Full House Refurb log - Work in Progress - Dark to Light
Discussion
Slow on the old updates recently. Mostly due to work, in other parts just because I'm enjoying actually living in the house now that the main living areas are complete. The side projects like garage etc will just take some time to get done.
Did get one major job out of the way and that was getting the new garage doors installed. Well chuffed with the results. Aside from the fact that they were unreliable to begin with, the old up and overs just took up so much roof real estate. Now I can get the roof painted and some nice LED strip lights put up in there.
The other added benefit is that these should be multiple times safer in regards to security.
Did get one major job out of the way and that was getting the new garage doors installed. Well chuffed with the results. Aside from the fact that they were unreliable to begin with, the old up and overs just took up so much roof real estate. Now I can get the roof painted and some nice LED strip lights put up in there.
The other added benefit is that these should be multiple times safer in regards to security.
Well it's been a long time in coming but I decided it was finally time to update the thread on the happenings at the house. Took it quiet over the last few months and just enjoyed the main house, but I need a man cave to spend some time and the garage attic was next on the list.
I dug out the planning again on Sketchup and started planning the purchases. Unfortunately I was doing this on a bit less of a budget than before so was going to do as much of the work myself that I could. Minus electrical work I did everything myself. I'm not a DIYer and lack of experience shows in the fit and finish of some of the woodworking.
As all great stories start, it starts with a skip. The garage had become a bit of a dumping ground for anything and everything.
Day 1, 4th February
Previous owner hadn't done that much with the rooms, used as general storage / home office. Turqoise, lemon and red were the colours that they picked for some unknown reason.
I dug out the planning again on Sketchup and started planning the purchases. Unfortunately I was doing this on a bit less of a budget than before so was going to do as much of the work myself that I could. Minus electrical work I did everything myself. I'm not a DIYer and lack of experience shows in the fit and finish of some of the woodworking.
As all great stories start, it starts with a skip. The garage had become a bit of a dumping ground for anything and everything.
Day 1, 4th February
Previous owner hadn't done that much with the rooms, used as general storage / home office. Turqoise, lemon and red were the colours that they picked for some unknown reason.
Step one was to knock down the old shelving and take down the partition wall. So doors off, little red bag of destruction deployed and away we went. Thankfully the walls where I took down the partition weren't too bad so I could easily patch them up.
Was a shame to get rid of the carpet because it was newish and still in good condition, but no one would take it / need it so up it came as well.
Already a huge change in the feel of the room, much bigger and brighter feeling. A usable space. The next few days were just filling and sanding and prepping the walls as best possible. Also started to undercoat the walls to get rid of the questionable colour scheme.
Was a shame to get rid of the carpet because it was newish and still in good condition, but no one would take it / need it so up it came as well.
Already a huge change in the feel of the room, much bigger and brighter feeling. A usable space. The next few days were just filling and sanding and prepping the walls as best possible. Also started to undercoat the walls to get rid of the questionable colour scheme.
So we're now on the 13th of February, day 9 of the build.
Walls are all prepped for painting, time to choose something moody and studio-like. Down to B&Q for some tester pots. The choices were dark, darker, or darkest. Decided to go for the dark one... (on the left). I cut in all the edges before starting.
Gave the main room its first coat and started to question my sanity. Was it too dark...
I decided to trust in my creative vision ( no jokes ).
In the meantime I painted the skirtings and door trim that had arrived.
Bathroom was finished painting as well so first big job was to tackle the floor in there. I still had 5-6 boxes of the quick step flooring we used in the main house lobby so that was put to good use as well as some of the remaining underlay. Before anyone mentions, yes I know I'm laying the floor in the wrong direction, my cut outs for the toilet and sink are ropey as hell.
Thought I was doing so well until I came to fit the board, lets just say I had another go at that one.
Next up was the cheapest of the cheap laminate from B&Q but I think it fits the room rather nicely.
Walls are all prepped for painting, time to choose something moody and studio-like. Down to B&Q for some tester pots. The choices were dark, darker, or darkest. Decided to go for the dark one... (on the left). I cut in all the edges before starting.
