1980s bungalow renovation

FortySeven

Didn't get anywhere near the schedule. Had to go to work on Friday so that spoiled the timeframe. I got the drill from Lidl, great job. Ended up watching football today, bloody fantasy football taking up too much of my time.

Got all the rads off and had a good look at what was happening, the extension tails and the valve threads had loads of play in them, I had 20 turns of PTFE on some of the later ones and they were still leaking. The threads had chewed it up quite well.

Enter stage left...... €12.50 delivered from Ebay.




This stuff is amazing. I had 20 joints done in the time it took me to do 3 with the PTFE. Really easy, nip the threads with pliers to rough them up, (seems counter intuitive but it grips the threads and shreds it) 6 wraps in the thread direction accross the threads and make the joint. Easiest thing in the world. I noticed the difference straight away. I was tightening them by hand with 15-20 turns of PTFE, I needed a spanner with 6 turns of this. I undid one to see what it was like and it was shredded like a thick web. The other benefit with this stuff is that you can back it off. I fitted all the valves with the rads lying on the floor and had to adjust a few to get them to line up. Nothing leaks, first time. I will never look at PTFE again.

Bathroom rad is now fitted and piped.



I refilled the system and ran the heating to test, all good, I then drained it again and put anti-corrosion additive before refilling.

Have the floor PVAd ready for screeding tomorrow, have to admit I have been putting this off as it scares me a bit but will get it done tomorrow for sure.



Had to cut the grass so lost a lot of time, it was getting out of control. I have a few of the chases done but not all.

Bought the laminate floor, €1200 all in. Should get it next week. Bats are back, 12 up there tonight, they were flying around while I was up there.

Will put up pics of the screeding tomorrow when it is done. Was looking for wire for the sockets, ended up buying a 100m roll of 2.5mm for €80. Won't need it all yet but I may as well replace the wires from the external sockets instead of extending them. Also ordered a rad valve with a drain from ebay to save me faffing about if I need to work on the heating. Looking for rubber grommets for the socket housings to protect the wire going in.

FortySeven

Well, that was a lot better than my first attempt. Wrapped all the exposed parts of the pipes with plastic sheeting, Brushed on a cement slurry, (cement, pva and water)




Then on with the screed, kept it dryer this time and it is pretty easy once you know how. This one is perfectly level and is now covered in plastic to dry slowly.





Didn't get much else done today, filled all the holes where the door frames were buried, also filled the hole in the bedroom floor. Removed the old shower pipe from the water tank and capped it off and removed all the associated wiring for the shower.

slimjimmc

Good work. A bag or two of levelling compound will have that floor perfect for tiling. Easier to do now before the ceramics go in.

Gavlor

Jesus I hope my wife never reads this thread!!

Great work and a really interesting read. Keep it up, we're in a 1980's dormer and have been tipping along at jobs over the last few years, chimneys to be repointed and we're almost there!

FortySeven

slimjimmc wrote: »

Good work. A bag or two of levelling compound will have that floor perfect for tiling. Easier to do now before the ceramics go in.

That's the plan, save chipping away at the old leftover adhesive. Will have to let it dry for a while though I think? I've read 1mm a day. That's 50 days but I think 3 weeks should be fine if I use flexible adhesive?

Very interesting thread.

Been following for a few weeks now. Well done on what you've achieved so far. I'd love to be as handy as you!

dingdong1234567

Excellent work and well done on taking on such a project.

FortySeven

Well, another busy weekend where I got not much done. Friday evening I collected half the laminate floor, noticed they had a deal on if you spend a thousand you get a free gift. Tried to wangle it with the 1200 I paid for the floor but they wouldn't count the deposit, so said I would buy the door frames and skirting to make up the difference, couldn't spend on building stuff had to be retail. Ended up buying a €175 mirror for the bathroom. :eek: It's nice, has built in LEDs. Also bought some radon tape to join my underlay sheeting for the floors. Friday night I had to have a break, I am worn out.

Saturday, had to go into work to get the van, then over to B&Q to buy the rest of the fibreboard, had to buy a new filter for the poor fish, can barely see them in the tank, poor neglected beasties. Then back home, unload the fibreboard and over to collect the rest of the floor. Unload the floor and load the cement mixer to take it back. Return van and straight home to start working, went back to buy the door frames €186 for five as I will not be able to get in the shop again till Friday week. Most of the day gone thanks to turf collectors clogging the roads with their 40 year old tractors and dangerously overloaded jeeps and trailers. Anyway, now have this ready to go.



