Given the great weather I think the time has come to temporarily suspend interior jobs such as replastering the old kitchen, instead looking at making a start on some of the many things that need to be done outside the house. First on the list is cleaning up the frontage of property. Shortly after getting…
Having finally had enough time to make a start, the rest of the old kitchen’s stay of execution has expired. The remaining cabinets put up a surpassingly tough fight considering the state of them but it didn’t take too long to remove them. Based on the delights found previously in this house I wasn’t particularly…
Needless to say, life’s been a bit busy over the last few months. We’ve moved in, and have just about got everything “straight” now. There’s lots and lots more that needs doing like ripping out the remaining bits of old kitchen, refitting the “family” bathroom, and sorting out the remaining bedrooms. That’s all before we…
One of the key rooms we wanted to change was the kitchen – the property’s original kitchen was well past its best, and had really seen better days. We knocked through from an useless utility room to the original dining room, removing the archway (adding some lintels above the position of the arch & door…
After the inevitable moving day chaos, the kitchen had been turned into a general temporary dumping ground for lots and lots of bags of stuff. We felt the time had come for a bit of a clearup, so after a few hours effort order has now been restored and the kitchen reclaimed!
It’s arrived! With enough of the house ready to move into, we decided the time had come to get on with moving… Cue one removals van (we’d already packed up & transported pretty much anything that would fit in the cars) along with a couple of suitably burly blokes to move everything left in the…
Just in time for our planned moving in date, and after many late nights the first bathroom was finally completed & declared ready for use. Sink/Loo units (minus seat & a post-installation cleanup) Installed shower head & screen Shower! What isn’t pictured here is the plumbing installation needed in the loft – working in conjunction…
We’re definitely on the home straight with this room now. The ceiling’s been painted, and work’s started on fitting two essential bits of equipment – a WC and basin. In a moment which would have clearly been aided by hindsight, we opted for “built in” bathroom furniture with a back-to-the-wall WC and matching basin –…
Kicking off by partially draining down the heating system again, the pipework was quickly checked for the new towel rail – at which point it became rapidly apparent that more work was needed. Somehow one of the concealed radiator pipes had ended up 1cm adrift from where it needed to be to line up with…
An evening of grouting later, the floor’s looking like it’s finished – and most importantly, is nearly ready for installation of a new WC, sink & heated towel rail.
Tiling’s well underway, and with all the wall tiles firmly in place we made a start on the floor. Started the tiles from the shower tray, with a view to keeping as much floor as possible covered by tiles where splashes are likely! Leaving the first couple of rows to set overnight, the next step…
With all the prep work completed, the time had finally come to make a start on tiling. Tiles were arranged with full-height tiles around the shower tray to minimise joints, and work began… Progress…. More progress…!
With the ceiling boarding complete, we started taping & jointing the boards to provide a (hopefully) smooth finish to the new ceiling. The joins were taped with plasterboard tape and skimmed over with a thin coat of plaster. After letting this go off for 24 hours we then attacked the ceiling with a sanding pad…
With the tray installed, waste pipework installed & tested & floor screwed firmly down we were able to make a start on the final bits & pieces of building work needed along with installing the shower. Working on the basis that without it, fitting a concealed shower would basically need most of the blockwork wall…
With the flooring prepared, joists strengthened & route prepared for the waste pipework; the first major task in the bathroom build was to install the shower tray on the required mortar base. Given the size, shape & weight of the tray this was no easy feat – and as a result, not many photos were…
With the subfloor up to spec, next stop was to cut & lay the new plywood flooring ready for test fitting of the new shower tray etc. With the plywood floor down, the new shower tray was manoeuvred into position and placed on the fllor. All somewhat easier said than done as this is a…
Given the state of the old floor boards in the bathroom we were left with little option except to remove them & start again with a new plywood floor – more suitable as a solid base for a shower tray & floor tiles. Thanks to the joists being just slightly too far apart to support…
All building work’s now been completed and the kitchen is finished (bar a tiled splashback). Here’s how it was supposed to end up, according to the plans: And this is the finished result! For a look around, have a look at this “PhotoSynth” of the finished kitchen! http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=c2be9062-406b-4fc2-b870-a67425e452c3&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=falsePhotos: Full credit has to go to Upgrade…
Once the old bathroom had been stripped out we were able to get our first good look at the floor…. … and promptly determined that this was a prime opportunity to remove the old floor boards replacing them with plywood as a much more stable & solid base for tiling. With the boards up, we…
And as if by magic; the kitchen now looks more like a finished room! Still lots of work to do here but the end’s just about now in sight.
