Turn Around House

This little palace will be occupied on the 6th of next month.

 THAT'S ONE WEEK AWAY !

Vic and Naz carried on with the never ending task of restoring the CONSERVATORY. Slowed down Naz. She can't paint and be a chippys' mate.

It's not easy to see what this is, but it's the hole/s where the gas fire used to be.

Now it's here, waiting to go into the loft. A new fire's due for fitting at the weekend. We will make it look smart in here.

I was banished to the garden, yet again, to do my tile cutting. Water every where other wise. It felt as if HELL HAD FROZEN OVER. Still, HOT WATER IN THE SUMP saved my fingers for the second day running.

This is how the bathroom looked at the end of the day yesterday. I'm getting there, I'm sure you'll agree.

The Turn Around House Monday 29.11.10

What a freezing day and I am going to cut tiles today. Because I use an electrical tile cutter that sprays water every where, it had to be set up outside and I was dreading the cold.

So I filled the sump with hot water. It was lovely, even though I was outdoors in the elements. Click here to see my shots of the  frost today in MUDDY BOOTS.

First though, I passed the kitchen,

It's almost done ... apart from the tiling!

Then to the conservatory, which looks nearer to completion. Here I fished out the tile cutter and set it up in the garden.

Finally I wandered up stairs to the bathroom to resume where I left off last night.

How far did I get today? I'll show you tomorrow as it was dark when I left. 

3 of us working on the house all day, and 2 this evening.

We are on the home leg.

The Turn Around House Saurday 27.11.10

Yet another freezing day, with dustings of snow. 

What better weather to pull the conservatory apart?

Then gather together a load of tools and begin to patch it back together again. I left Vic and his brother in law to it.

Pete, the London gas, ripped the heater off the wall. Was he having a bad day?

The decorators were a wizz. Naz sanded the stair case,

Terry and her sister worked through each room, painting the walls and woodwork. Here Terry looks as if she's sitting on her sisters' knee and her sister's sitting on the new loo. What a

 POTTY family : )

Then they laid out their lunch.

A BOG STANDARD PICNIC!

Turn Around House Thursday 25.11.10

Oh what a chilli day! I wore full mountaineering thermals - 4 layers on my top end and 3 on my tail end. 

Snug as a bug : )

Glad I didn't need to rush into hospital as it's not the most presentable outfit for a girly!

Vic came by and checked out the conservatory, he looked, we made a hole - to see what ply the plywood is, he measured, he made notes, he went away to source the wood for the job.

I stayed behind to prep for the decorators who want to be in and starting on Saturday. 

This is a dry lined house (as far as I can tell) and after 20 years, some of the tape used to cover the plasterboard joints has become unstuck. It looks a proper mess and on the joint between ceiling and wall, it's tricky to put right - invisibly. I've removed all the loose Artex and un-stuck tape. Used a spatula to scrape off the Artex and a Stanley blade to cut away the tape nice and cleanly.

Then it got really tricky with me struggling to match the smooth taped edge and the stippled Artexed ceiling. Here's one all finished. In all I had over a dozen patches to make good, plus all those little holes, in the walls and ceiling, from those wardrobes I took out last weekend.

This took over 6 hours.

Turn Around House Monday 22.11.10

Busy this week and this place has to be ready by the 6th of December. 

No Pressure!

On my own today.  

I decided to tidy up, one trip to our house with the wood from the 2 'fitted wardrobes' and two to the tip with all the rubbish.

PHEW!!

Then all curtains taken down and carpet taken up - underlay to be kept.

Bathroom things laid out on the floor of the small bedroom.

Bath ready to be given its' legs so that I can gauge the height for tiling. 

Living room carpet almost folded. I had to lug all the carpet to the car and lump it into the boot on my own. I shall have the muscles of a man at this rate.

 Shame about the state of the underlay. Must've been a great party

: )

Where's all the kit? All in one lockable place. Sadly it's not that secure, but it's the best we can do.

I got on and changed the front door lock and padlocked the garden gate.

On top of all that, men came to measure up and quote for the double glazing and carpets.

I need a rest.

Back on Thursday for more!

Turnaround House Kitchen Saturday and Sunday 20 and 21.11.10

We've spent the weekend working on the little house on the hill, The Turn Around House.

MeWally has struggled, for both days, to get the work tops (counters) to fit snugly 

and to look good at the same time.

Getting there - phew!

Next job; put in the sink. Then he can clamp it all together and attach it to the units underneath. Then I can tile : )  

 I said TILE, not SMILE!

Meanwhile, I prepped all the other rooms for decoration/tiling.

Both the bedrooms have now lost their cupboards. I did this very carefully so that I might be able to recycle the wood, which is all planed and good pine.

Too good to burn!

Turn Around House Friday 19.11.10

  OMG!

What a mess,

can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. 

The new bathroom suite is lurking in the MASTER BEDROOM,

along with this lovely built in wardrobe, which will be gone by Monday.

As will this BUILT IN BEAUTY in the second bedroom! Obviously we had to think long and hard about whether to keep it or get shot of it.

Another job that needs to be done is this section of the conservatory. It's nothing to worry about, it's only structural!

MUST PRESS ON

Double glazing reps coming today, Monday and Tuesday, as are the carpet reps. I'll be repped out by Wednesday!

Right now, I'm going to fit the PLINTHS under the kitchen units. Then all will be well with the world.

Day 2 In The Turnaround House Sunday 6.11.10

We were really busy again today. MeWally mucking about with the kitchen plumbing. Me attaching cupboards to the walls and each other and fitting some of them out. It took me hours to scrape a frieze off the wall. It was just below the ceiling.

Unlike MeWally, I didn't have a willing helper prepping everything ready for when it was needed.

We've managed to do a fair amount in a couple of days, but that's it for a mo: too busy to do more. See you in a week!

House Turn Around Saturday 6.11.10

We need to turn a house around very quickly as the tenants are due to move in, in a few weeks.

This old kitchen has to go. The current tenant has been here for many years, so it's all change.

EVERYTHING must go, except for that ugly boiler.

Soon all is calm. Time for a good old British  CUPPA.

And this is where we stashed those old units.

We had stacked all the new units in the living room, 

which is a good place to work on building all the new cupboards.

Meanwhile, I get on with restoring the kitchen and entrance hall floors.

OH!!!! Hello,

BELLA!!!!! : )   TIME FOR TEA AND CAKE!

We press on, MeWally strips out all but the loo as I strip the floors.

Then we put legs on the first of the units and stand them in place.

We head home with a VERY LONG LIST of things to RETURN, PICK UP, BUY, DO. 

NO PRESSURE : 0