Soldato
Excellent thread, love the house
You putting the Sky+HD box in the rack as well?
You putting the Sky+HD box in the rack as well?
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Deleted member 651465
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Remember this thread? I know, I know.. I've been busy 
Apologies for not updating the thread. Money is tight, I've had so many jobs to do in the house and raising the little one really drains!
I'll try to keep the thread as up to date as I can but the house only really changes little bits at a time, and I'd rather do the bigger updates, than posting to say "lol fitted this". I understand people like to see loads of pictures, so I raced home from work last night and went mad with the camera...
We finally have a front wall. Same blue bricks from the house, so that it all matches.
When digging the footings for the wall the driver of the machine was under strict instructions that if he hit the BT duct I'd initiate him in Mortal Kombat. I found it best to remind him every morning, as if I had a short term memory
Talk about mess though!
The wall to the left of the house (if looking at it from the front) is shorter, as we plan on having a drive put in up the side of the house. Things get a little bit complicated as we have to bridge the gap of the stream / storm drain (shown in red), install concrete lintels similar to those used on motorway bridge construction, then pave over the top, so for now we're just putting 1 pillar up. The other pillar will sit where I've marked yellow.
Bye bye fence. Hello concrete.
The gap doesn't look wide enough for a car, but the architect and the builder have both assured me it will be fine once the wall is up and the ground is backfilled.
That waste pipe is the main drain from the downpipes. The council have given us permission to drain the rainwater from the roof in to the stream. If you have eagle vision you can spot another half way up the picture.
This is where the stream comes from, if anyone cares. The first picture is where the side fencing/wall ends.
Had to do the splits across the gap to take this
Around back we're having a big retaining wall with steps up to the garden. Behind the wall I'll put a drain, so all water running down the garden hits the drain and runs away from the house. The gap between the wall and the house is 3M.
The rain splashes the mud and turns the lovely render a horrible brown colour. Hence the mud along the side and back
Apologies for not updating the thread. Money is tight, I've had so many jobs to do in the house and raising the little one really drains!
I'll try to keep the thread as up to date as I can but the house only really changes little bits at a time, and I'd rather do the bigger updates, than posting to say "lol fitted this". I understand people like to see loads of pictures, so I raced home from work last night and went mad with the camera...
We finally have a front wall. Same blue bricks from the house, so that it all matches.
When digging the footings for the wall the driver of the machine was under strict instructions that if he hit the BT duct I'd initiate him in Mortal Kombat. I found it best to remind him every morning, as if I had a short term memory
Talk about mess though!
The wall to the left of the house (if looking at it from the front) is shorter, as we plan on having a drive put in up the side of the house. Things get a little bit complicated as we have to bridge the gap of the stream / storm drain (shown in red), install concrete lintels similar to those used on motorway bridge construction, then pave over the top, so for now we're just putting 1 pillar up. The other pillar will sit where I've marked yellow.
Bye bye fence. Hello concrete.
The gap doesn't look wide enough for a car, but the architect and the builder have both assured me it will be fine once the wall is up and the ground is backfilled.
That waste pipe is the main drain from the downpipes. The council have given us permission to drain the rainwater from the roof in to the stream. If you have eagle vision you can spot another half way up the picture.
This is where the stream comes from, if anyone cares. The first picture is where the side fencing/wall ends.
Had to do the splits across the gap to take this
Around back we're having a big retaining wall with steps up to the garden. Behind the wall I'll put a drain, so all water running down the garden hits the drain and runs away from the house. The gap between the wall and the house is 3M.
The rain splashes the mud and turns the lovely render a horrible brown colour. Hence the mud along the side and back
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Deleted member 651465
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Deleted member 651465
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Just realised where the 2Wire came from
How come you've got the AirPort Extreme within the rack? Wouldn't the rack act as a faraday cage?
Nice home.
Seems to work fine. Getting strong signal everywhere on both G and N bands.
DROBO!
...and you've even got a special ariel. There is no stopping you!
But to make myself feel better, I have 50Mb Broadband so nur nur!!!!!!
If I could get virgin, I would. I'm not jealous. Honest.
Excellent thread, love the house
You putting the Sky+HD box in the rack as well?
Yes, temporarily. We'll probably go with Freesat and pay for Lovefilm.
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Associate
Brilliant thread - really like checking in on it every few months. Waste so much time going through the whole thread! Good work.
Deleted member 651465
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This is the current state of the rack. PS3 goes on the shelf where the tools are.
Now, I mentioned some problems regarding the broadband in the last post.
Essentially, we've been suffering from REIN problems that have affected the stability of the connection. I've been trying to pinpoint and combat the source since the ADSL went live with moderate success.
