1980s bungalow renovation

FortySeven

Bit disillusioned with it all today. I hired a mower to knock back the front garden in the hope the neighbours would stop with the dirty looks. The mower was never going to be up to the job but I gave it a shot.

Too bloody stressed at the moment from giving up the nicotine. 2 days in and I am sitting here shouting at the computer because it is taking too long to load photobucket.



:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I picked a bad year to stop smoking.

ted1

FortySeven wrote: »

Bit disillusioned with it all today. I hired a mower to knock back the front garden in the hope the neighbours would stop with the dirty looks. The mower was never going to be up to the job but I gave it a shot.

Too bloody stressed at the moment from giving up the nicotine. 2 days in and I am sitting here shouting at the computer because it is taking too long to load photobucket.



:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I picked a bad year to stop smoking.

A petrol strimmer is what you need then rake it, then use the lawn mower

hatchman

FortySeven wrote:

I picked a bad year to stop smoking.

Try to stay off the smokes u won't regret it in a few months plus you will have more money and more time to finish house. I quit 8 months ago and its best thing I could ever do for my children !

I feel your pain FortySeven

I quit last Tuesday week....having been a smoker for the past 25 years. Im finding that the cravings only last a few minutes and then go away. When they come I try distract myself with something.

Driving is a curse though....I keep those airwaves chewing gums in the car....when the craving starts I pop one in and suck it....allowing it to burn my tongue.....works for me.

Keep at it.....I know I am determined to stay off them.

FortySeven

OK, I gave up on giving up. Now back to normal, for now. Will have another go at a less stressful time.

The bath was leaking, after much filling and emptying I traced it to the overflow. I spent a bit extra on a pop up chrome plug setup and to be honest it is pretty nasty for the money. The seal at the overflow is dependent on a tightness that is largely impossible to achieve without damaging the inside (visible) rubber gasket. So, I resorted to some automotive silicon since I had it handy and it saved me opening a new tube of bathroom stuff for such a small job.



Got set to tile. Marked the line for the batten for the bath panel and started laying tiles out to see how square things are. Not too bad. I will be tiling back from the line of the bath. Spent ages trying to work out how to get a tile around the waste pipe for the toilet and ended up using my trusty grinder and nerves of steel.

Marked it all out.




Then sacrificed a tile to have a quick practice go. Not good.




Next one went better. Happy with this. I need a collar to hide the connection but it will work.



Wanted to try cutting a tile straight so got the second hand cutter I bought. Seized solid. :mad: Ended up taking it to bits to clean the sliding parts. Then greased it with lith moly grease. No joy, washing up liquid, no joy. I was about to give up when I remembered about the slipperiest stuff in the world. I have no use for it now I'm single. :P Thanks lovehoney. Worked a treat.



Cut my first tile as a practice. Seems easy enough. Will file the edges.



Didn't get a lot actually done, I was an hour messing with the tile cutter and lots of measuring twice. I offered up the wood floor to the tiles at the bathroom door as I was concerned about the height difference. There isn't one. That was the plan but I wasn't sure.

Positivity reigns supreme! Hope to move forward fairly rapidly from here. I can't tile until I put in the bath panel batten. I only have 2 x 4 which is too big. Will get something suitable tomorrow then tile, then toilet and sink can go in. Off now to remove the last two doors and frames my ex father in law put in. Then I can move on with the flooring.

Sleepy

Cracking job, love that you managed to find a DIY purpose for lube!

[*insert **** joke here]

FortySeven

Not a lot done yet magnitudes of a move forward.

I bought a bag of grey grout and a length of 2 x 2 for the bath batten on Monday. Got the bottom batten down on Tuesday and will build a frame in the coming days. It will at least allow me to tile now I have a line to work from.



The bath is still leaking from the overflow so I am going to have a go with more sealant, (a lot more this time) and if it continues I will have to go to my local plumbing/bearing shop and see if they have an oring/gasket to make it work. Was having a look at the sink as it will be going in soon and noticed the rubber seal from the popup plug is missing so it will not hold water. Have found a replacement on ebay for 15 quid.

Tonight I started the job I have been putting off all this time. I sorted through all the kids clothes and bagged up all the stuff that will now be too small or just no good. Now have 4 black bags in the back of the car to go to the clothes bin tomorrow. Tomorrow I will filter the toys and books for donation. Came across a few laptops I had sorted for people and forgotten about. Seems they had too as they've never come looking for them. :eek: Hopefully this will mean some much needed funds injection.

I have been using the living room as a bedroom all this time and it has been claustrophobic. I have cleared so much today I have loads of space and it has reminded me in a way that there will be an end to all this work at some point and I will be able to sit down and watch a movie or something.

Things seem to be moving slowly but the day to day life for me is improving leaps and bounds. Getting the bath in allowed me to get the freestanding bath out of the kitchen. This made space and now I am using the kitchen properly, clearing the living room today has given me a sense of space and even though my heart is breaking tonight from throwing out the kids clothes I am positive this is going to be well on the way to completion in the coming months.

The bank holiday weekend should allow me get on with some of the bigger jobs. Hope to rent the core drill this week so I can cut the bathroom basin waste.

