Neils 2008 Property Blog |
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Friday, December 12, 2008 |
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Why does it take so long to do the valuation?!! Frustration setting in – and then the bank says it’s posted the valuation to me and should be with me in a few days – WHAT!!! It’s Xmas, all post is slow. It’s the 21st century, email it to me!! More tea please. |
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Wednesday, December 10, 2008 |
OUCH! All along the way my builder has been quoting about £30k for the labour to renovate the house. Now that it’s all going ahead and I’ve got solicitors and the architect etc all engaged in the project, suddenly his quote has gone up to £53k (not including VAT). I’m getting the architect to do a reality-check on it.
Admittedly there are a few more things in the project than I initially thought – like insulation, and he’s now including sockets and ceiling lights but the fundamentals like knocking out walls etc are all the same. Luckily a vaguely connected relative of mine used to be a builder so I’m emailing over the quote to him also for a reality-check. |
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Tips
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1. Reality-check builders quotes with an architect. |
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Tuesday, December 09, 2008 |
Ok so I had a call from Legal & General who have been sub-contracted by Nat West to run the valuation process. In turn they’ve subcontracted to a local company in Greenwich called Hayward’s to get the keys from the estate agents and to do the valuation. Hayward’s will then email a report back to Nat West which I need to get a copy of and send to my solicitors. I’m sure there’s a simpler way – maybe I need to set up my own business called Properteasy.com – although that sounds a bit rude.
My wife and boy are currently visiting friends in Koln in Germany. Their house is one of those pre-fab houses and she says it’s fantastic (awaiting photos). The Huf house factory (as seen on Grand Designs) is only ½ hour from Koln so she might go over to see some houses. In the future I’d love to buy some land and have one of these very modern pre-fabs. Watch this space. |
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1. When you’re buying property no one really cares about the process apart from you. Be cool, and call everyone every day to move things along. It’s your project and whether you like it or not you’re the Project Manager. If you don’t manage it, no one else will. |
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Thursday, December 04, 2008 |
My lovely bank Nat West emailed me yesterday saying that the Agreement in Principal I had has expired and because of the current economic situation I need to provide loads more documentation to support my case. This is despite the fact that I’m putting down 25% of the mortgage, and asking for much less than the Agreement in Principal covered.
What’s worse is that the bank has only just decided to tell me – ie once we’re well into the buying process. I’m not happy at all with this and have decided to close all my Nat West accounts and move to HSBC or Lloyds if they don’t give me the mortgage. That’s right all my toys are out of the pram.
I’ve been with Nat West for 26 years and am being treated like an immigrant with no history and no deposit. I can’t be with a bank that ignores my track record over 26 years. |
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Tips
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1. Get in writing the Agreement in Principal from the bank before you start looking for a property. Also, make sure that the expiry date of the agreement is clear, and that if you have to apply again that they can re-use all the documentation rather than having to start from scratch. |
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2. Stay cool. Difficult eh?! |
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Thursday, December 04, 2008 |
From the BBC – “The Bank of England has cut interest rates by one percentage point, from 3% to 2% - the lowest level since 1951”. I emailed the bank and they said that this drop should be reflected in my mortgage which is index linked, but not a Libor tracker. I decided on the index-linked because it had the most flexibility – ie as soon as rates hit rick bottom (which could be now) – I can switch to a really nice and low fixed rate.