Gave the main room its first coat and started to question my sanity. Was it too dark...
I decided to trust in my creative vision ( no jokes ).
In the meantime I painted the skirtings and door trim that had arrived.
Bathroom was finished painting as well so first big job was to tackle the floor in there. I still had 5-6 boxes of the quick step flooring we used in the main house lobby so that was put to good use as well as some of the remaining underlay. Before anyone mentions, yes I know I'm laying the floor in the wrong direction, my cut outs for the toilet and sink are ropey as hell.
Thought I was doing so well until I came to fit the board, lets just say I had another go at that one.
Next up was the cheapest of the cheap laminate from B&Q but I think it fits the room rather nicely.
We're up to 21st of Feb now and things are starting to take shape. Skirting boards on in both rooms, using some leftover stuff from the house for the bathroom and new MDF stuff for the main room.
Horrible doors came off and I started to prep them for painting whilst the sparky was going to be in doing his thing.
In the meantime the Ikea furniture arrived as well as some other bits and bobs.
24th of Feb my sparky gets involved and starts installing sockets, fitting downlighters, and prepping for the radiators.
Found some dodgy electrics in the garage breaker box so had that upgraded to RCD as well.
Thankfully when planning out the media install in the house I had additional network points installed as well as running extra cable underneath the floor. Sourced some external Cat6 and some conduit for tunneling the cable into the attic room.
Nearly killed myself digging a trench behind the garden gate. Don't think I have every seen soil with more stones than what I dug out.
Radiators installed and hooked up, Rointe D-Series with Wifi connection so I can adjust it from the house. By far the most expensive part of the build.
Horrible doors came off and I started to prep them for painting whilst the sparky was going to be in doing his thing.
In the meantime the Ikea furniture arrived as well as some other bits and bobs.
24th of Feb my sparky gets involved and starts installing sockets, fitting downlighters, and prepping for the radiators.
Found some dodgy electrics in the garage breaker box so had that upgraded to RCD as well.
Thankfully when planning out the media install in the house I had additional network points installed as well as running extra cable underneath the floor. Sourced some external Cat6 and some conduit for tunneling the cable into the attic room.
Nearly killed myself digging a trench behind the garden gate. Don't think I have every seen soil with more stones than what I dug out.
Radiators installed and hooked up, Rointe D-Series with Wifi connection so I can adjust it from the house. By far the most expensive part of the build.
Rooms now pretty much done and it's time to start populating, and of course every good room deserves the cheapest rug possible. £129 for 3x2m from ebay! Of course it arrived folded in a square, not rolled up. Get what you pay for I guess. left it for a few days with some boxes weighting it down and it's sorted it out.
Ikea stuff got thrown together over a couple of afternoons and pulled out my PC which hasn't seen the light of day in about a year and a half when I packed up and moved out of my last place.
Need some entertainment in the room so planned out the TV at chav height so that its at eye level whilst standing (and just in case a wee drum kit sneaks into the room). Also went belt and braces on the fixing.
Missus went out for the evening so I had my first evening in the new room, dragged the guitars and stuff up there and had a wee jam and a glass of wine or two.
Still lots to do, plenty of boxes to drag up and empty. Now I have a dedicated room I can have a nosy at some decent valve amps although the Vox is plenty loud for now. Will also gauge the room for reflections and stick up some acoustic foam that's sitting waiting.
Ikea stuff got thrown together over a couple of afternoons and pulled out my PC which hasn't seen the light of day in about a year and a half when I packed up and moved out of my last place.
Need some entertainment in the room so planned out the TV at chav height so that its at eye level whilst standing (and just in case a wee drum kit sneaks into the room). Also went belt and braces on the fixing.
Missus went out for the evening so I had my first evening in the new room, dragged the guitars and stuff up there and had a wee jam and a glass of wine or two.