FortySeven

'Is the target in view number 1?'

'Target acquired Captain, off the forward bow'







'Weapons armed number 1'

'Weapon is armed Captain'







'Fire warning shot'

'Warning shot deployed sir!'






'Weapons free!'

'Fire at will!'






All your base are belong to us!

FortySeven

Didn't think I had enough work down here so I went for a scoot about up on the roof since the weather is nice. Been meaning to have a look up there for a while. Not too bad but plenty work to be done.

Being a bungalow the roof is very visible. At one end it is white with lichen,






At the other end clumps of green and brown moss.






The lead flashing around the main chimney is cracked in two corners.







The chimney slab is cracked too. Need to cap the pots.






The small chimney seems to be holding water due to a build up of moss and detritus. Will see what has to be done there, maybe just a clean but maybe better flashing to make it drain to the sides.





Found one broken tile.





Also found a cracked crown piece, the tile below it must have been damaged too because someone has slathered some kind of repair over it.







I was planning to refelt and tile next year but now I am on my own I have no money to allow this so I will be spraying to kill the lichen, brushing the moss and pressure washing to clean, fixing the few bits and bobs and see what I can find to maybe paint them for now.

FortySeven

Got the bath uprights in.

wnolan1992

Love those tiles for the bathroom FortySeven! Are you planning to tile the walls?


(Also, just to say, loving this thread and wishing you all the best with the remainder of the project!)

oleras

Dude...what are you doing on my roof ? ?

FortySeven wrote: »

At the other end clumps of green and brown moss.

Fantastic work so far, i really enjoy the updates, keep up the great work !

FortySeven

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Love those tiles for the bathroom FortySeven! Are you planning to tile the walls?


(Also, just to say, loving this thread and wishing you all the best with the remainder of the project!)

Thanks. The tiles were only 16.99 a sqyd. I somehow bought twice as many as I need so to save some money I will be running them up the wall behind the sink and mirror. Rest of the walls will be white. Cheap as possible but might put some textured/patterned somewhere to break it up.

Water John

When are you going to post the selfie of yourself in the bath?

FortySeven

Water John wrote: »

When are you going to post the selfie of yourself in the bath?

Come on now! The lads are complaining I'm showing them up with my work. Imagine if the wives got a glimpse of my fine physique in a lather!

FortySeven

Rented a slightly better mower for the bank holiday weekend. Thought I would tackle the back. It made a mess of the lawn the first time over.





Granted, I may have let it get a tad too long really.






Might as well have not been self propelled. I am broken, ramming it forward until it almost stalled, pulling it back, repeat 3 times, restart after stall. Anyway. 3.5 hours in and I have cleared a bit.




I'll run over it again tomorrow with the grass box on and pick up the majority of the mess then bring it down a step and see how it looks then.

Odelay

Hi Fortyseven, i see from your pics you sprayed off the weeds on the drive. I have one similar to yours with fine stone chip. Weeds and the feckin moss was a pain in the hole. That was until I tried salt, it kills the weeds and also the moss/alge that built up over the winter. You will get it from an agricultural feed merchant, roughly €5 for a 25kg bag of salt. Phone them to see if they have it, most are very friendly, ask for fine/maize sale, do not use de-icing salt as it is not fine enough. Spread by hand, sit back and watch the weeds and feckin moss/alge die.

Shint0

You should have got someone in with a tractor and a mower for that or hired a ride on or even a brush cutter. I'd say your back is in bits after that. Epsom salts into the new bath is what you will need.

FortySeven

Shint0 wrote: »

You should have got someone in with a tractor and a mower for that or hired a ride on or even a brush cutter. I'd say your back is in bits after that. Epsom salts into the new bath is what you will need.

Money is tight. Have to keep the costs down. Persistence is free and the mower only cost me €20 until Tuesday. A ride on plus delivery would cost a lot more. I have used petrol strimmers in the past and I hate them. I will get one when I tackle the rest. For now I'm happy enough with the bit I have cleared for a kickabout with the kids on Sunday.

Luckily, I do have a bucket of epsom salts handy and that is exactly what I am going to do now. Forgot I had it till you mentioned it.

FortySeven

Epsom salts did wonders but I was dead on my feet at work today. Still, managed to pop up to my storage unit on my lunch break and load the car with some flooring. Got a fair stack now ready for the weekend.



Also grabbed the bathroom mirror to lay it out on the black tiles as I was not sure what it would look like. Think I'm going ahead with the floor tiles running up behind the sink. Most of it will be covered by the mirror and sink so it will not darken the room but will frame them better than white tiles.



The mower is working well as a hoover. I have to empty it every 2 minutes but I'm getting there. I will never let the grass get so long again!




I have the kids all day tomorrow so won't get much done but then off work until Wednesday. I hope to tile the bathroom floor, fit the sink and toilet and get as much laminate down as possible.

WoolyJumper

I just randomly came across this thread. I not a DIY enthusiast by any means but I just read through this whole thread. I now feel really invested in how your bungalow turns out :pac: (I also feel incredibly lazy) Anyway it looks great so far and in lovely location. I'll look forward to seeing more (if you continue to update). Also I agree with the others, I really like those black textured tiles.

