1980s bungalow renovation

FortySeven

Washing machine was a bit more fiddly than expected. The lead was too short and I didn't fancy running an extension under the sink to the socket so I opened her up and rewired a new, longer lead to reach the socket in one.

Before.






After.





Seems to work OK, I have started it on a sterilisation cycle at 90 degrees. It's working away.

Now for one of those epsom salt baths again, I pulled a muscle in my neck trying to reach the drainage hose behind the machine at a funny angle.

Sleepy

FortySeven, where'd you learn about plumbing?

I'm in the middle of buying a house that needs a bathroom ripped out and reading this thread is making me think I might be up to doing the job if I can read up enough / watch enough Youtube videos in advance.

FortySeven

Sleepy wrote: »

FortySeven, where'd you learn about plumbing?

I'm in the middle of buying a house that needs a bathroom ripped out and reading this thread is making me think I might be up to doing the job if I can read up enough / watch enough Youtube videos in advance.

A lot of it is intuitive or just copying what was there before. I watch the odd youtube video like how to make the crossover pipe. I read the relevant bit of my diy book or just a quick google for most things. A lot of it is common sense but the most important thing is having the right tools. No point trying to do something with inferior or incorrect tools.

FortySeven

Had fun with the kids this evening. Took them to Loughrea for a paddle and the playpark. Didn't get home until 9 and then had to do some computer work. Thought I would leave the tiling but got done with the computer by 10 and thought sod it.




Not at all happy with this, I was as prepped as I could be, all tiles cut and laid out to pattern but I was literally throwing them down and still the mix was going off by the time I got to the end. Rapid set adhesive was a HUGE mistake on my part. Still, what's done is done and I am hoping once grouted and the toilet, sink and bath panel are in it will be good enough. There are a few not aligned as well as I would like and one or two are less than level but so be it. I will grout tomorrow and be damned.

Realised my toilet needs to be fixed, you've guessed it? Directly above my new pipes. :mad: Going to be some careful measuring and nervous drilling to get those screws in.

oleras

Grouting hides a multitude ! Job looks grand to me.

You will always be your own worst critic!

Shint0

Tiles are looking very even for a first-timer. Well done. Keep going.

Dtp1979

FortySeven wrote: »

Had fun with the kids this evening. Took them to Loughrea for a paddle and the playpark. Didn't get home until 9 and then had to do some computer work. Thought I would leave the tiling but got done with the computer by 10 and thought sod it.




Not at all happy with this, I was as prepped as I could be, all tiles cut and laid out to pattern but I was literally throwing them down and still the mix was going off by the time I got to the end. Rapid set adhesive was a HUGE mistake on my part. Still, what's done is done and I am hoping once grouted and the toilet, sink and bath panel are in it will be good enough. There are a few not aligned as well as I would like and one or two are less than level but so be it. I will grout tomorrow and be damned.

Realised my toilet needs to be fixed, you've guessed it? Directly above my new pipes. :mad: Going to be some careful measuring and nervous drilling to get those screws in.

Don't worry about drilling the toilet down. I never do. The screws rust, ALWAYS come loose over time and usually impossible to remove. gently prop the front of the fitted toilet up with a flat screwdriver maybe 5mm. Pump clear tech7all way around and remove screwdriver and gently tap bowl into finishing position. 24hrs later get a Stanley blade and remove excess tech7. The bowl will never move. Then stick white caps where screws would've went.
Screw the cistern to the wall and cover screw heads with silicone so they don't rust

I don't see anything wrong with that tiling! Looks great. Tick it off the list

FortySeven

Hit the wall today. I stand all day at work and I run up and down stairs. Today I just ran out of energy. Was plodding around like an old man. It's a combination of things I suppose. The heat, this has the knock on effect of making me sweat and drink more water which in turn affects my Lithium levels and I have been feeling down all day due to this. I also gave up coffee to save money, this also changes my uptake so I had a day of lethargy and depression.

Needless to say I didn't grout. I did pull out all the little spacers and raked out the grout lines of adhesive. Chipped a few in places while raking but only tiny chips, my sharpie soon had them covered. Gave the tiles a wipe down and they don't look too bad I suppose. A few are not great but I'm sure it will be fine when grouted and the room is done. The toilet sits level without any movement as does the sink pedestal so that's ok. I bought a waste pipe collar on ebay in black to hide the tile chop. Thought I had bought one already but seems I had just looked.