It is a light walnut 7mm laminate, with the 6mm fibreboard it will be grand. The AC3 is the bit that matters.



Finally got back to working and over the rest of the evening and today I have wired the sockets and removed the old wiring and accessories.





Crawling arounds in the loft all day, pulling and laying wires. Trying to manouver around with the heavy wire reel and tools is fun but it is all in place now and just the plaster and faceplates then connection. All the old loop is gone, sockets, backplates, wiring etc.

These are the only inhabitants today, think it's three but may be four. They look like babies. Hopefully they will go soon, I will be replacing the roof next year so have to be sure they don't get back in in the spring.



Finally, my free gift for spending a thousand, (they weren't keen as I had already haggled them out of a good bit on the floor purchase but I stood my ground)



1 liter extra free too! Needed this anyway as the house is a sickly yellow. It will be white eventually. So essentially I got the mirror for free.

Tomorrow after work will be trying my hand at plastering, I have 1/2 a bag of patching plaster, it is 2 years old but I'm going to give it a try. Have to go get the kids on Thursday, my other half is gone already, I fly Thursday and we come back Sunday morning.

Haven't got half as much done as I had hoped but since I'm learning as I go I am happy enough with the progress. We will manage.

April 73

You've made great progress, don't knock it. I'm sure you're both looking forward to seeing the kids after the separation.

We lifted a wood floor in our sitting room & hall over the weekend. Husband & kids lifted the floor - I was the donkey loading the wheelbarrow & trundling all the wood out to the shed. It'll be used to clad the shed (or sacrilege - will go on the fire this winter). I was a broken woman at the end of it.

Total respect for all your hard work!

amdublin

Nice choice of wooden floor!


You are doing brilliant, so impressive.

bonzodog2

Great work. Take the flooring out of the packets and it let it acclimatise to the ambient humidity.

FortySeven

Thanks guys. Must admit I'm feeling a bit down knowing the kids are coming back to a building site but on the other hand I am probably only confident enough to try all this myself due to helping my Dad do the same when I was a child. Hopefully I can entice my son away from youtube with a hammer and some DIY.

Last night I filled the chases, decided to do it properly instead of using the old patching plaster. I bought a 10kg bag of bonding plaster for €10.99 in Woodies after work, PVA in the chases first, then took a break to let it go tacky, (also had to build a PC for someone that is waiting for it, I have a queue of disgruntled people waiting for this house to be finished) once it had almost dried I mixed the plaster and had a go.

I hate plaster.

All in all I'm happy enough, it won't win any prizes but it is doing what it is meant to and I didn't fill all the way but left room for a finishing coat of sandable filler. Filled all the chases and the huge gash in the bathroom wall where the shower pipe and wiring was. Also a hole I knocked in the corner of the wall we were going to move.

Didn't get anything done tonight, been looking for my passport and doing the online check in, car parking booking etc. I have thursday off and have arranged a friend to come over at 8am to get the floor down in one of the bedrooms, will also get one door hung hopefully before I leave in the afternoon to get the kids from Scotland, they are flying in from Poland and we have my Grandparents 70th wedding anniversary celebrations before we come back home.

I will get the finish coat on the chases tomorrow evening and sand it then a quick clear up and start laying the polythene for the floor. Off to watch a video on laying continuous floor throughout the house to make sure I don't make any mistakes just doing 1 room.

slimjimmc

bonzodog2 wrote: »

Great work. Take the flooring out of the packets and it let it acclimatise to the ambient humidity.

Better to follow the manufacturer's instructions on the packs. All the flooring I laid at home (laminate & semi-solid) always said to leave packs sealed while acclimatising.

biketard

FortySeven wrote: »

my Grandparents 70th wedding anniversary celebrations

:eek::eek::eek:

Wow, that's some anniversary!

hatchman

Hi OP following your thread with great interest. I am not in building trade but I think you should use a local builders providers rather than the large chain DIY stores I would imagine you could make a substantial savings on building materials over the course of your renovations.

FortySeven

hatchman wrote: »

Hi OP following your thread with great interest. I am not in building trade but I think you should use a local builders providers rather than the large chain DIY stores I would imagine you could make a substantial savings on building materials over the course of your renovations.

