The 4 Month House Renovation
Discussion
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Ranger 6 said:
This time there's only the two of us (and the dog) so the caravan is much, much cheaper than renting and will still have value at the end of the process. I just hope that we're not having Christmas dinner in the awning!!
Good on you, but I wouldn't fancy spending very long in a caravan that small. Great thread though, and best of luck with the build. 
The good news is that the latex has gone off. The heating in the house has been a real bonus. Lots of folks due back tomorrow to keep going with second fix. We will be in for Christmas, but there will be bits that won't be finished.
A significant milestone has been achieved this morning. The front door has been hung.
You may say, why is that an event? It's just a door?
To keep the story short, my wife is constantly scanning the s/h apps, Gumtree, Marketplace etc. During the planning process she found a solid oak panelled front door. This was particularly big - 1.25m x 2.3m, in old money 7' 3" tall - and once we saw it, handed over the cash. We didn't set out to design the front of the house around a door, but we knew that a build like this would require something special and not just an off the shelf item.
That necessitated some amendments to the drawings, but we were in time for the application. All the way through the process we've had to store this humungous door and eventually it succumbed to black spot mould when we sanded the original varnish off it.
The builders looked and shrugged, agreed it was f-ing big, but said 'we'll mange it' so we were reassured. They committed to building it all from oak and priced accordingly.
Fast forward to today and the carpenter stood back and smiled, 'f-ing good that!' he commented and I agree. He's built all the timber in the whole new structure from the roof down and including the porch. The door frame and porch have been hand made as you can't get off the shelf kits for something this big. There's details on the porch which for us make it 'fit' with what we've done and when things get finished inside I hope the 'look' will be balanced.
Now I just need to find the Jiffy bag with the bits to finish it off......
You may say, why is that an event? It's just a door?
To keep the story short, my wife is constantly scanning the s/h apps, Gumtree, Marketplace etc. During the planning process she found a solid oak panelled front door. This was particularly big - 1.25m x 2.3m, in old money 7' 3" tall - and once we saw it, handed over the cash. We didn't set out to design the front of the house around a door, but we knew that a build like this would require something special and not just an off the shelf item.
That necessitated some amendments to the drawings, but we were in time for the application. All the way through the process we've had to store this humungous door and eventually it succumbed to black spot mould when we sanded the original varnish off it.
The builders looked and shrugged, agreed it was f-ing big, but said 'we'll mange it' so we were reassured. They committed to building it all from oak and priced accordingly.
Fast forward to today and the carpenter stood back and smiled, 'f-ing good that!' he commented and I agree. He's built all the timber in the whole new structure from the roof down and including the porch. The door frame and porch have been hand made as you can't get off the shelf kits for something this big. There's details on the porch which for us make it 'fit' with what we've done and when things get finished inside I hope the 'look' will be balanced.
Now I just need to find the Jiffy bag with the bits to finish it off......
Thanks all, appreciate the positive comments 
The final bits won't be inside the 4 month window but we will be in next week.
I've done a bit of clearing today, ready for the worktops to be fitted tomorrow.
The missing tall door is the utilities cupboard - a half depth cabinet that's covering the two meters. The smaller one was damaged in transit and a replacement is coming from DIY Kitchens. There's also a couple of fill panels to go in over the ovens and the plinths are stacked on top of the end units waiting for the floor to be finished.
The flooring is starting tomorrow too - it was delivered the other day.... all 120 sq metres of it
Van driver: 'Hello I have a delivery for you'
Runs to gate
Me through gate 'where's the parcel'
Van driver: 'In the van, there's 54 of them....
'
The final bits won't be inside the 4 month window but we will be in next week.
Harry Flashman said:
...Glad to not see some horrible composite effort on there.
No, the horrible composite effort is going to be on the back where it can't be seen I've done a bit of clearing today, ready for the worktops to be fitted tomorrow.
The missing tall door is the utilities cupboard - a half depth cabinet that's covering the two meters. The smaller one was damaged in transit and a replacement is coming from DIY Kitchens. There's also a couple of fill panels to go in over the ovens and the plinths are stacked on top of the end units waiting for the floor to be finished.
The flooring is starting tomorrow too - it was delivered the other day.... all 120 sq metres of it
Van driver: 'Hello I have a delivery for you'
Runs to gate
Me through gate 'where's the parcel'
Van driver: 'In the van, there's 54 of them....
'Updates have been lacking, I know, so please bear with me......
The Elddis Alfresco was a bit of a haven during the cold snap and the awning stood up to the small dusting we had.
I found the Jiffy bag with the new lock barrel and fittings for the front door, so that's functioning properly. We do need a piece of wood to try and straighten it as the months of storage have meant a 10mm twist.
Lots of work went in to getting the heating and hot water going.
My son came home from university just as I was furloughed (the joys of being a contractor) so we had a few days to put beds up. That meant the upstairs was habitable as the heating was working too. The master en-suite wasn't finished, but that only meant we had to use one of the other bathrooms.
During that week the worktops went in and the hob/sink etc connected - all happy as we were moving closer to a usable property.
Details inside, such as the pendant lights in the stairwell - in the new year the stairs will be re-fitted with oak hand rails and glass balustrades.
Also, the oak post went in at the back door to support the porch. There's work to do on this to finish the cosmetics
Selfishly, I then had a f*ck it moment and took the (grown up!) kids skiing for a few days before Christmas. My fab wife, who isn't a keen skier, managed the flooring going down, and cleaned endlessly for days. When we got back from the Alps there was basically a shell ready for occupation.
For the Friday and Christmas Eve we moved what furniture we needed to give us an acceptable Christmas and then sat back with a drink!
We still don't have the sliding doors in the kitchen or the back door - but we did achieve the target of being in for Christmas. I'm taking a while to get all the heating set properly and make sure that we're comfortable.
