Show us yer house and house-related meddlings

[mauvais]

We've recently had the allegedly good fortune to have bought a house. It's about 100 years old. I will also be about 100 years old when I've finished sorting it out, or more likely, paying people with an actual idea to sort it for me.

Let's start off small - sugar soap & elbow grease to remove decades of grime from the bannisters:




However no good deed goes unpunished and today I discovered that some sort of unseen beetle monster is turning our front door frame to dust:



Joy. Anyway many more jobs to do (I have a Trello board ) and if anyone is interested (or not) I may chronicle them here.

Meanwhile, show us your hoose & hoosey endeavours!

 

[Sweet FA]

Go for it - I love a build thread

 

[UnderOpenSky]

First up congratulations mate

Ours is certainly a slow burner. Don't have the money to pay people to do things (or even to do buy the materials half the time), but its been trying to teach myself to do things with a fair bit of help from my other half's Dad.

Laying a patio and building a shed has certainly felt a shit load more epic then I ever imagined it would be when I came up with the idea after a few beers.

 

[marty21]

After 21 years here, we really should sort it out.

 

[mauvais]

First up congratulations mate

Ours is certainly a slow burner. Don't have the money to pay people to do things (or even to do buy the materials half the time), but its been trying to teach myself to do things with a fair bit of help from my other half's Dad.

Laying a patio and building a shed has certainly felt a shit load more epic then I ever imagined it would be when I came up with the idea after a few beers.

Cheers! You'll have to pop by. Our third house on the same street

My dad built his shed from scratch and it looks ace. He knows what he's doing. Me, no clue - have lived in rented forever so even if I was so inclined, no opportunities. I might learn a few things through this though.

So far, most things I thought I could try my hand at have ended up being more complicated than expected. Thought I could clean and reseal the driveway - nope, it's massively uneven and needs to be relaid. Thought I could merely paint the doorstep - nope, it has chunks of concrete missing from it too.

We have got some cool stuff planned though, it's just going to take forever to materialise.

 

[mauvais]

Today I are be pressure washing.





I'll finish that one later this week.

 

[Callie]

AHH beetles. I think we might have some of them lurking. Suspicious holes in floorboards. Not been brave enough to investigate further yet so the house might cave in before that gets sorted.

And the damp! Oh the damp. So much damp. I don't know what to do about the damp. Apparently the beetles like it. The plaster doesn't seem to which is why it keeps detaching itself from the walls.

I did take those polystyrene ceiling tiles down though. That was good. I mean, a bit of the actual ceiling came down too but yunno these things happen.

 

[MickiQ]

pressure washing is great once I start, I can't stop, I think it's because it's so much like wielding a weapon, In my more rational moments I realise it's probably for the best I can't get my hands on a flamethrower.

 

[mauvais]

We've got damp, and we've got horrible suspended ceiling fire risk tiles.

Damp's localised and being treated in a fortnight so that's in hand, in theory. The shit tiles will have to wait for a new kitchen so about a decade then.

 

[mx wcfc]

I wouldn't normally find it necessary to post the knob on the end of my banister but as mauvais has done, here's mine. Regular hand rubbing is helping it mature nicely.

 

[bimble]

That's a very nice acorn shaped finial you have there.
Might post up my painted leopardskin wall later, pinnacle of my DIY efforts so far but not sure i can trust people to be polite about it.

 

[mx wcfc]

finial y

"Finial" that's the word I was looking for.....

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

pressure washing is great once I start, I can't stop, I think it's because it's so much like wielding a weapon, In my more rational moments I realise it's probably for the best I can't get my hands on a flamethrower.

I love it, for the first twenty minutes or so, Then realise that only done a fraction of the patio and my hand now has the serious shakes and I’m now soaked!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

View attachment 135525 I wouldn't normally find it necessary to post the knob on the end of my banister but as mauvais has done, here's mine. Regular hand rubbing is helping it mature nicely.

needs a knitted egg cosy

 

[mauvais]

Had a man in this week to attack trees and bushes with a variety of petrol-powered implements, as well as doing several dustbins worth of lesser mortal gardening myself.

This was all dark & overgrown, way better now but it needs a new path surface instead of this crappy ruined concrete. All in good time...



Thought I'd finished my patio cleaning although now I look at this, not quite:



In to look at things this week: a fence man, a window man, a floor sanding man, a builder and an electrician. Bankruptcy looms.

