House renovation and garage build
Discussion
dazwalsh said:
a little tip when plugging and screwing skirting, drill through the wood with a 7mm sds drill bit on hammer mode and all the way through into the wall, then put a plug in the wood and then a screw into that until you cant turn the screw by hand anymore then whack the whole lot through with a hammer until the plug is well into the wall then just tighten the screw until tight. It will mean you can bury the screw beneath the surface of the wood and then just fill and sand.
there's a counter sink collar for the neck of the sds bits with this technique (small grub screw adjusts where on the shank its sits) as the drill bit buries itself into the brickwork the collar comes up against the wood and counter sinks ready for the screw, not completely necessary on genuine wood skirts as size 8 or 10 screws will generaly pull their own heads beneath the wood, but MDF skirts are not so good at that & this collar works well.
Managed to get round to the house for an hour after work, and made more progress than al day yesterday! Buying more power tools and advice from PH must be the key! All the skirting boards in what will be my office are screwed to the wall, we even managed it before the neighbours little boy went to bed the other sideif the wall. There's one corner where there's a bit of a gap, I think it's due to the screw pulling through the wood where I'd countersunk it, but that will be maskable with caulk and behind the desk anyway.
One reason I've let this go rather than cut a new bit of skirting board is that we have booked the removal firm for Wednesday next week so we need to get cracking!
One reason I've let this go rather than cut a new bit of skirting board is that we have booked the removal firm for Wednesday next week so we need to get cracking!
More progress after work yesterday, all the skirting boards fitted, bar the ones we couldn't get to with the drill without an extension lead - will be finished today after work. Screw holes in the skirting board in the office have been filled, we may even get the final coat of paint on them today too.
Hopefully the final coat of paint on the bedroom radiator is on, I'll post a picture later/tomorrow, to show just how much difference it made.
We now also have a new bathroom suite, in the lounge.
3 days to go before the carpets get fitted and 4 days to go before we move in, but we may have to wait a bit before we own the house as solicitors are being a pain.
Hopefully the final coat of paint on the bedroom radiator is on, I'll post a picture later/tomorrow, to show just how much difference it made.
We now also have a new bathroom suite, in the lounge.
3 days to go before the carpets get fitted and 4 days to go before we move in, but we may have to wait a bit before we own the house as solicitors are being a pain.
After the positive update yesterday it was a bit Ida disaster after work. The second coat of paint on the radiator looked worse than just one coat and the MIL thought the skirting boards in the back bedroom were so bad she wants to get a carpenter friend in to do it again. I didn't think it was THAT bad, but what we don't need, with carpes being fitted on Tuesday, is more delays.
That combined with the bad weather, not being able to shake the cold I've had since last weekend, the buyers of my flat (asking to delay by a few weeks due to holiday, despite part of the reason I accepted their low offer was that they said they wanted to move quickly), buyers solicitors (leaving queries to the last minute, after doing nothing for months) and sellers solicitors (spelling every name wrong on contracts and instead of saying they don't have documents, they just send something else, needlessly delaying the process), means that I'm getting a bit fed up of the house before we've even moved in.
That combined with the bad weather, not being able to shake the cold I've had since last weekend, the buyers of my flat (asking to delay by a few weeks due to holiday, despite part of the reason I accepted their low offer was that they said they wanted to move quickly), buyers solicitors (leaving queries to the last minute, after doing nothing for months) and sellers solicitors (spelling every name wrong on contracts and instead of saying they don't have documents, they just send something else, needlessly delaying the process), means that I'm getting a bit fed up of the house before we've even moved in.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Stick with it. This is the worst, and everything will get better. Trust me, it's often like this!
Thanks, I'm more positive this evening. The third coat of paint on the radiator left it with a good finish, better light when it was applied and a warmer room while it dried probably both helped. I also cut the reflectors to go behind the radiators when we fit them.
The picture from my iPhone doesn't really do justice to how much better the painted radiator looks:
Radiators by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
The skirting boards in the office also got their final coat of paint, they need caulking, but that is a job for tomorrow as the missus was too keen to paint and forgot. The carpenter the MIL insisted on getting to redo the skirting in the bedroom is going to reuse the original skirting, he wasn't surprised that we struggled with the uneven floor and the skirting boards we used as they're much thinner than the old stuff. He's coming to do the job on Monday, so hopefully we can get them painted before the carpet is fitted.
I'm not worrying about solicitors etc until Monday, as it is out of my hands now.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Stick with it. This is the worst, and everything will get better. Trust me, it's often like this!
Just wanted to reiterate this. We bought our first place last November and discovered even the most straightforward sale isn't without its low points. I've been reading the thread with interest. You've got through a hell of a lot and the house will continue to be a credit to your family. Keep it up!
(And a full set of pics when finished please
)We're also having big problems buying our place; their solicitor isn't doing anything and then telling tall tales to cover his back. We'd have been sorted a couple of months ago if they'd employed a competent solicitor. Latest is documents we were promised by email last Monday were posted on Tuesday but still haven't arrived. Yeah right. This is after several of our own letters they claimed not to have received, despite them also being sent by email. Too many coincidences for it to be a problem with Royal Mail. They sent the draft contracts 5 weeks late and then sent a massively defective title that they could have fixed months earlier. Then didn't pass our inquiries on to the seller for 4 weeks, which then caused a big issue between the two parties as they decided we were dragging our feet.