One thing that I am going to do is compare the EA's pics from when we bought the place and do a proper update when the details get finished.
Happy New Year to all!!
The Elddis Alfresco was a bit of a haven during the cold snap and the awning stood up to the small dusting we had.
I found the Jiffy bag with the new lock barrel and fittings for the front door, so that's functioning properly. We do need a piece of wood to try and straighten it as the months of storage have meant a 10mm twist.
Lots of work went in to getting the heating and hot water going.
My son came home from university just as I was furloughed (the joys of being a contractor) so we had a few days to put beds up. That meant the upstairs was habitable as the heating was working too. The master en-suite wasn't finished, but that only meant we had to use one of the other bathrooms.
During that week the worktops went in and the hob/sink etc connected - all happy as we were moving closer to a usable property.
Details inside, such as the pendant lights in the stairwell - in the new year the stairs will be re-fitted with oak hand rails and glass balustrades.
Also, the oak post went in at the back door to support the porch. There's work to do on this to finish the cosmetics
Selfishly, I then had a f*ck it moment and took the (grown up!) kids skiing for a few days before Christmas. My fab wife, who isn't a keen skier, managed the flooring going down, and cleaned endlessly for days. When we got back from the Alps there was basically a shell ready for occupation.
For the Friday and Christmas Eve we moved what furniture we needed to give us an acceptable Christmas and then sat back with a drink!
We still don't have the sliding doors in the kitchen or the back door - but we did achieve the target of being in for Christmas. I'm taking a while to get all the heating set properly and make sure that we're comfortable.
One thing that I am going to do is compare the EA's pics from when we bought the place and do a proper update when the details get finished.
Happy New Year to all!!
The builders started on 15 Aug - we moved back in on 16 Dec, so I'm sticking to 4 months
You're right, of course in that all the rest of it has taken considerably longer.
To give the builders credit, they've been pushing on all the way through and have been held up by the windows and a couple of other things.
You're right, of course in that all the rest of it has taken considerably longer.
To give the builders credit, they've been pushing on all the way through and have been held up by the windows and a couple of other things.
Ranger 6 said:
The builders started on 15 Aug - we moved back in on 16 Dec, so I'm sticking to 4 months
You're right, of course in that all the rest of it has taken considerably longer.
To give the builders credit, they've been pushing on all the way through and have been held up by the windows and a couple of other things.
TBH that length of time for the amount of work is fine by me. I'm sure they could do it in 9 days in China but I wouldn't want to go within 100m of such a build!You're right, of course in that all the rest of it has taken considerably longer.
To give the builders credit, they've been pushing on all the way through and have been held up by the windows and a couple of other things.
Kinky said:
Looking absolutely AWESOME. And even better that you were in by Christmas 
thanks!! I still need to organise that beer, we have mattresses blocking the hall and boxes of 'stuff' in the kitchen so not ready to socialise yet
Hoofy said:
TBH that length of time for the amount of work is fine by me. I'm sure they could do it in 9 days in China but I wouldn't want to go within 100m of such a build!
yes definitely!Thanks folks
Some details of what's been happening recently. As mentioned we did make it back in for the week before Christmas, albeit with a few things to finish off.
The wood burner and sliding doors were two of the 'big ticket' items outstanding, and the burner was first.
The guys stripped out the fire back and got it all ready to go in
Then after some grunting and groaning it was in the hole, flue connected and ready to test. Son and dog enjoying the whole spectacle
Next, a week later was the back door and sliding doors for the kitchen. Yes Harry, it's a composite
The floor now needs to be finished up to the sill and attic laid etc. What has also been done since the last update was the flooring. Obviously not all of it completed, but here's a shot of the snug in temporary Christmas mode. The TV is yet to be lifted on to the wall mount and the cables need to be run through the conduit.
The next step is sorting out the snagging with the builder. He's coming tomorrow to go through what's left. More info to come after that meeting as things are being missed and there's work we want finishing which they don't appear. to have the resources to complete. Possibly a sad end to a really good journey, but I'll explain all once I know what they're going to commit to.
Finally, some sad news. The awning has died......
First the pergola was hit by a big gust of wind, which flipped it over the awning and on to the roof of the Elddis Alfresco, losing it's legs in the process....
Then the subsequent bad weather just hit the rather neglected and tired nylon that was the awning and eventually it succumbed to the wind and the rain - thank f*ck we had moved out!!
Some details of what's been happening recently. As mentioned we did make it back in for the week before Christmas, albeit with a few things to finish off.
The wood burner and sliding doors were two of the 'big ticket' items outstanding, and the burner was first.
The guys stripped out the fire back and got it all ready to go in
Then after some grunting and groaning it was in the hole, flue connected and ready to test. Son and dog enjoying the whole spectacle
Next, a week later was the back door and sliding doors for the kitchen. Yes Harry, it's a composite
The floor now needs to be finished up to the sill and attic laid etc. What has also been done since the last update was the flooring. Obviously not all of it completed, but here's a shot of the snug in temporary Christmas mode. The TV is yet to be lifted on to the wall mount and the cables need to be run through the conduit.
The next step is sorting out the snagging with the builder. He's coming tomorrow to go through what's left. More info to come after that meeting as things are being missed and there's work we want finishing which they don't appear. to have the resources to complete. Possibly a sad end to a really good journey, but I'll explain all once I know what they're going to commit to.
Finally, some sad news. The awning has died......
First the pergola was hit by a big gust of wind, which flipped it over the awning and on to the roof of the Elddis Alfresco, losing it's legs in the process....
Then the subsequent bad weather just hit the rather neglected and tired nylon that was the awning and eventually it succumbed to the wind and the rain - thank f*ck we had moved out!!
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