Two months in, and we're beginning to get a bit frustrated - especially after reading all the suggested costings in the thread about Rapido's project!
We've worked out what needs doing, and found a reputable builder, and researched things like bathrooms and kitchens, and made plans of where we need extra power points and light fittings, and abandoned the idea of turning the cellar into a utility room (the bathroom is going change size and shape so that we can make a cupboard off the landing to house the washing-machine and tumble-dryer).
We've got excited about the possibility of re-roofing with proper slates so that we can get rid of the struts that hold up the concrete tiles, enabling us to gain a bit of extra storage...
And we've done some sums to see how much money we have in the pot.
And it isn't much.
The result of all this is that our bathroom will come from Bathstore, our kitchen will be Ikea's cheapest, we may have to be satisfied with a re-flashed roof and an unusable loft for the next year or so, and replacing the horrid d-g windows with sashes remains a distant dream.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that we wont reach the top of the builder's queue until the middle of next month, and until he and his men have done their stuff there's not much we can usefully do to the house apart from prepping all the woodwork, which makes it look even worse.
BUT - our Freedom Passes are brilliant, as is the bus service at the end of our road. And we can pop round to see our kids, or nip into town for a stroll along the South Bank, or visit a gallery or two - for nothing!
And today we're going to collect a nice tall stepladder so that I can start slapping Peelaway on the ornate ceiling rose in the sitting-room.
And the sun's shining.
We've worked out what needs doing, and found a reputable builder, and researched things like bathrooms and kitchens, and made plans of where we need extra power points and light fittings, and abandoned the idea of turning the cellar into a utility room (the bathroom is going change size and shape so that we can make a cupboard off the landing to house the washing-machine and tumble-dryer).
We've got excited about the possibility of re-roofing with proper slates so that we can get rid of the struts that hold up the concrete tiles, enabling us to gain a bit of extra storage...
And we've done some sums to see how much money we have in the pot.
And it isn't much.
The result of all this is that our bathroom will come from Bathstore, our kitchen will be Ikea's cheapest, we may have to be satisfied with a re-flashed roof and an unusable loft for the next year or so, and replacing the horrid d-g windows with sashes remains a distant dream.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that we wont reach the top of the builder's queue until the middle of next month, and until he and his men have done their stuff there's not much we can usefully do to the house apart from prepping all the woodwork, which makes it look even worse.
BUT - our Freedom Passes are brilliant, as is the bus service at the end of our road. And we can pop round to see our kids, or nip into town for a stroll along the South Bank, or visit a gallery or two - for nothing!
And today we're going to collect a nice tall stepladder so that I can start slapping Peelaway on the ornate ceiling rose in the sitting-room.
And the sun's shining.
