My house renovation project

[James]

The last week I've spent 6pm-11.30pm sorting out downstairs ready for the worktops to be fitted on saturday! I'm so tired now!

Anyway pictures!

Popped to the granite shop to see the granite being cut and got this picture!



Been sanding, filling and painting the kitchen... not much to see here really...






Ballustrade painted in gloss white.


Cutting in done on the feature wall.



Bathroom walls grouted.


Left the understairs door to dry tonight... worktops and LED strip lights are on the list of tomorrows jobs!

 

[James]

Hi There,

Have you got enough spotlights?

I wanted a few extra but that was all I could squeeze in.
In all seriousness there is 8 more than I originally planned but I had to add more into the equation for symmetry with the way the joists were laid out.

Should get an ultra modern looking fire place for that feature wall instead of a radiator.

That's where the table is going and the other one will be next to the corner sofa.

Looking good. I really like your tile design in the bathroom.

Have you jumped on the LED bandwagon or are your downstairs lights pumping out best part of a kilowatt?

Thanks, the tile design is very marmite and theres still a piece of white quartz to go on the window sill!

Firmly on the LED bangwagon, pumping out 4W per LED

@Glaucus - Was a big risk but I'm glad I went with it in the end!

 

[James]

Today is granite worktop day!
I'm going back to finish wiring the LED strips up later but here is the kitchen!

Really pleased how its turned out, I have to buff the surface up tomorrow there's polish on there at the moment which takes up to 24 hours to go off before I can get polishing!

 

[James]

Wired in all of the LED strip lights for under the cupboards, hung the door on the understair cupboard.

All lights off apart from the strip lights:



All on together...

 

[James]

looks very nice, bet you cant wait to finish it all now

Very very nice, and you've actually put an overhang on the granite top to the breakfast bar so you can actually sit at it! Well done, why doesn't everyone do this, it should be the law...

Looking good .

Thanks all.

Certainly am looking forward to getting it all finished!
Should be on course to get finished in around 10 days time.

Flooring has been bought and booked to be fitted next saturday which means I need to definitely get a shift on with finishing decorating!

 

[James]

Few updates!

First of all my Sofa has been delivered!
It was either now or mid January, so I thought best to have it now!



Went and picked up this lot on the same day...


These also arrived in the post... Although not yet fitted!


Finally got the oven and hob plumbed in!


Some pictures of the floor fitted on the ground floor, looks much more like a house now!

 

[James]

Also for the eagle eyed amongst us, the kitchen sockets ARE NOT going to be staying like that with those horrible gaps, they are on the list of things to be sorted!

Also the top of the boiler cabinet has been partly taken apart as I'm due to box in the pipework at the top this week too.

 

[James]

No I haven't, is this where you tell me I'm going to have a nightmare if I ever need to remove them?

 

[James]

I'm not keen on your kitchen bin....

I saw those Nest alarms last night whilst browsing for Christmas shopping, then I clicked the price

Thanks Shaz, I'm not sure on the bin think it's a bit overpowering in the Kitchen

Yes, the price put me off as well but then I'm going for the whole smart home effect so thought why not!

How much has this cost you ?

Honestly, I think I'm at around 15K - But for that 15K I've literally gutted the house and replaced with brand new which should see the house not needing any upgrades for the next 10 years (imo).

Before renovation works I'd be lucky for it to be worth 128Kish.. The before pictures on the Digital SLR make it look a lot better than it actually was.
The Kitchen drawers were falling to bits, the boiler was on its last legs, the bathroom was disgusting, the tenants had repaired a toilet leak with a combination of silicone and toilet paper.... The back wall was black with grime....

The garden was an absolute mess, fence falling down, trees blocking out sunlight I could go on!

Love it mate, great work

Cheers Will! - Long time no speak mate!

 

[James]

Few updates!

Lots of little jobs that need doing now but feels like they take forever to do when you're doing them with OCD!

Bathroom ceiling speaker now fitted, took a little while to install as I wanted it directly in the middle of the two spotlights so measured and drew a few lines as you can see!



Also installed the first of my nest protects, again.... OCD in me had to find the exact centre point of the four spotlights before installing but think it looks good where it is!

Also the eagle eyed amongst you will notice the 'L' piece me and a mate made up out of a spare end panel to cover the unsightly boiler pipework.


Other bits of significance is the filling around the sockets (although they aren't all on straight yet!) some finished up to do there and touching up then that's the kitchen pretty much done.





Put my algot(IKEA) shelves up in the AV cupboard today as well ready for the xbox one etc..

 

[James]

Great build mate, couple of questions, what was the quickstep flooring like to fit? is that the v groove stuff? i was wondering about it and dirt like, when sweeping does a load of dust/dirt get caught in the V section?

Also, what paint colour is that? its great.

Thanks, to be completely honest a mate of mine does this sort of stuff for a living so I called in a favour so I can't answer honestly what it was like to fit but he did say it was good quality stuff and fairly easy to fit as far as it goes!

The paint colour is Valspar norweigan night from b&q its one they make up for you.

Love that area, I really do.

Thanks!

So nearly finished inside now just lots of finishing touches to do!

Also I can recommend NOT BUYING Crown brilliant white matt emulsion four coats so far and still it looks like I'm no further forward big waste of money!

 

[James]

Hi there, thanks for the replies.

I thought this would be the best position given that the other smoke alarm is going on the landing.
The ground floor of the house is open plan , a fire is most likely to occur from that part of the room, also they are carbon monoxide detectors and given the boiler is most likely to be the cause of carbon monoxide in the house it would be more sensible to be close to the boiler.

Re: tiling the splash back I think I'm just going to go for a splashback piece of glass.

 

[James]

Long time no post been busy with work!
Skirting being done this week, decoration finished next weekend then carpet and clean!
Almost there now!

 

[James]

Pictures coming soon....

Latest work competed:

- LightwaveRF fully installed to house (I can now control all lights within the house from my phone!)
- Rear Up/Down stainless steel lights installed to rear.
- Bathroom finished! (Hooray!)
- Ground floor redecorated.
- Master Bedroom decorated.
- Second Bedroom decorated.
- Skirting installed throughout the house.

Lots of Caulking and filling done.

Should be on track to get moved in at the end of the month!