#1 and DIY crafts

To Fail To Prepare, Is To Prepare To Fail.

So, that’s what we’ve been doing, somewhat obsessively for the past month personally – preparation. Thinking, planning, spending countless hours looking at other peoples projects, tools, building regulations and “stuff”. I do seem to have spent a lot of time looking at house related “stuff”, so much so that Vickie is now getting cross with me. At least I haven’t started spending money yet, that is to come.

My wife and I have (nearly) bought our first house, and she’s a bit of a fixer-upper (the house that is!). I was inspired to track our journey by the Modest Designs blog on here, though I doubt we’ll have quite as much work to do as these folk (I feel your pain already). We’ll be able to use this blog to educate the world about renovating a house and I’m sure Vickie will enjoy educating the world about me too.

We’re somewhere near completion now, I think. We are at, what I have found, is the annoying part of buying a house. Now the solicitors take over and we lose all visibility and control of whats going on. On the plus side, more time for planning…

So, our house is a 1930’s red brick semi. The old folk that lived here have moved on and it’s so nearly ours. It’s been well maintained (in some respects) but not updated in a while and needs a little (read lot of) TLC to get it up to “modern standards”. We can’t wait to get started as we’re currently living in the in-laws basement, this you may think sounds bad, but it really isn’t. Imagine a small but tastefully decorated and furnished flat, and that’s where we are.

The list of works as it stands, is as follows: Urgent things:

• Remove: fireplace and back boiler from kitchen(!), subsequent remaining chimney from kitchen, bathroom, loft and already precariously leaning chimney stack from roof.


• “Make good” walls, ceilings, floors and roof from chimney removal. I like the term “make good”, it makes things sound really quick and easy. I see myself using it a lot.


• Remove stud wall separating bathroom and toilet-room. Turn into an actual bathroom with toilet by stealing a bit of the landing and bringing the door forward.


• Remove storage heaters, immersion heater tank and install the house’s first and very own central heating system.


• DPM and screed part of garage floor.


• Build stud wall, and stud out part of the garage walls. We’re turning part of it into a utility and that’s where the boiler’s going, hence the above.


• Run new ring main to garage for boiler, garage power and lighting.


• Install alarm system and “make good” walls for decorating.


• Replace lead water main with MDPE pipe from street to home.

Not so urgent things:

• Fit a useable kitchen


• Fit a useable bathroom


• Take down and rebuild front garden wall that is currently leaning at a 45 degree angle. This looks to be held together by ivy. Will rebuild shorter and remove gates to make it easier to get two cars on the drive.


• Remove challenging-looking tree that is in the way of above mentioned wider drive.


• Redecorate


• Fit new carpets throughout

Things that need to be done, at some point:

• Lots of things.

We’ve set ourselves two months worth of evenings and weekends to do the urgent stuff, but now looking at that list I feel this may be a slight underestimation of time. Whichever way, the title of this blog is certainly going to be apt for what is to come. We’ll keep you updated as we get along and try and take as many pictures as possible!

R&V

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