin is covering what will be a wall of glass overlooking the garden. No-one else in range and lots of tall trees at the end of the garden, so nakedness is all good.
So I've been a bit quiet recently - been lot to deal with. Scumbags came back, as some on this thread surmised they would, and robbed the house again. Again, builders' tool taken, but not much as the guys take things away with them in the evenings now. They broke into the (very poorly locked) room in which all mine and Lady F's stuff is. They didn't take anything as there is nothing of value and portable in the house - getting furniture out would be pretty obvious even in the middle of the night.
So I have boarded the house up now, and fitted a monitored alarm system. Expensive, but frankly I'm tired of this. CCTV is in too. I will also be sleeping there every night from now on. I spent the day fitting deadlocks to every internal door, so that even if someone breaks into the perimeter, they will always have another locked door to deal with.
This is all probably overkill, but Lady F is now very freaked out, so I have basically made the place a fortress. We have even trimmed back all the bushes at the front so that anyone trying to get it will be fully lit up and obvious - the last break-in was done at leisure, as they were able to hang out behind a privet hedge that masked some front windows, so the crims were able to force a window whilst hidden from view, and could take their time.
I know that many posts on here from folk about burglars etc result in keyboard bravado about fighting them off etc. - but I am beginning to understand the sentiment. Right now, I am genuinely feeling like I would like nothing better than meeting a couple of these people as they get into the house. Sense will obviously prevail, but right now, I'm pretty angry!
Police have been notified that the house will have firearms in it and has been burgled - they are pretty keen on turning up fast should another incident happen. It is clear that someone is watching the house. Nice thing is that they themselves will now be watched whilst scouting due to discreet and very high end CCTV!
The house looks a real state at the moment, with little pretty stuff happening, but hopefully the next couple of weeks will see something worth posting here...
So I have boarded the house up now, and fitted a monitored alarm system. Expensive, but frankly I'm tired of this. CCTV is in too. I will also be sleeping there every night from now on. I spent the day fitting deadlocks to every internal door, so that even if someone breaks into the perimeter, they will always have another locked door to deal with.
This is all probably overkill, but Lady F is now very freaked out, so I have basically made the place a fortress. We have even trimmed back all the bushes at the front so that anyone trying to get it will be fully lit up and obvious - the last break-in was done at leisure, as they were able to hang out behind a privet hedge that masked some front windows, so the crims were able to force a window whilst hidden from view, and could take their time.
I know that many posts on here from folk about burglars etc result in keyboard bravado about fighting them off etc. - but I am beginning to understand the sentiment. Right now, I am genuinely feeling like I would like nothing better than meeting a couple of these people as they get into the house. Sense will obviously prevail, but right now, I'm pretty angry!
Police have been notified that the house will have firearms in it and has been burgled - they are pretty keen on turning up fast should another incident happen. It is clear that someone is watching the house. Nice thing is that they themselves will now be watched whilst scouting due to discreet and very high end CCTV!
The house looks a real state at the moment, with little pretty stuff happening, but hopefully the next couple of weeks will see something worth posting here...
Edited by Harry Flashman on Saturday 30th September 20:30
Edited by Harry Flashman on Sunday 1st October 15:25
Yes - 90cm x 3m island runs right down the middle of the room.
Here's some of the kitchen unboxed. The green is absolutely spot on - so dark that it is almost black. It will look great with wooden worktops and brass knobs/cup handles. And looks great against the grey floor. Originally the floor was going to be cream limestone, but I changed it after picking the kitchen colour, and am really glad that I did. This will have a pretty country feel (despite the fact that this house is in London!)
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Here's some of the kitchen unboxed. The green is absolutely spot on - so dark that it is almost black. It will look great with wooden worktops and brass knobs/cup handles. And looks great against the grey floor. Originally the floor was going to be cream limestone, but I changed it after picking the kitchen colour, and am really glad that I did. This will have a pretty country feel (despite the fact that this house is in London!)
Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrUntitled by baconrashers, on FlickrThat grey limestone flag floor looks really, really good by the way. I far prefer it to the cream "Dijon" stuff we had in the last house: the grey is a bit colder in look. Good for a kitchen, less so elsewhere. Lower bits of the house will have the cream stuff (study, lower hallway and utility). Mainly because I had a load left over from the last house...
Edited by Harry Flashman on Sunday 1st October 15:24
Toilet frames, which were supposed to arrive in three days, took four weeks. One supplier to cross off the list! Anyway, finally being installed. We have kept one working WC throughout the build, so hasn't been a disaster. 5 to put in in total, all wall hung Grohe frames with Burlington Victorian style pans. Not sure how a wall hung pan can be Victorian, but it's the best I could do to go for a vaguely period look...
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrUntitled by baconrashers, on FlickrUntitled by baconrashers, on FlickrUtility room floor tiling. Different to the kitchen - this is also limestone, but a cream colour. The units will also be a different colour to the dark green ones in the kitchen, so this room will have a different look. I'm leaning towards some sort of dull blue. It's a small room at 2.5m x 3m, so will need some careful planning for storage of stuff. No room for tools, just laundry and cleaning supplies, so I am going to need some garden-based workshop/man cave, I think. Project for next year...)
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrEdited by Harry Flashman on Monday 2nd October 18:09
Sure, these are some of the ones we installed in our old house. These are pretty common on the continent, so any Polish builder is very familar with them! Basically means that the pan is suspended off the floor. Gives illusion of more floor space and is easier for cleaning. As the frame is thin and high, it also means the loo does not protrude into the room quite as much.
The way we installed them, you can see an obvious cistern box. But you can fit the frame into a stud wall so that it looks as if the loo protrudes from the wall.
Plenty of cheap ones available (often Chinese), but go with Grohe or Geberit. Worth it for reliability and spare parts availability.
DSC_0947 by baconrashers, on Flickr
DSC_0985 by baconrashers, on Flickr
The way we installed them, you can see an obvious cistern box. But you can fit the frame into a stud wall so that it looks as if the loo protrudes from the wall.
Plenty of cheap ones available (often Chinese), but go with Grohe or Geberit. Worth it for reliability and spare parts availability.
DSC_0947 by baconrashers, on FlickrDSC_0985 by baconrashers, on Flickrdmsims said:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=grohe+rapi...
What is the differnce between the first 3 (apart from price)
So they come with different numbers of flush modes (up to 5) - all are at least dual mode. Things like normal, continuous etc. The 3 in 1s are fine. Some also come with the flush plate (buttons to you and me). These are £30+ on their own so worth buying as a bundle.What is the differnce between the first 3 (apart from price)
And for the love of god get the white flush plates. The chrome ones fingermark horribly!
They are designed to be maintained through the flush panel - take it off, and you can get to the necessary bits.
Catastrophic failure, I guess you are taking the plasterboard off. Hence buying a Grohe/Gerberit and not a cheap Bathstore job - they have an extraordinary reliability record.
Catastrophic failure, I guess you are taking the plasterboard off. Hence buying a Grohe/Gerberit and not a cheap Bathstore job - they have an extraordinary reliability record.
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