The only problem is that the mortgage on my apartment is fixed so I’m still paying way over the odds for it, and it’s not worth transferring to a tracker because the exit penalty is too high – about £10k I think. |
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Tips
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1. Always look for a mortgage that is a trade off between monthly payments and flexibility. |
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Thursday, December 04, 2008 |
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There are so many decisions to be made and so little time. What kind of sliding doors? What kind of kitchen? What kind of bathroom? Carpets? What kind of wooden floor downstairs – engineered or solid wood? Replace all the windows? Replace the banister? What about some glass bricks in the kitchen wall to let more light into the hallway? What about a new front door – how much is that? Where should the radiators go and what type shall we buy? |
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Tips
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1. Don’t panic. Work out which decisions you need to make now, and which decisions you can defer. Ask the builder what decisions he needs you to make – after all this might be your first renovation but it won’t (or at least shouldn’t) be your builders first renovation. |
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2. As your builder to reality check your decisions. Don’t just say “I want that there” – he may know better than you what works and what doesn’t. |
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3. Spend the money where it counts. Unless you really need to fly to Sicily for a week to check out a new kind of bathroom wall tile which you’ve seen in a magazine and have fallen in love with despite the fact it costs £40 per tile, don’t. You need good taps and good appliances that will last. |
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Wednesday, December 03, 2008 |
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Today I cut the first cheque for the house - £400 floater for the solicitors. It’s the first entry in my expenditure spreadsheet – see below. I dropped off some paperwork and met the solicitor Pam who seems like a really nice person. |
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Tips
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1. Use a spreadsheet to keep track of all your expenditure and if you’re so inclined break it down by room or at least by labour, materials and fees. Not being able to track the costs means you’re not in control and can’t make informed decisions. |
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Monday, December 01, 2008 |
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Run all your ideas past an architect – some of your ideas may cost a lot and an architect may be able to suggest a few ideas you hadn’t thought of which will be less risky and less expensive that your ideas. |
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Thursday, November 27, 2008 |
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I’ve chosen a local solicitors close to where I live and work in Canary Wharf. This is so I can go there any lunch time if I need to take documents there or sign anything. I’m hoping this will speed up the whole process. I’ve used the solicitors before when my wife (who’s not British) needed some docs for her residence permit. I’ve put everyone in touch with everyone else. |
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Monday, November 24, 2008 |
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I hate dealing with councils and have a bad track record of being frustrated by them. So with a sharp intake of breath I wrote a nice letter and put in some awful photos of the awful tree in the back garden asking nicely if I can have it shredded. This feels good – and it really feels like I’m making something happen. |
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1. Always be nice to councillors especially when applying for planning permission. Always follow up with a very nice phone call a couple of days later check they have your letter, and to let them know what a nice person you are. Be nice. |
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Monday, November 24, 2008 |
I met up at the house in Greenwich with an architect (but different from the one before), Kevin the builder and Shaun the tree surgeon. There’s a really ugly tree in the back garden we want taking out so Shaun is there to give us a quote to take it away, along with all the other vegetation in the front and back.
Shaun identified the tree as being a magnolia, and as we’re in a conservation area I’ll have to get permission to have it removed. Neal the architect was recommended by the same guy at work who passed on Kevin’s number so hopefully I’m on solid ground with this (pun intended). Neal was very good – he measured up all the rooms with some kind of laser device and we all had a long chat about the work we want doing.
The main problem in the house is that it’s east facing and is generally quite dark. I had the idea to put in a couple of solar tubes (see below) to bring some light into the bathroom and the landing. We could also widen the glass doors in the living room which should bring in more light, and replace the dark garden with light limestone tiles. |
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1. Once your offer has been accepted get planning, make decisions and make it happen. |
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2. Make all the really important changes up front, like which walls to knock down. You can work out which paint to buy later on. |
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Thursday, November 20, 2008 |
Wow, after a couple of weeks our offer of £345k has been accepted. The house was a deceased estate and the guy had left the proceedings to five charities, all of which had to agree on the offer before the offer was accepted.