Also got fibre internet for the first time, initial speed 63MB, up from 16MB ADSL. I'll take it!

 

[mauvais]

This monstrosity came to an end today:




One of our friends wanted it but I suspect perhaps this dismemberment is a bit too far even for her:

 

[mauvais]

Oh yeah and as part of that process we found this:



Some bargain London properties in there. Apply to The Sunday Times, PO Box October 1990.

 

[bimble]

Bloody well done that was one ugly fireplace.

 

[mauvais]

Oh and I did do some DIY instead of just handing people money, but I was too engrossed to take a 'before' picture - lesson probably not learnt. Our doorstep had big cracks and chunks of concrete missing. I polyfilla'd it, sanded it back, repeated ad infinitum and then painted. Not a perfect finish by any means but I'm pleased.

 

[Mumbles274]

Out kitchen about a month ago


More recently

 

[mauvais]

Aaaalso I planted some 'erbs.



From the front, oregano, coriander seeds, sage, parsley, basil seeds, rosemary x2 and thyme out of sight.

Something ate my sunflower seeds in another border I made - can always try again I suppose.

 

[mauvais]

Out kitchen about a month ago
View attachment 138029

More recently

View attachment 138030

Lovely! Really like the splashback colour that I don't dare try and name. About a decade before we can afford to touch our kitchen, but a bathroom's coming in a month or so.

 

[bimble]

I can see your pants Mumbles274 .

 

[Callie]

This monstrosity came to an end today:

View attachment 138021
View attachment 138022

One of our friends wanted it but I suspect perhaps this dismemberment is a bit too far even for her:

View attachment 138023

What was it made of? Marble FX painted wood? I've got one too but non functional (boarded up) and it's black marble effect. I don't want to remove it (yet) as I assume it's probably holding various other bits up/on

 

[mauvais]

What was it made of? Marble FX painted wood? I've got one too but non functional (boarded up) and it's black marble effect. I don't want to remove it (yet) as I assume it's probably holding various other bits up/on

Actual marble AFAICS (edit: some solid pieces, but mostly about 15mm thick marble slabs on top of who knows what). It was rescued from the basement of a pub apparently, I assume in 1990, and was disassembled, shortened to fit, and stuck together. It actually might have been tolerable if you didn't mind it dominating the room and possibly your entire life.

Behind it was a cast iron backplate, and obviously the actual gas fire. Those will live on.

Edit: after plastering, it'll be replaced with this and a smaller footprint marble hearth:

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Nice weather so working in the garden. Some way to go, but totally soaked the knacked looking fence panels. Greenhouse up and decking as bed edge at the back. Black plastic laid ready for beds next year. More bed edges to be constructed.

 

[equationgirl]

I'm all for original or period features but yeah, that marble fireplace had to go, way too dominant for the size and style of the room. Unless you're turning the lounge into some kind of private club with chesterfields and smoking jackets.

The worst thing about DIY is discovering other people's bodges.

 

[Mumbles274]

I can see your pants Mumbles274 .

Ha ha!! So you can. Thats funny!! And completely unintentional! Unlike me!

 

[mauvais]

I'm all for original or period features but yeah, that marble fireplace had to go, way too dominant for the size and style of the room. Unless you're turning the lounge into some kind of private club with chesterfields and smoking jackets.

The worst thing about DIY is discovering other people's bodges.

Spoiler alert but hey: we're going to paint that room private club dark green and get a Chesterfield, after which I'll probably sit back and drink all our whisky, and even in that rich context, it'd still have been too much.

Actually, period Edwardian mantelpieces are a bit more like the one we're getting, except usually with mirrors attached. Not sure what the Edwardians were up to there - I can only assume it's for checking mid-fireside chat as to whether your midriff is inadvertently ablaze.

 

[equationgirl]

Spoiler alert but hey: we're going to paint that room private club dark green and get a Chesterfield, after which I'll probably sit back and drink all our whisky, and even in that rich context, it'd still have been too much.

Actually, period Edwardian mantelpieces are a bit more like the one we're getting, except usually with mirrors attached. Not sure what the Edwardians were up to there - I can only assume it's for checking mid-fireside chat as to whether your midriff is inadvertently ablaze.

A lot of victorian mantlepiece had a mirror over too. A quick Google brings up the question on a website called old house Web, which says it was to reflect light from candles and gaslights back into the room to make it brighter.