Welcome to our house - a DIY project log

Mark A · 17 Sep 2009 at 20:46

Ahh yeah Teak would be fine in a bathroom, its a very dense wood full of natural oil and very resistant to water and humidity. You would still have to be careful of getting it too wet i.e mop up any big spills immediately so that it doesn't soak into the joins.

By laminate i assume you mean engineered wooden flooring? I wouldn't use normal laminate thats made from HDF.

platypus · 18 Sep 2009 at 09:24

Aye one engineered to be suitable for bathroom use. I still think the teak is a better idea myself, but meh, I'm doing what I'm told.

In work today, and I'm bloody shattered. Still at least we're making progress. The upstairs has been rewired fully, the floor relaid in the spare room, new carpet to go in early next week. Andy is starting the bathroom today, taking the floor up and then taking the bath and sink out to relay the pipework.

Stretch · 18 Sep 2009 at 11:54

platypus said:
Stanley Road, just off Riverside.

Cool, nice area. Not too far from where I used to live in Chesterton. Now living on Milton road.

Good luck with the project.

platypus · 18 Sep 2009 at 15:59

Well. Andy just on the blower. He's taken the ceiling off the bathroom, (and the bath and sink have gone), and some of the roof has fallen in apparently. Oh dear

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platypus · 21 Sep 2009 at 17:09

Oh man, what a weekend, and what a day. Tons of photos to go up, and I'll stick a digest up later on tonight but having a breather whilst the wood treatment dries so thought I'd post.

We've almost completed the new ceiling, cosmetics aside. New insulation and plaster board up, with the underlying electrics done; still a few bits to plasterboard, but we're getting there. We've repaired the wall where we exposed brickwork and found a bit needed re-cementing, and then, we got the floor panels up to look at the boards underneath...and found most were rotting away from woodworm.

So guess what we've had to do which we hadn't planned? Yup, we've spent the last few hours ripping up the flooring and popped down to Jewsons to get new floorboards. So another day added to project completion, at least.

I suppose it's a good thing, it means we can treat the joists, get a new floor down, and again relay the underfloor wiring and piping which someone has made an awful job of.

I'm utterly filthy at present, and have to go 5 minutes across town to get a shower later

.

platypus · 22 Sep 2009 at 19:54

My god, what a gruelling two days I've had off work.

After the annoyance and irritation of having to redo both the ceiling and the floor, it's a rewarding finish to my time off work. I will naturally be working in the evenings when I get home, but for now my full time DIY work is done until next week. Andy will be carrying on (he's here for three weeks in total).

I'm getting to be somewhat of an expert at putting in new floors, suspiciously every time I see Andy. When we went out there for a holiday I ended up helping to put in a huge new floor

.

And the culmination of two days hard slog:

Pipe work all laid? Check:

Electrics all done? Save one light at the far wall, check:

[Old] toilet reconnected? Definitely check

:

Obviously, lots of filling left to do, lots of trimming, tidying and a whole lot else yet, but sod it for now - I'm off to the pub for a thai green curry. I'm starving

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platypus · 23 Sep 2009 at 18:38

Just got home from work, and Andy has been trés busy. It's a relief to see it getting there

.

spoonz · 23 Sep 2009 at 19:10

looking good

you will get a great sense of acheivement when its done

platypus · 23 Sep 2009 at 19:45

anticonscience said:
Are you still coming to the theatre this weekend?

Shakespeare was amazing, and the food at the Oppo was fantastic, thanks for your recommendation

.

spoonz said:
looking good you will get a great sense of acheivement when its done

Like you wouldn't believe! We've painted the walls where the shower is going up, and we are already beginning to think about how it will look when finished. Such a relief after the setback with the ceiling and floor!

platypus · 24 Sep 2009 at 20:14

Crikey. A plumbed and working shower. Bliss!

The Mad Rapper · 24 Sep 2009 at 20:31

platypus said:
Crikey. A plumbed and working shower. Bliss!

Photos or it didn't happen!

P.S. Of the shower, not you in the shower thanks

mac1st3 · 24 Sep 2009 at 20:36

Looks good buddy

enjoying this hehe, and not looking forward to the day I have to do anything similar >.<

Faceman · 24 Sep 2009 at 20:47

Would love to know where to start on something like that!
one day maybe

slylittlefox · 24 Sep 2009 at 21:17

Looking good - keep it up

Coldzero · 24 Sep 2009 at 21:27

Is looking good, you could wire some ethernet cables in while your there

Dark_Angel · 24 Sep 2009 at 21:29

The Mad Rapper said:
Photos or it didn't happen!

P.S. Of the shower, not you in the shower thanks

Lies. He wants both emailed to him in high res.

Nice work though on the house, looking very good so far.

.Lethal · 24 Sep 2009 at 21:36

Love this thread. I hope all goes well for you.

Good luck with the project, I will be checking this thread quite reguarly

platypus · 24 Sep 2009 at 22:12

Thanks for all the kind words of support people

. Being new to this kind of thing, it's amazing how demoralising aspects of it can be.

And simply for posterity - although not of myself in the shower - here it is!

Andy connecting the waste pipe:

And here it is in its full glory - transported all the way from the Bricoman depot in Poitiers.

Still loads to do, but at least we don't have to go across town to get clean now

!

platypus · 29 Sep 2009 at 19:51

Quick update whilst I can. Much has been going on of course, our new radiator arrived today and quite beyond my expectations looks pretty damned good!

Step put in by Andy:

And the bathroom from the other angle:

Everything is plumbed, wired and fully working now. Just the cosmetics to fix

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azamc · 29 Sep 2009 at 20:13

im no builder, but wouldnt it have been easier to have all the walls plasterd and floor finished before putting in the shower and toilet etc?