Clayton life adventure: June 2015

Sunday, June 14, 2015

House improvements 2013/14

So we moved to England. To a hovel of a tiny terrace house with an abandoned garden to match the house. It was bought unseen as we had to buy and hadn't sold our Shetland house in time for our move. A risky thing to do and we could see from the pictures that the place had damp problems.
In the buying process we found out that the boiler was non functional and the oven/hob was dangerous.
The boiler was fixed the week before we moved - thank goodness for the Internet that made that possible!
On moving in we:
Changed the pay card electric meter to a standard house hold one with bills.
Had the drains unclogged and surveyed.
Had the structure of the house looked at - its sound. We didn't do this before moving in to prevent delay in gaining a mortgage.
Put in a down pipe and soffits at the front of the house - solving the worst of the damp in those rooms.
Clad our bedroom - because of that damp.
Had the chimneys swept and fixed - the flue had not been lined and the chimney pots were wrong
Fixed main electric fire alarms & CO monitor in room with the boiler.

Then over the rest of the time we:
decorated the sitting room - previously the front facing wall was too wet to take paint
Replaced the kitchen and made it open plan with the dining area.
Replaced the kettle with a qooker. Epic piece of kit!
Decorated the dining area - painting the stair case and chimney breast - lighter and brighter for it
Replaced the doors and windows - massive difference to light, noise and security!
Fitted a toilet upstairs where a linen cupboard was - now we have 2 loos!
Replaced our damp 1980's filthy bathroom.
Created a desk area

Like anything you have to work hard at, we have come to like our house. Just like we like our garden. Its coming good. More is needed. We need an extension so the lads have more space. A small double room with 2 bunk beds is not great. We need to sort out the downstairs - removing the radiators and carpet for tiles and underfloor heating. We need to sort out the open fire for a stove. But now we want to do this for comfort not necessity.

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

2014 - Outings & holidays

A busy, busy year we went all out to integrate with the country and location we had moved to. But sought to reassure the kids that even though we'd moved to a very small horrible house there was/is fun to be had anyway!