I mostly do but they are only open when I'm working so off the cuff things have to be bought in the big box stores.

FortySeven

So, we got back there on Sunday, Monday I was filling holes and the chases with a skim coat. Didn't get anything done last night. Tonight I decided to break out some of the Borax and Boric Acid. (My son thinks I'm a wizard! Is that ACID daddy? )



So, I dissolved a bag of boric acid and a bag of Borax in a kettle of boiling water and set about painting it on plaster and blockwork with a brush. This is purely experimental. This is usually used to treat wood but after reading loads of scholarly studies about permeability in wood and studies on the effects of Borates on Mold and fungal growth I am pretty sure this is a good idea. Can't hurt anyway. (although it's a bit counter intuitive putting water back where rot was)

The main treatment is the removal of ALL woodstuffs as food source and a few months of drying out coupled with fixing the leak.





I have painted all the door openings up to 2m. All the exposed plaster behind the skirting has been liberally soaked and I soaked the floors where the growths were before. The idea is that rot hates borates and borates will soak where bleach will not, it will penetrate wood very well so should penetrate plaster and cement very well. Once the liquid dries it leaves a barrier of borax behind. This is all the masonry that any new wood will be touching so this should provide a barrier for any bits left in the wall or floor.

I am going to mix a bag of borax in with plaster and plaster the door openings level filling the gaps left when the plasterers pushed it in behind the door frames.

I cancelled the friend to help lay the floor. Decided I was rushing pointlessly as I still need to fill, sand and paint the rooms. Seems a bit daft laying a €1500 floor first. Kids are happy enough as things are so we are all working together, it is great.

Hope to get a lot done this coming weekend. Watch this space.

Dick Dastardly

Fair play OP - following with interest - I did the same kind of project - but without the mould (or wife & kids at the time). It's tough but great sense of achievement in the end. Well done.

JamBur

Just followed this now, you have my total respect for the work you're doing. I'd like to think I could do it, but have a sneaking suspicion I couldn't

atilladehun

How are you getting on? Doing my own place at the moment. Only getting in twice a week. Feels like it will never be done.

highlydebased

Where are you OP! Dying to know how you're getting on!

amdublin

Hope all still going well op. You were doing great when last posting.

Mahogany Gaspipe

Well I've just read through all 100 odd posts in one sitting. I'm quite interested, as I'm sure are others, to hear an update of current progress!

Dick Dastardly

Should we go check the house? Maybe the OP is stuck under an industrial pile of laminate flooring and paint?

flintash

I wouldt expect any much more posting from OP. In my country there are hundreds blogs and websites of self builds, but very few go beyond roof erection stage, and most have only foundation laid, if you know what i mean.
When you start it looks manageable. But after all , you putting all that vast information without compensation, and after lengthy investigation and research you dont have any more time and willingness to go and write into the blog. Thats my perception, but anyway i wish our OP all the best in his refurbishment and hope he will come back here even if only to summarise all the jobs he has done.
Besdt of luck Fortyseven

FortySeven

Well guys, I'm sorry that I haven't updated this in so long.

Things have not worked out as planned. The stresses and strains of this project have unfortunately exposed the existing issues within my relationship with my partner and we are now in the process of splitting up. I'm not sure what happens with the house now, things are not great at the moment. If, and it is a big if, things improve then I will of course carry on with this journal but if I'm honest I think realistically it ends here. Thanks for all the support and encouragement you guys provided, it kept me working when my motivation ebbed. It was bloody hard working getting it to this point, only wish I could have finished it but such is life.

Back to square one for me,

PissFlapsDory

Hey, I hope it works out for you and you get things back on track. Good luck.

amdublin

I'm so sorry to hear this forty seven. Know that you were an inspiration to us all with the great jobs you were ploughing through. Good luck.

Lisha

I hope things work out OK for you and your family FortySeven.
I hope ye get to enjoy Christmas as much as ye can for the kids sake . Breakups are hard, but breakups before Christmas are very tough to deal with.
Best wishes to you for what ever path life takes you on.

Mahogany Gaspipe

Ahhh, sorry to hear that.

This blog will serve you well as a reminder of the skills and resourcefulness you possess. You may be back at square one, but I'm sure you are more than capable to rebuild.