Home improvements - time the house had some TLC!

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postman

Squire
Location
,Leeds
We are still waiting for our windows to be replaced,he did say December,but things could be delayed due to getting materials.Now middle of January and no sight of him.
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Not sure if I mentioned before, but when we ordered the kitchen I ordered a few extra doors to cover the washing machine and dryer which now live in the little pantry cupboard...

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I decided before christmas that it would be nice to mimic the kitchen cupboards so have sourced identical hinges and designed a frame to build in to the opening to mount the doors on. I found a company that CNC cut melamine to custom designs and sent the drawing over to them and have just agreed a price and placed the order, the bits should arrive in a few weeks time :okay: Here's the drawing I put together - my early years as a CAD engineer weren't wasted afterall :laugh:

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There'll be 5 doors - the two machines will each be covered by a pair of doors hinged vertically and there'll be a single door at the top hinged horizontally. I'll build an extra shelf above the dryer so we can utilise the storage space as best we can. I'll need to resize the current opening in the wall, it needs to be taller and narrower, but I'll do that once the frame arrives as it'll be easier to get the dimensions right 😊

In other news, I've been in touch with the electrician - he's going to book me in to do the work in around 3 weeks time, so I'll use any time I have available between then and now to get as much wall/floor done as I can 😊
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
Not sure if I mentioned before, but when we ordered the kitchen I ordered a few extra doors to cover the washing machine and dryer which now live in the little pantry cupboard...

View attachment 627566

I decided before christmas that it would be nice to mimic the kitchen cupboards so have sourced identical hinges and designed a frame to build in to the opening to mount the doors on. I found a company that CNC cut melamine to custom designs and sent the drawing over to them and have just agreed a price and placed the order, the bits should arrive in a few weeks time :okay: Here's the drawing I put together - my early years as a CAD engineer weren't wasted afterall :laugh:

View attachment 627567

There'll be 5 doors - the two machines will each be covered by a pair of doors hinged vertically and there'll be a single door at the top hinged horizontally. I'll build an extra shelf above the dryer so we can utilise the storage space as best we can. I'll need to resize the current opening in the wall, it needs to be taller and narrower, but I'll do that once the frame arrives as it'll be easier to get the dimensions right 😊

In other news, I've been in touch with the electrician - he's going to book me in to do the work in around 3 weeks time, so I'll use any time I have available between then and now to get as much wall/floor done as I can 😊
good to see the extended xmas break has come to an end and your back at the DIY john :whistle:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
I've spent the day doing house buildy things and am now thoroughly knackered - I have made some good progress though :laugh:

I decided to make life a little easier by moving the end wall seperating the cupboard and toilet by 100mm - this makes the toilet a little bigger and we won't lose too much storage space, it was already a big cupboard. What this means is that the cupboard side of the new wall no longer clashes with the consumer unit so it can be built ready for the new consumer unit to be fitted to, making the changeover much more simple..

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Before the studwork could be built though i needed to extend the pipework which will end up under the floor serving a radiator in the hall, a towel rail in the toilet, the toilet itself and the sink.

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I noticed the other day my new concrete floor isn't level, and its unfortunately too high rather than too low in places... One of those places happens to be where the hot and cold pipes run to the sink, so I wasn't going to have enough space under the floor for them. This meant I had to cut a couple of channels with a diamond disc cutter and my trusty hammer and chisel to recess the pipes slightly... I'll level the floor up with battons and spacers as I did in the kitchen so it won't affect anything else fingers crossed.

627719


The hot and cold water pipes are now pressurised and live with no leaks so that's all good for now... Time to build some studwork! This wall is the trickiest so far as it's a double studwork frame to make space for the toilet cistern built in to the wall, with an access panel in the back of the cupboard for maintenance.

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So far I've built the toilet side up to half height, including a frame for the cistern which I've hung but not yet plumbed in. Next I need to build up the cupboard side of the studwork including the framework for the access hatch, now I know where the bits that need access are :laugh: That's a job for another day though :okay:
 

Colin Grigson

Bass guitarist - Bad News
Location
Slovakia
I've spent the day doing house buildy things and am now thoroughly knackered - I have made some good progress though :laugh:

I decided to make life a little easier by moving the end wall seperating the cupboard and toilet by 100mm - this makes the toilet a little bigger and we won't lose too much storage space, it was already a big cupboard. What this means is that the cupboard side of the new wall no longer clashes with the consumer unit so it can be built ready for the new consumer unit to be fitted to, making the changeover much more simple..

View attachment 627717

Before the studwork could be built though i needed to extend the pipework which will end up under the floor serving a radiator in the hall, a towel rail in the toilet, the toilet itself and the sink.