FortySeven

Meh! :mad:

Budget just took another hit today. Also going to eat into my work time on Tuesday. My washing machine failed in a pretty spectacular fashion today. Bearings had been rumbling for a while but they were not economic to replace so I was waiting it out. Full spin, bang! bigger bang. Loads of really massive bangs. I was standing in front of it at the time and I actually ran for cover, thought it was going to explode!

In the end the whole drum is dismounted and the motor is spinning. Must have lost the belt.

New washer needed asap. Meh! Meh! Feckin Meh! Will have to spend Tuesday shopping.

Give me a break life! :rolleyes:

Feck, that's all you needed.

Check out adverts/done deal. You'll pick one up for small money to tide you


How'd the footy with the kids go on the freshly cut stadium? They're the things that really matter lad.;)

FortySeven

TheTorment wrote: »

Feck, that's all you needed.

Check out adverts/done deal. You'll pick one up for small money to tide you


How'd the footy with the kids go on the freshly cut stadium? They're the things that really matter lad.;)

Footy didn't go so well as the ball kept getting lost in the long grass so we went up to the local pitch.

Picked up the makings of a pretty spectacular picnic on the way back and we had great craic on the 'lawn'.

First time the kids have been here in 9 months. Another milestone. Things keep getting better.

The washing machine is a small distraction really in the grand scheme of things and I appreciate the reminder. Too easy to let these minor things get me down.

Onwards!!!!!!!!

jlm29

WoolyJumper wrote: »

I just randomly came across this thread. I not a DIY enthusiast by any means but I just read through this whole thread. I now feel really invested in how your bungalow turns out :pac: (I also feel incredibly lazy) Anyway it looks great so far and in lovely location. I'll look forward to seeing more (if you continue to update). Also I agree with the others, I really like those black textured tiles.

Snap! I just stumbled across it late last night, and have just finished catching up. I too am really interested in following to see how things go. Well done OP, I hope it continues to work out for you!

FortySeven

Got nothing done yesterday. Lost the morning driving out to Athleague to get a washing machine. €80, thanks adverts! Getting it out of the car and into the house alone was great craic.

I got a private message through boards the other day offering some building materials for the cause and since the boardsie was out that way I called in to meet him. Now have a roll of lead for flashing the chimney when the time comes. I'm more than grateful of the donation and it was great to meet another anonymous name from t'internet. Nice fella and I'm sure I will be able to return the favour at some point.

Got a call from a friend that his laptop was acting up, he uses it in business so I had to drop everything and get over to Cong to have a look. That was the evening gone, I landed back here at 7pm with a takeaway and woke up an hour ago after falling asleep at 8pm last night. Now I remember I have to drive into Galway to return the mower, first I have to clean it so there goes the morning. Still, I have the afternoon and evening and I refuse to let these tiles mock me any more. They are getting stuck down today!

Nowhere near what I expected for the long weekend but so the cookie crumbles. Have the kids tomorrow evening again so happy days.

FortySeven

So, I had been putting this job off because I have never tiled before. I spent an hour looking for my testicles before setting out to do the floor.




Was cracking on, slow and steady......





Too slow and steady! Bloody adhesive has gone off after 12 tiles. I should have paid more attention to that 'rapid setting' bit on the bucket.




What a waste. I have another 7.5kg bag and now I'm not afraid to use it. I will be laying out the rest and cutting all to size around pipes etc before laying. I will lay them out in the bedroom so I know which goes where and I WILL get them all down within 20 minutes.

I spent part of the morning in the tile shop since I was in town returning the mower. Turns out that not a single tile in the shop was the same size as my floor tiles so them going on the wall is a no, no. I will be sticking to black behind the toilet and sink and will do the rest in white with some design tiles above the bath. Priced it up at €340 without adhesive, grout or trim. Will get the black ones first, white can wait.

Bought a drill bit for drilling tiles to let me fix the toilet. Nothing much else done yet. Absolute disaster of a bank holiday weekend. Still, evenings are still free and it's light till 10.30.

The local annual bonfire has started to appear. I've a whole kitchen to go on it this year. Might just do that now while I'm waiting for the adhesive to dry enough.

Just in case you don't know Fortyseven....dont ever buy the grout and adhesive in tile shops. Its far far cheaper in builder suppliers.

FortySeven

TheTorment wrote: »

Just in case you don't know Fortyseven....dont ever buy the grout and adhesive in tile shops. Its far far cheaper in builder suppliers.

I got the adhesive in B&Q, just happened to be there so I picked it up. Got the grout in Joyces hardware, they are much more reasonable.

Just noticed it was getting dark as I cut my last tile. Not sure the neighbours will be happy with me using the grinder at 10pm. :eek: Still, I'm usually quiet and the sooner I get this done the sooner I will tidy up the outside.

Have everything cut. Going to leave it till after work tomorrow to stick them down. Will lay them out in one of the bedrooms for now in order so I can just slap them in one by one tomorrow evening.












Now to plumb in that washing machine before bed.....

Lad you put me to shame. Afraid of work you certainly are not.