Looking back on the last year in our house it has been another quiet one, but we have started knocking down the walls. Only non-structural ones, but it is a start. So here is a list of the things we’ve done and still need to do.
Done
The biggest thing we’ve done is knock down some downstairs walls, including the one the children and their friends painted, yes it was sad, but we let them paint that wall knowing we would be knocking it down – and we let them help knock down the walls.
We have combined two bedrooms, WC and hallway into one big space that we will split up into a study, shower room and utility room. Knocking down the walls was actually the easy part, we are struggling to get the old lino up off the floor as it has been glued straight on the concrete and as we pull the lino up the glue is being left behind.
Other activities include:
- buying a shower suite from the Bathstore* which we’ll fit once we’ve built the walls
- planning the layout of the utility room to use as little space as possible while fitting everything in we want
- buying two more speakers for the living room so we can remove the old speakers and cables on the wall
- getting a NAS to store our photographs
- planting daffodil bulbs around a tree in the back garden
- planning a wide cellar to go in the lift pit once it is removed
- fixing the outside light so the lounge lights don’t turn off when it rains
- buying a bookcase to tidy the toys in the lounge
- submitting the building regulations application
- removing the door that opens with a push button
The best place to keep up to date with progress, including live videos where you can comment and ask me questions is my Facebook page.
Not dones
There are still many things we haven’t done; and you’ll recognise most of them from my 1st 2nd and 3rd anniversary posts. We haven’t:
- fixed the hole above the ensuite door
- removed the automatic door closures from the walls
- got hot (or even warm) water in the downstairs WC
- reduced the deadleg in the kitchen so we get hot water without running taps for five minutes
- sorted the plumbing between the two sinks in the kitchen so we can run the taps at the same time
- removed the sink in the other bedroom
- sorted the gradient of the ensuite floor so the water drains properly
- fixed the leak from the shower into the lounge
- removed the fire safety signs
- removed the fire alarm break glass points
- removed the emergency lights (although we are thinking of looking for some nicer looker ones to install as they have proved very useful during power cuts)
- removed the lift (this will be a major structural change as some of the roof joists were cut to install it, so when it comes out we need to support the roof with several steel bars)
- fitted a shower screen or curtain
- removed the glue from the carpets stuck to all the floors
- complete the builder’s specification
Plans for year 5
The focus for the next year is to create the study, utility room and shower room as that will add more usable space to the house. Once that is complete we need to involve builders to remove the lift and change the layout of the downstairs, but I’m not expecting us to start that during year 5 because we haven’t finished the specification or got quotes from builders yet so there will be a delay before we can start.
Do you have plans for your house this year? How long does it take you to start work on your house projects?
Don’t forget you can follow our progress, including live videos, on my Facebook page.
*Disclosure – this is an affiliate link which means if you buy something after following the link I will earn a percentage of what you spend, but it will not cost you any more