Today I did something in the house...

Good idea for a thread, recently worked on the bathroom finalised over the last few weeks. few more trim details to do but nearly done done.
excuse the first images, they are taken from stills of video when we moved in. Original floor was CARPET (also blue) !! New Floor was reclaimed oak, a joy and a toll to put in, in equal measure

Great idea for a thread - we're still in the middle of a lot of projects after moving into a very outdated house, but we're getting there. Lots to do yet.

Love this idea.

I'm still three-quarters through a project. Really only have one-and-a-half days a week to work on it, so it's been a month in the making at this stage!
Child 3 is arriving next year. We have 3 bedrooms, so children 1 & 2 are going to have move in together. Problem is that all of the bedrooms still had the same wardrobes since 1985, and the only way it was going to make sense was to move the kids into our room, we take the biggest of the other two rooms, and pull out and replace the wardrobes.

The biggest sticking point was that between the two rooms we were swapping, the old built-in wardrobes were fitted back-to-back, with no stud wall between them. So in order to replace the wardrobes I was going to need to build a stud wall between the two rooms.

Unfortunately I didn't think to take many photos, so this is all I could scrounge from whatapp chats

We were trying to get the rooms from this:

(Heavy lines are the existing stud walls)

to this:


Then build in wardrobes in the corner of bedroom 2. We had ordered a large freestanding sliderobe for bedroom 1.

We had no confidence that if we got professionals in that they would do it quickly and wouldn't wreck the place. Also we're a little bit broke.
So I decided to give it a go myself.

Didn't take any photos of the gap in the wall unfortunately, but this is the closest. This is bedroom 1, looking at the back of the wardrobe in bedroom 2. The question was, "How do I cut this floor back to fit the stud" and the answer was, "Don't, just stick it on top".


I have a bit of a cheat in that my brother worked as a cabinet maker for 20 years, and is always willing to lend a hand. His recommendation was to put the (IKEA) wardrobes together first and then build the stud wall in around them, in order to get the cleanest fit. Rather than relying on given dimensions. He was dead right. So this is the frames in place (you can see the other bedroom through the gap) to give us our measurements;



Didn't get a proper picture of the stud after we put it up, but this is bedroom 1 with its new stud wall and gap where the old fitted wardrobe used to be.


Bedroom 2 after fitting all the wardrobes, fixing them in place and hanging the doors.


Cutting a slip of plasterboard to fill in the gap at the side of the wardrobes - patch & paint and it'll look like the wardrobes were made to order;


Bedroom 1 after the first pass at patching the scrimming & patching the plasterboard:


We were back-and-forth about what to do with that space in bedroom 1. It's the kids' room, they don't need another wardrobe, but would need shelving for toys, books, etc. Initially we thought we'd just buy another IKEA unit, but the space was 50mm wider and 50mm shallower than the IKEA units. Got quotes for a simple built-in unit and the cheapest was €500. Feck that.
Considered just patching and painting the wall and fitting some shelves. It wouldn't look good though, so we just went back to the IKEA idea and made do

You can see the new stud wall patched, sanded and painted to match there too.

The wardrobes are fully kitted out at this stage (no photos).

This weekend the kids are getting shipped down to their grandparents and their bed and wardrobe are arriving. I'll have to cut out skirting boards and such to get a decent fit, and then it's onto the finishes; filling in the space above the units, sealing up small gaps, refitting all the skirts, etc.

If I didn't have to juggle this stuff with family life, I'd love it, but it's such a hassle that I can't wait to be done with it! Also, winter is horrible time for DIY. My old man says it all the time, and I have to agree with him.

LenWoods wrote: »

I've since then started to work on improving the house which I've also documented across the past few years with loads of pictures and shared information regarding each item purchased; progress is slow and alot slower than I had initially thought but heres a link @KKV I think you will like this thread
https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/80864-living-room-project/#comments

Nice write up, I'm just after finishing the first page. In relation to the electric fire, were you considering an insert gas stove instead if on the gas mains or a solid fuel insert stove?

So my place has 3 chimneys stacks . Well 4 including the boiler one. There is one in living room two either end of the kitchen. One was open fire place and the other for the Stanley stove.

When we moved in we were keeping it all. But as we lived here longer plans changed and evolved. Good idea to live in the place prior to spending big money renovating.

Fireplaces never get used. Stove was used infrequently so ripped out.

So today I filled and capped the 3 chimneys. Plugged the bottoms with 200mm EPS plugs . Filled from the top with loose fill EPS balls. And capped

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/U96Splg

clouter wrote: »

Great post Len, really enjoyed seeing all the hard work you've done to the house.
How do you find the Climote. Currently looking at installing a smart heating system, Climote, Hive or Nest. All feedback greatly appreciated. TIA

Hi,
Thanks for reading and I'm glad you found it interesting,
The home improvement thread will be four years old next march lol taking alot longer than expected but as said it has expanded throughout the house now,

Regarding the climote;
It doesn't connect to wifi; it has a built in sim card which is linked to a Climote network, this would suit someone in a low speed internet area or someone with a holiday home wanting to remotely maintain the house,
As you can see in my thread it has a separate wireless thermostat which can be positioned anywhere.
The only downside to the climote are:
Only one mobile phone can be linked to the climote for the purpose of using the climote app.
All other users have to use a specific text message type coding which is very primitive in 2020

The other downside compared to other manufacturers is:
The climote control panel; fits in the location of your existing time clock which in some cases; isn't the most comfortable location to access for use.

