Utility Room Done

It's been a while since I reported on a finished room as we ran out of cash a few months ago!  But we're ready to get going again - and so is the bank account - so here's the utility room.  

This was left unfinished after the kitchen - we'd had the ceiling plastered, but following a few issues with the contractor over the towel rail installation, we'd left it for a bit.  Phil sorted out the plastering touching up & wall prep needed, but we then decided to bring in Tony as the biggest update here is invisible.

The washing machine was vibrating so much that the room (and house!) shook.  Tony took up the floor completely, fitted additional beams and then put in new floor boards before underlay & the same tile effect laminate flooring we'd used in the main kitchen.

Under the washing machine, there's an anti vibration mat made from recycled rubber to help minimise spin cycle earthquakes.  And it's worked!  The washing machine is much quieter and the floor feels stable.

We were going to decorate ourselves but Tony was a little speedier than we anticipated, so bar some trim paint, even the painting was non DIY!  The advantage is that he did bits we may have been tempted to skip - like the wall behind the tumble drier.

It's a laminate worktop & splashback in here as it is where we intend to do anything too messy for the lovely beech kitchen worktop.  Phil's rather cleverly found & fitted an aluminium extruded bar to finish the top of the splashback.

The unit doors are gloss white like the kitchen but from a cheaper B&Q range - it's a utility room after all.

New hooks on a repainted board on the wall - we did that bit!

The walls are the same colour as the main kitchen.

We still need to put a better light bulb in - it's a very slow CFL and I'd rather have the instant light from an LED.

I'm also after a wall mounted airer.  In summer, the conservatory is a perfect drying space on rainy days, but no drying seems to happen in winter out there.  Our floor mounted airer fits in under the hooks here, but a wall mounted one will be a better use of space.

We bought a freestanding unit from IKEA for bags & cleaning cloths - as well as giving a home to bottles en route to recycling.

Nearly as exciting as the utility room is the kitchen bin situation.  I grabbed a pedal bin at a B&Q sample sale that's just waiting for a recycling sticker to help us remember which of the 2 bins is for which waste!

It can rain when there's a westerly now...

We weren't going to bother replacing the house's 3 remaining single glazed windows.  The dining room window looks into the conservatory - so not much weather to contend with.  Husband did a great job this summer with sander on a stick, followed by paint brush on a stick to extend the life of the bathroom window.
The first time we had heavy rain with a westerly wind, we decided we did need to replace the cloakroom window as it wasn't keeping the rain outside!
Replaced yesterday with a simple uPVC job.
Whilst it was being fitted, we established that the 2 roof panes that are misbehaving in the conservatory can potentially be fixed (1 leaks & 1 has condensation trapped inside) - and that I need to learn to love sliding doors for the living room as opposed to lovely timber bifolds.
Husband's been doing the decidedly unpleasant job today of hoovering up rodent poo from loft above the garage as an electrician might be coming along soon to add a much needed light fitting to the garage - we're coping with a lantern & a desk lamp at the moment.

Driveway

We've made 3 small changes to our front garden this year.

The only real floral brilliance we've had is this fabulously huge sunflower - grown up from a runt of a little plant I got in a giveaway at work!
It took forever to flower - but grew enormously during midsummer.  It's now got around to starting to open its flowers.
Sunflowers are a bit of a superfood as far as garden wildlife goes.  Pollinating insects enjoy the flowers and 
I'm planning to keep it where it is into the autumn so that birds will be able to enjoy the seeds.

A downside of a long drive is distance from the streetlights.  In our old house, I never had a problem finding the front door, but it's a different case here.

This fitting is solar with 2 LED lights with a PIR sensor.  It gains enough charge for the short amount of time we need it to work for.  Not having to mess about with connecting to the mains was a plus for Phil - but he spent some time getting the solar panel rigged up.

Mains LED light by the front door - again with a motion sensor.  It gives more than enough light for me to find the front door - and my keys in the depths of my handbag!

We've tweaked the PIR settings for both lights - but still needs some more refinement as the sunflower sets off the front door light in the wind!

Neither lights are security light washing in performance, but that's never been their role for us.

