First Home - Renovation Project

[Brozart]

Small update,

The radiator under the window looks so much better in my opinion, glad we decided to change it (Steelrad Softline 450 x 1400 P+)

Can't do much more in the bathroom until I've finished tiling, pointing, plastering and sealing shower area

 

[Brozart]

So we've come across a new problem. I've come back to find someone has broken my utility room window with no attempt at breaking in or nothing on the floor to indicate someone had thrown something at it.

http://i.imgur.com/lYhCE8x.jpg?1

So once again I'm left to put down my tools on one job and focus on another! I'm going to buy 3-4 Hikvision cameras, their quality is spot on for what I need. The hardest part is choosing optimum locations and lens (2.8mm, 4mm, 6mm, 12mm etc)

 

[Brozart]

What type of mortar/plaster are you using? I assume it's a solid stone wall?

The reason I ask is because I'm in the process of buying a 1890s ish terraced house and I've read it's better to use lime based mortars and plasters because it allows the house to breath. Have you discussed this with your builder? I'm not sure how important it is tbh.

Would be interested in the above question too ^^

You are correct, solid stone walls are designed to breathe but this isn't as simple as it used to be! You'll find most houses have been abused over the years with mortar repairs repointed with cement, living rooms renewed with gypsum plaster (sometimes mixed with asbestos) and painted... So normally the cheapest and easiest option is to make the outside walls watertight with render or cement pointing and allow the solid walls to slowly dry out. BUT this isn't always the case especially with weaker masonary such as sandstone, the golden rule in pointing is that the mortar mix should be weaker than the adjacent masonry. The second most important function is to extract the moisture from the surrounding stone or brick and act as a sacrificial element. It should be placed to encourage evaporation through the mortar mix which is why lime still has its place over cement mortar in some situations

My advice:
Most general builders are ignorant to lime and haven't got a clue - seek a stonemason with experience or do it yourself.

If you are in a position to maintain it in lime, lime plaster and limewashed walls then do so; as its truly a beauty product to work with and appreciate.

If it's an old house and you want to repair some lime mortar, go for a premixed fat lime putty instead of powdered hydraulic lime as its the most flexible and permeable.

If your house has been gypsum plastered, cement pointed and the stone is stronger than the cement with no sign of blowing or cracking and you have pcv windows (limited ventilation) - then you'll probably be leaning towards maintaining that instead and focus on making the solid walls watertight (plus your Mrs won't be moaning because she only has limited limewash colours to choose from )

If you do go down the lime route and maybe natural insulation etc then I highly recommend Ty-Mawr in Brecon; they even offer training courses if you're into DIY (I did consider it).

Here's an update on the lime wall:

 

[Brozart]

Sigh.

Time to sit in the back garden with a disc cutter and a stack of paving slabs.

Sorry to hear you've encountered such behaviour before you've had a chance to even settle in. Some people are just *****.

I hope you have got somewhere with security.

Here's some progress on CCTV and secuirty:

Excel ever time, I highly recommend this cable (will be used for CCTV, IR blasters, HDMI baluns, AV)

I would normally recommend the hikvision turrets but in this case I wanted to focus on maximum anti-vandal protection - There is a little IR bleed as with most domes but still overall a very good quality camera.

I've got another one going up in the back garden next week, and a couple in the front.

Back door fitted with new hinges and lock

 

[Brozart]

Thanks for the advice, that's very good to know.

I'm definitely going to consider using lime as it needs repointing externally and the house could do with re-plastering room by room.

On the Cat6 cabling, is that for an AV setup for the whole house? Sorry I'm totally clueless when it comes to this. I don't know what IR blasters and HDMI baluns are but my inner geek still wants them

I've got three cat 6 cables going to each TV, one will be for internet TV and the other two will connect to a HDMI extender which will transfer all my content from the AV receiver under the stairs. I'll fit IR receivers (signal from remote controls) in the ceiling which will go back to a IR blaster to distribute the signal to all the AV hardware under the sitars - so all that will be on show is the TV but there'll be a host of AV equipment hidden in the background like AV receiver, Blu-ray player, digital tv, play station...

To keep things simple I'll buy a multi-zone AV receiver which has two dedicated HDMI outputs, one that will be linked to the TV and 5.1.2 atmos surround sound system in the living room and the other will be linked to the TV in the bedroom and pass through stereo sound (not many do this).

1 x AV receiver with multi zone
2 x HDMI extenders for living room & bedroom
2 x IR receivers for living room & bedroom
1 x IR blaster/distributor with outputs to player, sky, av receiver etc.

Hope this makes senses

 

[Brozart]

Small update, both hikvision cams are working nicely - been testing them for about a week now.

The wall has dried out well with no cracking, I'll be cleaning the stone work soon

 

[Brozart]

A couple of questions though...
How much of the work do you do yourself & how much do you hire people in to do? (I don't mean this in any accusing way, I'm purely interested in where you draw the line in what you're willing/capable of doing) (obviously there's some stuff you'll have to get someone in to do e.g. gas work, but what about the rest?

You'll be surprised how much you can do yourself, the only areas I avoided was water, gas and electrical rewire because I wanted the utilities safe and to the latest regulations. The only other skilled trades I wasn't comfortable with is roofing and plastering because I wanted the walls perfect, any imperfections would play on me lol

Do you live in the house during the renovations? (If I do end up doing the same, I would probably have to live out of 1 room at a time or something, whilst the rest is being done, as I don't think it would be either possible, or practical for me to stay elsewhere)

No I've been living close by, I will probably move in once the plumbing has been done and the heating is on.

