More work on the Lean-to

So this weekend I worked (with some help) on the Lean-to. We managed to get all the old felt off the roof but unfortunately with cold and wet weather it was not possible to lay the new rubber roof so I have had to put tarpaulin over it for now. Some of the batons holding up the guttering were rotten so they will have to be replaced but the guttering itself seems to be OK.

We also started building the frame to fix to the wall to attach the plasterboard to. So far two walls are done and part of the ceiling, it then needs to be fixed to the walls.

I'm going to have to attempt to put in the new window this week I think - it looks like the weather will be clear so that will help but it will be a bit of trial and error for sure!

Hitting Problems

OK so I had ordered all the plasterboard and wood for dry lining the lean to, which I was going to do at the end of this week with the help of a friend. However, this morning I noticed that there was a leak in the roof. This was not wholly unexpected as there was pretty much no felt on it! However, as it was made of concrete I was hoping that would keep it reasonably watertight for the time being.

Anyway, this means that there is no point in doing the internal lining so that has to be put on hold. I have now ordered all the stuff I need to do the roof (from rubber4roofs) and hopefully that will arrive tomorrow. The weather is due to be cold but clear so hopefully that will give us the chance to get the roof done at the end of the week instead of the internal walls. Then I need to figure how to do those or who to get to help me!

So tomorrow I need to try and remove all of the old felt if possible and maybe just leave a tarpaulin over it just in case. Not best to do this during the winter but needs must.

Working Outside & Sorting Out the Lean-To

Albeit that it is winter, there have been a few sunny days recently so I have started on the work needed to do the outside of the house at the back and the inside of the lean-to. Firstly I painted the outside of the lean-to which looks infinitely better than it did. The Dulux Weathershield paint goes on really well - better than the B&Q paint that I bought for the front of the house I would say. In fact I almost wish I had painted the front cream as well but never mind!

I also stripped out the inside of the back of the lean-to. I think it was originally one of those old brick buildings out the back of your house that had an outside toilet and another room for storage or coal - there definitely used to be a wall down the middle anyway. The room was covered with polystyrene tiles which obviously needed removing as they are a fire hazard. There were also some cupboards that I took great joy in taking a hammer to!

The window of the lean-to is missing the bottom pain of glass and the wooden sill is pretty shot so I have a bid in on a double glazed unit on eBay that should be the perfect size to replace it. At £8 (assuming I win it) plus about £10 for a courier, that is hopefully a good deal.

I will be dry lining the walls and adding some insulation so I need to get the batons and the plasterboard ordered. Unfortunately B&Q do not deliver that stuff so I will get it from Wickes who do.

There were some holes in the lean-to walls that needed filling so I got hold of some of that expanding foam stuff - I'd been wanting to find an excuse for using that for years so now I have it! It really does expand quite a lot lol! And it is really difficult to clean the nozzle but I think I have have managed it - have to be careful as the stuff is pretty toxic. I also used it to fill some holes in the back wall of the house that were sending a cold draft straight into the kitchen since the plumbing had been upgraded.

Today I also started painting the back of the house and that too looks loads better. Just need a few more sunny days to finish it off as it was getting quite cold by the end of it!

Ok I am going to have to add the photos tomorrow as it says I am out of space. Have deleted a bunch so maybe it needs some time to refresh!

Living Room Finished!

So today the carpet went into the living room. Some friends helped me move the furniture out and then back in again afterwards as there is no way I would have managed it myself. The carpet is just neutral but I think it looks pretty good. Luckily I could use the exiting underlay although I did need to patch a few bits up from the underlay that was in the hall that I no longer needed (as I will be putting laminate flooring down).

It's really difficult to get a picture of the whole lounge so I have roughly stitched together a few photos - very rough but hopefully gives you the idea!

Chimney Breast Plastered and Wallpapered

So it was not a totally easy job to plaster up the fireplace but I gave it a go. I knew that the plastering did not have to be completely perfect as I was going to wallpaper the chimney breast so that gave me the leeway to actually do it myself rather than getting a plasterer in to do a perfect skim job. I have to say I didn't really enjoy the plastering but I got the job done. I will say that I probably won't bother trying that again myself!

Anyway, I had one roll of wallpaper which in theory should have been enough just to do the chimney breast. I got it in the sale so there was no other option but to do it right as if I messed up there was no spare! In my last house I had wallpaper with a big pattern and I messed one length of that up and had to go and buy another roll just for that at a cost of £17 so needless to say that this time I was going to be triple checking everything!

This one also had a biggish pattern on it and although the label said that the repeat was at 26.5cm, I am not totally sure how they measure that as when I measured it, it was double that!

So, although it was a bit stressful matching it all up and making sure I cut it right, at the end of it, the wallpaper did look pretty good and I managed not to mess it up! I still need to do the skirting board pieces that will go on the front and then I can fix the fire on to the wall once the new carpet is in.

This is what the chimney had originally:

Renovation Update!

OK so it has been a while since I have updated here. I think this is because now that the main things have been done like the kitchen and the bathroom, it is the annoying and time consuming things that are left! There are plenty of those.

So, in the past few weeks I have started painting a lot of the woodwork. That is going to take a bit of time as a lot of it needs to be stripped back first before it can be painted. I have done probably about half that is needed on the doors and some of the door frames.

Bedroom 2 - Nothing exciting but at least it is finished!

Also, as of last week the second bedroom is complete. I got a carpet fitted (neutral tones of course) and have now set it up as my office. With this done I moved a lot of the stuff that was in the bedroom, into the lean to, so it is now all clean and tidy. the lean to is also more organised with decorating materials and tools on a big shelving unit.

The main lean to off the kitchen is currently being used as an art studio and eventually this will have to be shifted out when that gets a make over, but for now it does me quite well as it does not matter if I mess it up!

I have also been working on plastering the fireplace in the living room and will hopefully be in a position to put wallpaper on the chimney breast in a few days time. Then I can get the living room carpeted (with some help from friends to move out all the furniture hopefully!).

There is still a lot of work to do in the garden. Like all gardens it doesn't matter how much you weed, they still come back! I need to continue cleaning the paving slabs as well but I feel that winter may now get in the way of some of the outdoor plans.

Kitchen Painted & Central Heating Connected

So this last week I have painted the kitchen and some internal doors (looks like those are going to need 3 coats each). I chose a light olive green colour for the kitchen and I really like the way it has come out.  Now I just need to get the floor down and that should happen in the next couple of weeks, then the kitchen will be finished.

Also this week all of the work on the central heating was finished and the pipework connected to the boiler. All I need now on that front is for the gas supply to get connected which will happen tomorrow morning. National Grid put in the pipe and the meter box last Friday and Eon will be putting in the meter tomorrow.

Once the central heating is up and running and I have hot water at last I will carpet up the 2nd bedroom. That is all decorated (although might need a touch up now that the builders have finished) and then I can make that into a proper study. It will be nice to have that room finished, which will add to the bathroom which is pretty much done except for painting the door.

So, there is still plenty of work to do and sometimes it seems never ending but at least I can see progress happening. I am going slightly over budget as the kitchen cost a bit more than planned so that is a worry but I'll just have to find the cash, get it finished and get it back on the market.

There was a bungalow up for sale down the road for £139,995 and that now appears to be sold but it does have a conservatory and a garage so maybe I am looking at £130-135k as a potential sale price.