All that said; I have experienced hive aswell bare with me long story this one lol


Last Christmas went to visit my mother;
She is almost 70 and has arthritis in her hands, her heating was the standard tooth time clock which she had great difficulty pushing and pulling the segments she used to then rotate the clock which then saw the heating come on at unessacerry hours which was a waste and increase on her heating costs.

I was first going to get a climote
But she was also asking how she could listen to LMFM (louth, meath radio) which is where we used to live, but shes now in Monaghan and cant get the station or the death notices of the area as she also cant use a computer or smartphone,
In February I retuned to visit; bought my mother an Amazon Echo Plus and a hive heating controller because it works with alexa straight out of the box,
She can now listen to any radio station in the world just by asking, I've shared my spotify family account so it now plays any song she asks, she can call us via alexa if she falls or is in trouble just by asking Alexa to call,
The echo plus has a built in thermostat and smart hub which works with the hive,
She can ask Alexa "Alexa set the heating to 23°"
Next thing the heating is set and on comes the boiler.
Great no issues with teeth or daily reminders of her disability by not having to try somthing she cant do.

I later bought Amazon wifi sockets for the electric fire and sitting room light,
If she says "alexa it's getting dark" the light comes on or "Alexa turn on the fire" the fire comes on
Sahs"alexa Goodnight" it switches everything off and tells a random story.

Anyways;
The hive comes with three parts
Theres a thermostat which has the heating controller on the front; this unit is wireless and can be mounted or sat on a unit anywhere you want to put it; making it very easy to access and removes it from the kitchen or wherever your existing time clock is; the hive control unit can go anywhere you like without drilling.

The second box then is the electric switch box:
This replaces your existing time clock or heating controller; it then receives signals from the wireless thermostat/control unit to turn the heating on/off

The third box is the hive hub,
It plugs in to a mains power supply or a USB socket and your network or wifi router to allow your controller be communicated with via your phone or computer across the internet or via Alexa this box translates to communicate with your heating.

Having experienced both models I would strongly recommend the hive for ease of access
Because you can position the main controller anywhere you want.
However and it is a possibility; if your internet connection is sometimes terminated for a week from time to time then the hive wont work outside of the home because it relys on wifi to be accessible remotely while away from the home; where the climote uses a sim card to link to its network

The hive is manufactured by British gas yet it's not a gas specific unit;
My mother uses Kerosene and the principal for control of either boiler type is the same in regards control

To keep on topic in this thread I'll edit to include a link to the installation of alexa in my mothers home lol that's somthing I did

Heres where I sought advice:
https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/105303-advice-buying-amazon-echo/?tab=comments#comment-779631


Hope this helps, I'm considering changing to hive myself so both myself and my wife can use the app to control remotely rather than just me.
Try Amazon for deals on hive: if you have a zoned heating system you will need an additional zone kit from hive where you wont with a climote,
If you dont have any zones meaning the heating comes on and heats everything then you just need the basic heating hive unit,
The second option is heating and hot water
Then the third
Is heating, hotwater and a second control thermostat unit for the second zone generally upstairs.

The have both hive and climote on display in Harvey Norman's if your near a store around Christmas
Have a look and talk to them but leave your bank Card at home because you can do better deals online
They come from the uk save a bit of money import your own via Amazon

clouter wrote: »

Thanks a million for that very detailed response Len, much appreciated. Sounds like the Hive would suit my set up. May call into Harvey Norman during the holidays and do another bit of research. Thanks again. Best of luck with continued work on the house.

Always Happy to help & Thanks

Deleted User wrote: »

Took about a month longer than I anticipated, but finally got the sitting room unit installed. Next up is to get some decor in (walls, rug, chair etc.) but that'll be a next week effort as i'll be working a fair bit til then.

I'm very pleased with how it came out. I was unsure about the colour, but I love it. I do reckon it'll be a love it or hate it kinda thing though.

Nice job,
I like what you done with the radiator too looks much better bought my Milano aruba graphite radiator from BestHeating.ie

LenWoods wrote: »

Always Happy to help & Thanks

Great write up.
How much did you spend on getting the hive gear up and running? The units seem pretty expensive

GreeBo wrote: »

Great write up.
How much did you spend on getting the hive gear up and running? The units seem pretty expensive

Thanks,
At the time I spent €190 on the hive heating controller kit from Amazon,
There are selling for €165
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hive-Heating-Thermostat-Professional-Installation/dp/B011B3J6KY/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Hive+heating+controller&qid=1582233507&sr=8-4
The model linked there is the model I fitted which controls the heating only.

The next model up from this can control hot water and radiator separately via electronic servo valve sold separately which isolates pipes to allow the boiler to only heat radiators or water tank but in the case of my mothers house there both on the same heating loop not a zoned system,

I didn't pay for "professional installation" as its pretty straightforward using basic tools straight swap
The package consists of three boxes inside;
Has the control unit, a server box and a switch box
This video explains in more detail and it all works with Amazon echo plus straight out of the box no messing.
Also maybe worth mentioning it works exactly the same way with Kerosene or gas boiler
My mother has a Kerosene boiler another interesting fact is that; hive are a British gas company

https://youtu.be/OzT4W5D8oN8

So have been doing this over past few weekends, Where possible in between commitments, Prob full weeks worth of work to date if added together.

Some finishing on the lower wall to do and steps going in shortly when time is available.

Pulled down old alum porch and original timber front door in hall. And consumed the porch area into the house envelope entirely.