Owning your own home

congratulations, get yourself down the forest tavern for a celebratory pint!

Exactly what I'm doing right now!

(Still waiting for the missus to arrive, hence forum browsing)

Congrats @tommmmmmm

Great news, @tommmmmmm, enjoy that pint.

Cheers lads. Hoping the electric's on so we can rip up the carpet and sit on the one stained chair in the place to eat our takeaway with the lights on.

Happy days :)

I'm be surprised if the electric is off, unless the place has been vacant for a while?

Remember to take meter readings when you get there, and contact the utility companies as soon as you can.

Well done @tommmmmmm

Yay! More drama! That's exactly what I needed! Final statement was sent to our vendor by their solicitors. Turns out they have "insufficient funds" for the transaction. Fucking wow.

Waiting for more details. The only thing I can think of (I have no choice but to assume, seeing as everyone else in this process is so fucking useless at communicating what is actually happening) is that when we put in our offer, it was listed as offers over 200; we offered 205; estate agent came back saying "they would really like 208", we stuck with 205 and the offer was accepted. I wonder if their onward purchase was predicated on what the selfish cunt of an estate agent told them they would get. As far as I know the shortfall is a couple of grand.

Got a cheque back from our solicitors today as the final charge for the land registry came in less than expected.

New bike nice or new inner tubes nice?

I spent all day ripping down homemade partition walls and ripping up laminate flooring. We now have an open plan living/dining space. But we still won't be able to move in till about mid Jan.

Great news @tommmmmmm

Currently sitting in one of our 3 chairs in a lounge devoid of carpet (and most excellently patterned lino that was under it) with boxes strewn everywhere imaginable.

Internet is on via quite a convoluted means (3g -> wifi -> wired -> wifi), we have heat, power, TV, clean kitchen & bathroom and as of today, an assembled bed!

Handed the keys to the flat back to the letting agent yesterday so just waiting to see how much of the deposit they try and keep their moneygrabbing hands on.

Still todo: clean the bedroom furniture & fitted wardrobes, tidy the crap out of the lounge and then start looking at renting a sander & getting some floor wax or stain.

Tonight was steak and wine night, chez Howe. We're in.

^Congrats!

Awesome @rhowe and thanks!

If you get good with the sander and floor wax you're welcome round ours early next year.

I've done the floor sanding. Ask me about the floor sanding if you haven't done it before. In short, it's expensive, very tiring, and insanely noisy.

Everything I've read says the same. I'll be picking your brains later no doubt.

Yes, lots of people have. Easy and straight forword.

Hire floor sander, little bit of stuff to do before but it is easy. Now on your hands and knee's with a 1/3 sheet sander is very long a tedious.

If you have Victorian varnish on the floors, it can be like a layer of tar, and very difficult to remove (gums up belts almost immediately). Much easier if there's no varnish layer. If they are uneven, start with a nice and coarse 40-grade, and go diagonally if need be.

It worked out so expensive with buying belts for the last room that I did, that I may have been cheaper hiring someone. I have another similar room to do, so will investigate that option.

it's a piece of piss really. the sanders are fucking heavy, do get a edge sander, make sure you fit the belts properly otherwise they tear as soon as you turn the sander on and do it all well or it'll annoy you for months every time you see a bit you missed. Use a satin varnish for a nice finish, or a gloss for a long lasting easily cleanable finish, and try to do it before you move stuff into the house.

I used Jewsons but I'm sure there are others that are cheaper. Spend good money on it, it'll be worth it in the long run. An extra £20 on sanding sheets can make the difference in a 1 bed flat.

Did you chaps use a punch to make sure the nail heads were below the surface before you sanded, or did the sander take the nail heads in their stride?

I checked the room first spanking any in with a hammer, when the belts are a few quid each it'd be annoying to tear one for the sake of 2 mins walking round the room checking before starting. besides, hitting stuff with a hammer is fun

So, the floor tank is now down in my bathroom, and is now level (was 2 inches higher at one end). new stud wall for the walk in shower is up, and framework for cupboard around the boiler is up. Walls have been taken back to brick and re scrimmed, first fix of electrics for all the fancy LEDs is also in.

I still have no bathroom in my bathroom, and an entire bathroom in my dining room though, which is still really annoying.

The sparky was in on Saturday, and seemed more interested in my Talbot than he did in doing any work.

I also went and ordered the tiles yesterday. I have never bought tiles in my life before...
Fuck me they are expensive.