My calculations allow for £350k for Kevin’s crew’s labour, £25k for all the stuff including kitchen units, bathroom units, bedroom and living room furniture, plus £5k for fees. I think it’ll take about 10 weeks to complete. I’ve drawn up a spreadsheet which will measure my spending against my predictions. This doesn’t include stamp duty which will be about £10k or the fact that I’ll have to pay for two mortgages for 3 months which will be about £4,500. |
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1. Before you start renovating run a spreadsheet listing all the work you want to be done and get your builder to give an estimate. Reality-check that with someone else and don’t forget all the fees you’ll be paying along the way. |
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Friday, November 07, 2008 |
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We decided to tile over a bit more of the wall next to the basin which was getting overly splashed when washing or shaving. Kevin’s right hand man came over for a few hours and has done a great job of finishing off the tiling with minimum fuss or mess. I now understand more than ever how important it is to have good builders who arrive when they say they will and do what they say they will. |
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Tips
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1. Before you even start to plan your renovation, if you’re not doing it yourself secure the services of a good builder who’s available for when you want the work to happen. Once you have that time your tiles, baths etc to arrive a couple of days ahead of that to give you time to check everything’s ready and present for the builder. |
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Tuesday, November 04, 2008 |
We’ve been to see the house in Greenwich again and we think we can do it. If Kevin is free in the new year it’d be a great project. The house would be empty for him to work in, and we could really go for it, making a virtually new house from the existing shell. It all sounds very ambitions.
We have just put in an offer of £345k compared to the asking price of £425k. This is because it is in really bad shape and need renovating right down to the last light switch. We’re at the start of a recession here – house prices have really been plummeting and they’ll probably drop further in 2009.
We think that doing a total renovation will be good for us long term – if we stay in the house for 3 to 5 years. |
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Tips
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1. Before buying a house that needs renovating take an architect and builder along and be ambitious. |
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008 |
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Enthused by all this renovation we’ve been to see a house in Greenwich. It’s in an uninhabitable state as it hasn’t been touched since the owner moved in when the house was built in 1981. It will be a total renovation. I showed some pictures to Kevin the builder and he’s confident he can do the renovation. |
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Tips
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1. If you’re looking for a house to totally renovate you have to consider radical changes including knocking down walls and relocating water tanks and even bathrooms. |
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2. Fortune favours the brave (when renovating). |
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Saturday, October 25, 2008 |
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The ensuite is finished and Graham the mirror man has installed the two mirrors which look great. I’m very happy with the look, although I think I’ve ordered the wrong toilet roll holders as they refuse to sit square against the wall – I think because it’s a stupidly small grub screw that’s trying to hold it in place. |
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1. Always add 20% contingency time to a renovation especially if you live in an apartment and you’re not allowed to renovate at the weekend. |
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Thursday, October 23, 2008 |
The ensuite is coming along, but as with the main bathroom there’s not been much progress in the last couple of days. I think in part because we ran out of tiles. The up turns look great on the floor but I didn’t take them into consideration when I did my calculations, so Kevin is going to pick up another box of tiles for me.
The other problem is that they can’t cut them in the apartment (too dusty) and they’re not allowed to cut them in the communal area downstairs which is fair enough – so they’re measuring up at the apartment then cutting them overnight in Kevin’s workshop. |
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Tips
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1. When you’re calculating the number of tiles you need at about 15% to allow for wastage and add about another 5% if you’re doing up-turns. |
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008 |
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The main bathroom looks good and the quote from the mirror man is £220 for each custom cut mirror including installation. They’ll both be about 120cm square. I might be able to get a better offer elsewhere but Kevin knows him and I’m running out of time, so I have agreed to the quote. |
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1. A custom cut mirror always looks great especially in an ensuite or small bathroom. |
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Monday, October 20, 2008 |
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Kevin and the crew finished off the main bathroom which I used for the first time this morning. The shower is much better than the old one and I feel a bit like I’m in a really nice hotel. They’ve stripped out the ensuite and I’m now sleeping in my sons room on an inflatable bed while the work is going on. Kevin recommended a mirror man who’s coming tomorrow to measure up and to give me a quote. |