More on doors

Although we've decided to live with the eggbox sapele effect doors on built-in wardrobes, the airing cupboard door didn't look good - and even worse after we'd replaced the bedroom doors around it!  So it's now been replaced.

We've always operated with the system of closed-door=occupied for the bathroom, but I didn't want to be looking into the cloakroom every time I walk into the lounge!  We also didn't want one door to have a very different door handle.  We've installed a cabin hook out of reach of small children & Husband has set up the screws so that if we need to force the door, the ones in the architrave should give way.

We're a long way off finishing the cloakroom, but at least the grotty wooden loo seat has now been replaced with a white soft close one.

Bye Bye Egg Box Doors

The perfectly functional sapele effect eggbox doors are now in the wood-to-be-recycled skip at the tip - thanks to Mum & Dad for helping us get them there!
Instead, we have 9 oak veneered doors (FSC full CoC of course) with stainless steel furniture & heavy duty hinges.  We've owned them since December as I bought them when on offer.  I talked Phil out of fitting them himself - he is perfectly capable, but it would take him about 1 day per door with lots of swearing & frustration.  Found a chippy who gave a great quote, but his order book was full - hence only just fitted!  It took him 2 days to do all 9.
We then varnished them all with a satin clear varnish.  "We" was mostly Phil - I only managed to do 1 due to time constraints.
Very pleased with Mel & Tony's suggestion to put a glazed door on the kitchen which gives a weird dark corner in the hallway a little bit of natural light.
One more to sort out - the carpenter found out that although B&Q don't do the 2' width version, the manufacturer does, so we can get the airing cupboard done too.

A bit of gardening

 We're not tackling the garden this year - it's a case of restricting our efforts to holding the wilderness back!  And that alone is a pretty big task.  For example, it takes me 2.5 hours to mow the lawn and I had to downgrade the mower to a lightweight flymo to cope with the slopes (and Phil is exempt due to hayfever).  In our old garden, we were forever pulling up sycamore seedlings whereas here, bindweed is encroaching everywhere as is a pretty but thuggish white geranium.  At least the sandy soil means that digging and pulling stuff up is easier than it was on Edward Ave's brick quality clay soil.

I've covered some of the veg patch with weed stopping fabric for this year - and did sneak in some spuds!  The aparagus bed gave us just 2 meals worth - very tasty.  I'm not as impressed with the tastiness of the raspberries though and may be replacing at some point.

Phil's made the birdbath watertight and has been attempting to make the patio a bit less uneven.  We've painted the fence - but we still need to repoint its brick base.

The clothes line is back in operation so I can start weaning myself off my recently acquired tumble dryer addiction.

And we've entertained in our conservatory - it made a good spot for lunch in the rain.

I'm enjoying the garden much more that working inside.
Wildlife: we've spotted a green woodpecker (on the lawn - very weird), goldfinches, wrens, sparrows, blue tits, great tits, robins, starlings & very tame blackbirds.  One pigeon fell victim to a female sparrowhawk who decapitated it & removed the liver on the driveway before flapping off!  She has been back and Phil's hoping she may keep the pigeon numbers down.

Dining Room - Furniture Change

 More grey IKEA Hemnes added...  We've been rethinking how the huge open plan space downstairs will work - and we're building the plan for the big overhaul that's waiting for my sharesave scheme to mature in December.  It does mean that we can make small changes secure in the knowledge that they will be right for the room in 6 months time as well as now.  


A very generous payment for a bike & housewarming gift from James & Freya enabled us to get 2 bookcases for the dining room.  Short term, it's meant the last of the boxes could be unpacked, freeing up the conservatory and giving me access to the cookery books.  Long term, they will stay there - and may be joined by another of the slim ones.  The pine dresser from our old house that I painted up fits beautifully next to the fish tank & is now overflow booze cupboard and table linen.

There was a wall shelf/unit in the dining room too - it used to be our TV stand in Edward Avenue, but became obsolete when we got a different telly that wouldn't fit.  However, combined with a blanket box, it makes a great suitcase/bag support for the guest room - not exactly elegant, but functional!  I don't know if I'm unusually lazy (probably), but I rarely unpack when staying at a friend's, but do like to be able to stow my bag somewhere - hence not worrying about spare drawers, but 2 places to shove and easily access a case.  after we redecorate this room, will probably put up some hooks so guests can hang up stuff....