I like the tec7 idea dtp. I will do this but I'm a glutton for punishment and I found these leftover from some polycarbonate sheeting fixings I never used. Galvanised screws designed for roofs with lovely caps. By my measurement I will be nowhere near the pipes and this will just be a small bit extra security. (I'm just dying to use them for something )

Doolittle51

Good work FortySeven. Long time thread lurker here.

I've been doing up my own place over the last 3 years. Similar to you, basically everything is getting ripped out and replaced. So far I've done 3 bathrooms, a guest toilet, kitchen, utility room and all the other unplanned things that come up along the way. Plus I've replaced/moved a lot of the radiators and done a fair bit of wiring for TV, CAT5, Home Automation, heating controls etc. It's taken ages to get this far and now I'm finally at a stage where most of the big jobs are done and the rest of the work is mainly painting and flooring. It's been great fun and the extra satisfaction from doing it yourself is well worth the effort. Keep up the good work.

Just a little advice about tiling - like yourself I had never done it before. Floors are handy enough, because you can cut all the tiles and lay them out dry before you get stuck in. I always use Mapei waterproof adhesive. B&Q stock it, and sometimes have a deal on it.
Don't mix up too much at once. The most I ever mix is 4kg. That will cover about 1.5 SqM depending on the notch size. I spread it all out with a flat spreader and then go over with the notched trowel. Quickly stick up the tiles, and then mix up more adhesive and go again.

Make sure your walls/floors are as even and flat as possible. Even a small bump can make a big impact and make a tile look wonky.
I also use Mapei Grout. I find this goes off really quick, so I only mix up about 500g at a time. Even then I'm wasting some of it. Do it in small sections, smooth over with a wet sponge before it goes off, but you don't necessarily need to clean the tiles 100% just yet. I actually find them easier to clean after it's kinda gone off. Just use a slightly damp sponge and a cloth.
It took ages to get used to grouting and I still don't enjoy it but slow and steady is the way to do it.

Best of luck with the rest of it. Hope some of my advice is useful.

Oh and I always screw down toilets. Use good quality screws. Try not to rely on silicone if a proper fixing can be used instead.

Dtp1979

Doolittle51 wrote: »

Oh and I always screw down toilets. Use good quality screws. Try not to rely on silicone if a proper fixing can be used instead.

I'm a plumber by trade, and have fitted hundreds of toilets.
Years of experience has taught me Not to screw them down. I used to until tech 7 came on the market. No matter how good the screw, it will come lose, or if you're a diyer, you'll prob chip the bowl.
Btw, tech7 isn't silicone. I'd never use silicone under a toilet bowl

FortySeven

Another long day. Just too damned busy. Finished work and it was a mad dash to get to the post office to collect a computer part from China, last in the door as usual. Got home and 2 hours sorting that job then testing it out on my car and got finished just in time to make something to eat and watch the football. Decided to grout at 10pm and am just finished now.

Right enough, doesn't look half bad. I've been over it twice with the wet sponge. Will give it another wipe over in the morning before work but for now, job done!






Now I have that done I can crack on with the laminate. Got the kids Sunday for the day so may press gang them into helping. Monday is my other day off and I have to go to family mediation. Should be fun. I want overnights and permission to take the kids to visit grandparents, all she wants is to force a sale of the house. Anything to get at me.

Might sharpen a stick on Sunday night and take it as an offering for her to go fornicate with it.

krazyklown

Just spent the last two hours reading through this thread - didnt expect to get the emotional life element in it. Genuinely admire your spirit and determination in the face of adversity and personal loss. You sound like a good person who does their best and works extremely hard - hope everything works out for you. Following the thread with interest.
KK

Shint0

You have gone through blips before, FortySeven, and look how much you got done in the intervening period once it passed. I hope you get some sweat equity after everything you put into the house but not sure if it works that way legally.
Careful with the tec7. It does exactly what it says on the tin. That stuff be strong. It works too feckin' well.

FortySeven

Been wiping the tiles every now and again to clear the grout sheen. They are starting to look pretty nifty. Will put up a pic tomorrow in natural light.