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1. If at all possible keep everyone especially young children well out of the house while renovations are going on. My three year old will happily pick up a saw or sharp nail and ask “What’s this Daddy?” |
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Friday, October 17, 2008 |
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The tiling is still in progress and the whole bathroom looks no where near being finished. Kevin assures me that after a few hours work on Saturday it’ll be done. |
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Thursday, October 16, 2008 |
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The tiling has started and it all looks a bit darker than I had envisaged. Apart from that I can’t see much progress since yesterday. |
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Tips
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1. Always go for lighter tiles than you think you need. When you see a wall of tiles it’s always a little bit darker then when you look at an individual tile. |
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008 |
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Wow after just a couple of days the bath is in and the WC is loosely in place so they can fit all the plumbing in. The basin is gently resting on the plinth and even though it’s just a couple of centimetres bigger than the old ones they look massive in comparison. I’ve decided to put in an up-turn in the black granite tiles (the same as the kitchen) which looks great. |
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008 |
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I’m panicking a bit because I still haven’t bought a few things like the bathroom cabinets or the shelves for the bathrooms. I also haven’t sorted out someone to fit some custom-cut mirrors which I think are essential in making the bathrooms look modern and spacious. The work is coming on – they’re putting in new bits of plumbing. |
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Tips
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1. As I’ve mentioned before, use your own dust sheets to cover your TV and computer etc. |
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Monday, October 13, 2008 |
Kevin and his crew turned up nice and early this morning to dismantle the main bathroom. We’re renovating this along with the ensuite, but since I’m living here while the work’s going on (wife & son at my parents place) I need to have one operating bathroom! When I got home this evening much like the kitchen after one day, the entire old bathroom has gone including all the tiles – everything.
To keep things simple we’re just replacing like-for-like rather than trying to do a redesign. |
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Tips
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1. As I’ve mentioned before, use your own dust sheets to cover your TV and computer etc. |
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Friday, October 10, 2008 |
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We went up to £500k on the house in Blackheath but I think it's going to be a "No". We can't go over £500k because of the Stamp Duty - ie it'll jump to more than an extra £5k. I think the reason the sellers won't sell is because of the amount of work they've done on the property and I can understand that.
We'll keep the offer open for a while in case they change their mind - mainly because the local school is very good - and free.
The main problems with this house are;
1. Tiny kitchen / awkward patio garden - the architecht gave us an estimate of £35k to knock it down and build a new one.
2. Parking - parking looks very tight and there's no way we'd be able to see the car from the house.
3. Commute - I'm a commuting whimp - or rather I just hate commuting and from Blackheath it's a bumpy 20 min bus ride to North Greenwich tube, then one stop on the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf. To the city it'd be a train to London Bridge and take it from there. |
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Wednesday, October 08, 2008 |
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The house in Blackheath was on the market for £575k. Having discussed everything with the architect we put an offer of £485k. Yes it’s that kind of market at the moment – you never know. |
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Wednesday, October 08, 2008 |
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The house in Blackheath was on the market for £575k. Having discussed everything with the architect we put an offer of £485k. Yes it’s that kind of market at the moment – you never know. |
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Friday, September 26, 2008 |
After a while we’re back in the house hunting game – this time in central Blackheath. We saw a very nice house today and we’re going to make an offer, but from previous experience I’ve decided to see the house again with an architect who can offer advice.
The main problem with the house is that the kitchen is very very small – basically it used to be the coal shed. The architect was EXCELLENT – and I’ve realised that you can’t buy a house without the help and advice of an architect or very good builder. He gave us some good ideas and I explained what we had in mind for the kitchen – ie to knock it out and build a new one twice the size with a higher ceiling. All very doable – it’ll cost about £35k.
In the mean time I’ve had three quotes for the bathrooms. The bath, shower and all the bits and pieces are still in the living room – it’s been almost two months now. It’s proving very hard to find a builder. All the ones I find online or in the paper all seem like sharks to me. I was complaining about this in the office and one of my colleagues gave me the number of a builder who was doing some work for a friend of his.
