Fuggly fire starters

 OK I'm a big fan of recycling and repurposing things rather than throwing away and this is a tiny way to reuse things that would otherwise end up in a bin and go unused.

We use these for the log burner and for lighting the BBQ in better weather, and they burn for about 4 minutes, and they work brilliantly. 

I doubt they will be any cheaper than the firelighters you find in the shops, but I think it's better to reuse than to throw it in the bin.

What is in them?

• The base of an old cardboard egg box
• Tumble dryer lint/fluff from when you clean the filter 
• Wax from leftover candles you no longer use 

All you do is cover the area with something non-porous or absorbent as melted wax will mark/stain things,  fill the egg cups to the top with the lint melt the wax however you feel safe and pour the melted wax over the lint and leave the wax to cool then split the cups apart and store for use. 

Note: wax melts around 60 degrees Celsius and can still burn (find a safe way to pour the wax) 

Log store

Time to start making a store to keep the logs dry and out the way, I collected some pallets people were getting rid of and cut them down to suit the space I have to put it.

All the wood I had was reused pallet material and nothing else 

once it was built I painted it with fence paint (cuprinol ducks back silver cops)

it now needs an apex roof to fit to it but for today that's it done 

 

log burner day

Well today the team returned and finished off the fireplace and fitted the log burner I'm over the moon it looks like something rather than a cold draughty mess it once was.

Log burner installed onto the log box to looks brilliant not long until its finished.

about two hours after the fire was brought in to the house it was installed and tested, I would highly recommend the corby fire designs team as the house was left clean and tidy both times they carried out the work.

 

More damp proofing

 While we were waiting for the return of the company to return and carry out the last stage of the installation, I decided to carry out some damp proofing of the chimney area as the walls either side suffered with damp I felt it a good idea to seal it while there was time.

With all the damp injection cream in it needed time to absorb into the cement before the fire place install in a week 

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.