Still lots to do, plenty of boxes to drag up and empty. Now I have a dedicated room I can have a nosy at some decent valve amps although the Vox is plenty loud for now. Will also gauge the room for reflections and stick up some acoustic foam that's sitting waiting.
richatnort said:
Looks great dude I think the colour turned out great! What's the plan for the garage though!? I'm expecting big things
Still under design flux at the moment. I'm hoping to get it started during the summer but will have to see what funds allow. I don't want to go cheap on the setup so would rather have everything in place before starting. Dynion Araf Uchaf said:
lovely updates internally to the house. But IMHO the pebble dash needs something doing to it - either painting maybe cladding, or removal and replaced with white render. For me it lacks the wow factor from the kerbside as it still looks like a 50's council house. Although an improved one.
Yes, totally agree, I hate it as well. When funds allow I was thinking about getting a coloured thermal render put on the outside. well, a day of positives and negatives.
Friend of mine getting rid of some old studio gear, so he very kindly sorted me out with some monitors, stands, a midi keyboard and an interface. Nothing fancy but more than I need for now.
The negatives involved a lot of frustration with 3M tape and it not holding up my acoustic foam. It all fell off within 10 minutes. Might have to get drastic and use spray adhesive.
Friend of mine getting rid of some old studio gear, so he very kindly sorted me out with some monitors, stands, a midi keyboard and an interface. Nothing fancy but more than I need for now.
The negatives involved a lot of frustration with 3M tape and it not holding up my acoustic foam. It all fell off within 10 minutes. Might have to get drastic and use spray adhesive.
Next up on the list is the start of the garage! Finally got round to getting funds sorted and planning it out. Budget restraints aside I think it's going to look good.
Items should start arriving by next week. Units will be Sealey range, with the shelving from Big Dug and tiles from Garagepride.
Before that starts happening I need to clear the floor a bit at a time and then paint it as best possible.
Items should start arriving by next week. Units will be Sealey range, with the shelving from Big Dug and tiles from Garagepride.
Before that starts happening I need to clear the floor a bit at a time and then paint it as best possible.
Well, my tiles arrived late this morning. Managed to get a few hours clearing the space and setting out maybe half of the tiles.
My Bigdug shelving should be arriving tomorrow which means I can get them set up and some boxes moved off the floor. Also got in touch with my sparky to sort out some LED replacement strips for the tubes that are up there at the minute.
Might also need him to move two of the socket boxes on the wall as I think they will clash with the backs of the workbench units.
My Bigdug shelving should be arriving tomorrow which means I can get them set up and some boxes moved off the floor. Also got in touch with my sparky to sort out some LED replacement strips for the tubes that are up there at the minute.
Might also need him to move two of the socket boxes on the wall as I think they will clash with the backs of the workbench units.
Edited by RichTT on Monday 1st June 21:43
These ones from garage pride. Solid PVC, but easy to cut and trim to shape.
https://www.garagepride.co.uk/garage-flooring-tile...
https://www.garagepride.co.uk/garage-flooring-tile...
A little bit of progress today.
Got the two primary big dug shelving assembled. Really easy and quick to put up. This meant I could move a bunch of boxes, finish the tiling and then start on the Sealey units.
The big corner unit from Sealey is the only one that doesn't come assembled. And I'll be honest, there was much swearing and cursing. You have to be an octopus to deal with the frame whilst assembling. Of course it's also a heavy one as well.
I need to wait on my sparky coming to sort out my lighting and some new sockets, move the power supply slightly as well so it's not behind the upright supports or the back plates. Until then I won't finish assembling the backs or joining them all together, I'll also leave them on the cardboard so I can shove them about a bit easier without marking the floor.
Got the two primary big dug shelving assembled. Really easy and quick to put up. This meant I could move a bunch of boxes, finish the tiling and then start on the Sealey units.
The big corner unit from Sealey is the only one that doesn't come assembled. And I'll be honest, there was much swearing and cursing. You have to be an octopus to deal with the frame whilst assembling. Of course it's also a heavy one as well.
I need to wait on my sparky coming to sort out my lighting and some new sockets, move the power supply slightly as well so it's not behind the upright supports or the back plates. Until then I won't finish assembling the backs or joining them all together, I'll also leave them on the cardboard so I can shove them about a bit easier without marking the floor.
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