To fight this, I've fitted a BT80BRF3 in series between the master socket and the incoming phone line. A consequence of this, is that I had to house the RF3 filter in the lower line box, so now I only have possibility of 1 line, unless I drastically alter the configuration of the boxes under the stairs.
Here you can see where I've blanked the bottom linebox off. To further try to stabilise the line I've also fitted an ADSL nation XF2005 master socket.
To be honest we only get a disconnection every 2 days or so (and I think it's our immediate neighbour) but before this was fitted I could hear radio noise on the line in the evenings and had disconnections every night.
Now, I mentioned some problems regarding the broadband in the last post.
Essentially, we've been suffering from REIN problems that have affected the stability of the connection. I've been trying to pinpoint and combat the source since the ADSL went live with moderate success.
To fight this, I've fitted a BT80BRF3 in series between the master socket and the incoming phone line. A consequence of this, is that I had to house the RF3 filter in the lower line box, so now I only have possibility of 1 line, unless I drastically alter the configuration of the boxes under the stairs.
Here you can see where I've blanked the bottom linebox off. To further try to stabilise the line I've also fitted an ADSL nation XF2005 master socket.
To be honest we only get a disconnection every 2 days or so (and I think it's our immediate neighbour) but before this was fitted I could hear radio noise on the line in the evenings and had disconnections every night.
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Soldato
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Nice install, deffo something I would do in my house.
How are you getting the bluetooth signal from the PS3 controllers to the PS3 itself without HUGE amounts of lag?
Besides wouldn't having to swap the PS3 game disks over be an utter pain? (Happens about five times a day here as games are swapped between GT5, MW2, COD:BO etc...)
How are you getting the bluetooth signal from the PS3 controllers to the PS3 itself without HUGE amounts of lag?
Besides wouldn't having to swap the PS3 game disks over be an utter pain? (Happens about five times a day here as games are swapped between GT5, MW2, COD:BO etc...)
I wish I found this thread earlier, amazing stuff!
I'm in the middle of renovating a house at the moment so this has been very interesting. I just have a couple of questions.
What made you go with a Combi boiler and not a sealed system boiler? Has it all been working ok?
Did you buy all of your appliances (including the oven, etc) from BestBuy?
Where did you get your bathroom and kitchen tap from?
Is the flooring in the kitchen and utility room slate? If so, are you pleased with it?
Finally, would you do it all again?
I'm in the middle of renovating a house at the moment so this has been very interesting. I just have a couple of questions.
What made you go with a Combi boiler and not a sealed system boiler? Has it all been working ok?
Did you buy all of your appliances (including the oven, etc) from BestBuy?
Where did you get your bathroom and kitchen tap from?
Is the flooring in the kitchen and utility room slate? If so, are you pleased with it?
Finally, would you do it all again?
Deleted member 651465
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Deleted member 651465
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Bluetooth signal has been fine. There's 1 wall between the rack and the living room, and the same for the kitchen. At the moment the PS3 is directly connected to the TV until I sort out the HDMI matrix*
I tend to play 1 game until I'm bored with it. I'd have to get up and change the disc anyway, so I don't mind too much. It's another reason the rack is central to the house (less walking).
*You don't want the rack full of cables when adding stuff in.
I wish I found this thread earlier, amazing stuff!
I'm in the middle of renovating a house at the moment so this has been very interesting. I just have a couple of questions.
(1) What made you go with a Combi boiler and not a sealed system boiler? Has it all been working ok?
(2) Did you buy all of your appliances (including the oven, etc) from BestBuy?
(3) Where did you get your bathroom and kitchen tap from?
(4) Is the flooring in the kitchen and utility room slate? If so, are you pleased with it?
(5) Finally, would you do it all again?
(1) Brother is a plumber. He told me to get this, so I did. Has worked great.
(2) No. We only got the washing machine, tumble and fridge from Best Buy. All the kitchen appliances were bought from various places, and the microwave and hob were direct from Howdens.
(3) Bathroom tap from Swansea Plumb Point and kitchen tap from Howdens.
(4) No. They are ceramic tiles from B&Q, cost £9.99 a sq/mtr but we're really happy with them. We priced textured slate and it was £1800 more.
(5) Yes, and I'd do most of what I did again barr one or two things
Caporegime
What gate you having EVH? What you going to do to the back garden?
Deleted member 651465
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Here's another reason I haven't done a walkthrough video. Clutter.
These are all the boxes of tech that I've had to store in the office as the spare room is full of clothes and the other "stuff" my wife lovingly hoardes.
Last count was 4 ADSL modems, 2 sat navs, 2 digital cameras, a printer, a Fractal Design R3 case (unopened), big box of assorted cables that "might come in handy", a mouse, external Blu-Ray drive, SF4 TE fight stick, Harmony universal remote, gym bag, reels of cabling, my spare drill, Nintendo DSi, HDMI over cat6 balun, DVDRW spindle, a waste bin, camera bag and various other things you can't see behind it.