Bedroom Furniture

We ended up getting IKEA freestanding furniture for the main bedroom having spent lots of our time talking about fitted units - partly because we couldn't afford the gorgeous wardrobes inspired by our friends' home in Winchester.  And I think that although it wasn't our first choice, it's worked out better as it keeps our bedroom feeling big and spacious - something about being able to see the wall behind.  There's enough space for Phil's clothes plus a chair (essential jacket/jersey/belt temporary storage!).  In an ideal world, the wardrobe door would not wobble when pulled open, but I think we can live with that!

Assault on Box City Part One

Believe it or not, these photos are after a weekend of sorting through Box City in the conservatory and moving contents into permanent homes in the garage.


We'd moved everything into the conservatory (that was already hosting many boxes) so we could de-asbestos the garage.  That's been done now, thunderbirds style garage door has been installed, the ceiling has been put up & painted and 5 heavy duty plastic racks drilled to the walls.

The big transfer was scheduled for next weekend, but as our plans had changed (Mum & Dad were going to visit but Husband's been ill so we postponed), I figured I could make a start whilst the patient recuperated.


So, time to move in.  And it's a slow process - despite Husband being much more able to help than I'd anticipated.  We're determined not to just store stuff we no longer need or want so I've taken the Panda to the tip many, many times - but very little has ended up in the landfill skip!

About another weekend of sorting & moving & we'll have an organised garage & a use-able conservatory.  Hopefully!

Lobby Complete - Our Smallest Room

We did think that the lobby would be a quick job - it is our smallest room after all & the plastering & new front door had been completed a couple of months ago.  And this is why Husband decided to have a go at laminate flooring himself for the first time.




However, it still has 4 corners, a radiator and oodles of white work - so it still took 3 weekends to do!
Repainted, flooring installed, new light fitting fitted, coat hooks replaced, key rack installed, interior door furniture updated.

The photograph on the wall is one we bought a couple of years ago in Corbridge & is of one of our favourite urban views (a very short list) - the Millennium Bridge looking across to the glass armadilllo Sage in Gateshead.


We haven't replaced the very 70s internal door - it is in reasonable condition & we didn't hate it!  However, we changed the door handle as the old one was looking a bit past it.  I'm really pleased we now have a key rack as I have had far too many key loss crises since moving in here.  It is straight BTW - weird angle is down to my dodgy photography.


I won the paint 2 years ago in a competition (very rare) and after much surfing, the hooks ended up coming from Ikea.


Husband did sweat and swear quite a bit as he worked out how to fit the flooring.  He's done really well with it, but I suspect we will be outsourcing this job in the future as I don't think he found it a fun project - especially around the radiator pipes.

Lofts emptied and insulated

Two days (over 2 weekends), many trips to the tip, 3 to B&Q and 2 to Colden Common - and we now have both lofts free of rat/mouse poo, free of stuff left by previous owners and beautifully insulated.


Exciting discoveries:

• 3M protective suits have a blue triangle on the back for no readily apparent reason.
• The plumbers removed the old cold water tank (platform still visible).
• New glass fibre insulation was much less horrid to handle than the old yellow stuff we put up in the old house's loft.  Phil still suited up though to prevent irritation.
• Most mouse poo found in rolled up old green carpet.
• Advice was correct - bread knives are the perfect insulation cutting & shaping device.
• Previous owners had his & her lofts!  And didn't get around to emptying either....
• Manual Singer Sewing machine circa 1936.
• Slide viewer, very solid looking, with rat chew marks on the box.
• Project completed by previous owners daughters on "Sledge dogs of Antarctica" with touching patriotic conclusion.  And recently as "resently" - but as findings included year books from Southampton Medical School, I guess this didn't hold her back in life.
• Photos, photo albums, Christmas decorations - returned to previous owners, requiring drives to Colden Common.