The builders name is Kevin – he came around to see the bathrooms and was great – offering lots of good advice. Most importantly he drove an old van and he looked like a builder. One of the others who gave me a quote was very clean, wore clean clothes and had clean fingernails and drove a shiny Mercedes – ie he wasn’t a builder. I should imagine that if I gave him the job my apartment would be full of minimum wage people who’d maybe read the Dummy’s Guide to Renovation. Anyway, I hired Kevin and he starts on 13th October. |
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1. If you like a house and you’re seeing it again, arrange to meet a builder or architect there to get some ideas. |
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Monday, August 04, 2008 |
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My cousin came down last night. I was on the way to work this morning and he called – there was some very bad news in his family. He had to go home immediately. |
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Friday, August 01, 2008 |
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All the bathroom stuff arrived today. We’re doing this much more quickly than we did the kitchen – especially as we feel we’re going to move out – we just want something plain and simple to make the apartment look and be good for the next 10 years (hopefully). The taps are great – all Japer Morrison. We used a company called Doble based in Hounslow in west London near Heathrow. They were very helpful. Everything came to £3,300. |
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1. It makes a bathroom renovation easier if you get everything from the same supplier – makes it easier to match everything. |
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2. If the supplier drags their feet or can’t help with such questions as “Will this work with that?” then go to another supplier. |
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3. Agree on delivery up front before you order so they don’t hit you with an extra £50 for delivery. |
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Saturday, July 19, 2008 |
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We’re still borderline on this house. It definitely has something, but I want to get a better idea of how much renovations might cost. I found a builder on the internet and he met us at the house earlier today. He had a lot of good ideas, but I didn’t really like him – I think I saw a fin on his back. Anyway, we still like the house and the area so we made a new offer of £475k – which is about 14% down on the asking price – way below the normal max of -10% on the asking price. The agent hit the roof. I don’t think I’ll be hearing from him again. |
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Monday, July 14, 2008 |
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In this mad mix of looking for houses, we’ve decided to renovate the bathrooms which are currently falling apart. We’ve already seen a lot of stuff online and my cousin is going to come down for a couple of weeks to do the installation. As we’ll be renting the apartment out we’re looking for something fairly plain, simple and strong just in case we get heavy tenants who slam their arses down on our toilets.
We had a good experience with Topps Tiles and we want to match the black granite floor so we’re going back there again. We’ve ordered a bath, bath siding, two toilets, two basins, shower tray, two shower fittings along with two towel rails, toilet holders etc.
The picture here is of our ensuite as-is. The tiles are falling off the walls, the shower is cheap and we need a big mirror. |
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1. Bathroom furniture prices vary a lot from supplier to supplier. It’s worth buying the stuff and arranging the installation separately if you can. The big shops that do packages really add a big margin to the price. |
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Saturday, July 12, 2008 |
Ok so it’s not Blackheath, or even East Greenwich, but we took a look at some houses in Rotherhithe which is just across the Thames from Canary Wharf which is where most of my work it. It’d be a nice commute on the ferry each day (just like living in Sydney? Not quite).
Anyway, the houses were awful. One in particular was the worst house I think I’ve ever seen in my life. So unbelievably packed with thousands and thousands of shabby toys (two daughters).