Rented a strimmer. Bad idea. I was at work till 5 and then straight to trying to clear this.




That's the back garden, it goes right back to the tall trees.

I was at it till 8pm and managed to vlear part of the side garden and a bit of the rear.





I'm really only knocking it down enough to get some roundup on it. It is thick, full of nettles and brambles and there is a good foot of thick matted grass and moss at the base that the strimmer won't touch. Nasty stuff. Still, the old side to side motion is good for the six pack.

FortySeven

Another busy day. Shattered.

Didn't get anything done Sunday as I took the kids to the vintage car show in Tuam. Great day out. Nearly collapsed when I got back from dropping them off. I was falling about the place. Just tired I guess.

Today was mediation in town, as expected it did not go well. Back next Monday for more. :rolleyes:

Since I was in town I popped into the hire shop and organised to keep the strimmer for the week, had to drop a laptop to someone and called into woodies since I was nearby. Got what I think is clear Tec7 but this one appears to be gender fluid? Doesn't say anywhere it is tec7 but the description was the same and I couldn't see anything else.




As promised, picture of the finished tiling.





Then about 4pm I thought I'd have a crack at laminate. First the plastic sheet. 1000 gauge.





Next the 6mm fibreboard insulation. Pain in the arse to cut this stuff. As you can see, lots of cutting to get it all to come together.




Starting to question my sanity, the idea of running the floor through the house continuously is such a headache. Trying to lay a length of floor that is the width of the house on my own involved much sweating and cursing. However, I'm very aware that I am using cheap materials and I'm hoping that the details will make a difference to the overall finish. I have nearly completed the two rear bedrooms and have made the all important connection through the two doors. I now have a continuous run through the width of the house and it si just a case of working back through the other bedrooms, up the hall and into the living and dining room. :eek:

Still, to say I have never tiled or laid laminate before I am pretty happy with this.




Here you can see the long strip.







I laid out the join strip for the tile to laminate connection and I'm happy enough.





My waste pipe collar came today in the post. It is bigger than I expected but it will do, you can see it in the pic above. Also found some tiles that may be the same size as my floor tiles, cheap too and local. Will have to offer up one of mine to them to make sure but if they are the right size I just cut my tiling costs to less than half I expected. Winning!

colm_mcm

Would you have issues with expansion running the floor continuously like that?
Maybe not an issue on laminate, I think it's a really nice effect though having one consistent floor like that, I think it modernises the house a lot.

Wow, looks super. Nothing like getting the flooring down to give the place a proper 'this is getting there' look!
I love the way the full long length boards extend the feel of a place.

FortySeven

colm_mcm wrote: »

Would you have issues with expansion running the floor continuously like that?
Maybe not an issue on laminate, I think it's a really nice effect though having one consistent floor like that, I think it modernises the house a lot.

Instructions say if the floor exceeds 8m x 8m then expansion breaks are required. That one length is just over 8m 30cm. Going to risk it.

FortySeven

I don't believe it. So pissed off. I just spent the last hour moving all my materials into one room and all the furniture into another ready to move onto flooring my bedroom where I had been storing everything. Then noticed the floor was a little bit off.

When my father in law laid some he got as far as I had but you'll remember he cut it around the door frames and was going to fill it with brown silicone?

Well, I didn't strip it all the way back even though I wanted to just to sort the plastics underneath, it looks like he cut it with his teeth and in places it does not extend up behind the skirting. Anyways, I left enough to work from and have now noticed that the whole lot is not square. A quick measure shows a 5cm differential along the back wall of my sons room. This is a disaster, by the time I get to the living room it will look ridiculous and will be noticable down the hall.

What is seen cannot be unseen. Tomorrow I move all that heavy stuff back and lift the lot and do it properly.

A pox on that man!

Dtp1979

Yes that is tech7 clear
by the way. Keep up the good work.

FortySeven

So, moved all the laminate and insulation back into my bedroom and had a look at the other end where the laminate starts.


One side is 16cm from the wall to joint.




The other side is 19cm wall to joint.





On this occasion I will remove the pox I put on the father in law. I got a bit lucky here really. A part of me wanted to just carry on and be damned but I am glad I lifted it now because I found this.






