Home improvements - time the house had some TLC!

[SpokeyDokey]

I gave myself two easy jobs to do this afternoon. First mist coat the fresh plaster in the hall way, then put the new shelves up in the kitchen once they arrived.

I got as far as cleaning the new front door frame of stray plaster and removing the small radiator before the shelves were delivered and I got sidetracked in to fitting them. Unfortunately I was a bit too keen and made a minor error...

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D'oh! Fortunately I had a spare maintenance free box and connectors so was able to fix it fairly quickly but it does mean that wall needs painting again now Annoying but not the end of the world Anyway, I shifted the shelves over a few inches and up they went...

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I decided since I'd already made a big mess I might as well put the extractor vent cover up too, so the kitchen is looking pretty good now!

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Now I need to mist coat the hallway in the dark as there are no lights in the new rooms yet I dont make things easy for myself...

Cool looking and very tasteful tiles John - much as I would've expected from the owner of the best looking bike on CC. 👍🙂

Realistically 2023 can only go one way for you and I hope you will have positive memories of it when we head into 2024.

All the best.

 

[JhnBssll]

Very much appreciated

I took advantage of the warmer weather today and isolated and drained the vertical rad on the new bare plaster wall so I could remove it to do some painting. The plan was to get the mist coat done today and finish off with top coats tomorrow but I got far more done than anticipated... Heres the wall ready for mist coat...

And here it is again after...

Since I had lots of time I decided to have some lunch then crack on with the matt brilliant white ceiling and 'tranquil mist' walls... I forgot to take a photo after the first coat as I had to quickly shower and go out to meet some friends for a curry but when I got in I decided I might as well get the second coat on today too - no time like the present So here we are with the walls and ceiling painted, the aircon unit reassembled and the radiator refitted...

I also took the opportunity to swap the white plastic fused spur over to a black nickel one - I've got some new trailing edge dimmers arriving tomorrow which should match and hopefully eliminate some of the LED flicker I've got going on in the living room.

Not really sure what to do with myself tomorrow now...

 

[Gunk]

meet some friends for a curry

One of the greatest pleasures in life

 

[JhnBssll]

The last week or so I've had Covid and been stuck at home feeling pretty grim, but I have managed to do some work in the living room. I'd decided to build some cupboards under the stairs for storage and to house the CCTV power supply and recorder, plus the Sky box amongst other things. I drew on the wall the basic idea to check it would all fit...

The basic idea was to split it in half vertically with the right hand side being a cupboard and the left split horizontally with a unit at the bottom and the TV above it with hidden cables.

First job was to build the dividing stud wall...

Today I spent some time working on the cable routing, chasing out and putting new boxes and cables in ready to connect up when the single gang sockets and HDMI cables arrive (hopefully tomorrow).

With that done I boarded the stud wall, starting to look a bit better now! At some point I'll be plastering the downstairs loo and will likely skim this at the same time, then I can think about building the cupboard bits...

I'm going to try and get the subfloor done in the loo next

 

[JhnBssll]

The new HDMI cables arrived with plugs narrow enough to fit down the new cable ducts so I've got those fitted. I also wired the new sockets in so this wall is now just waiting on a final fill and sand then can be painted once the new bits are plastered. The powerline ethernet adaptor is a temporary measure - i've run a new network cable in which will connect directly to the router but I'm yet to move the phoneline so that can't be connected up just yet.

Also had a big step forward this morning - I got up early and did a bit of plumbing so the towel rail and hallway radiator are now connected and filled. I wanted to get to this point before I finish putting the flooring down as leaks later would have been pretty annoying

Assuming there are no damp spots after work I'll think about chopping some floor boards to size

 

[ColinJ]

I really like the work that you do on your numerous projects, but there is something about cramming a TV into that area under the stairs that really doesn't look right... (IMHO, obviously!)

 

[JhnBssll]

I really like it there so yeah, horses for courses I guess Once the unit below it is built I think it'll look OK plus is out of the way and in the perfect central spot for viewing from the sofas. I think I really like it from a practicality point of view over everything else so mauve I'm overlooking the aesthetics a tad

 

[ColinJ]

I really like it there so yeah, horses for courses I guess Once the unit below it is built I think it'll look OK plus is out of the way and in the perfect central spot for viewing from the sofas.

Maybe I would get used to it, but as it is in that picture my eyes are getting drawn away from the screen by the slope of the staircase.

Mind you, I'm a fine one to talk... When I rented this place there was a faulty gas fire in this room. I knew that I would never use it so I got my landlady (sister!) to have it disconnected rather than repaired. I now have my TV directly in front of the fireplace, which I admit does look a bit odd!

 

[JhnBssll]

I got my subfloor down in the loo after work yesterday

Not a very exciting photo perhaps, but it does mean I can now think about plastering the loo then tiling the floor in the loo and hallway With that done I'll finally be able to install the toilet and think about drainage!

 

[Gunk]

Any more updates @JhnBssll ??

 

[Jameshow]

Just cut a hole for loft hatch only to realise the hatch the Mrs brought is a push up one as the joists are in the way. Need a drop down one but still think that might not fit.... Doh!!!

 

[JhnBssll]

Any more updates @JhnBssll ??

Yeah, I had a plasterer in end of last week to sort the rest of the living room and the loo for me. Just waiting for it to dry but very pleased with it.

 

[JhnBssll]

I got bored after work this evening so decided to investigate a theory of mine - that a previous owner had made the patio door opening smaller. I doubted myself, because I cant understand why anyone would want to do that, but the thought of smashing stuff up got the better of me...

Turns out I was right

So I figured now I'd made a mess I might as well finish the job...

The rear doors and windows are due for replacement anyway. I'll wait for the warmer months and knock the brickwork out myself and make good then get them measured up and ordered. Until then I've come up with a temporary solution:

Unfortunately this destruction didnt fully cure my boredom so before I knew it I'd started draining the adjacent radiator...

A little while later I had the new rad hung - I'll need to lift the sub floor and modify the pipework to plumb it in so thats a job for another day - I wasn't *that* bored fortunately!

I need to add a single socket next to the door opening to power the new smart curtain rail - once the rad is piped and the new cables are in I'll get the plasterer back in to finish the last 3 walls before I decorate. I've got a carpet fitter coming next Monday to measure up and a new sofa on order, slowly coming together!

 

[CXRAndy]

Wasn't the brickwork outside slightly different where it was built up to narrow the opening?

 

[JhnBssll]

Wasn't the brickwork outside slightly different where it was built up to narrow the opening?

I can see it now, yeah, but it's a surprisingly good match considering the state of the rest of the work they did to the place.

I ripped a third of the living room subfloor up this afternoon. It was split and uneven, plus I needed access to the pipework underneath to plumb in the new rad.

I got a surprising amount done for a spur of the moment job!