Renovation update

So, when I started this renovation project, I wrote this post stating all the things we needed to do to the house. I thought I'd write a little update, and then follow it up with some before and after photos in the next couple of days. So here's where we were - and in red, where we are.

So, the current plan is:

1. Builder bricks up hall window. We did this months ago. It cost less than I thought, and was fairly quick. The problem with this is you must do it before plastering, or you'll have to replaster the area!

2. Carpenter reverses direction of stairs and adds stud walls to make new upstairs room (also needs to level floor where current landing is) Our carpenter was amazing. He created a set of stairs for our house, slightly narrower than standard as it's a small hallway. He spent a long time measuring to get the most amount of bathroom space possible. It's still small but it's definitely workable.

3. Electrician rewires property. This wasn't as easy as I thought. He did have to do it after the stairs but he had to come and go a few times which he wasn't too pleased about. He missed quite a few things and changed things without telling us which was quite annoying, like putting light switches in different places or not being able to turn on certain lights independently of others. It proves you need to be REALLY clear about what you want as he didn't seem to have a lot of common sense.

4. Plumber adds central heating and pipes to new bathroom. Our plumber has been a nightmare. He is really awkward and hard to understand, and didn't fully explain anything. He even made a hole in our beautiful fresh plaster (which I didn't think of  originally - plastering was a big expense) and didn't even tell us! I won't use him again as although he was fairly cheap, he was really hard to work with.

5. Get bathroom tiled and fitted upstairs. We did the tiling ourselves which held up the fitting of the shower for a long time. The tiling still isn't finished and was much harder than we first thought, but we've done an ok job on it. Still some finishing touches to complete in the bathroom though!

6. Remove bathroom downstairs and fit toilet and sink under new stairs. We have put this off for a while. We don't need a downstairs toilet yet, and I'm worried we might not get our sofa out the lounge if we fit a wall under the stairs, so it's still a maybe. The plumbing is in for a downstairs loo though.

7. Knock through old bathroom wall into kitchen. This is the next job. We actually need a steel girder fitting before we do this, or the house might fall down. We're saving now.

8. Change position of kitchen door to make kitchen diner. This will come when we start the next job too. It will be a fair size kitchen diner, but a little bit small.

9. Tile floor in kitchen diner. (Or laminate). I've bounced between the idea of tiles or laminate a number of times, but I think I'm stuck on tiles now. I'd like a flagstone type feel, and it should be cleaner with the dog.

10. Cover ceiling with board and plaster in kitchen diner. This is way off now. We need to save enough for this part of the project - plus a load of plumbing and electrics we hadn't thought of.

11. Add new window in dining are and double glaze whole property. Obviously I should have put this before plastering!! We will be having french doors at one end of the room, but I'm not sure which end yet.

12. Fit new kitchen I've been looking at ikea kitchens. I definitely want white cupboards and a beech worktop. I am thinking of having integrated oven and fridge just to maximise the space in the room. There's no room for a big fridge anyway.

13. Add laminate in hall and lounge. The hall laminate has to wait till we have the wall moved for the kitchen, but we're thinking of doing the lounge laminate first. The problem is we want a wood burner in the lounge now, and this will add to the expense and time it takes.

14. Decorate property. We've painted most of the upstairs now. We were thinking of painting the lounge soon (still have bare plaster!) and then the hallway. We definitely couldn't have lived without carpet upstairs all this time - so that's in the house now.


So that's where we've got to. It's liveable but the kitchen is driving me nuts. I can't wait to live in a finished house with storage and space to relax, but it's still a long way off. I never knew renovating would be such a long process, and so cash-heavy. It's a case of saving more money now, and then getting back into the structural stuff!

I'll post some before and after pictures very soon of the house. It's a real transformation already!!