Thunderbirds are go

Garage door has been fitted.  It is a roller shutter so that we can keep the cars parked up close without impairing opening - I haven't pedaled up to open it yet with the remote - but am really looking forward to doing so.  No more lifting muddy mountain bikes through the house.
The seal at the base is much more secure so that rodents shouldn't gain easy access!

All that's needed now is a lick of paint inside the garage & some shelving - then we can fill it with bikes, surf boards, pressure washer, inflatable canoe, paddles, buoyancy aids, pumps, gardening tools, bike carrier........ and I'd love to find a way to get the Thunderbirds theme to play as the door opens!

Doors that lock & that keep the cold out

I can't pretend that our new front door is a style statement - we couldn't decide what we wanted.  There seems to be lots of choice for front doors for older properties - but not much in our preferred price bracket for a 1970s house.  So we went for no frills, basic uPVC. 
More importantly than the style (or lack of!), we have a much warmer lobby & hall area.  Phil kept on ringing & ringing the doorbell for me to let home back in the house the other day because he couldn't hear it ringing inside anymore - so definitely better insulated.
It's also much more secure with better locks than its predecessor - and by moving the letter box to the door rather than the sidelight, I no longer have to retrieve the post from our shoe rack!
Back door was also replaced - similar, simple uPVC glazed job.

No more AIB in the garage

The garage ceiling was removed very carefully today.  Many, many thanks to Dave & Adam for their help - we really couldn't have done it without them!  
Fortunately, Phil used to supervise asbestos removal so we were togged up in full protective gear - I even had to keep my mask on until under the shower later on!
The panels didn't come down as easily as we'd hoped - huge numbers of depressingly effective clout nails meant that it took all day.
Still, it's done.
The plasterer comes on Thursday to put up a new ceiling - and after that, the new garage door can be put up.
The old door is broken - and has a gap underneath big enough for rats to get in - and there is plenty of evidence of them having had parties in the garage in the past.  The new door will be much more secure against vermin and burglars.
However, fitting it requires cutting into the ceiling - and quite rightly, the garage door firm weren't prepared to cut into asbestos insulated board.  So it's been removed & wrapped ready for removal instead.
Long day, but so glad we got it done.

We have a kitchen - finally!

We have a kitchen!  And that means being able to use a hob for the first time since late October & a dishwasher for the first time since August.


Units are gloss white, worktops are solid beech & floor is tile effect laminate.  The pull out larder units are not quite as easy to pull out as we'd hoped, but that's a minor niggle.  Hob is gas, oven is a pyrolytic electric fan version.  Tony's done a fantastic job.

I'm surprised that we have filled all the units given that this kitchen is so much bigger than our old one.  I'm a bit freaked out that as 2 people, we seem to own more glasses than the average wine bar!


Although we had the space for an island unit, we've gone for a trolley/island unit from IKEA instead as it gives a bit more flexibility.  And we treated ourselves to a new kettle & toaster.



I also got to enjoy the breakfast view I've been aiming for since we first viewed the house this weekend - over looking the fields.  The view will be improved further when the rusted metal shed moves out of the garden...


Many thanks to Debs for the clock - it fits really well.

The only bits needing more sorting is a noticeboard &the bin corner.  Husband has square pedal bins in mind - but finding one at an appropriate price seems to be challenging!

Tree Felling Day

I am a big fan of trees - we both are - but the large cedar in the back garden was guilty of a number of crimes.  

1. The surveyor had expressed concern about proximity to the house - and its roots were already pushing up the patio.
2. It blocked light from both the house and the garden as it was on our southern boundary. 
3. It was big.  Very big.

So, having checked out that it wasn't under a TPO and wasn't loved by the neighbours, its execution was arranged, timed so that birds wouldn't have started nesting.
3 tree surgeons arrived at half 9ish & completed the job by half 3, leaving us with a big pile of logs to persuade friends with log burners to deal with, a brand new view and loads more light.
I have counted the cedar's rings to set its age at about 25-26 years old.
So, just the turf to repair, nest boxes to put back up and a big decision to make - what tree to add to the garden to compensate?  It will be placed quite a bit further away from the house & current favourites are a silver birch or a hawthorn.....