1980s bungalow renovation

FortySeven

Haven't done much recently due to court and then my fathers death. Life throwing combinations at the moment but court is over for now and I'm in the lead on points going into the final round.

Got off my ass tonight and have cleared out a few rooms ready for starting work again. Primed some holes in the bathroom with pva and all the stuff for doing the insulation is up in the loft ready to go.

Really trying hard to motivate myself at the moment. It's been a long, cold, lonely winter.

colm_mcm

Keep at it! This is one of my favourite threads despite all the obstacles you've faced. You just keep going

Very sorry to hear your father has passed away.


This is one of my favourite threads on boards....please keep it up.

I wanna see the finished article!!!

FortySeven

Thanks for the kind words guys.

The winter has been hard but I am now the proud owner of a piece of paper that allows me to see my children!

Still more to go but have been with them a few weekends, I have 8 hours Sundays and 2 hours Wednesdays for now. This has improved my mood no end.

I cut back the expanding foam and this seems to have cured the water ingress to the bathroom, I have the bath put together and ready for fitting. I spent money I don't really have on a bedroom set for my daughter. (I love IKEA!) and I have some paint ready to decorate.



I've removed all the work my father in law did. I also bought some hinges for a window in the small bedroom that are bent resulting in a draught.



Also got some mould killer for where the bedroom has gone mouldy due to some insulation malfunction.



Bigger work to come. I have booked off next week and will be getting as much done as I can.

Calahonda52

FortySeven wrote: »

Also got some mould killer for where the bedroom has gone mouldy due to some insulation malfunction.

The pics here might help with the above
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-QJ6TNP

RandomAccess

Subscribed!

I'm likely to end up buying a project house so this will be very useful.
I read everything you've posted, and you will prevail I'm certain.

marsbar1

Calahonda52 wrote: »

FortySeven wrote: »

Also got some mould killer for where the bedroom has gone mouldy due to some insulation malfunction.

The pics here might help with the above
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-QJ6TNP

Are those pics what was causing the mould? Roofing felt peeling back, vents blocked by fibre glass and general clutter?

kupus

marsbar1 wrote: »

Are those pics what was causing the mould? Roofing felt peeling back, vents blocked by fibre glass and general clutter?

yip thats what can cause mould. You need air circulation going thru the roof to freshen the air thats in it.

itd be no harm 47 if you stick a vent in the roof, and one the other side to let the air circulate.

Ush1

Where did you buy the window hinges and how did you know which ones to get?

FortySeven

Ush1 wrote: »

Where did you buy the window hinges and how did you know which ones to get?

Bought them on ebay. Cheap enough. You need to measure the length of them, (measure the bottom arm, the bit that is bent in the picture) and also measure the 'stack'. There are commonly 2 stack sizes, it is the height of the hinge and it will usually be 13mm (standard) or 17mm (high). Take the measurement from the bottom of the bottom arm where it meets the frame and measure up to the top of the top arm where it meets the window itself.

Hope this helps. I will PM you a link to the seller on ebay.

FortySeven

Just got yet another lesson of measure twice, cut once. In this case, measure twice, buy once.

These look different but after much measuring and beard scratching I decided they are fine, the window will open slightly differently but nothing of concern.



Got them on the window and all looked well.



Fitted the window but when I went to put the screws in there was a significant gap at the top. Turns out that the hinges are actually 17mm, i couldn't see this when measuring the hinges in place and bought the wrong ones.



Not the end of the world but a wasted hour. I have put the window back for now and will see if I can purchase some locally tomorrow. If not, back to ebay.

I'm stuck in today due to a stomach bug that has me tied to the toilet periodically. Woke up vomiting this morning. Typical, the first nice day I could have had the kids to the beach and I'm sick. Such is life. No kids today as I don't want to give it to them. So I am going to crack on around here as much as possible. Next job is to tackle the mold in the bedroom. Oh the joys of scrubbing ceilings.

FortySeven

Didn't get much done today due to other obligations but did manage to scrub all the black mold off the back bedroom. It was on all the walls too. The ceiling was bloody hard work, hate working above my head.



All done now though.



Couldn't find hinges locally so ordered correct ones from ebay. Forgot there were no hinges on the window and opened it this morning only for it to tumble off into the garden. Doh! Luckily didn't break it.

Sleepy

You're getting there!

amdublin

You are an inspiration!

Water John

Yes, and he is embarrassing a lot of us, lazy feckers.

5T3PH3N

Fortyseven, fair play to ya, been through a tough time and I hope things pick up for you now.
Do you know what caused the mould on the ceiling, and have you fixed it? It's no good painting over it unless you have addressed the problem at source.

When you're insulating the loft, make sure you do not block any air vents/inlets and if you're insulating between the rafters, make sure to leave 50mm air gap between the insulation and the roof felt.

FortySeven

5T3PH3N wrote: »

Fortyseven, fair play to ya, been through a tough time and I hope things pick up for you now.
Do you know what caused the mould on the ceiling, and have you fixed it? It's no good painting over it unless you have addressed the problem at source.