The bathrooms also looked awful. Being nosy I noticed that their toothbrushes looked about 5 years old. I couldn’t buy a house from people like that. |
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1. Be nosey. Don’t feel embarrassed about opening bathroom cupboards or draws in the bedroom. How people live reflects how well they look after this house you’re buying. |
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Saturday, July 05, 2008 |
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Our offer of £500k has been grudgingly accepted, but I’m not feeling happy about it. The agency called me while we were at a service station on the M4 on the way back to London. I told the agent that I thought prices might fall further and so I wanted to put the offer on hold. The agent was very aggressive and pushy which I didn’t like. Luckily my finger slipped and the call ended. I feel a lot better which probably means it was a good idea to put the offer on hold. |
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1. You have to search objectively, but don’t forget that you’re buying a house to make it a home. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t buy it. |
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Thursday, June 26, 2008 |
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I’m not sure why, but we’ve made an offer of £500k on the house on Annandale Road. It feels like home – and I’m up for some renovation. Anyway we can always back out later. We did see the house again and this time the owners were in (against my instructions to the estate agent). I asked the owner “Why are you selling?” He made the mistake of telling me the truth – that they couldn’t afford it any more. We’re off on holiday to Cornwall for a week and we’re taking all the info with us to think about it some more. |
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1. Be as objective as you can when looking for a property. Before you start looking write down what’s the most important to you (price, location, mow much work it needs, scope for expansion etc). |
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Saturday, June 21, 2008 |
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We saw a house which was in a great location – overlooking the Pleasance, but it needs loads of work. The current owners bought it for £375k two years ago and now they’re asking £550k. I know prices have gone up but 50% is just plain crazy especially in a falling market. The worst parts are the kitchen and bathroom which need a total renovation. I’m not sure we can afford it. We might go to see it again. |
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Tips
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1. Be as objective as you can when looking for a property. Before you start looking write down what’s the most important to you (price, location, mow much work it needs, scope for expansion etc). |
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Thursday, June 19, 2008 |
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We went to see some houses today in East Greenwich (technically Blackheath) around Annandale and Halstow Road. The thing I like about this area is that there are loads of Victorian (ish) houses, it’s close to the very good Halstow School and there’s a very little known park there called the Pleasance.
We saw one house which was totally renovated which looked great, but was too close to the main road on to the A2. Another house was just too awkward and the third house just didn’t feel right. They ranged in value from £450k up to £600k, but it feels like the market has peaked and prices are coming down so I’m sure there’s much more scope for negotiation than there was with our apartment. |
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1. Use the free websites to check prices on the street you’re interested in. Normally you’ll be able to see how much the current owners paid for it – very useful. |
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Tuesday, June 10, 2008 |
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We’ve decided to look for a house. The apartment is great, and the plan now is to renovate the bathrooms, buy a house and try to keep the apartment and rent it out. It means we’re saving up for a deposit which is difficult, and will be lower than it might be if we sell the apartment. Hopefully long term this will be a good idea. If we can’t afford to keep the apartment we can always sell it. |
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1. You always have to think long term with property unless it’s a very strong market as it was leading up to 2008. |
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Thursday, May 15, 2008 |
The kitchen is still fine – all the little bits and pieces have been sorted out. One problem we’ve had is that the under-cupboard lights are a bit temperamental. We’ve already replaced the bulbs a few times and I’m not convinced the connections are 100%. One of the lights only comes on if you hit it a couple of times.
I did mange to get £100 back from John Lewis because of the extra work my cousin had to do because the workmen left the walls a bit too rough. |
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008 |
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The tiling and decorating took a while longer than expected because my cousin had to plaster over the rough edges of the plasterboard before he could start tiling. The granite on the floor looks great and also took a while longer than expected because they’re really tough (and noisy and dusty) to cut. |
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Tips
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1. Granite tiles look great, but unless you really, really want them stick to ceramic or porcelain especially if you’re cutting and laying them yourself. |
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Friday, March 07, 2008 |
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My cousin arrived today to finish off the kitchen – tiling the floor (Galaxy black granite tiles from Topps Tiles) and the wall between the worktop and the cupboards with small plain black tiles. Because rest of the kitchen is so white and glossy I thought that a black floor & tiles would be good – in part to help show up splashes of cooking less. Before we’d had white tiles and they show up every small splash of tomato sauce and every grain of rice. Ditto for the wall tiles. |
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Tips
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1. A dark floor in a kitchen can work well if you already have enough light – it helps hide everyday splashes (but that doesn’t mean you should keep anything less than a very clean kitchen!!) |
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Friday, February 08, 2008 |
Apart from a few things like the kick-board and a fridge door that need installing it’s all done. I don’t want to turn anything on because it’ll make it look used. My wife will love it I’m sure. One interesting thing is how much extra space there is. The old kitchen had a very bulky fridge which meant that side of the kitchen was about 75 cm deep.