At some point I do plan on having a workstation in here for my photography, so I've recovered some spare kitchen worktop, given it a coat of worktop oil and bought some legs from Ikea (£2.05 per leg! Bargain!)
The wife thought I was slacking by not having a light shade. I knew she'd crack before I did.
My excuse is, every time I go in the room I have other things to do
Still have another 4 guitars in storage.
These are all the boxes of tech that I've had to store in the office as the spare room is full of clothes and the other "stuff" my wife lovingly hoardes.
Last count was 4 ADSL modems, 2 sat navs, 2 digital cameras, a printer, a Fractal Design R3 case (unopened), big box of assorted cables that "might come in handy", a mouse, external Blu-Ray drive, SF4 TE fight stick, Harmony universal remote, gym bag, reels of cabling, my spare drill, Nintendo DSi, HDMI over cat6 balun, DVDRW spindle, a waste bin, camera bag and various other things you can't see behind it.
At some point I do plan on having a workstation in here for my photography, so I've recovered some spare kitchen worktop, given it a coat of worktop oil and bought some legs from Ikea (£2.05 per leg! Bargain!)
The wife thought I was slacking by not having a light shade. I knew she'd crack before I did.
My excuse is, every time I go in the room I have other things to do
Still have another 4 guitars in storage.
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Soldato
- Joined
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Fair enough, PS3 can't get through the walls in my houses
immediately disconnects, so I guess the PS3 would have to stay under the TV here!
Caporegime
How did the build go overall ?
Currently arguing with my wife over this as i want our next house to be a self build. We watch a fair bit of telly and most of the programe's seem to convey the same message - everything will go wrong, you'll have to pay out for tons of things you didn't expect and you will go at least 15 % over budget even if you try your hardest not to.
Was your experience that bad ?
Currently arguing with my wife over this as i want our next house to be a self build. We watch a fair bit of telly and most of the programe's seem to convey the same message - everything will go wrong, you'll have to pay out for tons of things you didn't expect and you will go at least 15 % over budget even if you try your hardest not to.
Was your experience that bad ?
Deleted member 651465
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Deleted member 651465
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A big one. Preferably silver.
Fair enough, PS3 can't get through the walls in my houses
I tested the remote distance in our old place (barn with thick walls), and it seemed fine so it could be your PS3, phat?
It went well. Really only had one problem on site.
Stay away from Grand Designs. It conveys a negative picture about building to a budget. I've seen episodes where they've overspent by £300,000!
In our case we set out with a hard and fast budget of £72,500 and we currently have £7004.38 left. That's not to say it's all gone without issue, there are certainly things you can't forsee (the biggest drain for us was all the council charges that appear from everywhere) but keeping on top of it will help as you go.
I've kept an excel spreadsheet that I'll publish when we complete, so I know exactly where it's gone but having the ability to check and say "yes, we can afford that" was invaluable.
What they do convey well is the stress. Building IS a nightmare. You will be expected to know the answer to every conceivable question, where you are a master architect, plumber, electrician and builder. My favourite was getting asked where exactly the toilets were going before the slab was laid, so they could put in the drains... Errrm... There? There's a wonder people have "things I'd change" lists, when this is the norm.
In this vein I'd say plan, plan, plan. If you can draw it or explain it make sure you know what you want before things get going. Most people waste money changing things after it's too late.
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Thanks for the kind words
Planning application took 6 months (June 2009 - Jan 2010)
Build from demolish to moving took 11 months (Feb 2010 - Jan 2011).
Could have moved in sooner, but we needed to buy a lot from scratch.
Planning application took 6 months (June 2009 - Jan 2010)
Build from demolish to moving took 11 months (Feb 2010 - Jan 2011).
Could have moved in sooner, but we needed to buy a lot from scratch.
Caporegime
It went well. Really only had one problem on site.
Stay away from Grand Designs. It conveys a negative picture about building to a budget. I've seen episodes where they've overspent by £300,000!
What got her worried was that we're watching a series on discovery at the moment called raising the roof with people having similar issues !
But they had an expensive custom built stainless steel staircase with double height enterance and glass walkway. They had imported italian kitchens with italian marble and such like. I could see why they went so far over budget - because they were aiming too high. But the wife was adament it was proof we could never afford to self build and its a silly idea.
My biggest concern at the moment appears to be land. I'm either finding little tiny plots with PP for a 3 bedroom house or massive plots with PP for 6 houses or more. I just want something inbetween with PP for a 4 bed house and not have neighbours 6 foot away from the house on both sides.
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