If you are planning on getting an old house, I doubt this will be feasible for health reasons - the dust created from the old lath and plaster is so bad and spreads throughout the house. I wouldn't recommend living in that, you'll be constantly spitting out black gunk from the back of your throat. Then you have the issue of heating, toilet, electrics... an electrical rewire normally takes a couple of days with a good sparky and a plumber will normally take 3-4 at a push to get everything back up and running depending on how much work is needed.

Personally focus on these three before moving in, quickly gut the property and get the main utilities reinstalled.

Do you seal off the room(s) you're living in whilst you do the work (to limit dust ingress etc?)

It sounds good to seal off rooms but in reality I found it safer to keep everything open, the dust from the plaster is so fine and horrible even the dust masks were failing... I used to open all the doors, windows and get fans on for circulation. Rip up the carpets FIRST, much easier to sweep up the dust and mess.

I only time I've sealed a room was the bathroom during the sandblasting, the pressure and grit is known to break windows and damage plaster walls so I bought a roll of black plastic sheeting (similar to a damp proof membrane but cheaper). A lot of dust and grit still managed to get through mind!

 

[Brozart]

Small update,

The aqua panels have been installed and sealed ready to finish off the shower area, we are leaning towards shower panels over tiles due to less maintenance long term and technically a good waterproof design.

We bought high gloss white kitchen doors from Ikea that we'll be using for the airing cupboard, they were 600mm so we needed to reduce the opening by 60mm and add 10.5mm door lining to act as the carcuss (as they a front mounted doors).

Some before shots before getting plastered

 

[Brozart]

What are you connecting the CCTV camera too? A DVR of some kind?

PM me for details

 

[Brozart]

Interesting thread I really like the work your doing that bathroom is going to look pretty special when it's done I think! Shame about your scummy neighbours, out of interest what model camera did you go for it is something I have been considering!

I went with Hikvision DS-2CD3132-I and DS-1272ZJ-110 Wall Mount, there is also a version that provides two way sound and a microsd card slot (Hikvision DS-2CD3132F-IS). Make sure you buy the international or UK firmware unless you know mandarin

 

[Brozart]

This wall was a nightmare and required double boarding in places to get level but overall good progress yesterday.

 

[Brozart]

Small update,

 

[Brozart]

Plastering all sorted, very happy with the result

 

[Brozart]

We fitted ducting for the kitchen extractor fan on the weekend, installed 150mm ducting through a solid stone wall.

I'm waiting for the fan and grille to arrive; I went with a Greenwood Elite 150 that has a humidistat and timer - What appealed to me about this fan was the electronic shutter to prevent drafts. I know most people think a cooker hood is suffice but I rather install an extractor fan with a humidistat for peace of mind which will take care of other small sources of steam such as the kettle, sink and oven if needed.

 

[Brozart]

Things have escalated,

Someone came to my house just after Christmas and smashed in 4 windows and my back door. No attempt at breaking in, just a blatant and hateful message...

 

[Brozart]

Yeah the CCTV really proved their worth, they caught the scumbag climbing over the back fence by the shed, walking down the garden and casually throwing a couple of patio slabs through my windows and door. The police said he was forensically aware because he wore a scarf past his nose and wore thick glove but he did **** up and reveal something on tape (but I can’t go into details yet as the case is still open). It’s a shame I didn’t setup set up the motion detection to alert me remotely, I just didn’t think I’d have to go to those extremes as it’s a nice area. I have since enabled line cross detection on each camera to send me an email if someone jumps over the wall, and configured remote access via Ezviz so we have live feeds online + motion alerts through the mobile app.

Right now I'm focused on progressing with the house and finishing it.

 

[Brozart]

Removed

 

[Brozart]

Amazing journal, really enjoyed reading that.

Superb work you have done on your house. Great attention to detail and craftsmanship.

Thats one mammoth renovation! I thought mine was a doer uper

Good job!

Hope the CCTV caught something. The work is looking great though

Thanks a lot Glad you're enjoying the progress

Must be gutting for things like this to happen after putting so much effort into it.

I was going to say replace the glass with laminated to make it safer, but it would then cost more to replace if they do it again.

I ended up buying Pilkington Optilam glass (laminated), so it's now impact resistance and will take a lot more effort to smash. The laminated glass is so much heavier, it was really awkward getting them up the steps by myself!

Also bought a new back door with a decent multipoint lock and reinforced panel, we even went with a two panel glass design because its stronger and also harder for someone to get through. All coming together again...

 

[Brozart]

We went with shower panels over tiles for the same reason you give. I'd gone with a saloon car over the estate I'd had previously and couldn't move the panel sizes we needed so got them delivered at almost the cost of one of the panels, so the pressure on getting the cuts right for the pipes was hard to bear

Other than that they've been great

[edit]I thought I'd got to the end of the thread, but just seen the latest updates. Scum

Yeah I feel your pain! I ended up going with ipsluk for the panels; they weren't the cheapest but great customer service and they packaged the panels really well. I'll provide more details on this tomorrow once we've started installing them

White washed the walls in preparation

and these are the tiles we want, gf is pushing for the rectangular version but I'm liking the squares

 

[Brozart]

The outside vent has been fitted

Also some toys have arrived:

I wanted to improve the night vision quality of my cameras and reduce the amount of false positives from rain and insects - I'm actually really impressed with the difference from them. I bought a diffuser for the middle one to spread the light better and prevent IR saturation/spotlight effect.

850nm IR Illuminators

and these for decoration