View attachment 627718

I noticed the other day my new concrete floor isn't level, and its unfortunately too high rather than too low in places... One of those places happens to be where the hot and cold pipes run to the sink, so I wasn't going to have enough space under the floor for them. This meant I had to cut a couple of channels with a diamond disc cutter and my trusty hammer and chisel to recess the pipes slightly... I'll level the floor up with battons and spacers as I did in the kitchen so it won't affect anything else fingers crossed.

View attachment 627719

The hot and cold water pipes are now pressurised and live with no leaks so that's all good for now... Time to build some studwork! This wall is the trickiest so far as it's a double studwork frame to make space for the toilet cistern built in to the wall, with an access panel in the back of the cupboard for maintenance.

View attachment 627720
View attachment 627721

So far I've built the toilet side up to half height, including a frame for the cistern which I've hung but not yet plumbed in. Next I need to build up the cupboard side of the studwork including the framework for the access hatch, now I know where the bits that need access are :laugh: That's a job for another day though :okay:
Yet more great work John, you must be saving yourself thousands of pounds doing it yourself - and at least you know it’s right :okay:. I’ve got a couple of 5 minute jobs when you’re finished :unsure:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Thanks Colin - I'd be happy to pop over for a weekend, I'll bring the bike too :laugh:

I plumbed the cistern in this evening after dinner - it was a pretty quick job with just one soldered elbow, 2 compression fittings and a threaded joint to nip up :okay:

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I turned on the isolation valve fairly gingerly but no leaks and the inlet valve only needed some minor adjustment to get the level right 😊 Next it was time to test the flush...

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Its only fair to admit that at this point I did get a bit wet... It's got quite a flush on it :laugh: Silly sod that I am I'd stood right in front of it and was leaning over so couldn't get out of the way quickly when it overshot the big bucket :whistle::laugh: Still, it works and thats the main thing :laugh: I ran it for long enough to check I'd not accidentally plumbed it up to the hot water before isolating and draining. The Electrician is hopefully popping round at some point tomorrow to quote for moving the consumer unit and putting in the new lighting circuits :okay:
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
Thanks Colin - I'd be happy to pop over for a weekend, I'll bring the bike too :laugh:

I plumbed the cistern in this evening after dinner - it was a pretty quick job with just one soldered elbow, 2 compression fittings and a threaded joint to nip up :okay:

View attachment 628056

I turned on the isolation valve fairly gingerly but no leaks and the inlet valve only needed some minor adjustment to get the level right 😊 Next it was time to test the flush...

View attachment 628059

Its only fair to admit that at this point I did get a bit wet... It's got quite a flush on it :laugh: Silly sod that I am I'd stood right in front of it and was leaning over so couldn't get out of the way quickly when it overshot the big bucket :whistle::laugh: Still, it works and thats the main thing :laugh: I ran it for long enough to check I'd not accidentally plumbed it up to the hot water before isolating and draining. The Electrician is hopefully popping round at some point tomorrow to quote for moving the consumer unit and putting in the new lighting circuits :okay:
as usual its top work again john......always good to see a perfectionist at work, to make his own home work better for his family
 
Thanks Colin - I'd be happy to pop over for a weekend, I'll bring the bike too :laugh:

I plumbed the cistern in this evening after dinner - it was a pretty quick job with just one soldered elbow, 2 compression fittings and a threaded joint to nip up :okay:

View attachment 628056

I turned on the isolation valve fairly gingerly but no leaks and the inlet valve only needed some minor adjustment to get the level right 😊 Next it was time to test the flush...

View attachment 628059

Its only fair to admit that at this point I did get a bit wet... It's got quite a flush on it :laugh: Silly sod that I am I'd stood right in front of it and was leaning over so couldn't get out of the way quickly when it overshot the big bucket :whistle::laugh: Still, it works and thats the main thing :laugh: I ran it for long enough to check I'd not accidentally plumbed it up to the hot water before isolating and draining. The Electrician is hopefully popping round at some point tomorrow to quote for moving the consumer unit and putting in the new lighting circuits :okay:

I'm even more impressed with your work having seen you're so small that you needed steps for a low level flush. :okay:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Sorry 😋 Work has paused while we wait for the electrician to do his thing. He's booked in for the 7th March so things should pick up again after that :becool:

We have decided on a minor addition while the ceiling is down; we're going to put a second aircon unit outside to run an indoor unit in the living room. The pipes can all be easily concealed now so they'll go in before the ceilings and walls are finished and the units can be installed later. Fun times 😄 This will be handy in Summer, but also gives us an option to heat most of the house without gas which could be useful in future :whistle::laugh:
 
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