I've just put it all to one side now, it'll get sorted out eventually I suppose but I've stopped having any expectation that things will progress in anything other than a massively protracted manner.
It'll be worth it in the end, that's what you have to remember.
I've just put it all to one side now, it'll get sorted out eventually I suppose but I've stopped having any expectation that things will progress in anything other than a massively protracted manner.
It'll be worth it in the end, that's what you have to remember.
Yup, the conveyancing process is annoying, I'm using a good firm of solicitors, but the other parties aren't. We're lucky in that we can move in before we've bought the house, but have a £500 service charge to pay for the flat if we still own it on the 1st April, which would be useful to have to spend on the house, rather than waiting to get it back through solicitors.
On a more positive note we had a productive few hours at the house. On the way over we stopped to get curtains & a curtain rail for the bedroom as we only have 3 sleeps left in the flat! After spending £90 to cover the windows in one room I thought I go for the cheaper option of fitting the blind I'd bought for my old office when I moved to the fat (5 years ago), but didn't get round to fitting. I wasn't sure if I should fit it inside the frame or over the frame, but I went with over the frame, it probably doesn't look as good, but I didn't fancy trimming the blind to fit inside the frame.
Office by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Office by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
We went around the skirting with caulk, it doesn't look bad at all now, all that's left to do in the office before the carpet is fitted on Tuesday, is fit the radiator, which it another coat of paint this afternoon. Then I need to find a vent cover that looks better than the cheap plastic offs in the DIY sheds, I'm sure Wickes had a nice wooden one last year hat would have been perfect, but I can't find it in store or online.
On a more positive note we had a productive few hours at the house. On the way over we stopped to get curtains & a curtain rail for the bedroom as we only have 3 sleeps left in the flat! After spending £90 to cover the windows in one room I thought I go for the cheaper option of fitting the blind I'd bought for my old office when I moved to the fat (5 years ago), but didn't get round to fitting. I wasn't sure if I should fit it inside the frame or over the frame, but I went with over the frame, it probably doesn't look as good, but I didn't fancy trimming the blind to fit inside the frame.
Office by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Office by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
We went around the skirting with caulk, it doesn't look bad at all now, all that's left to do in the office before the carpet is fitted on Tuesday, is fit the radiator, which it another coat of paint this afternoon. Then I need to find a vent cover that looks better than the cheap plastic offs in the DIY sheds, I'm sure Wickes had a nice wooden one last year hat would have been perfect, but I can't find it in store or online.
well done craiky, 1 year skip > home is not bad (if you started when you first posted)
good tip, any wood work joints that are later to be painted, squeeze some caulk onto butting edges before assembly, then when pressed together and fixed in place you can wipe off excess leaving the perfect joint helps eradicate shrinkage of caulk which often happens (unless dow corning used)
good tip, any wood work joints that are later to be painted, squeeze some caulk onto butting edges before assembly, then when pressed together and fixed in place you can wipe off excess leaving the perfect joint
helps eradicate shrinkage of caulk which often happens (unless dow corning used)
It's all go at 119 this morning! Carpenter is repairing the holes in the skirting board from the old plug sockets (the MIL is paying and it's less hassle than replacing more skirting boards) and the carpet fitters are fitting carpets in the bedrooms. There isn't a lot I can be getting on with at the moment, although I have just removed an old plug socket - even though I'd been told by the electrician it wasn't connected to anything, cutting through cables makes me nervous.
Unfortunately we didn't manage to get as much done yesterday as we'd hoped, the carpet is being fitted in the back bedroom before the skirting has been painted and even though we've fitted the brackets the radiators haven't been refitted due to a lack of PTFE tape.
We've now got curtains in the bedroom, so we should be able to get a decent nights sleep tomorrow night when we've moved in!
Both buyers and sellers solicitors are still being a PITA, which is particularly annoying because if they'd been upfront about things last week, rather than saying we were going to complete this week, we would have had time to get things finished before the carpet was fitted.
Unfortunately we didn't manage to get as much done yesterday as we'd hoped, the carpet is being fitted in the back bedroom before the skirting has been painted and even though we've fitted the brackets the radiators haven't been refitted due to a lack of PTFE tape.
We've now got curtains in the bedroom, so we should be able to get a decent nights sleep tomorrow night when we've moved in!
Both buyers and sellers solicitors are still being a PITA, which is particularly annoying because if they'd been upfront about things last week, rather than saying we were going to complete this week, we would have had time to get things finished before the carpet was fitted.
Gingerbread Man said:
Took all the radiator unions off before painting them?
Nope, but we did take the old tape off.The carpets are fitted and we have a bed! We've also had the first DIY fail, the blind has already come off in my hands, it seems one end wasn't fully pushed in when we marked where to drill the holes - I should have check both sides, not just the one I was holding.
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