When you're insulating the loft, make sure you do not block any air vents/inlets and if you're insulating between the rafters, make sure to leave 50mm air gap between the insulation and the roof felt.

Problem sorted. It was just no insulation at all above that room. The in laws had kindly moved it from the room I was in to the room they were in when they were staying. They clearly wanted me to suffer for separating from their daughter. I have new insulation and am in the process of sorting all the other stuff that they pushed into the air gap at the eaves.

FortySeven

Nothing done today. Picked up a few laptop repairs so been doing those. Budget is tight so that's something towards wall tiles. I won my fantasy football cash league too so a bit more money in the pot. Now if I could only earn or win some motivation.

Ush1

FortySeven wrote: »

Problem sorted. It was just no insulation at all above that room. The in laws had kindly moved it from the room I was in to the room they were in when they were staying. They clearly wanted me to suffer for separating from their daughter. I have new insulation and am in the process of sorting all the other stuff that they pushed into the air gap at the eaves.

How would insulation prevent mold?

I always thought mold was moisture and lack of ventilation.

pippip

Ush1 wrote: »

How would insulation prevent mold?

I always thought mold was moisture and lack of ventilation.

I think a lot of mold is caused by hot air hitting cold surfaces and thus creating moisture. So I presume the insulation keeps the surface temp closer to the room temp preventing moisture.

Could be totally wrong though.

Ush1

pippip wrote: »

I think a lot of mold is caused by hot air hitting cold surfaces and thus creating moisture. So I presume the insulation keeps the surface temp closer to the room temp preventing moisture.

Could be totally wrong though.

Ah, that makes sense, so in effect eliminate the moisture forming rather than adding more ventilation.

FortySeven

Warm air full of moisture condensing on the cold ceiling. Moisture from breathing, kettle, cooking, drying clothes.

There was one length of insulation left in the middle of the room and the mold didn't grow on the ceiling below it. It was plain to see really. It's visible in this picture. The clean strip of the ceiling had insulation above.

Ush1

Did you find the hygrometer any good? Paranoid about mold in my house and wondering if it could be useful.

FortySeven

Ush1 wrote: »

Did you find the hygrometer any good? Paranoid about mold in my house and wondering if it could be useful.

I do. For about a fiver I have a handy idea of what causes the issues. I keep it next to my bed and it usually tracks relative humidity within 1-2% of the local humidity levels. I get these from the accuweather website. If I put washing on the clothes horse it can rise 5-7% fairly quickly. Running a bath will pop it up 10-15% as I have a small cylinder and have to heat the water hot to get a decent bath. A bigger cylinder will help here.

Combined with the cheap 4 prong damp meter I am very happy. The damp meter is not precise but more than able to identify problem areas.

FortySeven

Didn't get anywhere near my target for the week. Many reasons but a poor effort on my part. I am starting to feel a bit more motivated though and have set about putting in the bath finally. It was fun manhandling it through the house on my own. The bath is fully dressed, level and ready to plumb, waste in place and pipes trimmed and system drained ready. Then I realised I have no compression joint sealing grease. Will get some tomorrow.




I found a solution to the broken waste pipe for the handbasin. I have a collar that will allow me to connect the waste to the soil stack and I will rent a core drill to cut a passage for the new waste pipe outlet. €1.99 for the fitting.




Still unsure how to deal with the gap left at the end of of the bath. I think I will fix a 2 x 4 baton to the wall and use it to fix some ply which I can tile over. I will see.



Nothing much else done, did some plastering of holes around the bathroom, scraped off some raised nubs on the floor ready for tiling. I wanted to lay laminate but realised it is in my storage unit. Will try to recover it Monday.

TopTec

Don't use ply in that gap 47, any sign of moisture and it will pop the tiles off. Use aqua board, (waterproof plaster board) and tank around the rest of the bath. You won't regret the extra work.

TT

Sleepy

Would you not be better off to tile the floor and walls before fitting the bath?

Dtp1979

Sleepy wrote: »

Would you not be better off to tile the floor and walls before fitting the bath?

No never.

FortySeven

OK. Had a crack at the bath after getting some plumbers grease.

I chopped the plaster for the mounts and had to remeasure all the waste as it wasn't as level as it seemed and not as square to the wall. lots of kerfuffle with the grinder later and I had it all lined up correctly.





Got everything connected and then turned the water back on. Water pissing from the cold pipe connection. Took it all back out and found that the threads on the flexi were damaged. Some PTFE tape and back together.





Victory is mine!

FortySeven

TopTec wrote: »

Don't use ply in that gap 47, any sign of moisture and it will pop the tiles off. Use aqua board, (waterproof plaster board) and tank around the rest of the bath. You won't regret the extra work.

TT

Thanks tt. I've left it for now as unsure of measurements for thickness of tiles and board. Will make a square box frame later when I have decided on tiles.

I didn't tank due to there being no sump. Figured I would just be moving the issue south. I'll rely on a good silicon seal. Crosses fingers.