The new fridge, oven and hob are less deep meaning that we’ve gained about 12cm of kitchen. It doesn’t sound like much but it actually makes a massive difference. The old kitchen was a bit of a squeeze with two people but now there’s loads of room. |
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1. A few centimetres here and there doesn’t sound like much but it does make a big difference to how spacious the kitchen feels. |
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Thursday, February 07, 2008 |
Everything is in. Amazing. All the boxes have gone from the living room and all the stuff is now in the kitchen. It looks fantastic and amazingly exactly like the computer generated images that John Lewis emailed me. One of the fridge doors appears to be missing – that’s on my snag list for tonight.
The workmen have replaced some plasterboard and they’ve left it all looking a bit rough. I know they’re not supposed to decorate afterwards, but the way they’ve left it looks like more work than I’d anticipated for my cousin. |
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Tips
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1. Don’t assume the workmen will do anything beyond their immediate remit. If you’re not sure ask them. If they say it’s not covered they talk about it in a rational way. |
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008 |
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It’s all starting to look like a kitchen now. The cupboards are up on the bare walls but it all still looks like a skeleton to me. It’s strange how things just don’t look like they’ll fit in, but they do. The fridge freezer looked massive in the living room but now it’s installed in the kitchen it looks smaller. I can see now that the design and preparation was worth all the effort. |
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Tips
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1. Get a professional to plan your kitchen and always allow for a few millimetres here and there for tolerance. |
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Tuesday, February 05, 2008 |
The pile of stuff in the living room is going down and the number of cupboards installed in the kitchen is going up. So far very happy with the work but the progress seems a bit slow to me.
The workmen aren’t calling me to ask me any questions or give me any updates so I find myself having to be very proactive in making sure everything I want has been done. Every night when I get home I make a list of things I want to talk about then next morning when they arrive. That way I don’t have to think too hard at 7:30 when I’m trying to get ready to go to work. |
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Tips
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1. It’s your money and it’s your kitchen. You HAVE to be on top of every aspect about the renovation. |
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2. Each night make a list of things you want to discuss with the builders the next morning before they start work. |
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Monday, February 04, 2008 |
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When I got back from work I was surprised and delighted to see a big empty space where the kitchen used to be. The workmen have done a very good job in taking everything away and tidying up. The wires are poking through the walls and are taped up neatly. It’s amazing to see how big the bare kitchen space is now that everything has gone. |
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Tips
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1. Renovating a kitchen means loads of dust and mayhem everywhere. If you have small children or a sensitive partner try to get them out of the house, at least for the start of the work which is generally the most noisy and dusty. |
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2. When you’re having a room renovated don’t forget to have your own dust sheets to cover over things like your TV, computer and beds etc. You don’t want to come home to a TV that smells when you turn it on, and you don’t want to go to bed with a dusty pillow. |
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Monday, February 04, 2008 |
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The two workmen arrived on time and before I’ve left for work they’ve laid the dust sheets and have started knocking out all the lights and easy bits. There’s no going back now, the kitchen as I knew it is already on the way out. Just as well really, the fridge door has been very loose for a couple of months and two of the rings on the hob haven’t worked for a while. |
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Thursday, January 31, 2008 |
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All the kitchen stuff arrived today. Cupboards, fridge freezer, all the appliances, sink, tap, worktops, extractor fan … everything. What I don’t understand is how all of this (which now fills my living room which is five times the size of the kitchen) can fit into the tiny kitchen. We’ll see. I’ve been rummaging around all the interesting boxes and the main kitchen tap looks great – can’t wait to see it installed and working. |
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Monday, January 14, 2008 |
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We’ve been back to John Lewis to decide all the fine details such as the lighting, handles for the cabinets and the hob and oven because we decided we couldn’t afford the ones we originally wanted. |
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