Out with the old

 When we purchased the house the old gas fire was unsafe to use and was condemned by the plumber and removed for us, we took our time to decide on what to fill the hole with as it was still an open chimney letting cold in through it.

The wife and I wanted a fire, in the hole but one that is as safe as possible withg children in the house, there are many designs out there, we were unsure what to have, so we had people out to quote, and we decided to go look at a showroom to see what some of these fires look like and the costs involved.

In the end we chose a log burner as wood is a renewable source and log burners are more efficient and economical than a gas fire as well as the chimney being sealed up when not in use, the team from corby fire designs start on Monday with a two-week gap between to allow the work to dry out a bit before the installation of the hearth and log burner.

Sprung a leak

Ok yesterday we found a tiny weep from the bathroom radiator so I thought I'd invest in a new one as the plumber had to disturb the old one.

I found a towel radiator for the central heating system that I can fit a heater element to it and it's on offer at the moment.

It a chrome 1200x500 mm radiator to hopefully warm the room and dry the towels

I think it was a good price for it, on offer it was £39.97p from Toolstation

I will see over time how well the radiator lasts but for now it looks very nice.

I also need to get the electrics heater element wired up and see he that goes as it's a smallish 250watt unit

Why fit an electric element to a central heating system you ask? Well the towels won't dry if the heating system isn't on or warm them on a cold day if the heating hasn't switched on.

I also purchased this from Toolstation

Pre planning the dining room floor

Seems easy enough and gives you the basic idea for fitting the laminate to the floor I'll find out when I get that far

Tiles on the hall floor

Well I decided now the walls are plastered it's time to get on with getting some flooring down and make the house look like a home.

I have two places that I can place the flooring down on, the hall and the dining room

I want to get on with the laminate but I'm waiting on the plumber to move the radiator from the kitchen to the dining room to give us some more space out there.

So it's time to get some tiles down in the hall. It's a messy job but it needs doing, I purchased a dry mix of floor tile adhesive and it's not easy getting the mixture right.

I think I got there in the end

So I got the under stairs part down, what do you think?

I plan to lay the tiles then fit the skirting boards over the top.

Let's hope it looks better than it is at the moment.

The tiles are from Wickes

The plasteres have returned!

Well today they returned and to my surprise the house has had all it's plastering done. 

Now we have to wait for it to dry, then I can get the skirting boards down and ready the front room for carpet fitting.

Update

Ok we have been waiting on the plaster to come back in and finish his job as we can't get any flooring or skirting boards fitted until he dose his bit.

He has confirmed he will be back in on the 4th of January to carry on.

It's all getting closer to being able to move in hopefully by mid jan

Waiting on the plasteres return

So this evening I cleared some more skirting boards and carpet gripper from the front room and dining room.

I also cut the ends of the nails that would not come our with the claw hammer I got out the Parkside rotary tool

More to come about the rotary tool once I have used it a bit.

More damp treatment

Well I got over to the house this evening ani I decided the outer wall in the hall needed damp proofing as a precaution. I drilled out the holes under the stairs and in front then filled the holes with the injection cream.

You can see the white cream filling the 12mm holes I have drilled to help seal the cement joints between the bricks and above the damp course.

Some light on the subject

Well after some thinking we decided we needed some more kitchen space and the dining room needed some more light.

They was old wooden frames an needed to be replaced so we had a few quotes for them to be replaced.

We went for a company called safe style. We also decided to get the window in the dining room opened up into a door so to allows more light in the room and block up the door way in the kitchen giving us some more lower counter space but allowing more lots of light as it's a full length window

Today they came and done the job, it was dark when I got home so I could only take the inside ones

Hard workers

Ok before we got the house I got some tools and previously had some tools that I have been using over the last month and a bit of ownership.

One of the things I have is a set of five pry bars by roughneck. From tool station the link is Here.

These are the three bigger bars and they have been amazing for all the work I have needed them. 

I have used them to lifting floorboards, Prying off the old well fitted skirting boards, leavening out well seated nails and screws from the walls and they have taken a beating from a 4lb hammer forcing them where I need them to go!

For the money they cost me a while back I am truly amazed how good they are and they look the same shape.they were when I got them and I don't think I have been gentle with them.

Rating 5 out of 5

I took the plunge!

Ok looking in all the rooms I have to replace all the skirting boards in I have decided to get a mini circular saw.

I decided on a mini one as I have no need to cut huge bits of wood currently I need to cut a lot of 13mm thick pine wood at various angles to place on walls.

1st one I purchased was from Toolstation by draper it was 600w and cut to 27mm depth.

It looked to be what I needed, it didn't say if it did angled cuts bit it said max depth at 90 degrees so I purchased it.

On opening the box I found this plunge saw to just cut straight cuts  and allowed various depths so it was no good for what I intend to use it for.

I looked on Amazon and found the worx Wa429 it cuts deeper 46mm, can plunge and will cut to a 45 degree angle, video on the link. My only concern is it is 400watt and less rpm than the draper so it could stall when cutting.

It arrived Saturday in a sturdy looking hinged plastic box. 

Out the box it looks nice and felt quite light 

This is the back side where you can set the blade depth you require 

This is the front where you can set your blade angle 

These are the steel blade and the ceramic blade 

I had a quick go at cutting up some old wood at 45 degree angles and here it is not yo bad for a quick go