Not sure if I am lucky or unlucky at this point. Now have to drain the heating system and sort this leak. Have to find my loctite 55 again. :mad:

FortySeven

I have lifted all the insulation and plastic. Also cut off the nails that were holding the skirting with the dremel and hoovered. I am back to a blank canvas.

I'm going to call it quits at this point. I am physically, emotionally and financially drained. I need a few early nights and to reorganise a few things and catch up on some normal domestic chores.

Back in a few days.

Sleepy

Take a proper break for yourself, you've certainly earned a few nights off and a few pints with the lads down in your local at this stage!

RandomAccess

Would be great if you could get a pair of pygmy goats or sheep for that grass.
Its probably more bother than its worth though.

The idea of a pet thats a lawnmower is tempting.

domrush

The quality of your workmanship as well as your determination to do this whilst working full time as well as your personal life is a real inspiration. Kudos

FortySeven

Thanks guys, the break didn't go well if I'm honest. First night I couldn't sleep till 1am so that was the early night out the window. The mediator called to say that my ex had cancelled the mediation that she requested. Now I have to go to court on Monday to apply to dispense with her permission to allow me to travel. Kids need to see their extended family in the UK and she won't allow it. Can't wait for her reasons in court. Just more unnecessary stress and hostility.

Ended up lifting the rest of the floor last night after moving all the furniture out that I had just moved in. Radiator in that room is also leaking from the tail. Strange that it is just the two rooms that were floored but I will get them sorted on Sunday.

Tonight I took the strimmer to the road frontage to appease the neighbours, I borrowed a knapsack sprayer and bought some roundup and have had a clear up of the front driveway. Broke out the wheelbarrow and smashed up a load of wood from the old kitchen and old wardrobes that was out the back and took it all down to the village bonfire for Thursday.

Working tomorrow and have to return the strimmer in the morning but hope to get the rest of the wood down to the bonfire and then I have to fix a laptop I've had for way too long. Kids on Sunday, hopefully my son will help with the radiators and then Monday will be a wasted day down the courthouse.

Back to it. No rest for the wicked..

FortySeven

Didn't get near the rads today. Can't find my loctite 55 so no point starting. Can't buy any more as my bank says -€5 until payday.:mad:

Finances are a disaster at the moment. I'm battling to not go into arrears on the mortgage and am going to have to live like a hermit to get myself back into the black.

Spent the day sorting and tidying. Have filled 2 wheelie bins with detritus and have discovered the dining room! Couldn't move in here last week.



The ugly table and chairs came with the house. They will be going on next years bonfire hopefully. The flooring will be going as will the fireplace. Shelves in the alcoves and decorating plus lighting and it will be grand.



I manhandled the unit that holds the built in fridge into place in the kitchen. I bought a complete second hand kitchen ages ago and partially fitted it. Put down some cheap lino as I was planning to convert the garage to a kitchen diner, that is now on hold due to a lack of money and this will be my kitchen for some time.

Need to get the extractor in over the hob and all the high units need to go up, tiling and decorating still need to be done but this is a start. Just needs fixing to the wall and I can get the fridge in it and the doors on.







Been hunting for this yoke. Finally found it today. Will be fitting this to a rad so I never have to faf again when draining the system. Just connect a hose and open the valve. Got it on ebay cheap enough. Under a tenner I think.




Not much else to report. Tomorrow looking like a wasted day but will see. May get some work done.

budhabob

I've been following this thread quietly for some time. I have to say, your energy levels and ability are phenomenal. Its also a really informative thread.

We're currently renovating our 1950's house in Dublin while working, and I feel we're going backwards rather than forwards....but we'll get there.

minibear

I found this thread a couple of weeks ago and have read it all and am so interested in what you're doing. I just wanted to say how much I admire you. You're working on a budget, you're learning as you're going and have had personal problems also. A lesser man would have thrown in the towel long before now.

Regarding your (vast) lawn, would the grass be any use to a local farmer for hay/straw ? He could come in and cut it to take away.

That kitchen table and chairs would be snapped up if you put it on a local freebie page. And anything else you want to get rid of too I'm sure.

Re your mortgage, would you consider asking for a period of interest only which would allow you to crack on and get the house finished? You never know, they might agree.

Best of luck with it all, and keep posting!